Actually, it's called terrorism because the aim is to cause terror for the victims. If it was just to rack up a body count, it would be pointless to kill 5000 in a country with 250 million. The point is not to kill the 5,000. (Although the more you can kill, the more effectivly you get to the goal.) The point is to terrorize the 249,995,000 survivors.
Now, don't get me wrong, 5,000 murders is nothing to take lightly. But Lincoln himself said that when this country falls, it'll fall from within. When I see polititians tearing up the Bill of Rights in response, I know what he meant.
In the name of all that's holy, don't let our marketing department hear about this!
Kind of off topic... (sorry)
on
Handling the Loads
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· Score: 0, Offtopic
I keep hearing how this was an act of war. Bull. Wars have been waged against governments since governments existed. This was an attack on civilians. On innocents. This is worse. You know what kept going through my head while I watched the buildings collapse? Odds are pretty good that NONE of the 50,000 people who work in those building had ANYTHING to do with whatever the terrorist were mad at. The terrorists were mad, couldn't reach the people they were mad at, so they attacked some people with an arbitrary link, people that had nothing to do with what they're mad at, but people they could reach. Just because they needed to lash out. And now some rednecks are throwing rocks and bricks into mosques, students are writing anti-Palestine hate graffiti. Not on the same level as the WTC attack, but it's the same idea. So some Americans have elevated themselves to the intellectual level of a terrorist. As though we didn't have enough problems.
And I know this has already been said a million times, but/. did a great job on Tuesday. It was pretty much my only web news source. Pro job, guys.
And those are the people who don't know what the big deal is. I wasn't one of those kids. That's why this still matters to me.
"What's the big deal," you ask?
on
The Challenger
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· Score: 1
Everyone who doesn't understand why we're still obsessing about this: Who are your heros? Do you even have any? I understand that people die everyday, many doing very important things for humanity, many with very little recognition. Does that mean that when I witness someone die while doing something very dear to my heart, I should blow them off? If the space program isn't a big deal with you, if you're not American, then I can see why it's not a big deal for you. But I happen to have a thing for the explorers. I have a thing for the people who risk their lives to figure stuff out. I have a thing for the people who give that knowledge to others. I happen to think that the quest for answers is worth the money and the lives that it costs.
"Fine," you say. "Memorials are a good thing. But why after 15 years for only seven people?" I suppose part of it is that I was very young when this happened. At an age when heros mean more to people. I think of the dreams I had growing up, and the dreams I have now, and it reminds me of the people who died in the process of making some of those dreams a reality. That was the day I learned that dreams can cost you your life. That was also the day I decided that dreams are worth the risk.
In the end, someone's choice of a hero is a very personal thing. I'm not about to rip on people's adoration for Princess Diana, even if I don't see what the big deal is.
I particularly don't like the comments that try to compare this to the Kennedy assassination. I don't like being told that I don't have sufficient reason to dwell on something. I've never seen Kennedy. I learned about him from history books after he was dead. I can understand why this was a big deal to my PARENTS, but don't expect me to be emotional about something that was over and done with before I was born.
Ok, my rant is starting to lose cohesion, so I'd better stop.
Names that should be remembered.
on
The Challenger
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· Score: 1
Major Francis Scobee, Mission Commander
Captain Michael Smith, Pilot
Dr. Judith Resnik, Mission Specialist
Lt. Colonel Ellison Onizuka, Mission Specialist
Dr. Ronald McNair, Mission Specialist
Captain Greg Jarvis, Payload Specialist
Sharon Christa McAuliffe, Payload Specialist, School Teacher
http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/resources/or bi ters/challenger.html
http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/51- l/ mission-51-l.html http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/51-l/ 51-l-crew.gif
??? It took a math genius to come up with this?
on
13 Month Calendar?
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· Score: 1
Thirteen months, New Year's day and leap day not in any month or week... I came up with that much after seeing "13th Warrior." (They mention 13 months in the year.) I guess it took a math genius to rename all the days and months after numbers.
I AM sure that you DON'T have to write every article about me. I really liked this article. Now, it's all stuff I already know (because I'm one of the people you're talking about), but my whole point is that that's not a bad thing. I'm glad that decent writer decided to write about this stuff. (Your mis-interpretation of my last post is a good example of why I'm a programmer instead of a writer.) Then when I can't explain my attitudes about tech stuff to people like my parents, I can point at things like your article and say "That's what I'm talking about." That's what I meant when I said this article is more for my parents and friends than for me. It IS about me, it IS relevant to me, and it's communicated better than I could do. (Wow. First time I've been called an elitist.)
Hey, there are quite a few posts talking about how this is stuff WE already know. So it's pointless to say it. I've been sending links to these articles to my parents. This stuff isn't written for us. It's written for the people who think of TV as more socially acceptable than video gaming. I snowboard, I kayak, I backpack. But I still get ripped on for wasting my time in front of a computer game. It's just kinda nice to hear someone else say this stuff. (It's nice to know it's not just my imagination.)
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, it's called terrorism because the aim is to cause terror for the victims. If it was just to rack up a body count, it would be pointless to kill 5000 in a country with 250 million. The point is not to kill the 5,000. (Although the more you can kill, the more effectivly you get to the goal.) The point is to terrorize the 249,995,000 survivors.
Now, don't get me wrong, 5,000 murders is nothing to take lightly. But Lincoln himself said that when this country falls, it'll fall from within. When I see polititians tearing up the Bill of Rights in response, I know what he meant.
I think it was Martin Luther King Jr. who said, "We must never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal."
In the name of all that's holy, don't let our marketing department hear about this!
I keep hearing how this was an act of war. Bull. Wars have been waged against governments since governments existed. This was an attack on civilians. On innocents. This is worse. You know what kept going through my head while I watched the buildings collapse? Odds are pretty good that NONE of the 50,000 people who work in those building had ANYTHING to do with whatever the terrorist were mad at. The terrorists were mad, couldn't reach the people they were mad at, so they attacked some people with an arbitrary link, people that had nothing to do with what they're mad at, but people they could reach. Just because they needed to lash out. And now some rednecks are throwing rocks and bricks into mosques, students are writing anti-Palestine hate graffiti. Not on the same level as the WTC attack, but it's the same idea. So some Americans have elevated themselves to the intellectual level of a terrorist. As though we didn't have enough problems.
/. did a great job on Tuesday. It was pretty much my only web news source. Pro job, guys.
And I know this has already been said a million times, but
And those are the people who don't know what the big deal is. I wasn't one of those kids. That's why this still matters to me.
Everyone who doesn't understand why we're still obsessing about this: Who are your heros? Do you even have any? I understand that people die everyday, many doing very important things for humanity, many with very little recognition. Does that mean that when I witness someone die while doing something very dear to my heart, I should blow them off? If the space program isn't a big deal with you, if you're not American, then I can see why it's not a big deal for you. But I happen to have a thing for the explorers. I have a thing for the people who risk their lives to figure stuff out. I have a thing for the people who give that knowledge to others. I happen to think that the quest for answers is worth the money and the lives that it costs.
"Fine," you say. "Memorials are a good thing. But why after 15 years for only seven people?" I suppose part of it is that I was very young when this happened. At an age when heros mean more to people. I think of the dreams I had growing up, and the dreams I have now, and it reminds me of the people who died in the process of making some of those dreams a reality. That was the day I learned that dreams can cost you your life. That was also the day I decided that dreams are worth the risk.
In the end, someone's choice of a hero is a very personal thing. I'm not about to rip on people's adoration for Princess Diana, even if I don't see what the big deal is.
I particularly don't like the comments that try to compare this to the Kennedy assassination. I don't like being told that I don't have sufficient reason to dwell on something. I've never seen Kennedy. I learned about him from history books after he was dead. I can understand why this was a big deal to my PARENTS, but don't expect me to be emotional about something that was over and done with before I was born.
Ok, my rant is starting to lose cohesion, so I'd better stop.
Major Francis Scobee, Mission Commander
r bi ters/challenger.html
- l/ mission-51-l.html http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/51-l/ 51-l-crew.gif
Captain Michael Smith, Pilot
Dr. Judith Resnik, Mission Specialist
Lt. Colonel Ellison Onizuka, Mission Specialist
Dr. Ronald McNair, Mission Specialist
Captain Greg Jarvis, Payload Specialist
Sharon Christa McAuliffe, Payload Specialist, School Teacher
http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/resources/o
http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/51
Thirteen months, New Year's day and leap day not in any month or week... I came up with that much after seeing "13th Warrior." (They mention 13 months in the year.) I guess it took a math genius to rename all the days and months after numbers.
I AM sure that you DON'T have to write every article about me. I really liked this article. Now, it's all stuff I already know (because I'm one of the people you're talking about), but my whole point is that that's not a bad thing. I'm glad that decent writer decided to write about this stuff. (Your mis-interpretation of my last post is a good example of why I'm a programmer instead of a writer.) Then when I can't explain my attitudes about tech stuff to people like my parents, I can point at things like your article and say "That's what I'm talking about." That's what I meant when I said this article is more for my parents and friends than for me. It IS about me, it IS relevant to me, and it's communicated better than I could do. (Wow. First time I've been called an elitist.)
Hey, there are quite a few posts talking about how this is stuff WE already know. So it's pointless to say it. I've been sending links to these articles to my parents. This stuff isn't written for us. It's written for the people who think of TV as more socially acceptable than video gaming. I snowboard, I kayak, I backpack. But I still get ripped on for wasting my time in front of a computer game. It's just kinda nice to hear someone else say this stuff. (It's nice to know it's not just my imagination.)