Warren Buffett: Nuke Attack in USA 'Virtual Certainty'

[Donut]

Originally posted by dragonwolf: i have no intintion of spending my days ,as long or short as they may be, worring about some stupid thing that may or may not come the truth of the matter is simply this if we do spend all our time worring about an attack that may or may not come then the terrorest have won and taken away our most valuable gift the freedom and securety of of our lives

I would agree with this to a certain extent. If the terrorist can change the way that we live then they have already won. However, as Thomas Jefferson said 'The price of liberty is eternal vigilance'.

We can't just ignore the threat and hope it goes away. In London we are being constantly reminded of the need for vigilance. Posters and announcements in public places reminding us not to leave bags unattended and what to do if we see suspect packages.

If you are an American you can help by looking here

[Luther]

Originally posted by Donut: quote: Originally posted by dragonwolf: i have no intintion of spending my days ,as long or short as they may be, worring about some stupid thing that may or may not come the truth of the matter is simply this if we do spend all our time worring about an attack that may or may not come then the terrorest have won and taken away our most valuable gift the freedom and securety of of our lives

I would agree with this to a certain extent. If the terrorist can change the way that we live then they have already won. However, as Thomas Jefferson said 'The price of liberty is eternal vigilance'.

We can't just ignore the threat and hope it goes away. In London we are being constantly reminded of the need for vigilance. Posters and announcements in public places reminding us not to leave bags unattended and what to do if we see suspect packages.

If you are an American you can help by looking here[/QUOTE]"Did Bob fly his flag improperly? Did Sally fail to attend the Fourth of July parade? Was Ed overheard criticizing our President? These may seem like subtle trangressions, but look closely--they are indicators of deep-seated hatred for America--the hallmarks of terrorism."

Holy shit! That SNITCH site is nuts! I thought the American ideology disliked Stalinist community-spy networks.
Here's another quote from SNITCH:

"Don't hesitate to conduct surveillance and report people who read or discuss unAmerican literature. If they've aroused your suspicions, it's likely they're involved with terrorism."

For the love of all that's cute and cuddly! In other words they're saying "If people disagree with what we say drop us a line and we'll lock them up". Now THAT sort of subjugation and fear-mongering is more terrifying than anything a 'terrorist' could unleash on a people. I thought criticism of governments and systems is what democracy is all about. But then hey, for saying this I must be a terrorist.

I sincerely, SINCERELY hope that that site is a satirical joke or something. Because if it isn't, and if enough Americans take that kind of slant toward this whole 'War on Terrorism' thing then World War 2 was a waste of time.

[ 05-07-2002, 05:45 AM: Message edited by: Luther ]

[Luther]

Ok, wait, sorry. I'm a complete idiot. I admit it freely. It is a joke site...
Sarcasm is hard to pick up in printed words [img]smile.gif[/img]
Damn I feel really stupid now. But then, I feel really stupid several times a minute. I guess I'm just going to have to shut up for a few days until this blows over.

[ 05-07-2002, 06:00 AM: Message edited by: Luther ]

[Yorick]

Originally posted by Luther: sure it's Western disgruntlement, but that doesn't mean I lack "Education, knowledge, understanding" as you seem to be insinuating. But then, I'm putting words in your mouth now arn't I?

Yes you are. I wasn't referring to you.

The education of Muslim children in Palestine and other hotbeds is heavily slanted towards a militant Muslim mindset. In one particular school in Pakistan, there is no education about the outside world. About world history, physics etc. It's all centred around knowledge of the Qu'ran, and the history of Islam (with it's struggles against the west and the Jews.)

This is for children. This shapes their worldview into a vastly different one from western children.

The TIME journalist who visited there described it as a terrorist factory.

[ 05-07-2002, 10:12 AM: Message edited by: Yorick ]

[Yorick]

Originally posted by Luther: When did I ever say anything about 'Wahabist' extremists? I just used the sweeping generalization: 'extremists'. Personally I'm yet to see any sound evidence that links ANY person or group to the commonly-publicised acts of 'terrorism' (WTC or otherwise).

You generalised and I specified.

If you haven't seen the links you haven't been looking very hard. There have been public releases of Osamas statements about America and the WTC. It's so obvious I can't believe you're still putting that argument up.

Now here's another clue. For other terrorist acts (outside WTC) there are groups that CLAIM RESPONSIBILITY. But you're right. That's scanty evidence at best isn't it?

[Azred]

Originally posted by flibulzbuth: Why would anybody want to blow America?

Because America is the most visible target; if a group can sucessfully attack America then they could make a name for themselves, so to speak. If you hit the biggest bully on the playground and get away with it, then the next person you try to hit is likely to back down. Strangely enough, "playground" psychology applies quite readily to international politics/diplomacy....

Originally posted by Yorick: quote: Originally posted by Ziroc: Damn the Scientists that developed the Atomic Bomb.

The bitter irony being that Einstein, one of the great human minds, assisted in it's creation.[/QUOTE]Einstein and Szilard were originally thinking that controlled chain reactions could become an energy source; they wanted to improve the state of the world. Oppenheimer was chosen to design and build the bomb for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was that the other "big names" didn't want to. Einstein later gathered a list of scientists' names who were opposed to atomic weapons and sent a letter of concern to Truman. Teller is the one who is most likely to be "damned"--he invented the hydrogen bomb and "dirty" bombs.

@Donut: that SNITCH site was a laugh-riot! (yes, it is sarcasm)

[Yorick]

Originally posted by Azred: Einstein and Szilard were originally thinking that controlled chain reactions could become an energy source; they wanted to improve the state of the world. Oppenheimer was chosen to design and build the bomb for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was that the other "big names" didn't want to. Einstein later gathered a list of scientists' names who were opposed to atomic weapons and sent a letter of concern to Truman. Teller is the one who is most likely to be "damned"--he invented the hydrogen bomb and "dirty" bombs.

Yes, but Einstein moved from pacifism as the war developed. He was after all a German Jew, alive during Hitlers holocaust.

Taken from aip.org:
In August 1939 nuclear physicists came to Einstein, not for scientific but for political help. The fission of the uranium nucleus had recently been discovered. A long-time friend, Leo Szilard, and other physicists realized that uranium might be used for enormously devastating bombs. They had reason to fear that Nazi Germany might construct such weapons. Einstein, reacting to the danger from Hitler's aggression, had already abandoned his strict pacifism. He now signed a letter that was delivered to the American president, Franklin.D. Roosevelt, warning him to take action. This letter, and a second Einstein-Szilard letter of March 1940, joined efforts by other scientists to prod the United States government into preparing for nuclear warfare. Einstein played no other role in the nuclear bomb project, but during the war he performed useful service as a consultant for the United States Navy's Bureau of Ordnance.

[Azred]

I am never too proud or stubborn to admit that I can be wrong. [img]graemlins/petard.gif[/img] Thank you for the clarification, Yorick.

[Beltazar]

Originally posted by dragonwolf: i have no intintion of spending my days ,as long or short as they may be, worring about some stupid thing that may or may not come the truth of the matter is simply this if we do spend all our time worring about an attack that may or may not come then the terrorest have won and taken away our most valuable gift the freedom and securety of of our lives

You are SO right, I'm with you on that

Originally posted by Ziroc: Very scary folks: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...ck_1&printer=1 (if that link looks broken, click below Full News Story Here After 9/11, I knew this would happen soon as well. It's VERY scary to think--in 10 years, Washington, DC or New York will be radioactive deadlands. I Hope to God it doesn't, but the chances are WAY too great now. over 27,0000 nukes in the world, it only takes *1* to go missing. Hell, not just in the USA. ANYWHERE. Israel? Paris? London? Damn the Scientists that developed the Atomic Bomb.

Fortunately for US and less fortunately for others, it is more likely to happen in europe or the middle east first.

Once it happens the first time, I have a sneaky suspicion that any state that currently supports terrorists, will never be able to support anybody or any thing again.

As for damning the guys who developed the bomb...thats not fair, nor necessary. If they hadn't done it the German Scientists would have, and they also brought us Nuclear Medicine and many many good things, not just the bad....we just have a tendancy to take the good stuff for granted.