The average Americans experience or knowledge of terrorism was virtually zero before 9/11.....and the perception of foriegn policy of successive regimes and some policies were always kept at arms reach.
In Britain for example, we lived day to day with terrorism (the IRA) where the terrorists openly collected in bars,in New York and Boston and the net result was men women and children blown up on a saturday afternoon while shopping.
We didn't assume every Irishman or woman were terrorists and advocate deporting them or become insular, but what we did do is start a dialogue with the people that considered us hostile.
We could have dealt militarily with them, but for everyone one that was killed would have spawned a hundred more people to replace them.
America, or shall i say it's government has to take a deep breath, and instead of using covert measures to deal with people it's seriously pissed off with, maybe treating these people with something other than trying to enforce "freedom" on them by deploying predators on poorly targeted missions might be a start.
How about while in Afghanistan start the farmers who grow heroin to grow other cash crops, and guarentee to buy them.
Then set up an economy with scrutiny employing Afghan labour and constructing a pipeline to the sea to deliver wealth to the region, and see to it that the money is retained in the region....not sucked out by a multinational corporation.
Winning friends is important, not finding more "dark stars" to be able to deploy ordinance from 10,000 miles away.
The benefit, the region becomes wealthy, and sustainable with an economy that isn't based on heroin for the drugs lords.
Ensure the people are seen to benefit by a partnership with the west where were helping to develop other regions, not be seen to be trying to exploit the natural resources or strategic locations.
The sooner this approach happens, and say the normal people of Saudi Arabia feel they are not being taken for a ride because of American support of regimes, then the sooner world terrorism will evaporate....and we'll all be far safer and happier.
Whatever moron thought that would be a good idea needs making redundant and forced to look for work in a suitable workplace, such as the latrines in the nearest place you can find 10,000 marines just after they've been fed hot chilli, curry main meal, and jalopeano pepper ice cream.
I was thinking of asking the site to create me a toilet pan emoticon.
Then the next time i see a crap thread, moronic comment or someone looking for a row i could shove their head in the bowl, jam my foot against the lid and then flush.
Surely anyone who isn't brain dead will realise these threads arent good, but show up the ones with a bad attitude......well it make them stand out like a turkey standing outside a butchery shop the day before thanksgiving/Christmas.
The short answer to using any website is remember is a website, it's not real life and a percentage of people on it will not be nice, not be genuine, and some mos definitely wont be sane.
In that respect it's like real life, but without the benefit of seeing someones body language, so remember folks...."buyer beware".
Lot's of people make the mistake of reading too much into anything they read, some even over analyse it, digest it and come up with anything they want!
But there is something you should all be aware of, which you genuinely might not know.
Autobots, the type that collect information, in a couple of years because of the open nature of the internet and lots of systems being open source, there will be officially more autobots using the internet than human beings.
These data miners look for information, they can even conduct conversations, and their there to just get personal information about you.
With this information they can d all manner of things, like convince others you are a friend of someones on a networking site etc.....or far worse, like run automated programmes to install onto your pc.
Free tip, if your on the net, please browse it on a second identity without administrator privileges to install programmes, that way something nasty cant be installed on your pc by accident.
The code for these anti virus wont detect, so go back to your anti virus supplier website and get them to use a tool to check your "rootkit cornel".
You might find your pc is actually part of a BOTNET, and someones using all your information for reasons unknown.
So next time you talk to someone you don't know, think can i recognise a human from a programme?
So please, free tip for today.....go check your Computer before you talk to anyone else! Oh, and remember don't have any passwords the same, have them based on any aspect you mention on a site, anywhere...as that is exactly what the bots are looking for....clues to access your digital Identity.
One one recently, lol I've lost count in all the time i've been here.
What with all the scammers, people with chips on their shoulders and people who cant measure properly, lie about age etc, you just have to laugh at all this and consider it entertainment!
I have something to add, and perhaps someone in the medical community in the US can tell you al how "notifiable" illnesses are reported and how the statistics are collected.
This maybe doesn't sound even important, until you read a little on Biological Warfare, and how agents are field tested.
Some of these tests are now in the public domain, and they include releasing agents in the London Underground amongst other places.
Now here's the trick, what is important is the carrying mechanism, not the bug itself, and you need to field test its suitability for using in the real world and see how fast the infection will pass.
Now to do this, you use the medical systems all ready in place, and attach a virus to the carrying mechanism, that's identified as "notifiable" and then release the product and stand back and watch the reports come in for weeks to come.
Then you have your base numbers, then factor in population density, survivability in say contamination of water supply and ideally, well there's so many ideals, in short you found how well the mechanism works.
Then attach a weaponry variant, repeat and watch social collapse if that were required.
The last foot and mouth outbreak in the UK stemmed from a lab, with nasty consequences.That was clearly an accident.
This may also have been an accident, or possibly another field test.......and please remember there are precedents for the authorities actually doing this!
Actually i'd love to grab one! I've been semi squashed by a Tiger in the past (he's somewhere between 500 and 700lbs!!
I don't know how much my tapier family weighs, but i'll visit them soon, take a photo and then see if anyone can get anything funnier than a fully grown tapier rolling on them for a profile picture.
Long as the female isn't preggers i should be able to arrange it!
I'll give you an example of an experience i had after xmas.
Someone i was just talking to (no romantic interest expressed whatsoever)started being pushy and kept on and on and on asking for my photo to know who she was speaking to.
Then she kept on and on about my appearance on the forums and i just gave up when she overstepped the mark one day.
Sometimes it's easier if you have no face, especially if your not interested!
I'm sure anyone without a photo would be more than happy to send their photo to anyone they actually like.
Personally i know a lack of photo may not be for the reason that someones unattractive, mostly it's a case of liking their privacy, and i don't blame them!
Picture the average man as say a 100 then picture a normal man.
Then picture a man dumb enough not to know which foot to put each shoe on.......and picture him on the scale of a donkey.
The picture a man looking at a revolving door, and thinking it's a new fairground ride......he's heading towards a sausage dog.
Then picture a man looking for a job and believing "we'll call you" from a recruiting consultant.....that's lower then sausage dog....maybe a guinee pig.
But it is possible to be more dumb, being a male on CS waiting for a date Picture hamster who cant operate his own wheel
Oh yes, there's far more secretive intelligence agencies from them.
I'm sure if you type National Security Agency or NRO into a search engine you'll get something interesting come up!
You wont find much on the internet about the Whitehouses Security either, in fact there's a long list of people that don't advertise what they do too loudly!
Some are conduits for funds, some are "legends" for staff, material and funding that allow others to do their job without attracting a lot of attention.
The real spying is done by the Defence Intelligence Agency, and they use professional intelligence officers...or second them from other appropriate resources as and when they have the need.
A good example of this work was in the Lebanon, where the "Boy Scouts of America" broadcast into the Lebanon, but in reality it wasn't anything to do with scouts, not anything at all
I have thought what contribution i have made, to the human race, and it boils down to just several instances where i was in the right place, at the right time.
Other than that, other people could have and will be doing my previous employment.
So excluding my work history, my personal history i can say probably a good example would be when i was fishing when i was young, maybe 14 a most.
I was fishing in the Lea Valley and close by there was a young man minding hs own business, and he collapse, and fell into the river.
I was close enough to get to him and pull him out before he drowned, and had i not been there he would have.
Wasn't skill on my behalf, wasn't luck, wasn't anything...i was just there and did what i could do.
I took him home to his parents, and found out he was epileptic, and i remember his parents let me watch "the exorcist" and the young man who's name i can't even remember wasn't allowed, as he was fragile and went to bed.
I stopped by on him several times, and his parents were nice, and each time i walk past their house near my home i wonder if he is ok, healthy and has a family.
Other than that, business life, former career, family, responsibility...well these things come and go, it's nothing that anyone else hasn't done or gone through, so i don't look at it as an achievment.
I admire, i mean really admire one person i never met, but followed his work in making a real difference to conservation projects and funding it through gambling.
This man's efforts are remarkable, and to have such a blunt honest philosophy regarding gambling and putting the profits into conservation.
If i won a considerable amount of money, i'd follow his model, open a casino and plough all the money into Tiger Conservation.
If your unaware of this man, have a look at the wikipedia page, and you'll get a flavour of the man.
Let's blame him, then all sides can stretch this thread out for 50 pages arguing again and again and again
I have a prediction When this ones finished,deleted, died...i guarantee someone else will type another, and the same people will make the same arguments again and again like chimps grasping for a bunch of bananas at a chimps tea party.
My reply doesn't mean i'm psychic, it just means some people are really predictable....and it's getting boring
Think of the FBI as detectives dealing with domestic affairs.
Then think of the CIA as a branch of the Government that's principle duties are intelligence gathering.
Mind you, the more you ask, the more complicated it will get!
For instance,What's the difference between the DIA and the CIA?
Where do the NRO and NSA stop with their remit?
Then ask when the rules don't apply, when you don't want someone to get caught, and when you don't want anyone pointing the finger at a government if something goes wrong.......
Well then we come to terms like "plausible deny ability", "Executive orders", and when someones hung out to dry you might be initiated to terms like "disavowed".
The question is, who works for who, who has the ultimate responsibility as some people won't even know who they are working for!
The CIA by the way have the historical "fall guy" in Intelligence circles, they are always blamed when something goes wrong.
In reality, professional military intelligence officers from another branch quietly get on with their job, while all the crap flies at the CIA's font door
The different kinds of illegal drugs are divided into three different categories, or classes. These classes (A, B and C) carry different levels of penalty for possession and dealing. The Misuse of Drugs Act (new window) is the main piece of legislation covering drugs and their categorisation. Penalties for possession and dealing Possession: Dealing: Class A Ecstasy, LSD, heroin, cocaine, crack, magic mushrooms, amphetamines (if prepared for injection). Up to seven years in prison or an unlimited fine or both. Up to life in prison or an unlimited fine or both. Class B Amphetamines, Cannabis, Methylphenidate (Ritalin), Pholcodine. Up to five years in prison or an unlimited fine or both. Up to 14 years in prison or an unlimited fine or both. Class C Tranquilisers, some painkillers, Gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB), Ketamine. Up to two years in prison or an unlimited fine or both. Up to 14 years in prison or an unlimited fine or both.
All of the drugs on the list above - whether Class A, B or C - are designated as controlled substances under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, and using them is illegal.
Class A drugs are considered to be the most likely to cause harm.
The Misuse of Drugs Act states that it is an offence to:
* possess a controlled substance unlawfully * possess a controlled substance with intent to supply it * supply or offer to supply a controlled drug (even if it is given away for free) * allow a house, flat or office to be used by people taking drugs
The punishment is serious
Drug trafficking attracts serious punishment, including life imprisonment for Class A offences.
To enforce this law the police have special powers to stop, detain and search people under the 'reasonable suspicion’ that they are in possession of a controlled drug.
Definatly that route, give them the opportunity to allow them to repay the money, but with a man sitting next to you in uniform they certainly will take you seriously.
And as i said, if thy don't co operate immediately have your friend tell them what he will do next to them and then make it official and press charges.
It's horrible i know, but god forbid anything happens and then someone will alledge "duress" and then you have to go through a horrible court case as i am doing if a will is in place excluding anyone.
I wouldn't wish it on anyone....seriously, good luck, and get your friend there to see the thieves asap, that way they cant spend more.
RE: Jet flyover the statue of liberty
That's the same sentiments that appeared in the media and on the radio in the UK.