Please please, PLEASE! Come to Texas all 50 times!.. . . .. The problem is that here in Texas religious zealots are pushing to get "intelligent design" taught instead of the Science of evolution; Currently I.D. is being pushed as an alternative, with the hope that teachers can be found that will only want to teach one alternative -- I.D.
The children will not learn without exposure to the scientific information -- I used only MS OSs since MS DOS 3.1 because I did not know about Linux! No one was there to teach me that I had other options than MacOS or Windows.
(1) In Biology, students conduct field and laboratory investigations, use scientific methods during investigations, and make informed decisions using critical-thinking and scientific problem-solving. Students in Biology study a variety of topics that include: structures and functions of cells and viruses; growth and development of organisms; cells, tissues, and organs; nucleic acids and genetics; biological evolution; taxonomy; metabolism and energy transfers in living organisms; living systems; homeostasis; ecosystems; and plants and the environment.
(2) Science is a way of learning about the natural world. Students should know how science has built a vast body of changing and increasing knowledge described by physical, mathematical, and conceptual models, and also should know that science may not answer all questions.
(3) A system is a collection of cycles, structures, and processes that interact. Students should understand a whole in terms of its components and how these components relate to each other and to the whole. All systems have basic properties that can be described in terms of space, time, energy, and matter. Change and constancy occur in systems and can be observed and measured as patterns. These patterns help to predict what will happen next and can change over time.
(4) Investigations are used to learn about the natural world. Students should understand that certain types of questions can be answered by investigations, and that methods, models, and conclusions built from these investigations change as new observations are made. Models of objects and events are tools for understanding the natural world and can show how systems work. They have limitations and based on new discoveries are constantly being modified to more closely reflect the natural world.
(7) Science concepts. The student knows the theory of biological evolution. The student is expected to:
(A) identify evidence of change in species using fossils, DNA sequences, anatomical similarities, physiological similarities, and embryology; and
(B) illustrate the results of natural selection in speciation, diversity, phylogeny, adaptation, behavior, and extinction.
Evolution is being taught in Texas.
There is another bit of nonsense popular on Slashdot - that Christians cannot be scientists, let alone good scientists.
April 03, 2007|By Dr. Francis Collins Special to CNN
I am a scientist and a believer, and I find no conflict between those world views.
As the director of the Human Genome Project, I have led a consortium of scientists to read out the 3.1 billion letters of the human genome, our own DNA instruction book. As a believer, I see DNA, the information molecule of all living things, as God's language, and the elegance and complexity of our own bodies and the rest of nature as a reflection of God's plan.....
"Whenever a controversial law is proposed, and its supporters, when confronted with an egregious abuse it would permit, use a phrase along the lines of 'Perhaps in theory, but the law would never be applied in that way' - they're *lying*. They intend to use the law that way as early and as often as possible."
The answer is simple - amend the law to fix the parts that need fixing. It's done all the time. Good grief.
Senate passes Patriot Act changes Posted 3/1/2006 11:11 AM Updated 3/1/2006 9:48 PM By John Diamond, USA TODAY WASHINGTON — The Senate added civil liberties protections to the USA Patriot Act on Wednesday, clearing the way for renewal of the anti-terrorism law passed shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The 95-4 vote ended months of bipartisan debate centering on privacy rights. Subsequent procedural votes Wednesday showed enough Senate support to move the bill this week to the House for final passage and then to President Bush.
That doesn't excuse Obama or any of the Democrats, but it's never going to go away until more people start caring about it. Rather than bring up that saying year in year out, why not, oh, I don't know, do something to raise awareness about it?
I'll let you in on a secret.... it won't help. The reason is simple: people care more about not being blown up than they do about your vivid imagination about the horrible ways that NSA is spying on you personally.
Most people in this thread object to the idea that anyone gets spied on. Most Americans think it is OK to spy on people in direct communication with real live mass murder aspiring terrorist groups* that have killed thousands before, and threaten to do so again.
* Yes, that should be redundant in some fashion, but this is Slashdot where people regularly confuse or dismiss mass murderers as just "people you don't like", apparently trying (and succeeding) to achieve the moral equivalent of idiocy.
At least we can count on both the Republicans and Democrats to stop their partisan bickering for a moment, and reach across the isle in solidarity to screw the American public over.
Because nothing tells the American public that they've been "screwed" like:
(Reuters) - A California man who was the first person indicted under a law passed after the September 11, 2001 attacks that bans importing missiles able to shoot down airplanes, was sentenced on Monday to 25 years in prison.
Imagine how "cheated" the American public feels without all those explosions going off?
By the way.... I'll let you in on a little secret... OK, two secrets.
First, for those that crave them, terrorist attacks are kind of like potato chips.... it seldom stops with just one.
Second, NSA cares if somebody in the US is in direct communication with members of terrorist organizations. That's terrorist organizations that are trying to kill people, not illegal mp3 downloaders, Ron Paul/Dennis Kucinich voters, members of the people's pop tart party, or gold fish fetishists.
As to civil liberties, the fact that these were published tells me we are probably in pretty good shape overall.
Early on the Taliban were suppressing the drug trade, but that changed. The Taliban are now allied with the drug lords and deriving a big chunk of their income from it. Now it is NATO and the US that is working to get substitute crops in place and suppress the drug trade. It will be a slow process.
Poppy is a key crop here, and in a way, flowers fuel the fight: The Taliban earn hundreds of millions of dollars from the drug trade, which supplies 90 percent of the world's raw opium used for heroin. Locals rely on the work it generates. But the government wants to end poppy production. So the locals, who need the work, support insurgents who will protect it. It's a deeply ingrained Catch-22. -- In Afghanistan, Flowers Call The Shots
No man's life, liberty or property are safe while the legislature is in session. - Gideon J. Tucker
Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding. - Louis Brandeis
I have no use for corrupt politicians, executives, corporations, or advocates.
They demanded evidence...The US refused.. The taliban said, 'fuck you.. no ticky, no washy'..
The Taliban were stalling, and trying to save face. The US and the Taliban had been down this road before with Bin Laden after the African Embassy bombings. There was no way that the Taliban were going to hand over Bin Laden then, since their government would fall, and Bin Laden's power only continued to grow in Afghanistan after that. Al Qaeda formed a state within a state.
As you may recall, the United States indicted Bin Laden for the African embassy attacks.
..., the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan, Alan Eastham Jr., met with Wakil Ahmed, a close aide to Taliban leader Mullah Omar, in November and December 1998. That was just months after the August al Qaeda attacks that killed more than 200 people at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
"It is unbelievable that this small man did this to you," Ahmed said during their meeting on December 19, 1998, according to the documents.
Ahmed told Eastham that he spoke with Omar about bin Laden and that the Taliban still considered the Saudi exile "innocent."
During a meeting between Ahmed and Eastham on November 28, 1998, just days after the Taliban's supreme court cleared bin Laden of terrorist activities, Ahmed said one possibility "would be for the U.S. to kill him or arrange for bin Laden to be assassinated."
Ahmed "said that the U.S., if it chose to do so, could arrange to have bin Laden killed by cruise missiles or other means, and there would be little the Taliban could do to prevent it," according to the documents.
Another alternative, Ahmed said, would be for the United States to provide the Taliban with cruise missiles to have "the situation resolved in this way." Ahmed also noted that expelling bin Laden likely would result in the Taliban regime being overthrown, according to the documents.
Al Qaeda wasn't going anywhere in Afghanistan as long as the Taliban governed, hence the outcome.
As far as the rest of your post, I suppose you can keep posting that nonsense under the stopped clock theory (it's still right twice per day), but it doesn't really apply to the war in Afghanistan. The US was attacked, after all.
After the 9/11 attacks, the US issued an ultimatum to the Taliban government - hand over Bin Laden, or else. The Taliban refused, so the US assisted the Northern Alliance and others in the country to overthrow the Taliban government by providing Special Forces and air support. The Taliban withdrew and began a low level guerilla insurgency while Al Qaeda eventually fled. When the US invaded Iraq in 2003 and overthrew Saddam's government, Al Qaeda rallied and funneled their forces to fight in Iraq. Events in Iraq began to come unhinged after some spectacular attacks by Al Qaeda and other Sunni groups. The US revamped its counter-insurgency doctrine and strategy, and began turning around Iraq. By 2007-2008, the insurgency in Iraq was being crushed, and Al Qaeda began to flee Iraq, with many returning to Afghanistan and Pakistan. At this point, the war in Afghanistan began heating up again. Pakistan too began to see a significant increase in terrorism and insurgencies in the tribal areas that aren't under direct government control. By 2009 the US was ready to start drawing down in Iraq and prepared to reinforce Afghanistan. Pakistan started to move against the Taliban in Pakistan to reduce the threat they posed. By 2010, the US was rapidly drawing down in Iraq, significantly reinforcing Afghanistan, and Pakistan was engaging in significant campaigns in the tribal areas again Al Qaeda and the Taliban. In 2011, the US got Bin Laden while the Taliban spring offensive has been floundering. The Taliban and Al Qaeda have both been resorting more and more to outright conventional criminal activity over the last five years, including aligning with drug gangs, and that is undermining their appeal as pure Islamic extremists. Progress is training the Afghani police and army have been slow due to poor pay, illiteracy, and corruption, but the situation is improving. The Afghan government, is a challenge as well. The customs of the Afghan people do them few favors, but giving them a chance to rebuild their society and reestablish traditional social controls will help.
It generally take 10-20 years to defeat an insurgency. Everyone paying attention at the beginning of the various insurgencies, or for that matter 9/11, knew that this would a problem that was going to last at least 10-20 years, and more likely close to 50. Statements to that effect were made many times.
Although there is still a long, hard fight ahead in Afghanistan, the key to the war may in fact turn out to be the victory in Iraq. Al Qaeda expended considerable resources and men in Iraq, rendering them vulnerable to detection, capture, or killing. Many financial arrangements were discovered and neutralized. And, perhaps most importantly, Al Qaeda lost enormous amounts of support after Arabs and Muslims began to turn away from them after seeing the wanton way in which they killed fellow Muslims and Arabs. That turn almost certainly wouldn't have happened if the war had remained in Afghanistan, which is remote from Arab & Muslim lands and minds. If Iraq continues on its current path to becoming a prosperous, peaceful Arab Muslim democracy, things are far worse for Al Qaeda.
Bin Laden, as leader of the international terrorist and insurgent group Al Qaeda, declared war on the United States in 1996. After the many attacks that killed thousands of people and treating it as a police problem, the US Congress issued the Authorization for Use of Military Force (equivalent to a declaration of war) following the 9/11 attacks that killed 3,000 Americans. Intelligence located Bin Laden, military leader of Al Qaeda, and he was killed by a commando raid. A similar fate occurred to Admiral Yamamoto in World War 2. All perfectly legitimate, and legal under the Law of War.
Navy SEALs flew to Pakistan in helicopters to Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad where they shot him dead, and one of his wives in the leg after she came between the SEALs and Bin Laden. The SEALs took Bin Laden's body and the US buried it at sea in accordance with Muslim custom. The rest is relatively minor detail.
Then they don't even keep the body around long enough for anyone else to verify it. They just go dump it in the sea? Seriously?
They didn't just dump his body in the sea, they buried it at sea in accordance with Muslim tradtion (though there are disputes among Muslim scholars about when and how it is permitted). Muslim custom requires quick burial. Besides, DNA tests provide all the certainty needed. (How many other 6'4" Muslims that look exactly like Bin Laden are there in Pakistan living in million dollar compounds with vast quantities of communications with Al Qadea and Bin Laden's wives present? That many?)
... Mr. Brennan said that appealing to other countries would have exceeded the time frame that Islamic custom requires, of burial within 24 hours of death.
I don't think there is any serious reason to doubt a quick burial at sea, especially since the US is trying to account for Muslim sensitivities.
I thought he was an enemy combatant. That makes him a soldier, not a murderer
He was an enemy combatant, but not a soldier. He waged war unlawfully and played a direct role in the deaths of many thousands of people by directly attacking protected persons and cultural artifacts - he was a mass murderer and war criminal. Most of his “attacks” were in fact massacres.
OBL's family wasn't anywhere near OBL, otherwise they would either be dead or in position to describe what happened, neither of these two cases being true.
0 for 1
Amal al-Sada was shot in the leg as she rushed the Navy SEALs, according to U.S. officials. She is now in Pakistani custody, along with her daughter and two other bin Laden wives, according to Pakistani officials, who say they eventually will be repatriated.-- Bin Laden's Wife: I'll Stand With You
Next.
Please show us a video of OBL that is after 2001. I bet you cannot find one. The 2007 video is clearly a fake, since he appears younger.
If Al Qaeda is driven by CIA, MI6 and Mossad, then its no wonder Al Qaeda announced OBL's death. Why would they need to announce it anyway?
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The US had the body, there was nowhere for Al Qaeda to go, was there? Try to say, "He's not dead!", and the US could produce either the body or the photos. Then there would be the awkward question of, "If he's not dead, why isn't he saying anything?" For Al Qaeda to try to cover up Bin Laden's death would have been more pathetic than the idea that, "Al Qaeda is driven by CIA, MI6 and Mossad". Well, there is also the fact that Muslims from around the world have been recruited to fight and die for Al Qaeda, and apparently none of them would have noticed that it was run by Americans, British, and Jews? Really? The fact that Bin Laden's wife saw him killed would also make that awkward, wouldn't it? If you've paid attention, you know that al Qaeda has announced the death of its regional leader in other places, such as Iraq.
You might want to try reading from a broader range of media - you've got things pretty much backwards. Maybe you can start here
I think you've got it. There have been suggestions that the US had no court anywhere that ObL could have been tried. The obvious place is the ICJ/World Court in the Hague.
The US has a perfectly adequate legal system to handle the likes of Bin Laden.... right here. fact sheet
But it's not clear what the charges might have been. It's likely that the US "had nothing on the guy" for the WTC attack, other than his publicly praising the people who did it, and that's not exactly a criminal act
No doubt there is plenty of other material evidence linking him to other crimes under either the Law of War or US criminal law.
The US has been openly and loudly calling this "justice". This isn't being missed by people with similar desires in the rest of the world. Since the US government has effectively announced that killing someone without any sort of trial is "justice", we can expect that many others in the world are planning to bring the US to "justice" in a similar fashion.
You've got this wrong on two points. First, I very much doubt that any group of would-be terrorists is just waiting for the US to "bend the rules" so that they feel justified in attacking. Second, the US is at war with Al Qaeda under the authority of the Congressional Authorization for Use of Military Force passed after 9/11, so raids to capture or kill its members is completely legitimate. It is also quite fair seeing as Bin Laden declared war on the US in the 1990s.
What if all the intel about tracking bin Laden had been made public? Would kind of defeat the purpose of hunting someone down if you were basically broadcasting how you were doing it so they could find out.
It is a miracle that al-Qaeda leaders did not read this classified document before bin Laden was killed. If they had, they would have been alerted to the fact that the CIA was on the trail of bin Laden's courier, and they would had made the connection between the courier, bin Laden and Abbottabad -- which could have blown the bin Laden operation.
I do not trust the government to tell the truth on matters this large. While I doubt bin Laden is alive, I doubt the official version of his death even more.
Let's see..... the US Government announces he is dead:
At this point, I think anyone doubting Bin Laden's death is about ready to star in their own personal Truman Show, and doesn't really need more news or photographs.... maybe a shrink or philosopher. Cogito ergo Bin Laden moritur.
You also appear to missed a few things about the Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7 / IEEE Std 1003.1-2008 standard - it is in essence a floor, not a ceiling - vendors can ship more tools if they care to. Also, the discussion on bc notes that some implementations of bc are built on top of dc, and that is OK, as long as the behavior of bc is correct.
It is worth noting that dc was one of the earliest programs to run in Unix, making it in while Unix was still written in assembly language. If for some reason it was to be not only omitted, but actually excluded by the standard, it would still be found in the vast majority of shipping systems for years to come until said vendor decided to migrate their Unix system to the current standard, a process that often takes years.
So yes, for the vast majority of people using Unix, an RPN calculator is often only as far away as a shell prompt.
Prior to 9/11, the problem with Bin Laden was treated as a police problem, hence the warrants. Warrants are essentially a passive measure - if this guy comes into your hands, send him to us, please. After 9/11, the Congress issued the Authorization for Use of Military Force against the perpetrators, and it became a military problem. Bin Laden was now actively sought. The US delivered an ultimatum (so much firmer than a warrant) to the Taliban:
Afghanistan will be offered a final chance today to escape a devastating US military onslaught when a delegation from Pakistan delivers an ultimatum to the Taliban leadership to hand over Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the New York and Washington attacks, within three days. With thousands of Afghans already fleeing their homes in anticipation of an assault, the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, said: "They will have to make their choice - whether they want to get rid of this curse within their country or face the full wrath of the United States."
The pressure on the US administration to exact revenge was underlined by a public opinion poll which showed that 84% of Americans supported military retaliation. Two-thirds of them would support it "even if it means many thousands of innocent civilians may be killed".
As call-up plans for at least 35,000 reservists were finalised yesterday, the task of planning the US military response shifted to Tampa, Florida, the headquarters of the Pentagon's central command (Centcom), which is responsible for actions in the Middle East, south and central Asia.
The Centcom commander, General Tommy Franks, has at his disposal a range of special forces and two navy battle groups equipped with 900 Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Doesn't an ultimatum with a threat of war seem a little clearer then a warrant or wanted poster?
The curious omission underscores the Justice Department's decision, so far, to not seek formal criminal charges against bin Laden for approving al-Qaeda's most notorious and successful terrorist attack. The notice says bin Laden is "a suspect in other terrorist attacks throughout the world" but does not provide details.
The absence has also provided fodder for conspiracy theorists who think the U.S. government or another power was behind the Sept. 11 hijackings. From this point of view, the lack of a Sept. 11 reference suggests that the connection to al-Qaeda is uncertain.
Exhaustive government and independent investigations have concluded otherwise, of course, and bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders have proudly taken responsibility for the hijackings. FBI officials say the wanted poster merely reflects the government's long-standing practice of relying on actual criminal charges in the notices.
There's no mystery here," said FBI spokesman Rex Tomb. "They could add 9/11 on there, but they have not because they don't need to at this point. . . . There is a logic to it."
David N. Kelley, the former U.S. attorney in New York who oversaw terrorism cases when bin Laden was indicted for the embassy bombings there in 1998, said he is not at all surprised by the lack of a reference to Sept. 11 on the official wanted poster. Kelley said the issue is a matter of legal restrictions and the need to be fair to any defendant.
"It might seem a little strange from the outside, but it makes sense from a legal point of view," said Kelley, now in private practice. "If I were in government, I'd be troubled if I were asked to put up a wanted picture where no formal charges had been filed, no matter who it w
Now that Osama bin Laden is dead, we are left...defending our rights from exactly the same threat we faced before. Glad that killing the guy accomplished so much.
You shouldn't expect magic in stories without wands or spells. SEAL teams aren't known for using either.
Bin Laden will be replaced as leader, and Al Qaeda will continue for quite some time to come. Hopefully it will be in a much weakened if not terminal condition. In the mean time, they are going to kill a lot more people in pursuit of their goal of turning the world into a Muslim ruled super state - the Caliphate.
Bin Laden's demands: in short, convert to Islam, ditch the American Constitution and live under his version of Sharia law, or else.
There is a significant danger of far more people being killed if the public isn't clear on this point.
Osama would be dead if he was put on trial in any country on earth.
Where any country on earth = Belarus; China; Ecuador; Egypt; India; Iran; Iraq; Israel; Japan; Malaysia; Mongolia; North Korea; Pakistan; Saudi Arabia; Singapore; South Korea; Taiwan; Tonga; United States.
Here in Australia as well as most of the world he would not be put to death.
It is my understanding that Australian SAS + Commandos, New Zealand SAS, British SAS + SBS + Royal Marine Commandos + Parachute Regiment + Ghurkas, and various other formations, various Canadian forces, Polish GROM, and a cast of many others, are doing a fine job in joining the US Navy SEALs, Army Delta Force, Rangers, Special Forces, Airborne, and various other combat arms elements in shooting dead Al Qaeda terrorists and Taliban guerillas on the battlefield and in the war zone. (Much like happened to Bin Laden.) My hat is off to them all.
Actually, Osama never took credit for those deaths, which is why he wasn't formally wanted by FBI for the 9/11 bombings (FBI most wanted [fbi.gov]). The video which was shown on television shortly after the bombings, where he allegedly took the blame, was badly translated.
Personally, I'm not entirely sure if Osama had his hand in the 9/11 bombings, or if other people did it inspired by him
The link you provide is apparently based solely on the federal indictments - that is, a matter of criminal law. More details here.
After the mass attacks of 9/11, Congress responded with the Authorization for Use of Military Force, and Al Qaeda became a military problem. I don't know that the FBI continually updates the crimes section on the most wanted list.
Bin Laden's demands? Americans must convert to Islam, discard the Constitution, and govern with Sharia law, or Al Qaeda will keep attacking the US. Bin Laden's offier - convert or die. Some choice, eh?
There is a thing called the separation of powers. Executive power should not act as if it were judiciary power.
They weren't. Bin Laden declared war on the United States in the 1990s. After treating the problem of Al Qaeda essentially as a police problem until the 9/11 attacks, the US Congress issued the Authorization for Use of Military Force which is functionally equivalent to a declaration of war on Al Qaeda. This is now a military problem. Bin Laden was killed as the head of Al Qaeda in a military operation in a war zone. No need for judicial involvement, which is very limited on the battlefield anyway. Admiral Yamamoto suffered a similar fate in WW2.
In case you think there could be peace, read Bin Laden's Letter to America to see his demands. The short version: everyone convert to Islam, then abolish your Constitution and govern the country under Sharia law... in every detail. (Beheading, stoning, crucifixion, whipping, ban alcohol,.... the works.)
Slashdot Mirror
This is either hysterical nonsense, or a troll. Texas Science education standards require the teaching of evolution.
Evolution is being taught in Texas.
There is another bit of nonsense popular on Slashdot - that Christians cannot be scientists, let alone good scientists.
Collins: Why this scientist believes in God
"Whenever a controversial law is proposed, and its supporters, when confronted with an egregious abuse it would permit, use a phrase along the lines of 'Perhaps in theory, but the law would never be applied in that way' - they're *lying*. They intend to use the law that way as early and as often as possible."
The answer is simple - amend the law to fix the parts that need fixing. It's done all the time. Good grief.
That doesn't excuse Obama or any of the Democrats, but it's never going to go away until more people start caring about it. Rather than bring up that saying year in year out, why not, oh, I don't know, do something to raise awareness about it?
I'll let you in on a secret .... it won't help. The reason is simple: people care more about not being blown up than they do about your vivid imagination about the horrible ways that NSA is spying on you personally.
Most people in this thread object to the idea that anyone gets spied on. Most Americans think it is OK to spy on people in direct communication with real live mass murder aspiring terrorist groups* that have killed thousands before, and threaten to do so again.
* Yes, that should be redundant in some fashion, but this is Slashdot where people regularly confuse or dismiss mass murderers as just "people you don't like", apparently trying (and succeeding) to achieve the moral equivalent of idiocy.
At least we can count on both the Republicans and Democrats to stop their partisan bickering for a moment, and reach across the isle in solidarity to screw the American public over.
Because nothing tells the American public that they've been "screwed" like:
Not having hundreds of passenger jets shot out of the sky by surface to air missiles
Oddly enough, this is also covered under a new law passed after 9/11 - shall we start the bitching about that too? Oooh, those Feds! Oooh... %()*#)($% Bush!!
Not having Talib Islam blow up a federal court with a one ton tuck bomb
Not having Farooque Ahmed bomb the subway
Not having Ferid "Yousef” Imam set off his Improvised Explosive Device
Disrupting Nadeem Akhtar's plan to illegally export nuclear processing equipment to..... Pakistan.
Interrupting the violent Jihad plots of “JihadJane" and company..... very interesting.
Preventing Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari from using a large Improvised Explosive Device
Jailing Zachary Adam Chesser for threats against South Park and attempting to support al Shabaab
Convicting Russell Defreitas and coconspirator Abdul Kadir for a plot to blow up JFK Airport
Hmmmm... only back to mid Feb 2011....and this probably isn't everything..... lets skip back to November 2010.
Not getting blown up at a Christmas tree lighting by Mohamed Osman Mohamud
Imagine how "cheated" the American public feels without all those explosions going off?
By the way.... I'll let you in on a little secret... OK, two secrets.
First, for those that crave them, terrorist attacks are kind of like potato chips.... it seldom stops with just one.
Second, NSA cares if somebody in the US is in direct communication with members of terrorist organizations. That's terrorist organizations that are trying to kill people, not illegal mp3 downloaders, Ron Paul/Dennis Kucinich voters, members of the people's pop tart party, or gold fish fetishists.
As to civil liberties, the fact that these were published tells me we are probably in pretty good shape overall.
"Medical necessity".... not what it used to be.
The BBC may have performed yeoman service over the years, but it is not without flaws.
BBC report damns its ‘culture of bias’
This might just be the most baffling comment I've ever read on Slashdot. Which is pretty damned impressive. Kudos.
Here, this explains it.... in detail.
Early on the Taliban were suppressing the drug trade, but that changed. The Taliban are now allied with the drug lords and deriving a big chunk of their income from it. Now it is NATO and the US that is working to get substitute crops in place and suppress the drug trade. It will be a slow process.
No man's life, liberty or property are safe while the legislature is in session. - Gideon J. Tucker
Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding. - Louis Brandeis
I have no use for corrupt politicians, executives, corporations, or advocates.
Salud.
The Taliban were stalling, and trying to save face. The US and the Taliban had been down this road before with Bin Laden after the African Embassy bombings. There was no way that the Taliban were going to hand over Bin Laden then, since their government would fall, and Bin Laden's power only continued to grow in Afghanistan after that. Al Qaeda formed a state within a state.
As you may recall, the United States indicted Bin Laden for the African embassy attacks.
TEXT: US GRAND JURY INDICTMENT AGAINST USAMA BIN LADEN
It didn't help.
U.S., Taliban bargained over bin Laden, documents show
Al Qaeda wasn't going anywhere in Afghanistan as long as the Taliban governed, hence the outcome.
As far as the rest of your post, I suppose you can keep posting that nonsense under the stopped clock theory (it's still right twice per day), but it doesn't really apply to the war in Afghanistan. The US was attacked, after all.
What is it you don't understand?
After the 9/11 attacks, the US issued an ultimatum to the Taliban government - hand over Bin Laden, or else.
The Taliban refused, so the US assisted the Northern Alliance and others in the country to overthrow the Taliban government by providing Special Forces and air support. The Taliban withdrew and began a low level guerilla insurgency while Al Qaeda eventually fled. When the US invaded Iraq in 2003 and overthrew Saddam's government, Al Qaeda rallied and funneled their forces to fight in Iraq. Events in Iraq began to come unhinged after some spectacular attacks by Al Qaeda and other Sunni groups. The US revamped its counter-insurgency doctrine and strategy, and began turning around Iraq. By 2007-2008, the insurgency in Iraq was being crushed, and Al Qaeda began to flee Iraq, with many returning to Afghanistan and Pakistan. At this point, the war in Afghanistan began heating up again. Pakistan too began to see a significant increase in terrorism and insurgencies in the tribal areas that aren't under direct government control. By 2009 the US was ready to start drawing down in Iraq and prepared to reinforce Afghanistan. Pakistan started to move against the Taliban in Pakistan to reduce the threat they posed. By 2010, the US was rapidly drawing down in Iraq, significantly reinforcing Afghanistan, and Pakistan was engaging in significant campaigns in the tribal areas again Al Qaeda and the Taliban. In 2011, the US got Bin Laden while the Taliban spring offensive has been floundering. The Taliban and Al Qaeda have both been resorting more and more to outright conventional criminal activity over the last five years, including aligning with drug gangs, and that is undermining their appeal as pure Islamic extremists. Progress is training the Afghani police and army have been slow due to poor pay, illiteracy, and corruption, but the situation is improving. The Afghan government, is a challenge as well. The customs of the Afghan people do them few favors, but giving them a chance to rebuild their society and reestablish traditional social controls will help.
It generally take 10-20 years to defeat an insurgency. Everyone paying attention at the beginning of the various insurgencies, or for that matter 9/11, knew that this would a problem that was going to last at least 10-20 years, and more likely close to 50. Statements to that effect were made many times.
Although there is still a long, hard fight ahead in Afghanistan, the key to the war may in fact turn out to be the victory in Iraq. Al Qaeda expended considerable resources and men in Iraq, rendering them vulnerable to detection, capture, or killing. Many financial arrangements were discovered and neutralized. And, perhaps most importantly, Al Qaeda lost enormous amounts of support after Arabs and Muslims began to turn away from them after seeing the wanton way in which they killed fellow Muslims and Arabs. That turn almost certainly wouldn't have happened if the war had remained in Afghanistan, which is remote from Arab & Muslim lands and minds. If Iraq continues on its current path to becoming a prosperous, peaceful Arab Muslim democracy, things are far worse for Al Qaeda.
Proper procedures were followed.
Bin Laden, as leader of the international terrorist and insurgent group Al Qaeda, declared war on the United States in 1996. After the many attacks that killed thousands of people and treating it as a police problem, the US Congress issued the Authorization for Use of Military Force (equivalent to a declaration of war) following the 9/11 attacks that killed 3,000 Americans. Intelligence located Bin Laden, military leader of Al Qaeda, and he was killed by a commando raid. A similar fate occurred to Admiral Yamamoto in World War 2. All perfectly legitimate, and legal under the Law of War.
The essentials of the story didn't change:
Navy SEALs flew to Pakistan in helicopters to Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad where they shot him dead, and one of his wives in the leg after she came between the SEALs and Bin Laden. The SEALs took Bin Laden's body and the US buried it at sea in accordance with Muslim custom. The rest is relatively minor detail.
They didn't just dump his body in the sea, they buried it at sea in accordance with Muslim tradtion (though there are disputes among Muslim scholars about when and how it is permitted). Muslim custom requires quick burial. Besides, DNA tests provide all the certainty needed. (How many other 6'4" Muslims that look exactly like Bin Laden are there in Pakistan living in million dollar compounds with vast quantities of communications with Al Qadea and Bin Laden's wives present? That many?)
Why is it so important for a Muslim to buried their dead in a day?
Islamic Scholars Split Over Sea Burial for Bin Laden
I don't think there is any serious reason to doubt a quick burial at sea, especially since the US is trying to account for Muslim sensitivities.
President Obama announced Bin Laden was killed by American forces:
Obama Announces Death of Osama bin Laden
Al Qaeda has announced he is dead:
Text: Al Qaeda statement confirming bin Laden's death
Iran says he is dead:
Iran's intelligence chief says bin Laden died long before the 'alleged raid'
Family members denounce his death:
My father's death was criminal and I may sue the U.S.
Locals protest his death:
Pakistani tribesmen protest
So tell me, are all of these people with multiple and conflicting interests lying about Bin Laden being dead? Is it just to fool you? If so, why?
I thought he was an enemy combatant. That makes him a soldier, not a murderer
He was an enemy combatant, but not a soldier. He waged war unlawfully and played a direct role in the deaths of many thousands of people by directly attacking protected persons and cultural artifacts - he was a mass murderer and war criminal. Most of his “attacks” were in fact massacres.
OBL's family wasn't anywhere near OBL, otherwise they would either be dead or in position to describe what happened, neither of these two cases being true.
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Please show us a video of OBL that is after 2001. I bet you cannot find one. The 2007 video is clearly a fake, since he appears younger.
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Oct. 29, 2004: Osama Bin Laden Video Message
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Wanted: dyed and alive. Bin Laden reappears – and he’s had a makeover
Of course you weren't thinking that hair dye isn't invented till the year 2200, were you?
Next.
The locals know nothing more about OBL than we do. If they did know more, OBL would have been betrayed along time ago.
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BACKGROUND: The Haqqani group, al-Qaeda's own Taliban
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Osama is dead from 2001. US waited a long time to present his death to us, when the time was right.
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See video from 2004, and this: Osama bin Laden Killed: 'Justice Is Done,' President Says
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If Al Qaeda is driven by CIA, MI6 and Mossad, then its no wonder Al Qaeda announced OBL's death. Why would they need to announce it anyway?
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The US had the body, there was nowhere for Al Qaeda to go, was there? Try to say, "He's not dead!", and the US could produce either the body or the photos. Then there would be the awkward question of, "If he's not dead, why isn't he saying anything?" For Al Qaeda to try to cover up Bin Laden's death would have been more pathetic than the idea that, "Al Qaeda is driven by CIA, MI6 and Mossad". Well, there is also the fact that Muslims from around the world have been recruited to fight and die for Al Qaeda, and apparently none of them would have noticed that it was run by Americans, British, and Jews? Really? The fact that Bin Laden's wife saw him killed would also make that awkward, wouldn't it? If you've paid attention, you know that al Qaeda has announced the death of its regional leader in other places, such as Iraq.
You might want to try reading from a broader range of media - you've got things pretty much backwards. Maybe you can start here
The US has a perfectly adequate legal system to handle the likes of Bin Laden.... right here. fact sheet
US GRAND JURY INDICTMENT AGAINST USAMA BIN LADEN
Also, Bin Laden admitted or demonstrated his association with the 9/11 attacks on multiple occasions.
Bin Laden claims responsibility for 9/11
Video Shows Bin Laden, 9/11 Hijackers
Bin Laden '9/11 video' broadcast
No doubt there is plenty of other material evidence linking him to other crimes under either the Law of War or US criminal law.
You've got this wrong on two points. First, I very much doubt that any group of would-be terrorists is just waiting for the US to "bend the rules" so that they feel justified in attacking. Second, the US is at war with Al Qaeda under the authority of the Congressional Authorization for Use of Military Force passed after 9/11, so raids to capture or kill its members is completely legitimate. It is also quite fair seeing as Bin Laden declared war on the US in the 1990s.
So, in summary: It's not believable that Bin Laden was alive before, but everyone who says he is dead now is lying or wrong.
I'm forced to conclude either:
QED ... or you've discovered the paradox of "Quantum Bin Laden", the terrorist analog of Schrödinger's cat
In fairness to Wikileaks, they tried.
Really? Can you list one nation which has listed Wikileaks as a criminal enterprise? (including the US).
I certainly wouldn't rule it out, after all.... investigations take time, don't they?
WikiLeaks sold classified intel, claims website's co-founder
I do not trust the government to tell the truth on matters this large. While I doubt bin Laden is alive, I doubt the official version of his death even more.
Let's see..... the US Government announces he is dead:
Obama Announces Death of Osama bin Laden
The terrorist organization he headed announces he is dead:
Text: Al Qaeda statement confirming bin Laden's death
The regional troublemaker with a strong intelligence agency and an avowed enemy of the US announces he was dead before the operation:
Iran's intelligence chief says bin Laden died long before the 'alleged raid'
Family members denounce his death:
My father's death was criminal and I may sue the U.S.: Bin Laden's son slams Al Qaeda leader's killing
The locals are protesting his death:
Pakistani tribesmen protest
At this point, I think anyone doubting Bin Laden's death is about ready to star in their own personal Truman Show, and doesn't really need more news or photographs.... maybe a shrink or philosopher. Cogito ergo Bin Laden moritur.
The looney bin is getting crowded. Sanity: step 1, step 2....
In UNIX-land, no it isn't.
Sorry, but shipping code beats standards based theory, and pretty much every *nix vendor ships dc with the OS.
Oracle (nee Sun) Solaris, IBM AIX, HP HP/UX, SGI IRIX, Apple MacOS X, SCO Openserver, SuSE Enterprise Linux (dc listed on bc page), FreeBSD, OpenBSD ...
You also appear to missed a few things about the Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7 / IEEE Std 1003.1-2008 standard - it is in essence a floor, not a ceiling - vendors can ship more tools if they care to. Also, the discussion on bc notes that some implementations of bc are built on top of dc, and that is OK, as long as the behavior of bc is correct.
It is worth noting that dc was one of the earliest programs to run in Unix, making it in while Unix was still written in assembly language. If for some reason it was to be not only omitted, but actually excluded by the standard, it would still be found in the vast majority of shipping systems for years to come until said vendor decided to migrate their Unix system to the current standard, a process that often takes years.
So yes, for the vast majority of people using Unix, an RPN calculator is often only as far away as a shell prompt.
Prior to 9/11, the problem with Bin Laden was treated as a police problem, hence the warrants. Warrants are essentially a passive measure - if this guy comes into your hands, send him to us, please. After 9/11, the Congress issued the Authorization for Use of Military Force against the perpetrators, and it became a military problem. Bin Laden was now actively sought. The US delivered an ultimatum (so much firmer than a warrant) to the Taliban:
US tells Taliban to give up Bin Laden or face attack
Doesn't an ultimatum with a threat of war seem a little clearer then a warrant or wanted poster?
But, it so happens, one of the links you provided also adds some clarity that I'm surprised you didn't note: Bin Laden, Most Wanted For Embassy Bombings?
Now that Osama bin Laden is dead, we are left...defending our rights from exactly the same threat we faced before. Glad that killing the guy accomplished so much.
You shouldn't expect magic in stories without wands or spells. SEAL teams aren't known for using either.
Bin Laden will be replaced as leader, and Al Qaeda will continue for quite some time to come. Hopefully it will be in a much weakened if not terminal condition. In the mean time, they are going to kill a lot more people in pursuit of their goal of turning the world into a Muslim ruled super state - the Caliphate.
Bin Laden's demands: in short, convert to Islam, ditch the American Constitution and live under his version of Sharia law, or else.
There is a significant danger of far more people being killed if the public isn't clear on this point.
Osama would be dead if he was put on trial in any country on earth.
Where any country on earth = Belarus; China; Ecuador; Egypt; India; Iran; Iraq; Israel; Japan; Malaysia; Mongolia; North Korea; Pakistan; Saudi Arabia; Singapore; South Korea; Taiwan; Tonga; United States.
Here in Australia as well as most of the world he would not be put to death.
It is my understanding that Australian SAS + Commandos, New Zealand SAS, British SAS + SBS + Royal Marine Commandos + Parachute Regiment + Ghurkas, and various other formations, various Canadian forces, Polish GROM, and a cast of many others, are doing a fine job in joining the US Navy SEALs, Army Delta Force, Rangers, Special Forces, Airborne, and various other combat arms elements in shooting dead Al Qaeda terrorists and Taliban guerillas on the battlefield and in the war zone. (Much like happened to Bin Laden.) My hat is off to them all.
Actually, Bin Laden did take responsibility for the 9/11 attacks, on more than one occasion. Here is one:
Bin Laden claims responsibility for 9/11
Here are some videos of him with some of the 9/11 attackers:
Video Shows Bin Laden, 9/11 Hijackers
Bin Laden '9/11 video' broadcast
And maybe you should try another page:
Bin Laden was a suspect in a number of terrorist attacks around the world in addition to the 9/11 attacks.
The link you provide is apparently based solely on the federal indictments - that is, a matter of criminal law. More details here.
After the mass attacks of 9/11, Congress responded with the Authorization for Use of Military Force, and Al Qaeda became a military problem. I don't know that the FBI continually updates the crimes section on the most wanted list.
Bin Laden's demands? Americans must convert to Islam, discard the Constitution, and govern with Sharia law, or Al Qaeda will keep attacking the US. Bin Laden's offier - convert or die. Some choice, eh?
For those in need: Debunking the 9/11 Myths: Special Report
There is a thing called the separation of powers. Executive power should not act as if it were judiciary power.
They weren't. Bin Laden declared war on the United States in the 1990s. After treating the problem of Al Qaeda essentially as a police problem until the 9/11 attacks, the US Congress issued the Authorization for Use of Military Force which is functionally equivalent to a declaration of war on Al Qaeda. This is now a military problem. Bin Laden was killed as the head of Al Qaeda in a military operation in a war zone. No need for judicial involvement, which is very limited on the battlefield anyway. Admiral Yamamoto suffered a similar fate in WW2.
In case you think there could be peace, read Bin Laden's Letter to America to see his demands. The short version: everyone convert to Islam, then abolish your Constitution and govern the country under Sharia law... in every detail. (Beheading, stoning, crucifixion, whipping, ban alcohol, .... the works.)