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Why Are Terrorists Often Engineers?
An anonymous reader writes "As a follow up to their September 2008 article, IEEE Spectrum revisits the question of why a disproportionate number of terrorists have engineering degrees. According to their own summary of the interview with political scientist Steffen Hertog, 'nearly half of [individuals involved in political violence] with degrees have been engineers,' a rather ambiguous statement especially for a publication targeted at engineers. The interview makes some interesting points (lack of job opportunities for engineers despite a relatively high social status) and some suspect ones (e.g. framing Islamic culture into the western left vs. right politics). Above all, IEEE Spectrum tries really hard to associate engineers with terrorism for some reason."
Islamist Terrorists have carried out more than 16051 deadly terror attacks since 9/11. (Source http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/) Often groomed from early childhood to recite hatred towards infidels and that jews are descended from apes and pigs.. It is no wonder that study in the paramilitary arts includes engineering. Realistically, there is not much that can be done to stop this death cult from spreading--and spreading it is.
Maybe because most engineers are terrorists.
No, we are not all interconnected in a major way. Each man is his own and it is up to each man to take responsibility for their own actions rather than being a pussy and blaming it on someone else. When you really start to look at things, other people's actions have little to do with your own success. For example, this person made a bad business decision, yeah, Madoff was a crook who falsified information and should be punished, but the exact same scenario can happen without "bad people". Yeah, a lot of people lost money when typewriters declined, lost fortunes with the rise of the automobile, etc.
Each individual's decisions make a much, much, much, much, much larger impact on their lives than the things that other people do.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
Except for the fact that for a lot of people, they didn't really lose any money. (see http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/09/23/2009-09-23_50_of_madoff_investors_lost_nothing.html ) and as for the rest they will just get their money back in court.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
I wasn't saying that. I was saying that the idea that somehow we were interconnected that we can abolish all personal responsibility is wrong such as the person saying that somehow Madoff -made- someone commit suicide which is false.
Madoff should be punished, he should be forced to give funds to those who he scammed plus more. But the idea that somehow he is responsible for a death is complete bullshit.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
But the thing is, if you are scammed you have the possibility to recover funds plus damages. It might take a few years but (presumably) you weren't trying to get that money back in the next few years anyways. It isn't like a robbery where the police rarely catch the suspect, everything is documented and you can get your money back.
The emotional trauma should be incredibly short lived and shouldn't be anymore than an inconvenience. Sure, you don't -want- it to happen but I'd rather have my money be stolen by Madoff that I can get back than me legitimately investing in a bad company where that money will never get returned to me.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
No, instead many of them work for the military-industrial complex, giving soldiers the tools to blow stuff and kill people for the greater profits of American businesses.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
If you can't afford it, you shouldn't risk it on the market. This is a really vital point made by every pension adviser I've ever seen (maybe a dozen or so).
If people actually respected this advice (and the advice not to put all their eggs in one basket) they wouldn't be able to get ripped off by dodgy fund managers, or left in poverty by mismanaged pension funds.
Stories about people with empty pension pots break every few years. The trouble is nobody seems to think it will happen to them and they take on the risk, then act all surprise when it does happen to them and they are the ones left in poverty.
Some people who invest in risky schemes and put all their money into one fund (even a diversified one) are invariably going to get burned. More fool them.
There is ample advice given warning of the considerable risks associated with such unwise investing practice, plenty of prior examples of what can go wrong that have happened over the last 50+ years, and there are safer investment options available that can provide an adequate income in retirement.
Actually, I believe the reason so many terrorists are engineers is that engineers always think they are right, and they tend to get very emotional about their beliefs (maybe because so many of them are somewhat socially challenged and don't have other outlets for their emotions).
I mean, why are so many people in Anonymous engineers? I dislike scientology as much as anyone, but I don't feel the need to attack them over it. Many engineers do, it seems.
No, i'm not (directly) equating Anonymous with terrorism, but they do share some common traits, most markedly the belief that they are right, and the willingness to risk (possibly even their lives) to express that belief.
I think engineering (be it mechanical, software, civil, whatever) requires a willingness to believe you know the right way to do things for the beneit others. In other words, a know it all.
In fact, being an engineer myself, I know that everything I've said is true and unquestionable. And if you don't agree, you should be flogged.
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