[BREAKING NEWS 2:25pm EST] Hostage taken at Discovery Channel HQ [Video link]

[Ziroc]

A man who appears to have an explosive device has taken a hostage at the Discovery Channel headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, police say.

http://www.wbaltv.com/video/24841559/index.html

The man is described as an Asian male, with some type of device strapped to his body... His grievance is with TDC.... Hmmmm

[Hindsight]

Discovery TV Hostage Crisis Ends Fatally

http://www.aolnews.com/crime/article...c1_lnk1|167874

(Sept. 1) -- Police snipers this afternoon shot dead a gunman who had canisters strapped to his body and freed the three people he had been holding hostage inside the headquarters of the Discovery Channel in suburban Washington, authorities said. All three hostages were safe, Montgomery County, Md., Police Chief Tom Manger said. He said police, who were watching the suspect on building security cameras, had been negotiating with the gunman for hours but decided to take him out when they saw him point a handgun at one of the hostages. The suspect, identified by local media outlets as 43-year-old James J. Lee, was upset about the network's programming and had posted an angry rant on a website accusing the Discovery Channel of promoting overpopulation. The man entered the building in Silver Spring, Md., around 1 p.m. today, armed with a gun and wearing metal canisters that appeared to be explosive devices, police said. "We heard three gunshots around 1:20 [p.m.]," a Discovery Channel employee who did not wish to be identified told AOL News. "Nobody is going anywhere," the gunman said, according to a Discovery Channel worker who got out of the building safely. The gunman took two Discovery Channel employees and a security guard hostage in the lobby but the rest of the building, including a day care center on the first floor, was evacuated. "There are approximately ... 1,900 employees that work in the building," Manger told reporters while the hostage situation was still going on. "We believe most of them are out. ... Right now we have ... a small number of hostages that are with him right now. We are in negotiations with him currently [and] those negotiations are ongoing." As news of the incident spread, the Discovery Channel sent an e-mail to all employees, urging them to leave the building. "Don't Return to 1DP (One Discovery Place) Until Further Notice," the e-mail read. "Employees at 1DP should go home for the remainder of the day. No employee should return to 1DP for any reason. Employees with cars at 1DP should not return to the office, but instead use an alternate mode of transportation."

[SecretMaster]

Man this really irritates me. The points he was making were extremely valid (Discovery Channel is garbage programming, his environmental concerns are spot on), however the manner in which he expressed them was extremely ineffective. If anything, there is going to be more backlash and opposition to the point he was making.

In short he screwed it up for the rest of us who are trying to tackle these issues in a rational way. Thanks a lot jerk.

[Hivetyrant]

Originally Posted by SecretMaster Man this really irritates me. The points he was making were extremely valid (Discovery Channel is garbage programming, his environmental concerns are spot on), however the manner in which he expressed them was extremely ineffective. If anything, there is going to be more backlash and opposition to the point he was making. In short he screwed it up for the rest of us who are trying to tackle these issues in a rational way. Thanks a lot jerk.

You are exactly right, these kind of actions/publicity stunts, I find, just cause the opposite of the intended result.

For instance, I found myself cheering when the japanese whalers hit a greenpeace boat a few months ago, stupid $#@%'s like this guy are not helping their cause.