New Testingstan

Shhh. Don't let them hear that or we'll have pre-security checkpoint checkpoints. D:

that would be glorious

So I was reading about Sikh beliefs last night and I realised that all the fear and racism around them in Surrey when I was a kid was fucking dumb.

They carry knives, they'll stab us! The religion itself is far more appealing then Christianity and seems to have quite thr focus on equality.

Tl;dr white kids in the 80s were dumb.

is that seriously a stunning revelation

Aaron, to be fair both white kids and the 80 are each pretty dumb on their own.

evilsoup wrote:is that seriously a stunning revelation

Which part?

Losonti Tokash wrote:besides a whole 30 seconds of thinking about it will tell you that the security checkpoint itself is almost as attractive a target as any planes

To be fair, terrorists as a general whole seem to be about as I'M A JUGGALO WOOP WOOP as the TSA. The logistics, training and funding going into the average terrorist attempt at an airport/plane could be funneled into sending fifty people with fifty bombs to fifty malls in the country on a holiday weekend. Far less security, far greater spread, far better chance of some of the attacks being successful even if some others are caught in the act, and it's an act that would far more effectively terrorize a populace because it's a fair bet that *everyone* who's legitimately scared of terrorists makes at least semi-regular trips to the mall.

But thankfully the average bomber seems to have caught the airport brainbug just as badly as the average TSA admin has caught the useless security circus act brainbug.

tbh i doubt they could find fifty (reliable) volunteers in the united states

al qaeda's numbers in yemen are like 1,000 i heard somewhere

and over there they have all kinds of things to help recruitment



with their small manpower they prolly figure they have to go big indiviudally to make the most of it

how small of an organization is Al Qaeda anyways? We've been fed 10+ years of bullshit about how they're some sort of existential threat, but how many actual members do they have?

Darksi4190 wrote:how small of an organization is Al Qaeda anyways? We've been fed 10+ years of bullshit about how they're some sort of existential threat, but how many actual members do they have?

Nobody seems to really know.

huh i searched teh web and they said maybe a couple hundred based on some cia estimates

i'm trying to remember where i heard the 1000 number

a pbs documentary i think, they showed some towns in yemen that have al qaeda functioning as local government

perhaps the number just changes depending on what specifically you use as a definition, like die-hard trained folk vs more moderate sympathizers



but anyway it definitely isn't a very big number of people





BTW on the dog saga she ate one bowl of her dog food now

but is curently chewing on grass while refusing to eat the rest of her dog food

i tried makiing her some stuff from what i have

but all i had was vegetables and she didn't seem interested

then again she generally waits until late night to do the bulk of her eating anyway so who knows


now tho i'm considering making her a steak or something

i'm sure she'd eat that but i generally don't keep much meat around



but she's just so fucking weird


i think she might just miss the kids and doesnt feel like eating much

tho she's not acting depressed so idk

but they won't be back till thursday at some point so gotta do something

Balls. The Olympics opening ceremony will be airing on NBC at 2:30am EST on Saturday. I no longer stay up at that time. I've never seen an opening ceremony before, so I thought it would be cool to watch it live.

Jesus, ADR. How about typing paragraphs?

well holy shit

fucking finally

she pooped

maybe i'm just reading too much into her eating habits anyway

i don't use punctuation

i just hit enter twice instead

Darksi4190 wrote:how small of an organization is Al Qaeda anyways? We've been fed 10+ years of bullshit about how they're some sort of existential threat, but how many actual members do they have?

the question is nonsensical because there really is no single organisation or group called 'al qaeda' that you can be a card-carrying member of

the idea that there is was mostly invented so that america could have a real enemy for its war on terror

it's more of a label that any radical islamist group can affix to themselves for brand recognition purposes, and the idea that there is any real hierarchy or communication between most of these groups doesn't have much to back it

look up the documentary 'the power of nightmares' when you have the time (it was free on google videos some long time ago, at least)

it provides a pretty good basic argument to that effect

Djinnkitty83 wrote:

Losonti Tokash wrote:besides a whole 30 seconds of thinking about it will tell you that the security checkpoint itself is almost as attractive a target as any planes

To be fair, terrorists as a general whole seem to be about as I'M A JUGGALO WOOP WOOP as the TSA. The logistics, training and funding going into the average terrorist attempt at an airport/plane could be funneled into sending fifty people with fifty bombs to fifty malls in the country on a holiday weekend. Far less security, far greater spread, far better chance of some of the attacks being successful even if some others are caught in the act, and it's an act that would far more effectively terrorize a populace because it's a fair bet that *everyone* who's legitimately scared of terrorists makes at least semi-regular trips to the mall.

But thankfully the average bomber seems to have caught the airport brainbug just as badly as the average TSA admin has caught the useless security circus act brainbug.

Well, it's not about killing people so much as working their will. If the US remains paranoid and putting up with ridiculous bullshit out of fear, than a half-assed attempt or so every couple years will keep that going almost as well as successful attempts. It's also why nobody's ever tried to bomb Disneyland- it's not necessarily about killing people so much as sending messages.

Nietzslime wrote:

Darksi4190 wrote:how small of an organization is Al Qaeda anyways? We've been fed 10+ years of bullshit about how they're some sort of existential threat, but how many actual members do they have?

the question is nonsensical because there really is no single organisation or group called 'al qaeda' that you can be a card-carrying member of

the idea that there is was mostly invented so that america could have a real enemy for its war on terror

it's more of a label that any radical islamist group can affix to themselves for brand recognition purposes, and the idea that there is any real hierarchy or communication between most of these groups doesn't have much to back it

look up the documentary 'the power of nightmares' when you have the time (it was free on google videos some long time ago, at least)

it provides a pretty good basic argument to that effect

there was one, but it had a grand total of one hundred ninety-eight members at the time of 9/11 and it has almost certainly only gone down since then, if it still exists

even the largest estimates for al-qaeda were one thousand people working with the organization total in september 2001

isn't it just like a name random groups throw into their title to show how hardcore they are, like those one guys who called themselves "secret al qaeda"

Losonti Tokash wrote:isn't it just like a name random groups throw into their title to show how hardcore they are, like those one guys who called themselves "secret al qaeda"

yeah, but there was a group founded by osama bin laden in 1989 called that originally- it's just that now it's a way to flip america the bird just by existing

Baks-kun wrote:Well, it's not about killing people so much as working their will. If the US remains paranoid and putting up with ridiculous bullshit out of fear, than a half-assed attempt or so every couple years will keep that going almost as well as successful attempts. It's also why nobody's ever tried to bomb Disneyland- it's not necessarily about killing people so much as sending messages.

I guess it depends on what kind of message you're intending to send to whom. If they're trying to hit public confidence, I'd argue that malls are a better target. More people go there more often, if a few get hit it puts a very real fear into peoples' hearts that this is something that could happen to them right near home, far more than airport/airplane strikes. More people stay home, business/profits takes a hit, more concerned and wealthy interests are going to want something done about it.

A guy just shot up a movie theater and killed about ten people. Suddenly, national headlines. Ten gang killings spread out across a city wouldn't be national news; one mass murderer is.

If we thought he was part of an organization that might try to do it again, I bet the freakout would be pretty serious.

It seems like our society can only shake off the paranoia and carry on as before if we can shrug it off as "lone nut."

my facebook is seriously full of people who believe he was mind controlled by the government to give an excuse to take away everyone's guns for the un

warning: iranian propaganda

http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/252627.html

A licensed concealed handgun owner from Waco, Texas hurt more than his pride on Monday when his weapon accidentally discharged while he was reaching for his wallet at a Dallas Walmart store.



Police said that Todd Canady, 23, was in the checkout line when he fired the pistol he was carrying inside his pants.



"The bullet struck Canady in the buttock, then ricochet on the floor and broke into pieces," KDFW reported. Two children and a woman were also wounded when they were struck by bullet fragments.



Other reports indicated that the bullet grazed Canady's leg when he dropped the Springfield .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol. Shards of concrete from the floor were said to have caused the wounds to the woman and children.
[...]

clearly if those bystanders had more guns

Or you know, engage the safety.

man i have to wonder how many people whining about ARE FIREARMS actually shoot regularly

like, i've only ever shot air-rifles at targets when i was younger, but we still practiced full safety and all that

and these people are talking like they're gonna bust a john woo and instantly pick out the right target in smoke and tear gas, shoot without hitting anyone else, and then dodge all the bullets from the universally packin' population they seem to want, who just heard another gunshot coming from behind or in front or wherever

it's either insanity or just talking out of their ass

on the ccw application there should be a question "do you know anything about gun safety"

and if they say no

maybe decline the permit