MetaFilter posts tagged with fearmongering

This Post Cures and/or Causes Cancer

Scientist — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 19:53:38 -0800

The (New) Daily Mail Oncological Ontology Project tumblr, (previously) "an ongoing quest to track the Daily Mail's classification of inanimate objects into two types: those that cause cancer, and those that cure it." Inspired by The Daily Mail Oncological Ontology Project, now defunct.

The Frenzy on Fox will be glorious...

dejah420 — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 19:51:59 -0800

Al Jazeera has purchased Al Gore's Current TV, giving them a much wider American audience. However, the deal suffered an immediate casualty when Time Warner Cable Inc., the nation's second-largest cable TV operator, announced it is dropping Current TV due to the deal. "Our agreement with Current has been terminated and we will no longer be carrying the service. We are removing the service as quickly as possible," the company said in a statement.

Get Out & Get Down

artof.mulata — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 21:25:41 -0800

Escape Rescue Systems of New Jersey have built the most exciting evacuation pods for tall buildings. If you have a tall building and a fear of terrorists (or any other scary thing that hurts people in tall buildings) you probably need this. It goes both 'up' and 'down.' watch the video!

Bruce Schneier's work isn't peer reviewed. He has no peers.

grouse — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:45:27 -0800

Is aviation security mostly for show? An essay by Bruce Schneier.

America must look negative ads in the eye and try not to vomit

phunniemee — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:54:48 -0800

Last week, an absentee ballot request mailer was sent out locally by the Republican Party of Virgina. The return envelope bears an ambiguous, yet eerily familiar, picture along with some strong words. Some bloggers weigh in. via

Don't be a sitting duck

tellurian — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 23:05:53 -0800

Subivor - People should have more protection than a necktie, their shirt or paper towel to cover their mouth, nose and eyes. They need Moist Towelettes too. [via]

The politics of chemical security

homunculus — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 13:43:00 -0800

The Next Attack. "Terrorists in Iraq are becoming proficient at blowing up oil refineries. Similar plants in a handful of American cities represent our greatest vulnerability. We could easily be making them less dangerous. But we’re not." And one of the key players in keeping things that way happens to be Dick Cheney’s son-in-law.

He has the balls to torture

orthogonality — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 08:39:33 -0800

Jack Bauer isn't afraid to cut the eyes out of any (deliberative) body; or, Rupert Murdoch demonstrates the 17th Amendment's fatal flaw.

Hype is deadlier than radiation

destro — Sun, 20 Mar 2005 11:20:31 -0800

The dirty bomb hoax. One of the biggest threats from terrorism was the supposed dirty bomb plot by Jose Padilla which eventually turned up nothing. Even if there was a plot, the threat of a dirty bomb has been over-exaggerated. The U.S. military had already tested the possibilities of a dirty bomb and discovered that "any immediate deaths or serious injuries would likely result from the explosion itself, rather than from radiation exposure." The radiation could be cleaned up with a geiger counter and a vacuum cleaner. But don't forget to buy your nuke pills! (via the Power of Nightmares)

We're all going to die

tommyc — Tue, 01 Mar 2005 12:00:28 -0800

We're all going to "die". Genocratic discourse or small-scale post-millennial angst?

tranquileye — Tue, 21 May 2002 09:50:08 -0800

I had trouble sleeping Saturday night because of a CNN story suggesting that "increased level of chatter and activity" indicated that "another al Qaeda terrorist operation could be in the works." The "warnings" have been coming ever since: Cheney said Sunday that future attacks were "almost a certainty" and FBI director Robert Mueller stated "we will not be able to stop it", with Ridge and Rumsfeld spinning similar tales today. Is there a new threat? Ridge hasn't changed the nation's security alert from "yellow," and AP reported today that "a top White House aide said last week's criticism prompted a two-pronged political response: Bush accused Democrats of playing politics with the issue as his advisers reminded voters that America is still a target."

Desperate, clueless people scrambling to keep us safe?

rushmc — Sat, 10 Nov 2001 22:34:44 -0800

Desperate, clueless people scrambling to keep us safe? Or cynical manipulation of public fear and superstition, keeping the pea hopping from shell to shell while the real machinations go on behind the scenes? Either way, the government seems to be doing their part to see that we don't forget that we're supposed to be terrorized.

Third-grader suspended for drawing soldier, kniufe, gun

Postroad — Sun, 25 Mar 2001 07:30:09 -0800

Third-grader suspended for drawing soldier, kniufe, gun The teacher said that the students were scared of the drawings....perhaps they should read the article in the current issue of the Guardian which goes into specifics of our new military budget and suggests that the total cost of our military budget is 1/3 of that spent by all of the nations in the world combined.