If terrorists can fly three passenger planes into some of our nations greatest buildings, and if the United States sits on their thumbs, it's going to accomplish nothing except to convince other terrorists that "Hey, this is easy!"
War is not for revenge. It is not for retaliation. It is for self-defense. If you see an intruder in your home and he's waving a gun at you, and you have a gun yourself, you don't sit and ask him if he'd like a cup of tea while you talk it over. You shoot him so he doesn't do more damage than he's already done.
If this were a war of anger and revenge, it would have already taken place, and Afghanistan would be a parking lot.
The United States government has so far shown a great deal of restraint, considering the situation. Whenever issues such as airport security, surveillance, search warrants, etc., have come up on the countless interviews with government officials lately, in almost each instance they have willingly brought up the delicate balance between protecting the nation's sense of security and protecting their sense of privacy.
The United States hasn't jumped the gun, and we should be careful not to either. So far all I've seen on sites like Slashdot is rambling about how the tyrannical U.S. government is trying to strip us of our rights. It's good that we're being vigilant (that's one of the requirements of a good citizenry), but we must take care not to make quick judgements based on preconceived notions.
It is absolutely logical that the United States would be looking into increased security measures. We are going to war (which should be so clear by this point that I hope I don't need to justify that statement), and it is necessary for our own well being that some kind of security measures be put in place.
I'm suprised at how well the government has been handling this, and I hope that, somewhere among all our vigilance and criticism, we can secretly give them a hand for actually taking pretty good care of our personal freedoms.
I think we should all fight this as soon as possible to make sure that it doesn't happen. We all need to right our representatives and tell them that they are interfering with the rights of innocent citizens and terrorists, and that we're not going to put up with it. Our consitution protects our right to e-mail kiddie porn to each other without having some fed finding out about it. What's up with that?
Yeah, we need to fight the evil government and protect our right to communicate our plans over e-mail and telephone, so we don't have to bother with all that secure communications nonsense.
I was thinking that the tech industry was on the upswing, but it looks like things are going to be hurting for the next while.
The massive layoffs in the airline industry are going to take a large toll on the economy. It's said that the six largest airlines in the US could all be bankrupt by the end of the year.
I can only hope that the war stirs the economy up. It has done so in the past, but that was when we were still an industrial nation.
And here I was seeing "Kournikova" and "slapped" and thinking this article was going to be much more interesting (and perhaps have some pics!)
Re:The Community Was Served.
on
Handling the Loads
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· Score: 3, Interesting
A huge part of this wasn't the news itself (which was sparse), but the fact that the Slashdot user discussions were where information was being placed in real time. As soon as something happened, someone posted it here. I just set my comments to "Newest First" and refreshed every few minutes, and I knew what was going on the entire time.
On behalf of all the people saying that we should pray, I'd just like to say that Yeah, that's what we meant.
I almost wonder if this is a subconscious attempt from people to rally support for white Christian America. It's easy for those who fit comfortably into the majority to see this as an Us vs. Them battle.
Those people, however, are hideous hypocrites; They are "Christian" in the same way that those flying the suicide planes were "Muslim"; i.e., only in that they happen to use that term to describe themselves. Any white Christian who starts seeing those of other ethnicities or religions as "Them" is not only a poor excuse for a Christian, but ought to be considered as bad as the terrorists themselves.
I have to agree. When the big news sources (CNN et al.) got smashed with traffic, an amazing amount of responsibility came down to the amateur journalists of the world, who did a wonderful job of reporting what they saw on their own websites.
Hats off to the webloggers and other people whose generally mundane daily updates suddenly became a source for an information-starved world.
Re:And here comes Carnivore...
on
More WTC News
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· Score: 5, Funny
If we lose our civil liberties, then the terrorists have won.
I'm all for civil liberties, but we need to understand that we pay for them with security. The same people who have been claiming that this event will strip us of our civil liberties have also been complaining that the government failed to protect us.
It's understandable that this could happen considering how little access to secure information we want to allow the government to have.
Re:It's been said before...
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More WTC News
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· Score: 2
Besides, most of the precautions being put into place serve only to make people comfortable, not to actually stop terrorists. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot you can do in a world where anything can be used for a weapon, people have no clue how to react in emergency situations, and terrorists don't have any demands and are perfectly willing to die.
Re:And here comes Carnivore...
on
More WTC News
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· Score: 3, Insightful
This is the crux of a very difficult debate. Which should the government focus on: Protecting us, or protecting our civil liberties? In cases like this, there's not really a way to do both.
I've been stunned by the number of people bitching about how the US is going to become a police state, how their liberties have been taken away because they can't carry Smith & Wesson onto the plane, etc.
It's a difficult balance, and some people will always be upset at where the scales fall. For now, let's just accept what protection our government is trying to give us, and complain about it later after we've eliminated whatever threat has caused this
Re:The need for offsite backup
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More WTC News
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· Score: 2
Also, I heard that they got most of their people evacuated safely.
Re:space imaging nyc image 09/12/2001
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More WTC News
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· Score: 2
Can you imagine being a member of the crew of the ISS, looking down and seeing a massive plume of smoke where New York was supposed to be.
Architects and civil engineers are starting to speculate on why the towers collapsed.
I think I can make a good guess about why they collapsed....
...the airplanes hitting them?
Re:What can be done about terrorism?
on
More On Tragedy
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· Score: 2
I have to commend the US Government for having shown a lot of restraint. I know everyone's itching to figure out what country we can bomb, but they really are taking their time and trying to make sure they've got the right person.
They've already dropped hints that war is probably imminent, but it is possible that they're just bluffing in an attempt to get political leaders to turn over the terrorists. The Taliban are peeing their pants right now.
I've opened the submission queue at Slant-Six so people who don't have their own websites and whose comments would otherwise be lost among the millions being generated in discussion forums like this will have a place where they can tell their story, post pictures, etc.
There's an article about this on my site called Amateur Journalism Feeds a Confused World. Yes, I'm spamming my own site, but I think it's at least partially relevant here.
Slant-Six is running some interesting articles about the situation, including a summary of the hints the government has been giving us that war is nearly inevitable.
The submission queues of S6 have recently been opened to the public. If you have a firsthand account, you can go there to share it with others.
I'm sorry the code is a little rough around the edges (be sure you fill out the forms completely), but I wasn't expecting to go public with it so soon.
Please don't mod this down. I'm really not trying to spam; Just giving a place for those without their own websites to publish their accounts without getting lost in the thousands of Slashdot posts. Thanks.
Slashdot Mirror
War is not for revenge. It is not for retaliation. It is for self-defense. If you see an intruder in your home and he's waving a gun at you, and you have a gun yourself, you don't sit and ask him if he'd like a cup of tea while you talk it over. You shoot him so he doesn't do more damage than he's already done.
If this were a war of anger and revenge, it would have already taken place, and Afghanistan would be a parking lot.
The United States hasn't jumped the gun, and we should be careful not to either. So far all I've seen on sites like Slashdot is rambling about how the tyrannical U.S. government is trying to strip us of our rights. It's good that we're being vigilant (that's one of the requirements of a good citizenry), but we must take care not to make quick judgements based on preconceived notions.
It is absolutely logical that the United States would be looking into increased security measures. We are going to war (which should be so clear by this point that I hope I don't need to justify that statement), and it is necessary for our own well being that some kind of security measures be put in place.
I'm suprised at how well the government has been handling this, and I hope that, somewhere among all our vigilance and criticism, we can secretly give them a hand for actually taking pretty good care of our personal freedoms.
This is going to take several years, buddy. You can sit there an wave your white flag, but the rest of us are waiting for the bombs to start.
If you're an American, buy canned food. If not, you'd better hope your leaders have already proclaimed that they're on our side.
Why the hell did they have to have Nazis and not Middle Eastern terrorists? Think of what a quick patch could do for sales...
I can't imagine the look on Megatron's face when he comes in to work on Monday and finds a pink slip on his dressing room door. Poor guy.
By the way, brunes69, the crow flies at midnight.
The massive layoffs in the airline industry are going to take a large toll on the economy. It's said that the six largest airlines in the US could all be bankrupt by the end of the year.
I can only hope that the war stirs the economy up. It has done so in the past, but that was when we were still an industrial nation.
And here I was seeing "Kournikova" and "slapped" and thinking this article was going to be much more interesting (and perhaps have some pics!)
A huge part of this wasn't the news itself (which was sparse), but the fact that the Slashdot user discussions were where information was being placed in real time. As soon as something happened, someone posted it here. I just set my comments to "Newest First" and refreshed every few minutes, and I knew what was going on the entire time.
I almost wonder if this is a subconscious attempt from people to rally support for white Christian America. It's easy for those who fit comfortably into the majority to see this as an Us vs. Them battle.
Those people, however, are hideous hypocrites; They are "Christian" in the same way that those flying the suicide planes were "Muslim"; i.e., only in that they happen to use that term to describe themselves. Any white Christian who starts seeing those of other ethnicities or religions as "Them" is not only a poor excuse for a Christian, but ought to be considered as bad as the terrorists themselves.
Hats off to the webloggers and other people whose generally mundane daily updates suddenly became a source for an information-starved world.
I'm all for civil liberties, but we need to understand that we pay for them with security. The same people who have been claiming that this event will strip us of our civil liberties have also been complaining that the government failed to protect us.
It's understandable that this could happen considering how little access to secure information we want to allow the government to have.
Besides, most of the precautions being put into place serve only to make people comfortable, not to actually stop terrorists. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot you can do in a world where anything can be used for a weapon, people have no clue how to react in emergency situations, and terrorists don't have any demands and are perfectly willing to die.
I've been stunned by the number of people bitching about how the US is going to become a police state, how their liberties have been taken away because they can't carry Smith & Wesson onto the plane, etc.
It's a difficult balance, and some people will always be upset at where the scales fall. For now, let's just accept what protection our government is trying to give us, and complain about it later after we've eliminated whatever threat has caused this
Also, I heard that they got most of their people evacuated safely.
Talk about feeling vulnerable.
I think I can make a good guess about why they collapsed....
...the airplanes hitting them?
They've already dropped hints that war is probably imminent, but it is possible that they're just bluffing in an attempt to get political leaders to turn over the terrorists. The Taliban are peeing their pants right now.
I've opened the submission queue at Slant-Six so people who don't have their own websites and whose comments would otherwise be lost among the millions being generated in discussion forums like this will have a place where they can tell their story, post pictures, etc.
There's an article about this on my site called Amateur Journalism Feeds a Confused World . Yes, I'm spamming my own site, but I think it's at least partially relevant here.
Slant-Six is running some interesting articles about the situation, including a summary of the hints the government has been giving us that war is nearly inevitable.
Some information about the amateur journalism taking place during all this can be found here. (Yes, that's the same website that's in my profile.)
I'm sorry the code is a little rough around the edges (be sure you fill out the forms completely), but I wasn't expecting to go public with it so soon.
Please don't mod this down. I'm really not trying to spam; Just giving a place for those without their own websites to publish their accounts without getting lost in the thousands of Slashdot posts. Thanks.
A mirror of this site should be online in a few minutes soon here (pardon the current mess).