FBI and the War on Terror

FBI and the War on Terror

I know I mockingly joke about there actually being a war on Christmas, but this following story shows that there was at least one instance where someone took the war on Christmas a bit too far by trying to blow up a Christmas tree lighting festivity in Portland. It's a good thing the FBI was there to stop it... Though they were also the ones to fund it.

The FBI thwarted an attempted terrorist bombing in Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square before the city's annual tree-lighting Friday night, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Oregon.

A Corvallis man, thinking he was going to ignite a bomb, drove a van to the corner of the square at Southwest Yamhill Street and Sixth Avenue and attempted to detonate it.

However, the supposed explosive was a dummy that FBI operatives supplied to him, according to an affidavit in support of a criminal complaint signed Friday night by U.S. Magistrate Judge John V. Acosta.

Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, a Somali-born U.S. citizen, was arrested at 5:42 p.m., 18 minutes before the tree lighting was to occur, on an accusation of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The arrest was the culmination of a long-term undercover operation, during which Mohamud had been monitored for months as his alleged bomb plot developed.

"The device was in fact inert, and the public was never in danger," according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The investigation involved the FBI, Oregon State Police, Portland Police Bureau, Corvallis Police Department and Lincoln County Sheriff's Office.

Mohamud will appear in U.S. District Court in Portland on Monday.

"This defendant's chilling determination is a stark reminder that there are people -- even here in Oregon -- who are determined to kill Americans," said Oregon U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton. "The good work of law enforcement protected Oregonians in this case -- and we have no reason to believe there is any continuing threat arising from this case."

According to the FBI affidavit, the case began in August 2009 when Mohamud was in e-mail contact with an unindicted associate overseas who was believed to be involved in terrorist activities. In December 2009, while the unindicted associate was in a frontier province of Pakistan, Mohamud and the associate discussed the possibility of Mohamud traveling to Pakistan to participate in violent jihad.

The associate allegedly referred Mohamud to a second associate overseas and provided him with a name and e-mail address. In the months that followed, Mohamud made several unsuccessful attempts to contact the second associate.

Ultimately, an FBI undercover operative contacted Mohamud in a June 2010 e-mail under the guise of being an associate of the first unindicted associate.

Mohamud and the FBI operative agreed to meet in Portland a month later. Mohamud allegedly told the FBI operative that he had written articles that were published in Jihad Recollections, an online magazine that advocated holy war.

Mohamud also indicated he intended to become "operational," meaning he wanted to put an explosion together but needed help. The two met again in August 2010 in a Portland hotel.

"During this meeting, Mohamud explained how he had been thinking of committing some form of violent jihad since the age of 15," the affidavit says. "Mohamud then told (the FBI operatives) that he had identified a potential target for a bomb: the Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square on Nov. 26, 2010."

The FBI operatives cautioned Mohamud several times about the seriousness of his plan, noting that there would be many people, including children, at the event, and that Mohamud could abandon his plans at any time with no shame.

"You know there's going to be a lot of children there?" an FBI operative asked Mohamud. "You know there are gonna be a lot of children there?"

Mohamud allegedly responded he was looking for a "huge mass that will ... be attacked in their own element with their families celebrating the holidays."

Mohamud dismissed concerns about law enforcement, explaining that, " ... It's in Oregon; and Oregon, like, you know, nobody ever thinks about," according to the affidavit.

"The threat was very real," said Oregon's FBI Special Agent in Charge Arthur Balizan. "Our investigation shows that Mohamud was absolutely committed to carrying out an attack on a very grand scale. At the same time, I want to reassure the people of this community that, every turn, we denied him the ability to actually carry out the attack."

Mohamud maintained his interest in carrying out the attack and spent months working on logistics.

He allegedly identified a location to place the bomb and mailed bomb components to the FBI operatives, who he believed were assembling the device. He also mailed them passport photos so he could sneak out of the country after the attack, according to the affidavit.

He provided the FBI operatives with a thumbdrive that contained detailed directions to the bomb location and operational instructions for the attack.

On Nov. 4, Mohamud and the FBI operatives traveled to a remote spot in Lincoln County, where they detonated a bomb concealed in a backpack as a trial run for the upcoming attack.

On the drive back to Corvalis, FBI operatives quizzed Mohamud about whether he was capable of looking at the bodies of those who would be killed in his planned Portland attack.

"I want whoever is attending that event to leave, to leave either dead or injured," Mohamud reportedly told the FBI operatives, the affidavit says.

Later that day, Mohamud recorded a video of himself with the FBI operatives in which he read a written statement offering his reasons for the planned Portland bombing.

On Nov. 18, FBI operatives picked up Mohamud to travel to Portland, where they would finalize details of the attack.

David S. Kris, assistant U.S. attorney general for national security, said, "The complaint alleges that Mohamud attempted to detonate what he believes to be a vehicle bomb at a crowded holiday event in downtown Portland, but a coordinated undercover law enforcement action was able to thwart his efforts and ensure no one was harmed. "

While I'm all for catching terrorist and saving lives, I do have to wonder... Is this really the route the FBI wants to go? It's essentially NBC's "To Catch A Predator". You're giving people bombs and arresting them for having a bomb. I'm not sure if this is too far from the blurry line of entrapment, but I guess in this post-9/11 world, that's the norm.

I'm pretty sure that every step of the way they were all like "Are you really really sure you want to go through with this? You can say no at any time! We won't look at you any differently, you know." "Oh, don't say I didn't give you enough warning...." *wink wink*

I mean, he did have the legal alternative of not accepting and using the fake bomb offered. He did come up with the idea and the location he wanted to use it. But it's really worth noting that the FBI provided him with the dud bomb as well as showed off a real one in a test sample. Considering he never was able to get a hold of the second contact, I'm a betting man and putting my money on the fact that he would have never been able to get a bomb if it wasn't for the FBI.

But as a criminal attorney, I'm sure that it's going to be utterly impossible to find a blue-blooded American judge or jurist that would give a shit about this guy's civil liberties. Especially considering he's Somali.


I wish I got paid defense money to find pissed off teenagers on the internet who wanted to blow up a mall or get back at their step father Chad. It would be easy money.


There was a story a while back where they did the same thing with some mentally deficient fry-cook and it was concluded that if the FBI hadn't gotten involved, the dude would have never been able to procure anything more powerful than some firecrackers.

That's another reason why I'm taking offense to the whole idea that they are calling this a "Weapon of mass destruction". Since when is a pipe bomb in the same class of explosive destruction as a nuke or some chemical weapon?

Maybe it's more post-9/11 mentality in the work suggesting that anything that can kill more than one person is labeled as a wmd. So I guess you can lump my baseball bat I keep in the trunk as a wmd.

But, I mean, how else are they going to meet their arrest and conviction quotas, if not by some simple convictions of thought-crime. I guess this way of capturing threats isn't new. Just look to the 1200. How would you be able to find out who wanted to kill your king? Well, have the king offer to kill himself and whoever accepts the offer, just have them killed instead.

I think the real tragedy in all this is that the article actually talks about him as being a serious threat to this nation. He's an angst child. Nothing more. But now he's going to be the state's problem with three meals and a bed to pay for.

I mean, let's get past the fact that he tried to blow shit up with fake explosives, this news piece is getting all of the attention, which is bizarre considering that no one is paying attention to that news article about the Serbian dude with a huge bomb factory in his house in Escondido, Ca.

Plastic explosive PETN, weapons-making materials found in Escondido home
November 26, 2010 | 6:38 am

Authorities have discovered blasting caps and a quantity of pentaerythritol tetranitrate, a powerful plastic explosive known as PETN, along with a huge cache of weapons-making materials at the home of an Escondido man in jail on bomb-making charges.

PETN was the explosive used by would-be shoe-bomber Richard Reid and by terrorists worldwide, officials said.

The resident of the home, George Jakubec, 54, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Serbia, is charged with possession of explosive devices, possession of bomb-making materials, bank robbery and burglary.

Jakubec has pleaded not guilty, with bail set at $5 million. Prosecutors said he is an unemployed software consultant.

The house came to the attention of authorities when a gardener was hurt in an explosion.

On Sunday, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department bomb squad entered the house, retreating after seizing evidence that included homemade grenades.

On Wednesday, the squad reentered the house, finding it "extremely cluttered, making movement and observation extremely difficult," the Sheriff's Department said.

In a storage area outside the house, authorities found containers of hydrochloric acid, nitric acid and sulfuric acid and 50 pounds of hexamine, a bomb-making material, authorities said.

"Proactive operations on site have been suspended," the Sheriff's Department said. "Explosive material and hazardous chemicals remain within the house."

Local, state and federal explosives experts are conferring about a plan to reenter the house and remove the materials. No further action is expected until Dec. 1 at the earliest.

The charges against Jakubec do not include any allegations that he had used or sold any explosive devices, according to court documents. He apparently lived alone in the home; his estranged wife attended his court arraignment Monday.

Police have seized computers at the home in hopes of determining a motive for the alleged crimes.

Stay Class, San Diego.

So you're probably wondering what the significance of Hexamine is. Well, if you mix it with nitric acid you can produce RDX, which is a critical component for modern plastic explosives.... holy shit, am I talking like an expert in explosives as well as criticizing the FBI for essentially sponsoring a fake terrorist? Welp, I'm going to Gitmo. Hello Mr. FBI agents reading this clearly flagged blog post.

May I make a suggestion that perhaps this Serbian was simply trying to make some fireworks? I mean, it is Escondido. They called it "Hidden" for a reason, it should stay that way. It's like your backwater hickville. The only thing good about that place is that the Stone Brewery is located there and you can get some wicked beer there.

So perhaps that's the only reason why it shouldn't go up in flames. But isn't it funny that the majority of post-9/11 terror bust where actual weaponry and explosives are discovered by authorities involved white people. Where as the Islamic cases are either in pre-pre-planning stages. Or at least could be made a case of having some dealings with entrapment.

I'm really surprised that we haven't seen some sort of Timothy McVeigh level shit storm already. The modern tea party seems like the perfect candidates for that sort of stupidity from the far-right.

But in essence, this story is just more proof as to why Ron was right..

Fuck You, San Diego!

The TSA Took My Contra Band Away Now!

The TSA Took My Contra Band Away Now!

It's the most wonderful time of the year... Yes, it's the busiest time of year at airports as people travel to hang out with relatives and get stuffed off Turkey. It really is the busiest times for airports, so that's why I take great joy in the fact that so many people are pissed off towards this whole TSA business. Just take a look at this poll

Reuters' readers were asked whether or not they would change their travel plans to avoid the invasive scans and pat-downs, and a whopping 96 percent (65,708 of 68,513) have thus far said yes.

What do you think about about the new invasive airport security screenings and all the hoopla surrounding them?

* Stop complaining! The new measures are necessary to guarantee security.
10%
* They may go too far, but are okay so long as people are given the option to opt out.
7%
* Enough with the scans and pat-downs! They're an invasion of civil liberties.
80%
* I'm not sure. Maybe I'll feel stronger after my next flight.
3%

I have to admit that my faith in my fellow Americans has been slightly improved upon after reading that. Good for them. Fuck the TSA.

I will refuse a body-scan out of principle. Not out of insecurity. I know it's hard, but try to put yourself in someone else's shoes please. A parent who doesn't want their 5-year old son/daughter to be either ogled or groped. A 16-year old girl who doesn't want middle-aged men making comments about her tits in a back room. A muslim woman who's religion preaches modesty which she now can't have. A pregnant woman who doesn't want to be subjected to poorly understood forms of ionizing radiation. The one guy in fifty million who actually develops cancer because of these machines. And yes, even the guy with crippling social anxiety and a tiny penis.

I don't particularly care if someone laughs at my dick. But there are plenty of reasons people do care about these new 'security' measures. I mean, look at the following picture. Does this person look like much of a threat?



Looking at those uniforms, it's pretty similar to an actual police officers, I'm sure that's on purpose. It's suppose to trigger a subconscious response to submit to whatever they are telling you to do.

It should be mentioned that you can visit any government building in the United States, up to and including the White House, where you may get a chance to speak with the President, and no one will stick a pen down your pants as shown in that picture.

I realize that a lot of dumb people fly and I'm sure TSA workers can get very annoyed at the fact that they deal with so many moronic people every day, but they should look at themselves in the mirror. Is the paycheck worth it?

Even if there's a lot of bad fliers, it can be easily explained by a lack of experience using the method of travel and general exhaustion that flying actually has on a person. You have to admit that airports and security check points in general are overwhelming and intimidating if you don't have to got through them normally.


Yup, back of the hand alright... then again, I don't blame her..

You have workers who are barking commands at you and treating you like you're a terrorist and all of a sudden it becomes a situation of US vs THEM. The whole notion that you're guilty till proven innocent.

Why can't the TSA officer involved in all this and doing this for a living take into account that the average flier only gets on a plane and has to go through this process once or twice every couple of years.

Then you have those who are coming back or going to a destination like a vacation. By the time you get to the airport it's usually when you're really exhausted from your long trip and can easily get confused. What you need is some rest and not to be treated like a criminal attempting to take down a plane.

I know I flew a lot during the post 9/11 world and I can tell you that even with my massive amount of miles, it has happened to me many times. So just blaming the public for being ignorant and stupid seems like it's shortsighted and not really much of a solution.

Besides that, I've said it before and I'll say it again, what does this security theater really do for your safety? If it was actually helpful wouldn't you see this force implemented in other places. What will the government do if there was some terrorist attack in a crowded subway car or in the ports, which are all poorly secured.


Looks like you're smuggling something here, sir.

TSA is a perfect example of the old "protecting you from yesterday's threats tomorrow" type of bureaucracy, so I'd pretty much exclude everyone. It's all bullshit anyway. As Bruce Schneier said back in 2005:

Exactly two things have made airline travel safer since 9/11: reinforcement of cockpit doors, and passengers who now know that they may have to fight back. Everything else -- Secure Flight and Trusted Traveler included -- is security theater. We would all be a lot safer if, instead, we implemented enhanced baggage security -- both ensuring that a passenger's bags don't fly unless he does, and explosives screening for all baggage -- as well as background checks and increased screening for airport employees.

Then we could take all the money we save and apply it to intelligence, investigation and emergency response. These are security measures that pay dividends regardless of what the terrorists are planning next, whether it's the movie plot threat of the moment, or something entirely different.

I mean, it's become a daily occurrence to spot the next epic TSA fuckup. Just look at this next situation..

A woman tries to have containers of breast milk she's carrying hand-screened instead of passed through the x-ray machine. Breast milk is considered a medical liquid under the TSA's own regulations, which means she has a perfect right to make this request, and the TSA, again by its own stated rules, will comply.

What happens instead is that she's scolded by the TSA, left standing in the clear "special screening" cubicle for over an hour until she misses her flight, and has a real police officer called over to tell her that she is being a disruptive passenger.

Eventually a supervisor is called over. The woman shows him a copy of the TSA's guidelines, printed out from their own website and brought with her, as the TSA itself suggests. The response? According to her, the supervisor tells her, "Well, the rules don't apply to you today."

According to the woman the TSA was rude and verbally abusive to her, but the security camera footage has no sound. However, the TSA hasn't denied her version of events, and even if you can't hear what's being said, the video (in four parts, all taken from the TSA's own cameras) is pretty damning with just what you see of the interaction.

In all honestly, the real power of the TSA is the ability to make people miss their flights. No matter how well you follow the rules, they can make up some stupid reason to keep you there for an extra half hour and then whoops! Sorry about that.. oh wait, not even a sorry.



And since they've been getting so much bad press, they decided to not include 12 year old and under kids into the whole scanners, but now it's Pilots who finally get the pass.

Which is smart because, let's fucking be honest here.. Given the amount of radiation pilots are exposed to on a yearly basis just flying, I can't really imagine why they would opt in to going through more machines that send radiation bouncing off their bodies. Also, they're the goddamn pilot. If they wanted to take down a plane, they don't need to sneak in a bomb. They could just crash it.

I have an idea that these machines really don't have much to do with the War on Terror and is instead sounding like a move for the war on drugs. Liquids, gels and powders either don't make good explosives or require a detonator to go off. However, these substances do describe all commonly smuggled drugs. And what better mule to carry drugs than an pilot.


They should be checking Kim K.'s ass, as that would be the place she would smuggle midgets in with.

The worse of it is that no one is even paying attention to who gets the money in all this. The machines cost somewhere around $100,000 each and they plan on selling 500 this quarter and another 1000 the next quarter. Which means that the former director of the TSA gets his paycheck.

Our nations security, dignity, and time is being sold on a lie because there is a buck in it. Not like Micheal Chertoff, the former director who is cashing in on all this with his company who makes the machine ever has to fly commercial anyway. So he wouldn't know what it would feel like to be treated like a terrorist.

Michael Chertoff's "Chertoff Group" which he has admitted owning RapidScan Systems, one of the two manufacturers of the of the full-body scanners, simply wants to take millions of dollars of your tax money while simultaneously convincing you that it's for your safety.


Turn and cough please.

I mean, it's really obviously a money-making scheme for those with stock involved here. It's actually pretty awful that if this was a movie we'd all be bitching about how unrealistic it is because the plan is so fucking obvious. And yet this point is ignored because it's not as visceral or easy to relate to as the TSA getting their grope on.


There really isn't any point to any of it anyway. It prevents nothing. In fact, the one thing we've done since 9/11 that actually would have prevented 9/11 was reinforcing and locking the cockpit door, everything else is completely reactionary. It's better to gut the TSA to 1/8th its current budget and go back to metal detectors and employ air marshals to fly on each plane and call it a day.

Grabbing a kids junk isn't going to find the bomb someone made him swallow or otherwise jammed inside of him. So, yeah, the threat level remains the same. Firing the junk grabbers on the other hand, at least gives us infrastructure budget to be used in a more helpful manner.


....

And it's not even a case of bad screeners either. You can't just say to fire them for going against the TSA policy because.. at the current moment TSA has no policy. They pull it out of their ass as they go along. No one knows what the rules are. We're directed to the website, when the website doesn't say what the screener says, we're told that it's all part of "dynamic security" so that the terrorist don't exploit a weakness. In short, you're just making the fucking rules up as we're playing the game.

You have a bunch of people who don't know their polices and apply them so inconsistently, then they wonder why people get pissed off. Like in the situation where a cancer survivor had to remove her fake breast in public. Only that's not what the policy states to do.

I also love it when people start quoting shit like in this article..

But John Drake, 36, of York, Maine, flying yesterday with his family to San Jose, Calif., for Thanksgiving, had no complaints: “Travel is not a birth-given right. It’s a choice. And it’s up to our government to make sure we’re safe while we do it.” He called Opt Out Day “the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of.”

Shut the motherfucking fuck up. Traveling is not a birth-given right? We should have to check in with the police station for permission before we leave our hometowns, and notify the police in te cities we visit when we arrive. Just like a good totalitarian state, I say. The government knows what's best for us!

It's bad enough they're making outrageous shit for not following their strict rules.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is warning that any would-be commercial airline passenger who enters an airport checkpoint and then refuses to undergo the method of inspection designated by TSA will not be allowed to fly and also will not be permitted to simply leave the airport.

That person will have to remain on the premises to be questioned by the TSA and possibly by local law enforcement. Anyone refusing faces fines up to $11,000 and possible arrest.

They've implemented that right now. Why? it's purely punitive measure, made in response to the constant public outrage of last week and because it's the Holiday travel rush. It's the TSA saying, in clear terms, "You are the enemy, and we are the authority".


Yeah.. she's not hiding anything there...

Even if we have this little Fourth Amendment in our Constitution...

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Yup, it sounds pretty cut and dry.

And it's not that they can save your image. I mean, that is terrible, but the fact that when they asked them if they could save the image, the TSA flat out lied about it. So it brings into question what else they are lying about.

But the worse part of this whole situation is that Michael Chertoff, the guy at the DHS who pushed hard for these scanners, is financially connected to the company that makes them. And that they're being crammed down our throats. Someone's making a huge amount of money off irradiating us under the impression that it makes us safer.

Of course, they'll just flat out deny that there was any conflict of interest, but yes it's absolutely disgusting that not only are people's rights being trampled, it's likely being implemented so one of the executives can make a nice gain.

I bet that the terrorist are so pleased with how hysterical we've all become. I'm confused by how people forget that the point of terrorism is to create a heightened state of anxiety and fear in the culture targeted, but yet somehow don't see that this is sort of intense violating reaction in order to protect us.

But hey, maybe if they make bladder problem people pee, they're doing something to stop terrorism.

A Houghton Lake man says he was so aggressively patted down by an agent at a Detroit Metro Airport security checkpoint this month that it caused the lid on his urostomy bag to come loose, spilling urine on his shirt and pants.. . .


Sawyer said he and his wife were heading to catch a plane to Orlando on Nov. 7 when he went through the airport’s new full-body scanner and was then selected to be patted down by a TSA agent.

Sawyer said that after asking the agents for a more discreet pat-down, he was taken to a private area.

Sawyer said one agent began the pat-down, but when he began sliding his hand firmly down his chest, he said he told the security officer that the pressure could pull the lid off his urostomy bag — which, Sawyer said, is what happened.

“When I got out of the room my wife knew something was wrong and I just broke down crying,” he said. “I was just so embarrassed, so humiliated.”

He said once through security, he changed his bag, but didn’t have time to change his clothing and had to board the plane soaked in urine.

“I was embarrassed to death,” Sawyer said.

He said he was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2007 and had to have a procedure that left him with a urostomy bag to catch re-routed urine. . .

Still, Sawyer said it didn’t ruin his trip with his wife.

“Nothing,” he said, “absolutely nothing, ruins our good time.”

I have to say, "I'm just doing my job" has never been an acceptable excuse for anything. I'm not sure why people think that doing bad things is okay if you're doing it for money.

It's also a bit comical. Looking up what you can bring on the plane, I noticed that you can bring your knitting needles as carry on, but not a nail clipper... I just have to wonder how that makes any sense. I mean, yeah, everyone should know that it is possible to blow up a plane or take over it with nail clippers, but with Knitting needles you're not going to do anything but make a neat Doctor Who scarf.



As for the comment from the TSA administrator John Pistole:

...it comes down to how do we give the highest level of confidence to everybody on that flight that everybody else has been properly screened

Not the highest level of safety, but the highest level of passenger confidence. Security theater has been directly unmasked by the TSA.

I mean, how else do you force everyone to go through their incredibly dangerous and expensive machines while punishing the ones who would argue with it to ensure their contract stays as strong as it does? You grab their junk and say that there's potentially a risk of a bomb being kept in an area they value more than anything else. If that doesn't work they'll just start doing wrist deep anal searches.

I have to ask why everyone assumes that people are asking for more security and a better feeling of safety... Who the fuck is asking for more security? Does "people" mean the people who are making money from the TSA? Because the average traveler is much more nervous about something happening with the plane itself, or with the fact that they'll be defying gravity in a few moments and flying. They're less afraid of terrorist because.. the amount of terrorist attacks is fucking small!


Buy a man dinner first before you touch my mini anaconda, nigga!

Unless we get another underwear/shoe/mustache/anal cavity bomber this holiday season, the TSA will probably be under significant pressure to change their practices. Hell, and even if we do, they'll be shown as the king with no clothing that they are.

There's a point where you put too much security and you hit some sort of safety diminishing returns somewhere past taking off shoes and a little before body scans and groping. And I have to say, the shoe threat was stupid. The guy was trying to light C-4 with a lighter. C-4 doesn't explode from just applying fire to it, it'll burn, but that's about it.

We are so far past that diminishing returns point that it's not even funny. The TSA is only continuing to get funding by employing terror techniques to scare the average American into giving them more money to ensure their safety. That's right. How ironic is that shit, the TSA is a terrorist organization and while we fight this war on terror we created one to terrorize our own population. Isn't it about time that we see the TSA as useful as putting up a sign that says "Please don't attack us"

So of course the TSA is digging in their heels on this one, because the makers of the device spent 4.3 million this year paying off the government for the right to put these into place. There's nothing that makes officials fight tooth and nail more than the prospect of losing lobbyist money. Yes, corruption happens. A lot.

Wait 40 Years And The Terrorist Give Up

After 40 Years, We Throw Up The White Flag

Now I don't expect the terrorist to win all the time, but then again, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. So in that sense I have news to report that my DNA background, after 40 years of fighting, The ETA has decided to wave the white flag

Basque separatist group Eta 'declares ceasefire'

It is not clear whether the ceasefire is permanent or temporary. Armed Basque separatist group Eta says it will not "carry out armed actions" in its campaign for independence.

In a video obtained exclusively by the BBC, the group said it took the decision several months ago "to put in motion a democratic process".

The Basque interior minister called the statement "insufficient". Madrid has previously insisted that Eta renounce violence and disarm before any talks.

Eta's violent campaign has led to more than 820 deaths over the past 40 years.

It has called two ceasefires in the past, but abandoned them both.

This latest announcement comes after the arrests of numerous Eta leaders and during an unprecedented period of debate within the Basque nationalist community over the future direction of policy, says the BBC's Clive Myrie in San Sebastian.

Eta has been coming under increasing pressure to lay down its weapons, our correspondent adds.

Under pressure

It is unclear whether Eta is declaring a permanent or temporary ceasefire.

In the video obtained by the BBC, three hooded Eta fighters are shown sitting behind a desk with the Eta flag pinned up behind them.

The figure in the middle reads out a prepared statement defending Eta's campaign of violence, but towards the end she says the group now wants to achieve its aims by peaceful, democratic means.

"Eta confirms its commitment to finding a democratic solution to the conflict," the statement says.

"In its commitment to a democratic process to decide freely and democratically our future, through dialogue and negotiations, Eta is prepared today as yesterday to agree to the minimum democratic conditions necessary to put in motion a democratic process, if the Spanish government is willing," it says

It adds that Eta "took the decision several months ago not to carry out armed actions".

The statement ends: "We call on all Basque citizens to continue in the struggle, each in their own field, with whatever degree of commitment they have, so that we can all cast down the wall of denial and make irreversible moves forward on the road to freedom."

Eta announces that it took the decision several months ago not to carry out armed actions.

Nationalist politicians in the Basque country welcomed the announcement and called on the Spanish government and the international community to respond positively.

The pro-Eta party Batasuna, which has been banned since 2003 on the grounds that it is Eta's political wing, is one of two Basque nationalist parties to have called on Eta to declare "an internationally verifiable ceasefire" days earlier.

Cautious reaction

But Rodolfo Ares, the interior minister for the Basque region, called Eta's statement inadequate.

"Any declaration that talks about the suspension of terrorist attacks - even if it is only temporary - should be considered as good news," he said.
Map of Spain showing Basque region

But he called Eta's declaration "ambiguous" and "absolutely insufficient", because it did not "take into account what the vast majority of Basque society demands and requires from Eta, which is that it definitively abandon terrorist activity".

The Spanish government, which has been studying Eta's statement but is yet to make an official response, has said in the past that it will only negotiate with Eta if it renounces violence and disarms.

The deputy editor of the Basque language newspaper, Gara, which follows the activities of Eta closely, said the Basque people had been hoping for this declaration.

"I think that it's a big step and a positive step," Njaki Soto told the BBC. "I think that's it's something that the majority of the Basque society was waiting [for] or expecting and in that sense I think that it's something that no-one can say that it's negative."

"It will be a long way but it's something that can bring the peace and the justice to the Basque country," he said.

Barbara Duhrkop, a former Socialist MEP whose husband Enrique Casas was murdered by Eta in 1984, said the statement was a positive step but did not go far enough.

"It's still insufficient because they talk about ceasefire, democratic process, but there's nothing about laying down arms and permanence. So I would be very careful, very cautious to evaluate how much worth there is in this announcement," she said.

Founded in 1959, Eta has since then waged a bloody campaign for independence for the seven regions in northern Spain and south-west France that Basque separatists claim as their own.

Controversial peace talks in 2006 collapsed after an Eta bomb killed two people at Madrid airport.

How can you look at these fine gentlemen and think them anything more than liberators?



This is sort of a big news piece. I really don't expect them to keep to this promise much. Especially considering how many attacks of their have been stopped in progress just in the past couple years alone.

And.. it doesn't look like the government is taking it seriously either. Oh, you can't read that? Let me translate it for you.

One day following terrorist group ETA's announcement of a ceasefire, the Minister of Public Works and Vice-Secretary General of the PSOE José Blanco have spoken on behalf of the government. "There's nothing good about this message," he stated in an interview with Onda Cero.

"We have to completely dismantle this terrorist group," stated the minister, who has been the first member of the government to speak publically about ETA's anouncement, "the terrorist group ETA is greatly weakened and is looking for an opportunity. But there are no opportunities except for them to definitively abandon arms and violence; it's a lost opportunity." The minister has praised the joint work "being done across party lines" in order to combat ETA's terrorism. "This you can know for certain. These are very solid agreements, that get good results."

ETA stated in their address that they decided months ago "not to commit armed offensive actions," without specifying whether their stated ceasefire is permanent or temporary and without making reference to calls from the left abertzale [t: radical basque separatists] to adopt a permanent and verifiable international truce.

its no good to make the organization a nonviolent political force, must obliterate

Let's play devil's advocate though. The PSOE at least was willing to hold peace talks with ETA, but nope, that wasn't good enough for them back then. So yeah, it's pretty easy to see why they don't want any negotiations and don't have any reason to believe them.

I say whatever to them. You see, the ETA did a lot of good things. Yes, their actions can be considered terrorist by nature, but it's all for a good cause.

One of the, if not the greatest hits in terms of political assassinations has to be the ETA killing Franco's successor, Luis Carrero Blanco, in what can be considered a spectacular manner. If you don't believe me, than take a look at the following diagram



Yes, that's a diagram of a car being flung over a building by an explosive blast.

“The execution in itself had an order and some clear objectives. From the beginning of 1951 Carrero Blanco practically occupied the government headquarters in the regime. Carrero Blanco symbolized better than anyone else the figure of “pure Francoism” and without totally linking himself to any of the Francoist tendencies, he covertly attempted to push Opus Dei into power. A man without scruples conscientiously mounted his own State within the State: he created a network of informers within the Ministries, in the Army, in the Falange, and also in Opus Dei. His police managed to put themselves into all the Francoist apparatus. Thus he made himself the key element of the system and a fundamental piece of the oligarchy’s political game. On the other hand, he came to be irreplaceable for his experience and capacity to maneuver and because nobody managed as he did to maintain the internal equilibrium of Francoism”.

Julen Agirre, Operation Ogro: The Execution of Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco

As you could see, the ETA used to be pretty hardcore during the early days of the civil war. Now a days they haven't done much. While it may be a matter of supporting a terrorist organization, they did kind of ensure Spain's democracy because Franco's plan was to have the true believer Blanco as his successor. Then when Blanco got killed, the only one left was the heir to the throne who Franco had known and taught since he was a kid. Juan Carlos had Franco convinced he'd continue Franco's vision of Spain. Then Franco died and the king took power and called a constitutional convention transitioning to socialist democracy.

You see this man? He's a good king.



Then you add in that his son, the Prince who will probably take power soon, is a straight up communist.

I guess the solution to this is Basques invade Andorra and kill everyone there to establish their homeland. Of course there's the comical approach and wonder why the lizard bounty hunter guy from star wars hates Spain so much.

But then again, they're just going to pussy out once again. The problem with ETA is they're following the IRA's lead that certainly worked well for Irish independence, didn't it? Oh wait.. no, it didn't. Not like this is going to last anyway. It never does.

Now That's Entertainment!

Now That's Entertainment!

You know, I'm not even sure how to introduce this political clip other than you'll wonder if it's actually real.



Yes, that is real and it is beautiful

Dan Fanelli, a Florida Republican hoping to emerge from a competitive Republican primary field to challenge Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson, has released an ad in which he appears to argue that the United States should engage in racial profiling to fight terror.

"Does this look like a terrorist?" he asks in the spot, pointing at a white-haired white man in a tie. Then a darker-skinned man in a black t-shirt enters the frame as Fanelli asks, "or this?"

"It's time to stop this political correctness and the invasion of our privacy," he says. He then goes on to make an apparent joke about how he wouldn't mind being pulled out of line at the airport if "a good looking, ripped guy without much hair was flying airplanes into the twin towers."

Well, it's beautiful in that five car pile up on the side of the road that you simply have to slow down to get a better view at sort of train wreck. I've always wondered about how people that get paid to do things like portray a negative stereotype of their own race unironically rationalize it. Work's work, I guess. I suppose I also wonder the same about fat/ugly people who are cast in a role in which they're ridiculed for being fat/ugly.

Like, you move all the way out to Los Angeles, work at In-n-Out for years waiting for your big break, go to audition after audition, and the defining work of your life is playing somebody's fat friend for a couple seasons on some tbs sitcom. How do you live with yourself?

You can't even lose weight or try and get healthy! Your whole career is based on being fat and ugly. I mean, do you try to rationalize it? Do you tell yourself "I'm not really that ugly, they just play it up with camera angles and makeup" or do you walk around all day knowing that you're actually tv-exaggerated-ugly (or contributing to the marginalization of your race or whatever)

Then again, the 'arabs' in the ad are probably Italians or Greeks or something. It's ads like this that make me want to smoke weed or something. Look at it. That dude literally had a towel on his head. This is nothing more than a case of "White people walk like this, but terrorist walk like this."

It was pointed out on the daily show that the guy who flew the plane into the IRS building looked just like the guy the ad is for.



Maybe we should stop all the bald "buff looking" 50 year old's before they fly planes into our own government buildings. But again, this goes to show you that we remember when someone who isn't white does something for a long time but quickly forget how many in-house terrorist we have. It's as if the following things never happened:

The guy flying the plane into the IRS building
The Unabomber
Oklahoma City
those Michigan Militia fellows planning to kill cops

Oh, you know what? Fuck it! The reason profiling doesn't work is because as soon as you make it official in what sort of look you're keeping your eye on, that terrorist will use makeup or find someone who looks innocent and hates America do to the act.

Just take a look at the list of violent crimes and the people behind them.

OH MY GOD! Once again, the top 4 are all white! WE CAN'T TRUST WHITE PEOPLE WITH GUNS! TAKE THEM AWAY THEIR GUNS!

The real irony here is that John McClane, Jack Bauer and any conservative action film star almost invariably finds himself up against members of the military-industrial complex who are the real bad guys of whatever terrorist plot the film/show has. This goes flying straight over the heads of conservatives. The fact that the true enemy is ourselves. But no, fuck this dude and fuck them Muslims for wanting to build a Mosque two blocks away from the WTC site.

It's official, America is the worst country and conservatives do a better job at parodying themselves than actual parodies. But you know what? Fuck it. I'm just going to numb myself to life with comical videos of mascots falling down.



Oh man, do I feel better now!

Where In the World is....

Where In the World is....

Osama Bin Laden? Yes, much like Carmen Sandiego, we're still looking for that pesky terrorist who plotted and called for the attacks on 9/11 (Hope you haven't forgotten about it) I mean, it's been almost ten years since the attacks. I'm not even sure what he looks like anymore. So in an effort to keep us all in the loop on how he looks like in case we see him at the local Whole Foods buying some blood oranges, the U.S. Government has given us a computer generated image of his new look.

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. State Department has updated its 1998 file photo of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, digitally altering it to account for a decade of age and possible changes in his facial hair.

There is a $25 million bounty on bin Laden's head for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya. Bin Laden is now 52. And he is believed to be hiding in the lawless Pakistan frontier bordering Afghanistan, though his exact whereabouts have been unknown since late 2001, when he and a small contingent of body guards walked out of the Tora Bora mountains, evading air strikes and U.S. special forces and Afghan militias,

The photos and bounty on bin Laden and 41 others wanted for terrorism are on the State Department's Web site,http://www.rewardsforjustice.net.

So, I bet you're wondering what Bin Laden looks like these days. Wonder no longer. Thanksf or the high tech do-hicky, here he is;



Well that settles that. Osama was really George Clooney's half muslim brother all along. I mean, look at that. Based on our advanced modeling technology, we have been able to accurately predict that Bin Laden has great hair, we're talking Clooney material here. Well, that settles it. osama was really george clooneys half muslim brother al along

Just look at the guy.. It's no wonder we can't catch him. Because we are spending time and resources making shitty conjectural photos. A trillion dollar budget and we can't even hire a good photoshopper? That image looks like it was made with the source engine from Half Life 2. I mean, that guy just looks like a grandpa that will take you out fishing and for ice cream.

If anything, that's just a product placement right there;
Just for men touch of gray let's in a little gray, allowing you to look like you know what you're doing... and till be able to do it.

Thanks for the updated pics, U.S. Government. I will keep my eyes open... Why can't we face it, the dude has to be dead. We need to get over this need for satisfaction in terms of justice being served. Hell, we can't even get the "Freedom Towers" built, so what luck do we have on ever getting over it without the blood of this man on our justice systems hands.

Is it that we're just looking for closure on this whole matter? Because he hasn't sprung any other attacks on us. So it's not like he's a threat. I'm not saying that we should just forget what he did, but let's be realistic here. We're not going to find this guy. I also have to wonder how does he get dialysis and still look like that? I mean, yeah, there's always his secret underground cave fort.



There's gotta be room for a dialysis machine in there. Plus you ave to remember that there is not one of those, there are many of those... as we were reminded all that time on those news outlets



He also probably has one disguised as a mobile weapons lab for when he used to visit Saddam. Seriously, how did we ever end up believing this crap? I think that the best part is that it take up the ENTIRE MOUNTAIN. No space goes unwasted. They should get TLC out there to see how they took Trading Spaces to school with that upgrade.

You'd figure the time and money and logistics required for this sort of job would be on par with building the great wall of China without anyone, you know, noticing what that big fucking construction project was. But I guess it's more palatable for Americans than the fact that the stinger missles are just in the mud hut equivalent of a garage.

That mountain fortress always makes me think of this Life in Hell comic strip.



Bush must have stopped looking for Osama because he knew the real threat was Hank Scorpio. I mean, it's not like we're going to ever find him. He's more than likely dead by now without any proper medical aid for his conditions that he has had in the tiny bits and pieces of information that we hear every now and then. In a hundred years it'll be some very special of whatever show is ripping off X-files at the time. Finding the missing terrorist that gave America a black eye all the way back in 2001. Not that they'll even remember what happened on that day, but those sci-fi geeks who never forgot will enjoy said episode.

But there's something else disturbing about that picture of updated Bin Laden. I feel like I've seen him before. I mean, he has a striking similarity to Spanish Politician Gaspar Llamazares. In fact, let's get his portrait up there side by side with Updated Bin Laden.



I mean, yeah. He's representing the United Left, a Communist Party, but I thought we were over the cold war and not trying to destroy communism anymore.. At least the FBI is fessing up to doing some tricky Photoshopping.

FBI admits Photofit of Osama Bin Laden had Spanish features

A MOCKED-UP image of how Osama Bin Laden may look today has been withdrawn by the US State Department after the FBI admitted it was partly based on a photograph of a Spanish MP taken from the internet.

The Photofit image of an older, greying Al-Qaeda leader bore a striking resemblance to the left-wing politician Gaspar Llamazares, a member of Spain’s Communist party and a critic of the US “war on terror”. It turned out Llamazares’s grey hair, jaw line and forehead had been simply cut and pasted from an old campaign photograph by an FBI technician.

The FBI originally claimed it used “cutting edge” technology to come up with new images of terrorist suspects for the State Department’s Rewards for Justice website.

However, Ken Hoffman, an FBI spokesman, admitted yesterday that the agency had used a picture of Llamazares taken from Google Images to update the Photofit.

He told the Spanish newspaper El Mundo: “The forensic artist was unable to find suitable features among the reference photographs and obtained those features, in part, from a photograph he found on the internet.”

The US government had previously been using a 1998 photo of Bin Laden, including on a wanted poster that offered a reward of up to $25m (now worth £15m) for information leading to his capture or killing.

Llamazares, former leader of the United Left party, was elected to Spain’s parliament in 2000. He said he would no longer feel safe travelling to the United States. “I was surprised and angered because it’s the most shameless use of a real person to make up the image of a terrorist,” he said.

“It’s almost like out of a comedy, if it didn’t deal with matters as serious as Bin Laden and citizens’ security.”

Llamazares intends to ask the US government for an explanation and is considering legal action. He said he has “no similarity, physically or ideologically, to Bin Laden”.

They do share one trait: they are both 52.

Bin Laden, who is wanted for the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the 1998 US embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya, is believed to be hiding in the lawless Pakistan frontier region bordering Afghanistan.

His exact whereabouts have been unknown since late 2001, when he and some bodyguards slipped out of the Tora Bora mountains in Afghanistan, evading airstrikes, special forces and Afghan militias.

HA HA HA HAHAHA HA. Yup, that's the FBI alright. I have to say that the level of competence of the American intelligence community is unparalleled. This is just comically incompetent. Only in America, right? I still can't believe they tried to pass it off as some very powerful and expensive high-tech equipment that produced what amounted to being the crop and cut/paste tools.

I just have to ask why though. Why the fuck would they take the time to do this? I mean, it's not like having him on wanted posters at the Post office with an updated image will get us any closer to finding him. If he's still alive he's some where far off and away from anyone who gives a shit about American news reports. You know how we don't give a shit about world news, I bet this photo wont even make it on that "news around the world in 60 seconds" segment.

Then again, now that we claimed a Spanish politician is Osama, I guess it will make waves over seas.. Only waves of laughter on how ignorant us Americans are. I mean, his picture must be the first on some Google image search for "Middle aged" or "early 50's" or something and that's just how it got tagged by these high-tech geeks in Washington.



Just look at the average picture on the Rewards for Justice website. I mean, it's a fucking joke. Though I do think I found myself new picture fodder for if I ever decide to troll the online dating personals. Oh yes, baby. You're 85% matched to an updated Osama Bin Laden.

Then again, maybe the U.S. Government just learned something from Time magazine, who in 1985 predicted what Michael Jackson would look like in 2000..

It's 9/11, Did You Forget?

It's 9/11, Did You Forget?

Today is 9/11, I hope you didn't forget. It would be really awkward if you actually forgot. I know everyone keeps telling you to Nevar Forget, but sometimes stuff slips your mind, you know. Like that one time when I was at the market and I totally forgot the ice cream and only picked up the Old Rasputin beer. Only when I got home and realized I didn't get the ice cream that I realized I couldn't actually make those bitchin' beer floats that I really wanted. Fuck man. That sucked.

But seriously, you shouldn't forget this date. And really, I wonder how long it will take before people start to really be able to honestly say they forgot what day it is. Perhaps 15 years? I dunno. It's just really going to be so awkward when I'm old and can't remember much sitting in the retirement home, while the social worker is cleaning up my drool she ask me if I remember what day it is and I can't remember. I'm going to feel like such a jack ass.



Oh wait, what am I talking about, I'll be dead long before I go into a retirement home. Ha! Besides, there's not going to be any social security to cover the cost of me living. Everyone knows that Obama's death panels will kill me off. Anyhow, where was I, I forgot. Oh yeah, 9/11. Now I remember what happed on that date-

September 11, 1973 - A CIA backed coup in Chile headed by General Augusto Pinochet topples the democratically elected President Salvador Allende. Pinochet remains in power for almost 17 years. Oh wait.. not that 9/11? Hmm, let me think. Oh yeah. 9/11... It's the day Sorority Row gets released. This is going tobe worst 9/11 EVER!

Can't forget 9/11/85: Pete Rose breaks Ty Cobb's base hit record.



How dare I not take this as serious as Gleen Beck or Bill O'Reily suggest you take it. This literally is the greatest, most traumatizing tragedy face by people ever in history. Especially those people in the states hundreds or thousands of miles away from ground zero.

The holocaust, Darfur, Rewanda, Nanking, Trail of tears? All these and more are as insignificant as a peanut compared to how America lost its innocence on 9/11. Republic of Cong? Apartheid? What about those? NOTHING! Not a god damn thing next to NINE ELEVEN!



Shock and Awe: 6,000 casualties.
9/11: 3,000 casualties.
Winner: 9/11

I'm never forgetting so hard that every day is 9/11. Sign me up for the armed services, yo. Cause I wanna say "Let's roll" and be a true American. You didn't join the armed services the moment the towers fell? What the fuck kind of pussy are you? Don't worry, it's all good, homie. We can chill and roast 9/11 marshmallows some time.



I'm going to recognize 9/11 by leaving the TV on, so I can soak in all the various non-stop montages of footage of the towers falling and people crying and where-are-they-now interviews where MSNBC asks people whose family/friends died to try their very hardest to remember how they were feeling on the day because that kind of devotion to remembering that a terrorist attack happened is exactly why terrorist attack things in the first place.



I don't know about you, but it's barely 9am and I'm already tired of the news asking us the same question year after year. "WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ON THIS HISTORIC DAY, ONLY 8 YEARS AFTER TERRORISTS FLEW PLANES INTO THE WORLD TRADE CENTER, IN THIS POST 9/11 WORLD!!"

Seriously, the question is old and boring. What did I learn? America is a pretty fucked up country and we'll gladly piss on another nation with the defense that "The End Justifies The Means". And I guarantee you that by mid-day, conservatives will be up in arms that Obama isn't being reverent enough. Even if he spends the entirety of the 24 hours in silent prayer contemplating the lives lost, they'll claim that since he was praying to Allah it didn't count.



Is it not weird that people remember the exact date of the WTC attacks but not any other historical event? It's only been 8 years, but can we just get this to be a national holiday already? Yeah, it's a little bit too close to Labor day, but this way we could just have back to back three day weekends. I mean, it's only fitting to have the end of summer be at the same time that we had the end of our freedom.

Oh no! That is horribly insensitive of me, isn't it? What about the families of the people who died, huh? HUH!? I must say that I feel terribly sorry for anyone who lost anyone they cared about on 9/11. I wont lie about that. It was really a tragic day in the history of our nation. There's no mistaking that. I'll be honest with you, I mock the way we handle 9/11 as a reaction to how the far right used the tragedy of the day to push their agenda.



If you're disgusted by the pictures I post in this blog and aren't disgusted by the way that the Bush administration used the "loss of our Innocence" as a nation to send us to war with a country that didn't have anything to do with the terror attack, then well, I can't help you. If you can say you're ok with the rights an excess of power that we gave up, all in the name of safety, but are angered by the use of a silly photoshop image here? Well then what the hell is wrong with you?

Are we better off today than we were before 9/11? That's the question asked by the media all the time. What is life like in this Post-9/11 world? Well, we're losing soldiers in a war that was not needed. So far here's the count.

9/11 casualties: 2,974
Iraq War causalities: 1,339,711

Seems like a lot of energy and life wasted on a place that didn't send men to our country, get them enrolled in our flght schools and then carried out acts of terrorism... and did it successfully. Wouldn't the best way to deal with the act of terrorism to not let tme be successful be not letting their acts be disruptive to your daily life?



Not letting their actions change the laws allowing less freedom and more government control/hand in your business. Not tarnishing your ability to get on a plane. Hell, I was put on a terrorist watch list simply because my name is Javier. Way to not look at race, creed or sex in your equality cause. Yup. Had to go through the extra long security because my name sounded non-white.

All in the name of keeping us safe did we sacrifice just about everything that we were built on as a nation. And what was the first thing that our glorious leader at the time said that we should do after the attacks? Go shopping. Yes, because I want to go get a new Ikea sofa at a time like this. How about some duct tape.. You know, that magical security device that will keep me safe from a terror attack of the gas type. Might as well get under a desk during a nuclear war.



How about all the songs we couldn't hear after 9/11? It seems that the first American right that we saw go was the ability to hear music on the radio. Did you forget about that? Awwww, awwwkward. Here's a list of all the songs that were deemed inappropriate for air play on 9/12 and for a while after. HUGE ASS LIST CLICK HERE!

Again, the list is huge and just goes to show you how much of a pussy nation we are if some of these songs offend our sensibilities enough that we had to have clear channel ban them from being played.

Van Halen - Jump
Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge over troubled water
Santana - Evil Ways
R.E.M. - It's the end of the world as we know it
RHCP - Aeroplane, Under the bridge
Queen- Another one bites the dust
Queen- killer queen
ALL RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE SONGS. Pink Floyd - Mother. NIN - Head like a hole. Nena - 99 Luftballons.
Frank Sinatra - New York, New York

What.The.Fuck. How can you not allow New York, New York to be played? I know we were just attacked at the time, but to deny New Yorkers the ability to hear Frank Sinatra should be a war crime in itself. But the one that sticks out the most. The one that I can tell that the terrorist really won is that Clear Channel had this song remove from air play during those tough times

Louis Armstrong "What a Wonderful World"

You have got to kidding me about that. If there was a song that ever should be played during the tough times when people are still looking for missing loved ones, when our nation is looking around to see who exactly attacked us and find answers, it's that one.



I don't hate America. I didn't approve of the attacks. What I do hate is the way we handled this whole situation. The way that we just otherwise jumped to the conclusion that everything we are doing is actually the correct course of action. This stubborn idea just causes me to be confused on if there's any sort of logic or reason going on behind our actions.

Look at the news piece of this very morning

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Coast Guard tried Friday to prevent a boat from entering a security zone on the Potomac River not far from the Pentagon, where President Obama was at an event commemorating the September 11 attacks.

There were reports on police scanners that the Coast Guard fired 10 rounds of ammunition, but those reports could not immediately be confirmed. It was not immediately clear from the reports whether they referred to warning shots.

It ended up being some sort of training exercise. Now tell me this, who the hell would schedule a training exercise with live fire on the morning of 9/11 near the area of a place that was attacked and would have a lot of media coverage? I know this whole blog post has been about not stopping the world because of 9/11, but still, you don't need to recreate the entire scenario picture for picture in order to get an idea on how to combat it.



Remember how much shit was caused when they flew that Obama plane pretty close to the skyline of New York for pictures? Ha. That caused a lot of uproar. Not the same uproar that the Moonanites caused Boston, but still, similar to that style of chaos.

If one did want to look at the glass half full, they could easily look at the fact that today is the best day of the year to go into a tall building or fly on an airplane. For the most part, any building is going to be pretty empty. They feel like lightning strikes in the same place twice for odd reasons. And let me tell you, airplane tickets are rock bottom cheap cheap cheap! So there's those silver linings to all this mass hysteria behind this day.



When it all comes down to it, that's the only reason why I try to find humor in this. Because if I didn't laugh, I don't think I could face how far we have fallen as a nation and as human beings. How much of a drastic turn we took in how we act towards others and our place in the world. Literally, our place as a super power really did change and I believe that we abused the hell out of that power crying fowl over being attacked and we spat venom at just about any and everyone that was in our way.

The worse part is I can't keep straight the fucking justification for going to war after 9/11. At first it was because we were attacked and assumed it was Saddam. I can still remember Rush Limbaugh jumping on the radio on 9/11 blaming Saddam Hussein. The whole reason why the Americans still buy into that bullshit about Iraq having anything to do with it, is because of the spin factor that was presented. The tons and tons of misinformation.



Its a good thing twitter didn't exist in 2001. I wouldn't want to see the updates involved with that. I would assume it would otherwise destroy the internet altogether. I'm also sure it would still not be making any money even if it was created eight years ago. I suppose the final point I will try to make will be made by someone else. Someone with more gravitas..

David Cross said the following:

I don't think Osama bin Laden sent those planes to attack us because he hated our freedom. I think he did it because of our support for Israel, our ties with the Saudi family and our military bases in Saudi Arabia. You know why I think that? Because that's what he fucking said! Are we a nation of 6-year-olds? Answer: yes.

God damn, that Analrapist made a lot of sense. I suppose I can't even say "Happy 9/11 day" because we all know that we must all act brooding and sad on this day of eternal sadness. So.. have a day to remember the attacks that put us here in this position eight years later. But don't linger on it too long as that's the point of terrorism, to disrupt your daily life.