Terra! Special Reports on NBC, CBS, MSNBC.

[Pathwalker]

Suspicious packages in several US cities, just days before the election. It's Deja Bush all over again.

[stray cat]

1. Do you really believe terrorism and violence don't exist?

[county worker]

6. Yeah, it seems to exist right before an election the passed 10 years.

[laughingliberal]

21. +1000 nt

[Pathwalker]

7. Do you really think the timing isn't a little suspicious?

And yes, with our foreign policy - terrorism is real, and serves a purpose. hmmmm.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

33. Don't confuse "non-coincidental" with "suspicious".

If you were planning politically motivated violence, wouldn't you time it at a point of maximum political sensitivity?

[ClassWarrior]

19. Interesting that you choose the handle "stray cat"...

One that has strayed, especially a domestic animal wandering about.
adj.
1. Straying or having strayed; wandering or lost: stray cats and dogs.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/stray

From whence did you stray?

NGU.

[ClassWarrior]

20. dupe... delete...

[Barack_America]

32. You really believe we hear about all the terrorism scares?

Or just the ones that occur on the eve of an election?

This probably is the work of terrorists trying to scout out the response to a possible attack. And, thanks to our upcoming elections, the DHS is happy to provide them with just the information they're looking for. I've no doubt these scares do happen, and probably with some frequency, but we don't hear about them because it's in our best interests to keep it quiet. But when spilling the beans could help Republicans politically, the public interest is overlooked, in terrorism as in many things.

[Donnachaidh]

2. I was just thinking out loud

What's to keep Billionaires like the Koch brothers from hiring mercenaries to pull off terror stunts to keep voters in fear? They've tried to buy the government -- why not step up the heat through this sort of nonsense?

[LiberalLoner]

24. My thoughts too. I'm suspicious. n/t

[sufrommich]

3. Good Lord, sometimes a cigar is really just a cigar. nt

[Codeine]

4. Christ, people. Not everything is a conspiracy.

There ARE actual terrorists out there. Jeez.

[RaleighNCDUer]

16. The question is, who do they work for? nt

[sufrommich]

17. Theocratic cretins from the middle east usually. Sometimes our own

theocratic cretins.Although I would guess that this time it's their theocratic cretins.

[RaleighNCDUer]

22. Based on what information? nt

[Bozita]

5. Keep fear alive!

How very Rovian.

[woo me with science]

8. Wow, your knee must hurt. nt

[Pathwalker]

10. No, but my neck does.

n/t

[woo me with science]

12. It must.

Aluminum can be heavy.

[Pathwalker]

14. Not aluminum - a 10 ton delievery truck.

Seriously major auto accident. Thanks for your concern.

[woo me with science]

15. Aw....

how insensitive of me not to have divined that all on my own.

[piratefish08]

9. right on schedule.

gotta go hide........

[laughingliberal]

23. Funny, I was wondering just last night if we'd be treated to one of these before Tuesday. nt

[laundry_queen]

37. It's incredible isnt' it?

They do this EVERY time. Unfuckingbelievable.

[Mz Pip]

11. We'll see what this is about.

BushCo always played the terra card before the elections. This may actually be a real terrorist attempt. If it is then this just proves the the Democrats need to stay in charge because they are actually stopping attacks as opposed to BushCo who didn't stop 9/11.

I am only being half sarcastic here.

Bush politicized the threat of terrorism. Obama doesn't. BUt attacks do seem to be being prevented and for that I am glad.

[Phentex]

13. Anyone else hear the cell phone ring in the background?

I hope it was not the announcer's!

And yes, what timing for the terrorist threats!

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. You missed all the noise in Europe for the last year

I know us news ain't news but the increased threat level started in France over nine months ago. Is that before the election? Oh yeah for the British Parlaiment.

This is part of the pattern, and this looks like a sophisticated probe and part of that pattern.

Yes there is terror in the world... Yes there is a pattern and this is not about us elections.

[robdogbucky]

26. This noise?

British intelligence denies US terror warnings sparked by new info

"US warning of commando terror attacks in Europe irritates European officials, who say no evidence plot is imminent
Fresh warnings of possible terror attacks in Europe issued by the US were not sparked any new intelligence, counter-terrorism, security and intelligence officials said.

There seems no doubt there has been "chatter", or intercepted communications, between suspected jihadists and al-Qaida sympathisers plotting in the tribal areas of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan…

…These reports coincided with a number of heavy, controversial attacks by US drones and helicopters on the Pakistani side of the border with Afghanistan..."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/03/europe-commando-terror-attack-us


Apropos of Nothing

Odds of Dying in Terrorist Attack on Airline: 1 in 25 million; Struck by Lightning: 1 in 500,000

"The Wall Street Journal had a compelling essay this weekend about the hysteria surrounding the attempted bombing of a Christmas Day flight into Detroit and the subsequent tightening of airline security. In his article "Undressing the Terrorist Threat", author Paul Campos (a law professor at University of Colorado) puts the bombing into statistical perspective, noting that:
(1) America is a country of 310 million people, in which thousands of horrible things happen every single day; and
(2) The chances that one of those horrible things will be that you're subjected to a terrorist attack can, for all practical purposes, be calculated as zero...

...And while politicians elbow each other for a chance to grandstand about the failed terrorist plot, they choose to ignore other issues that kill a lot more Americans each year than terrorists ever could hope to.

Instead our elected officials are locked in what Campos calls the "politics of cowardice" -- the cynical exploitation of fear for political gain -- that makes terrorists winners even when their plans fail or are foiled. Meanwhile, millions of American travelers are greatly inconvenienced over something that in all likelihood will never happen to them. A companion piece in the Wall Street Journal lays out the statistics. Since 2000, the odds of you dying as a result of a terrorist act aboard a commercial American airliner is 1 in 25 million. The odds of getting struck by lightning: 1 in 500,000.

Yes, you have a 50 times greater chance of being struck by lightning than dying from a terrorist attack on an airplane. Scary numbers indeed."

http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2010/01/odds_of_dying_in_terrorist_attack_on_airline_1_in_25_million_struck_by_lightning_1_in_500000.php#




Perspective, people, perspective.

Who's behind the curtain?




Just my dos centavos


robdogbucky

[nadinbrzezinski]

27. You missed the FRENCH security services warnings

Of course the Germans. As well.

Perspective indeed.

Given they have a tad more experience than we do due to the Red Brigades and other events.

No, the world does not circle around the US, but to get THAT news you have to go abroad. One thing I luve of them travels to Mexico, real news. You know like Deutche Welle, BBC and Euronews...

[robdogbucky]

28. You must mean this, nadin

Under terrorist cloud, Medvedev, Merkel and Sarkozy meet for security summit

"...Just this weekend, Saudi intelligence warned of a possible terror threat from Al-Qaeda against Europe, particularly in France, Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said. He said Sunday the warning of a potential attack was received "in the last few hours, few days." European officials were informed that "Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was doubtless active or envisioned being active" on the "European continent, notably France," Hortefeux said during a joint television and radio interview.
"The threat is real," he told RTL-LCI-Le Figaro's weekly talk show. There was no indication if the threat was made on account of the three-way meeting.

Second, France is grappling with something of an identity problem as it attempts to assimilate millions of Arab immigrants, many of them second generation youths who have become disaffected and marginalized throughout the country. Meanwhile, the ongoing debate on banning religious symbols – for example, Christian crosses, Jewish skullcaps and Islamic headscarves – in public places has only aggravated the polarizing issue.

Yet it is not only outcast immigrants on the periphery of French society that are giving the French government a headache. On the opening day of the trilateral meeting, masked youths took to the streets and clashed with police, setting fires in cities across France. The social unrest, however, had nothing to do with religion or terrorism. Individuals from all walks of French society – from train workers to university students – are protesting a proposed hike in the retirement age to 62.

http://rt.com/Politics/2010-10-19/russia-france-germany-deauville.html?fullstory


I wonder how much has been taken out of the US anti-terror playbook for this? It would appear that the "increased terror threats," seem to coincide with proposed government austerity measures and the increase in immigration in recent years across the pond. The book written by Sarrazin, "Germany Abolishes Itself," appears to have rekindled those old familiar European anti-Semitic tendencies also with his writings, an excerpt in the above article cites that "Such sentiments were first raised by Thilo Sarrazin, a former central banker, who recently published a book that is critical of Turkish and Arabic immigrants, as well as Germany’s Jewish community. In his book, "Germany Abolishes Itself", Sarrazin argues that Muslim immigrants in Europe refuse to integrate into Western societies and that all Jews "share a certain gene" that differentiates them from others. Originally sparking a storm of controversy in Germany, opinion polls revealed an overwhelming majority of Germans backed his views. Suddenly, the political calculus in the country had radically changed, seemingly overnight.


How quickly things change sometimes.

It would appear that immigration and economics are fueling the recent "terrorist threats."


Bilderberg Merkel stokes racism to deflect anger from growing protest movement
Oct 11, 2010, 15:06 GMT

“Berlin – A row over the place of Muslim immigrants in German society flared up again Monday, as Chancellor Angela Merkel backed a coalition ally who said the country should not accept any more migrants from ‘alien cultures’ such as Turks and Arabs.

The leader of Germany’s Christian Social Union (CSU), Horst Seehofer, faced calls for an apology Monday after giving a magazine interview at the weekend in which he made the remarks…

…The new row adds to weeks of debate on the question of immigration, set off by a book written by former central banker Thilo Sarrazin, which stated that Muslims, in particular, were not fitting in to German society.

Turkish community leader Kenan Kolat said Monday that Seehofer’s comments were ‘defamatory, and not acceptable.’ Seehofer was accused of ‘right-wing populism’ by the opposition Social Democrats and Greens. Even some CDU allies have backed away from his remarks…”

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1590579.php/Merkel-backs-coalition-ally-over-alien-Islam-remarks-Roundup


Gee, that all seems to be from the foreign press. Go figure.



rdb

[nadinbrzezinski]

36. Once again not all goes around the us or us elections, that's the point

[robdogbucky]

38. Nope. That may be your point

but this is my point:

As I cut and pasted above herein:


"...Odds of Dying in Terrorist Attack on Airline: 1 in 25 million; Struck by Lightning: 1 in 500,000..."


I don't care if it is hyped in the US press or some other press around the world. Governments everywhere are engaged in a pattern of fear dissemination for many reasons. Actually, we already know that a significant portion of any and all "terrorist," activity is really false flag in operation. Ever wonder how/why "terrorism," supplanted the Cold War?

I know there is real tit-for-tat violence in places like Chechnya, Northern Ireland and the Middle East, and I think there are understandable reasons in most instances, religious, economic, racist, etc. Whether it is Iron Boot or refugee camps and illegal occupations/persecution, those persecuted with no voice will always seek a redress of grievances through any means at their paltry disposal. Terrorism is a tactic, not an army or an identifiable enemy with a national flag per se. It is a fly (compared to Cold War conditions of threat) and does not need to have a nuke thrown at it to "defeat," it. How do you defeat a tactic anyway?

To me, that is the point. I do not live in fear.


But then again, someone as smart as you probably already understands that.




rdb

[nadinbrzezinski]

40. Of course

And trust me some procedures are mommy devices to keep the essily scared happy.

Terror's objective is to change a target's way of life in significant ways. In that sense they already succeeded.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

25. Chuck Todd must be pissed.

He's not getting any chance to bash the dems every hour.

[HipChick]

29. or push Palin down out throats every chance he gets

[Barack_America]

30. ZOMG! I can see the Philly airport from my apartment!

Am I going to die?

Should I relocate to my pantry now or go out and buy some bread and milk first? Thank god I canned all that applesauce!

:scared:


But seriously, if the new shoes I ordered are on that plane, I'm going to be pissed at DHS. I need them for a job interview next week.

[Pathwalker]

31. I'm really worried about that electronic pressure cooker I ordered

the other day. You think that would look suspicious?

:hide:

[Barack_America]

34. Yikes. I hope it comes with "reassembly instructions".

[spanone]

35. m$nbc isn't even going to commercials WAY OVERKILL

[political_Dem]

39. I hope that this does have a quick resolution.

But it does make me wonder whether this is another tactic of intimidation just like the strong-arming tactics of the GOP after September 11, 2001.