MetaFilter posts tagged with terrorists

2668 Days Without an Attack, I'm Having One Now

Xurando — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 11:13:19 -0800

After the Obama party, the Bush team continues to spin. "Whether Barack Obama is standing on the Capitol steps to be sworn in a second time depends on whether he succeeds in replicating Bush's achievement." "If Obama weakens any of the defenses Bush put in place and terrorists strike our country again, Americans will hold Obama responsible -- and the Democratic Party could find itself unelectable for a generation."

It's 1 AM, do you know where your enemies are?

BeReasonable — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:36:44 -0800

I often find myself asking, "Who wants to kill me and how can I avoid them?"
It seems that the list is pretty long. There are a whole batch of international threats out to get me. There also appear to be a number of street gangs, happy to do the deed as well. What's worse is that they are spreading. However, since I don't travel abroad and I don't live in a fancy-dancy city like Los Angeles, Chicago or Fargo, I'm probably safe right? Nope, sadly it seems hate groups are everywhere -- in my backyard and probably yours. I think this year I'm having Thanksgiving in the bunker.

FBI After Vegans

punkbitch — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:29:01 -0800

The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force is infiltrating vegan potluck dinners (via the Harper's Weekly Review)

my grandma married an engineer, so did my mom, oh and I'm one too

infini — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:57:08 -0800

Islamic terrorists are more likely to be engineers than members of any other profession--and not because engineers possess superior technological skills. That's the conclusion of a controversial Oxford University study that has the engineering community buzzing. (PDF) The study's disturbing finding blames what it calls a universal engineering mindset, which it describes as one drawn to structure and rules plus clear, single solutions to complex problems. When coupled with the harsh realities of life in many Islamic countries, terrorism can be the result, the study says. ~ Via EETimes Some righteous snarking online includes, This assertion based on some very fuzzy numbers indeed. We compiled a list of 404 members of violent Islamist groups drawing from a variety of sources... Our sources include... the press, governmental and nongovernmental organisations and websites... We searched in Lexis Nexis... and in Google. We also searched... Fox News; CTV News; Dutch News...

Liberation Army Against Freedom!

adrianhon — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 07:02:47 -0800

Friends and foes, witness the true firepower of the Liberation Army Against Freedom. We have been amassing a fearsome arsenal, and soon the world will tremble at the Mother of All (Fireworks) Rockets. Some people have been offended by this series of Dutch fireworks safety adverts, such as Saad Saraf, the chief executive of multicultural marketing specialists Media Reach Advertising: "What is the campaign hoping to achieve by depicting a negative stereotype of the Muslim community in a fireworks advert? ... Are the producers aware that the actors in the advert are speaking in an Iraqi accent; with the current state of affairs in Iraq and the loss of lives as a result of suicide bombing, I question, what were the creatives thinking?," said Saraf. On the other hand, Inayat Bunglawala, the assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, thought they were fine: "I thought they were very humorous public safety films ... Obviously there will always be some who find it to be in bad taste, but I thought it was done light-heartedly and funny and with clear educational value."

Stuff blowing up is awesome

jonson — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 11:10:38 -0800

For those who worry that the concrete pillars around U.S. Federal buildings aren't strong enough to stop a motivated car bomber in an 18 wheeler, this video should comfort you. Similarly, for those of you who are worried that the concrete shielding around our weapons bunkers is not thick enough, this video should put you at ease. And finally, for those of you that worry that dogs & monkeys are putting aside their differences to team up against mankind, this video should lay that myth to rest.

Eep

featherboa — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 00:03:45 -0800

[Newsfilter] Terror plot disrupted. Scotland Yard has arrested about 18 potential terrorists who were planning to blow up UK to USA flights mid-air. The UK threat level is now critical - "an attack is expected imminently". And there's chaos at the airports where hand luggage has been banned from all flights.

Counterterror

semmi — Sat, 27 May 2006 00:10:09 -0800

Freelance spying. How and why Rita got into the counterterrorism business, running and publishing SITE, where she and her researchers mine online sources for intelligence, which they translate and send out by e-mail to a list of about a hundred subscribers.

Missile or plane?

Haarball — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 14:57:00 -0800

The no-757 crowd is making an ass out of itself. Images showing left wing impact damage, the extent of the damage that was done, debris comparisons as well as illustrations showing the plane's projected path (yellow numbers are knocked-down lamp posts) and the point of impact does an excellent job of debunking the Pentagon missile theory. Add a slew of accounts from eye-witnesses claiming to have seen an American Airlines plane, and the theory's on rather shaky ground. Complimentary reading: Loose Change: An Analysis and It was Flight 77. I urge you all to read at least the first article before commenting.

The Road to Guantanamo

LondonYank — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 08:58:16 -0800

The Road to Guantanamo , the latest film by prolific UK director Michael Winterbottom, details the experiences of the Tipton Three (previously discussed here), a trio of British Muslims who stumbled into US custody in Afghanistan shortly after 9/11 and ended up spending two years in Gitmo. The film tells a powerful if somewhat one-sided story of naivety, incompetence and rank injustice.

Last night the film was shown on Britain's Channel 4 to an estimated 1.6 million viewers, and it was the talk of the Berlin Film Festival a couple of weeks ago. In a bizarre twist, on their return from attending the premiere of the film in Berlin, the Tipton Three and the actors who played them were arrested and interrogated about terrorism links. Luckily for them, this time their captivity was measured in hours, not years.

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.

dogs and monsters

punkbitch — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 14:19:18 -0800

of pit bulls, terrorists and generalization "...the Ontario ban prohibits not only these three breeds but any 'dog that has an appearance and physical characteristics that are substantially similar' to theirs; the term of art is 'pit bull-type' dogs. But what does that mean? Is a cross between an American pit bull terrier and a golden retriever a pit bull-type dog or a golden retriever-type dog?" (from the New Yorker)

Listening In and Naming Names

Postroad — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 04:27:39 -0800

Listening In and Naming Names "...The press tends to shy away from covering America's largest and most secretive intelligence agency, fearing precisely the kind of scolding President Bush delivered to the New York Times. But the truth is that the NSA—which has an estimated $6 billion annual budget bigger than those of the CIA and the FBI combined—has a decidedly checkered history when it comes to playing by the rules." And yet, NSA abuse seems not limited to Bush. Now, possib ly, Carter and Clinton also used NSA for spying on civilians. That said, NSA seems also to have been used for non-miltary spying, to help selected American firms compete against rival companies elsewhere. What is curious about this agency is that it is the single biggest intelligence organization in our country and yet so few people know what they do, where they are, what they had been legally allowed to do. If, as we are told, tapping phones is necessary in our fight against terror, why then doesn't the FBI do this? If any mobster worth his blackjack knows not to use phones because they are potentially tapped, why are we told that NSA doesn't want terrorists alerted to our tapping their phones and therefore there ought not to be any discussion of this "strategy."? In sum, my suspicion is that a lot more is going on than we have thus far been told, and that in fact email and the internet are more involved in what is taking place than is phone tapping.

A swing and a miss, strike one

rough ashlar — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 10:14:43 -0800

NewsFilter: UFO (missle) exhaust seen by pilot Have the aliens landed, and are shooting at planes with unidentified flying objects? Or is it the 'terrorists'?
Don't worry citizens: FBI agents and Homeland Security officials spent the weekend investigating the report of a possible missile fired at an American Airlines.

Hope and Memory

homunculus — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 13:32:02 -0800

Hope and Memory, 1801 - 2004. "This is an archive of 163 US interventions, a multi-faceted catalogue of coups, humanitarian incursions, covert actions, proxy armies, freedom fighters/terrorists and multilateral offensives. Out of this legacy, a complex picture emerges." [Via wood s lot.]

D.C. Circuit: Military Tribunals A-Okay.

esquire — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 11:19:51 -0800

D.C. Circuit: Military Tribunals Just Fine, Thanks. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit unanimously rejected an appeal by an Afghan who is being detained by the military to the tribunals established by the President's Court order in 2001. The decision reversed a federal trial court ruling that the tribunals violated the Geneva Convention.

A letter to the terrorists from London

Spoon — Fri, 08 Jul 2005 00:15:12 -0800

A Letter To The Terrorists, From London

Winning the war on terror!

UbuRoivas — Wed, 18 May 2005 23:40:11 -0800

Winning the war on terror! International fundamentalist terror groups must surely be on the run if the FBI now lists animal rights groups as the top domestic terrorist threat facing the US

Must-See TV

fandango_matt — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 22:21:31 -0800

Survivor: Guantanamo Bay A group of volunteers have been locked in cages and sexually humiliated for the British reality television show Guantanamo Guidebook which explores torture techniques allegedly used against terrorist suspects held at Camp X-Ray.

Evidence? Who needs that?

ilsa — Sat, 01 Jan 2005 21:59:00 -0800

Well, now what do we do with them? "The Bush administration is preparing plans for possible lifetime detention of suspected terrorists, including hundreds whom the government does not have enough evidence to charge in courts, The Washington Post reported Sunday.... As part of a solution, the Defense Department, which holds 500 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, plans to ask the U.S. Congress for $25 million to build a 200-bed prison to hold detainees who are unlikely to ever go through a military tribunal for lack of evidence, defense officials told the newspaper."

Laser pointers

Recockulous — Wed, 29 Dec 2004 14:20:54 -0800

I saw this on my local news this evening. Can consumer lasers really bring down planes?

Told you so

Smedleyman — Tue, 28 Dec 2004 23:10:12 -0800

I hate people who say I told you so... But.... Edgar Morales shot a little girl, does that make him a terrorist? Other gang members were prosecuted before this for terrorism, other groups who maybe should have haven't - so what's the new law for? Is this the first of many prosecutions under new laws which some said would do one thing but are actually doing something else?

Tommy Thompson

three blind mice — Sat, 04 Dec 2004 07:33:45 -0800

Tommy Thompson , former Wisconsin governor, GOP platform committee chairman, and outgoing Secretary of Health and Human Services leaves with these reassuring words: "For the life of me, I cannot understand why the terrorists have not attacked our food supply because it is so easy to do." Time stock up on those rapture rations?

Pirates and Emperors

fleener — Fri, 15 Oct 2004 05:40:57 -0800

Pirates and Emperors is the story of America's funding of terrorists (freedom fighters) put to music and animation, ala Schoolhouse Rock. It's a simple civics lesson that even elementary school kids, and our nation's highest leader, can understand. (link via BoingBoing)

Postroad — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 04:33:10 -0800

“If You Harbor Terrorists, You Are a Terrorist” While delegates to the GOP convention were congratulating themselves for their candidate’s tough stand against terrorism, the Bush administration was creating an international incident—little publicized in the United States—by harboring a notorious group of international terrorists on U.S. soil.