I for one am heartily sick of all the extra security particularly on domestic flights. The terrorists are winning if we have to go to all this expense and bother. Now in the US it is even worse after the Pantsbomber tried to hijack a plane. The TSA has even tried to arrest some bloggers and steal take their hard drives.
But let’s put some perspective into the subject. Let’s face the game changed with 9/11. Now if you are on a plane that gets hijacked you may as well go for the hijackers, either way dead is dead. It is now assumed that the trip is one way and into the ground. I know I would rather die on my feet than sitting patiently in seat while crazy f**ked up people try to do some damage. But what are your real chances of being involved in an airliner hijacking.
Fortunately BoingBoing has answered that for us. As you can see we are spending billions of dollars on a problem that statistically is non-existent.
More chance of being hit by lightening than being hijacked
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Who is going to get real on terrorism , when so many are so totally committed to not getting real about islam.
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His nuts were a mess apparently.
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Hopefully no reproduction for him then!
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And 72 disappointed virgins?
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It’s a valid point and has been since the over-reaction started in 2002.
Back then, a lot of people talked about how necessary it all was. Especially those conservatives with a strong security bent which I am and have. However I’ve always seen it as an over-reaction from day one.
Good to see others of the same ilk finally come around to my way of thinking, just a shame it has taken this long for the penny to drop.
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Here’s a question,who’s the real terrorists?
By Robert Scheer and Iftekhar A Khan
Thanks to the political opportunism of the current commander in chief the Afghanistan war is still without end or logical purpose. President Barack Obama’s own top national security adviser has stated that there are fewer than 100 al-Qaida members in Afghanistan and that they are not capable of launching attacks. What superheroes they must be, then, to require 100,000 U.S. troops to contain them.
The hawks of the military industrial complex and national security advisers who war-game with public lives and resources in alien lands dictate US policies. Would Lockheed Martin, manufacturer of Hellfire missiles and General Atomics, manufacturer of Predator and Reaper drones that fire these missiles want the war to end? Would defence contractors Blackwater (Worldwide Xe), DynCorp or Krestal and reconstruction giants Halliburton and Bechtel want the flames of war to extinguish? No, because war is their industry and killing their business. Such corporations, on the other end, finance politicians’ election campaigns. So wars are lucrative corporate projects.
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“the Afghanistan war is still without end or logical purpose. President Barack Obama’s own top national security adviser has stated that there are fewer than 100 al-Qaida members in Afghanistan”
michael, that’s because they’re all in Pakistan, in particular Pashtun province. The reason they’re in Afghanistan is because they cannot let Pakistan de-stabilise to the point where the mad-Mullahs get hold of the nukes. I understand actually that if such an event looks like happening the US has a plan all ready to implement, to seize them, and I wholly approve of that. However that’s a worst-case action.
If the US leaves Afghanistan they give Al-Qaida a chance to re-establish a base of operations from which it would then de-stabilise Pakistani politics to the point where the mad Mullahs would be able to take over. At the moment, they remain confined to and suppressed in Pashtun precisely because of the US operations in Afghanistan.
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reid:“The reason they’re in Afghanistan is because they cannot let Pakistan de-stabilise to the point where the mad-Mullahs get hold of the nukes.” mad Mullahs?it wasn’t to long ago that the Americans were wining and dinning them in the states.The plan to remove the nukes has been on the table for a number of years.Ever heard of Full Spectrum Domination or American Hegemony, well those poor bastards(Afghans) are getting a taste of it and they don’t like it.There is a saying ” Afghanistan the grave yard of empires.” Quite frankly I think the Americans have bitten off more than they can chew.Those mad Mullahs have been playing this game before Columbus discovered America.
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michael yes I have heard of those terms and I also agree with everything you say but can’t see your point.
Are you suggesting the US gives up because it’s a tough fight and meekly surrenders to the mad mullahs with all attendant consequences?
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Have you ever heard of Vietnam? this could be Obama’s Vietnam
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get a grip micheal. they are just practicing, so that when ww4 comes around, we will definately win.
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Who’s financing this war caleb?they have to loan money from the Chinese and the American public are knee deep in shit paying that loan off, “we will definately win” get real caleb you’re not buying into that delusion are you.
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You are right Michael that they are corporate wars. Because of this they are designed to go on and on and on. They are never intended to be a ”success.” No neat endings planned here. As long as they go on , the people who are making millions out of them , continue to make millions out of them. Just at a glance this New Year , it looks like the Yemen is next.
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Obama Takes ‘War on Terror’ to Yemen
By Simon Tisdall
December 29, 2009 “The Guardian” — – Barack Obama’s steely vow to hunt down all those responsible for the attempted bombing of an American airliner on Christmas Day has left a crucial question unanswered: whether it was his personal order to US military forces to attack two suspected al-Qaida bases in Yemen with cruise missiles on 17 December that triggered a “revenge” terrorist operation against the Northwest Airlines plane one week later.
According to a report aired on 18 December by the American ABC News network and not denied by the White House, US and Yemeni government forces jointly targeted al-Qaida training camps in the Arhab district, 60km north-east of the capital, Sana’a on 17 December. Another alleged camp in the village of al-Maajala, in Abyan, 480km south-east of Sana’a, was also hit after US officials determined “an imminent attack against a US asset was being planned” there.
Both targets were bombed repeatedly from the air by Yemeni air force planes. Subsequent official estimates said about 35 militants were killed. But Yemeni opposition spokesmen said a total of between 60 and 120 people had died during bombardments of the two targets and a third location. They said many of those killed were civilians, including women and children. They denied the villages contained al-Qaida camps.
Television pictures broadcast from Yemen by the Arab news channel al-Jazeera on 18 December showed dozens of bodies covered in sheets.
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muslims have hated israel and the west for a long time.
i doubt the mike moore approach would have everyone holding hands.
there is no doubt defence is a big part of the us gdp.
im just not sure about the un being the middle ground…u want?
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The price of war with Iraq…remember they’re fighting five wars in Muslim countries
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OT5uw1Fb_0
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caleb:“there is no doubt defence is a big part of the us gdp.”
With a census of slightly over 300 million in a world of almost seven billion people, the U.S. accounts for over 40 percent of officially acknowledged worldwide government military spending with a population that is only 4 percent of that of the earth’s. A 10–1 disparity.
In addition to its 1,445,000 active duty service members, the Pentagon can and does call upon 1.2 million National Guard and other reserve components. As many as 30% of troops that have served in Afghanistan and Iraq are mobilized reservists. The Army National Guard has activated over 400,000 soldiers since the war in Afghanistan began and in March of 2009 approximately 125,000 National Guard and other reserve personnel were on active duty.
The Defense Department also has over 800,000 civilian employees at home and deployed worldwide. The Pentagon, then, has more than 3.5 million people at its immediate disposal excluding private military contractors.
After allotting over a trillion dollars for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq alone and packing off more than two million of its citizens to the two nations, the U.S. military establishment and peace prize president have already laid the groundwork for yet more wars. Boeing, Raytheon and General Electric won’t be kept waiting.
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caleb:“muslims have hated israel and the west for a long time.”
Their was never an issue between Muslims and Jews until the Zionists gate crashed the party.Then the shit hit the fan.
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A classic symptom of an empire in decline is that in contrast to its easy expansion years, it begins self-consciously to try too hard.
As was the case with Rome in 302 AD heading off over the Euphrates to “do a Trajan” on the Persians, so in 2002 AD we see America trundling, bumping and Jdaming into Afghanistan to “do a Georgie Patton” on the Taliban.
Fascinating how reality so often mirrors history.
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Michael , Have you read the koran and the hadiths? Muslim hatred is no new thing.
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Theresaj, Have you read the Bible?theirs some cruel and nasty shit in their. Also have you read the Jewish Talmud?
Some teachings of the Jewish Talmud:The Talmud permits stealing from Non-Jews
Simeon Haddarsen,fol. 56-D
“When the Messiah comes every Jew will have 2800 Gentile slaves.” sounds like the Arabs an their virgins.
Tosapoth, Jebamoth 94b
If you eat with a Gentile,it is the same as eating with a dog.
Sanhedrin 59a
“Murdering Gentiles is like killing a wild animal.”
Erubin 21b
Whoever disobeys the rabbis deserves DEATH and will be punished by being boiled in hot excrement in hell.
Gittin 57a.
“Jesus is in hell being boiled in “hot excrement.”
Midrasch Talpioth p225-L
Jahovah created the non-Jew in human form so that the Jew would not have to be served by beasts. The non-Jew is an animal in human form,and commanded to serve the Jew day and night.
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Of couse the Jewish books and the Bible have some serious writings ..islam is a rip off of previous or then held beliefs..Nothing new in islam..but Jews and Christians are not terrorising the world.and wanting to take the world back to the stone age..Muslims are.
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Theresaj:“Jews and Christians are not terrorising the world.and wanting to take the world back to the stone age..Muslims are.”
Have you not learnt anything Theresaj?The muslims are not invading, the five fronts(wars) are in Muslim countries they’re the one’s who are being invaded.With the end of the Cold War another enemy had to fill the gap left by the soviets,hence “The War on Terror“corporate Media spins the stories that manufactures the consent for war and the gullible just lap it up. If you were watching the news this evening and last night,nothing was said what triggered the airline attack or exactly whats happening in Yemen,try doing a little research before making a ridicules comment“Jews and Christians are not terrorising the world.and wanting to take the world back to the stone age..Muslims are.”
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Michael..you may think my views are ridiculous …I think yours are naive and comfort hugging. If we want to get technical about invasion , how long have all the so called muslim countries been muslims countries? Not long by history’s standards.
Immigration is a form of invasion. What do you know about modern day Britain? Try immigrating to a so called muslim country..they won’t want you if you are not muslim…muslim countries only accept muslim refugees and then not that many of them.
I lived in a muslim country for about six years…it felt like about 60 years…All I could say when I got back was that it was like ”living in the mud at the bottom of the pond.” Everyone was frightened , cowed and wary…brainwashed and hopelessly uninformed…..people regularly disappeared…corruption and hypocrisy were everywhere. Have you ever lived in an islamic country? Somehow, I doubt it.
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Theresaj:“Have you ever lived in an islamic country? Somehow, I doubt it.
No I haven’t nor have I been to the moon,but I know I would have trouble breathing thats because their is plenty of info on the subject.“lived in a muslim country for about six years“If it was that bad why did it take that long to figure out that it was like ”living in the mud at the bottom of the pond.” Here’s a question?the countries America deals with,do those regimes give a shit about their people?Do the Americans care?like fuck they do on both accounts,they’re using those corrupt leaders the same way the regimes use their own people for gain and control.Here’s another question why were their a lot of europeans immigrating here in the 1800s? To get away from the tyranny in their on countries and for a better life.
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I bet your voice has a high pitched whine to it and is really annoying after about 3 minutes.
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whaleoil:“I bet your voice has a high pitched whine to it and is really annoying after about 3 minutes.”
Only to people like you whale and Theresaj,you have your opinions I have my or are we not allowed to think outside the square .
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Michael ,
I could tell from your writing that you had never lived in an islamic country. The points you are making are valid about the five or so wars but my point is that you are seeing only a small part of the picture. The muslims are winning the demographic war and ultimately , this is the only war to win. The reproduction rates in western countries are so low..the muslim reproduction rates are sky high..ten children is about the norm. Many of these end up in orphanages but that is another topic. There are various videos on the net about this. Here in ChCh , the muslims are breeding at about 6/8 times the rest of the population. I assume that is about the same in other parts of NZ.
Greece , Italy , France , the UK etc.. are all being overrun by muslims who as per usual , have no intention of integrating. The EU is planning to bring in 50 million Africans , many of whom will be muslim.
In 1980 , muslim leaders said “We will not need to take Europe by the Sword , we shall take Europe with our children.” Outbreeding is their stated war stategy of choice.
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Theresaj:“The reproduction rates in western countries are so low..the muslim reproduction rates are sky high..ten children is about the norm.”
Reminds me of the big Catholic families in their heyday ‚my grand parents had twelve and the average my uncles and aunties had is around about six. So… the point is to start increasing the population,I’ll try and keep my end up if thats all it takes.Frankly I couldn’t give a shit about whats happening in Europe.But theirs a problem with what you’re saying,I know several muslim families here and none of them have large families,so whats their problem?
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They are not islamic enough..You may not be bothered by what is happening in Europe but it will affect you especially if you are young…Our population is growing rapidly as people from Europe and Britain see this as a place to flee to. More Aussies will come here too for the same reasons..they constantly campaign against the building of mosques..Cairns , the Swan Valley in the Perth area, a huge mosque planned for Auburn , western Sydney which will mean the demolition of historic buildings…many Aussies cannot comprehend the naivete of NZers but I think that NZers have been deliberatly kept in the dark.
Are you familiar with the huge mosque being planned for London?..very near the Olympic buildings so islamic supremacy in the UK is beamed around the world..In this past year parts of Britain have almost descended into war…Don’t expect to read much about all this in your local papers.
If you want to know more about how the British feel about what has happened in their country , you can read the BNP site. Indigenous Britains will soon be a minority in their own very crowded country.
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Its called xenophobia common throughout the world,more people are heading to Australia from here than vice-versa.The “lucky country” has attracted people from all walks of life which generates a climate of racial bigotry thats been going on before Muslims settled there. Lets be honest,if the British stayed out of these countries instead of ripping everything off that wasn’t tied down,maybe the situation might be different.But if they didn’t another european country would have.Here we have American imperialism which is course for concern,its created economic and political refugees which become our problem.
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Michael,
Yes the situation would be different – but not in a better way.
Australasia would make Africa look like a paradise in terms of civil wars health standards political stability and most other things that matter – rather like before the british came to this area except with much better methods of killing.
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GNZ:” Yes the situation would be different – but not in a better way. ”
The difference is only speculation,what has happened here is part of our history.Health standards political stability makes living in this country paradise compared to other countries less fortunate.
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