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SDR
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Joined: 02 Oct 2004
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Location: San Francisco
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 Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 2:34 pm Post subject: The next domestic terror attack? |
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Like him or not, Thomas Friedman may be the American journalist with the most in-depth familiarity with the Middle East; he spends a lot of time there, and seems to have made a concerted attempt, since well before the beginning of the current conflict, to get to know what goes on in "the Arab street" (his term?), and to try to pass on what he learns to American readers -- with only limited success, I am afraid.
In today's NY Times, Friedman addresses the question "Why has there been no terror attack on American soil since 9/11?" His answer is that the Jihadists have seen their big fight as taking place (since the America-led invasion, at least) in Iraq. As their battle there to remove "the infidel" begins to be lost -- by virtue of the tentative appearance of self-rule by more moderate Iraquis -- they may in frustration turn to another dramatic headline-grabbing attack on US soil (where 9/11 set a pretty high bar to meet in terms of result). So, the time may be coming, and American vigilance should remain high.
www.nytimes.com/2005/04/13/opinion/13friedman.html?th&emc=th
SDR
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"I'm the commander . . . see, I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being the president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation." GWB |
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Richard Haut
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| Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 4:27 pm Post subject: |
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,11381,1458763,00.html
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Richard Haut has worked with the architectural profession for over 25 years and produces the weekly Richard Haut's Competitions, which has given architects details of many thousands of projects for which they can apply across Britain and Europe. |
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SDR
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| Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 5:09 pm Post subject: |
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Your link is to the story about the sendng of inappropriate virus samples to a number of testing labs in several countries, where they were meant to be used for proficiency testing of those labs. Is that to suggest one of the possible means of attack by terrorists?
It will be interesting to see what is chosen as a target next time, and where. San Francisco is mentioned frequently, for some reason. Do the Jihadists hate gays the way "Christians" do?
SDR
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"I'm the commander . . . see, I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being the president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation." GWB |
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Richard Haut
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Location: Nice, France
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| Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 12:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Do the Jihadists hate gays the way "Christians" do?
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Now that is an interesting question. I have not the slightest idea what Islam teaches about gays.
However I do know of a precedent for those calling themselves Christians being anti-gay, and even rounding up and killing gays. The Nazis.
And I believe that the US bio-terror industry is a far greater and more immediate threat to Americans than the so-called Al-Queda. I was under the impression that the last terror attack on the US was the anthrax - apparently an all-American event.
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Richard Haut has worked with the architectural profession for over 25 years and produces the weekly Richard Haut's Competitions, which has given architects details of many thousands of projects for which they can apply across Britain and Europe. |
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Richard Haut
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| Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 3:47 pm Post subject: |
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Is this really what America is turning into ?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4938183,00.html?gusrc=ticker-103704
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Richard Haut has worked with the architectural profession for over 25 years and produces the weekly Richard Haut's Competitions, which has given architects details of many thousands of projects for which they can apply across Britain and Europe. |
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SDR
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Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 1639
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 5:50 pm Post subject: |
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Actually -- yes. Hard to believe, isn't it? We're moving backward at an alarming rate.
Those who hold out hope of an eventual correction of this unfortunate current trend of anti-gay backlash, remind us that racial bigotry, as reflected by new legislation, actually took a turn for the worse at the beginning of the last century, over fifty years after a civil war was fought, in part to free blacks from slavery. New laws instituting segregation were actually passed at that time; the right of mixed-race couples to marry was finally guaranteed only after the second World War, another fifty years on.
Today's news included coverage of new "civil union" legislation passed in Connecticut, raising to five (?) the number of states recognizing this "separate but equal" legal status for homosexual couples. Forty-two states, however, have passed legislation forbidding gay marriage. One state (Masachusetts) has so far explicitly provided for gay marriages to be sanctioned and recognized.
It is claimed that the inclusion of gays in the marriage rolls would somehow make the marriages of straight couples "less meaningful."
The fact that children are being raised sucessfully in gay households doesn't prevent those opposed to these unions from claiming that gay marriages would be "harmful to children." Married couples are recognized as better parents than unmarried couples; married gay couples are somehow seen as a threat.
Irrational thinking of this sort is one of the give-aways that fear and wrong-headedness are in command; the fact that some church leaders are propagators of these irrational arguments only damages the credibility and usefulness of the churches involved, when it is most needed to heal differences and help unite people in love. "Love the sinner, hate the sin" is one such irrational "argument" -- it fails completely to disguise the bigotry it attempts to deny.
SDR
_________________
"I'm the commander . . . see, I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being the president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation." GWB |
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Richard Haut
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Location: Nice, France
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| Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 12:25 pm Post subject: |
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America is a big enough place to have extremists of various types - but if this is a sign of the way that mainstream America is going, and that it is accepted, then there is serious trouble on the way.
This sort of bigotry - open or masqued - goes back half a century.
I think that the marriage question is a side issue - whether it should be marriage or a different but equal form of committment are matters of opinion, but bigotry is not.
Will the AIA reduce the numbers of architects who are Muslim, or gay, or any other targetted-group, in order to comply with Government hatred ? Will San Francisco schools gets less funding because there is a known gay community ?
The unspoken fear has been that Bush in America and Blair in Britain knew that they were tapping into hatreds that many of us may have not believed were there.
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Richard Haut has worked with the architectural profession for over 25 years and produces the weekly Richard Haut's Competitions, which has given architects details of many thousands of projects for which they can apply across Britain and Europe. |
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SDR
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Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 1639
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 1:01 pm Post subject: |
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The insidious nature of publicly expressed bigotry, whether sanctioned or not, is that it encourages further bigotry, and its potential for violence.
A recently apprehended and convicted murderer is allowed to publicly declare his lack of remorse for, and "justification" of, the killing of abortion clinic personnel.
Young fans and their parents applaud and defend a pop-music star, as the details of his exploitation of children are revealed in court.
A major political leader, and some of his supporters, declare their intention to "call to account" certain federal judges who refused to rule as he had hoped.
In each case, some who might temper their pathlogical thinking and behavior are emboldened to speak out, and act out, after the intemperate words and actions of those "in the spotlight" exemplify and justify such anti-social behavior.
SDR
_________________
"I'm the commander . . . see, I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being the president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation." GWB |
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