But Home Depot's stock just went up?! Why the extra boost? Is it really needed? Oh, Lowes went down... OK. :)
Build "Panic Room", complete with Bin Laden dart board. Plans available either at Lowe's or Home Depot.......
There are 300million Americans. What, is he going to kill us all? Screw him....
Happy Holidays…
WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Department of Homeland Security raised the U.S. terror threat level from elevated to high Sunday, warning of possible terrorist strikes more devastating than the September 11, 2001, attacks.
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said the move was the result of a “substantial increase” in the volume of intelligence pointing to “near-term attacks that could either rival or exceed what we experienced on September 11.”
Ridge also urged the public to be patient with stricter security measures “in the coming days and weeks” and to proceed with holiday plans despite the threat. “America is a country that will not be bent by terror,” he said.
Recent reporting reiterates – and this is a constant stream of reporting – that al Qaeda continues to consider using aircraft as a weapon," Ridge said during a Washington news conference. “And they are constantly evaluating procedures, both in the United States and elsewhere, to find gaps in our security posture that could be exploited.”
So that is mauve? Or Indigo or what? Come on how can i keep track of they dont tell me which color it is!
Heightened Terror Alert..
so the Motherland Security raised the level up.. it's high now.. i forget whether that is fuschia or peachpuff...
i thought the administration mantra was that two years of war made us safer.. by "taking the war to them" we were letting the American people enjoy their 'liberties' without being held hostage by some two bit terrorists..
help me understand.. how has all this helped?? How are we safe now when Al-Kayda still has the capabilities to attack anywhere in the world including the US??
and btw what is one supposed to do in a heightened terror alert while also asked to go about their usual business?? report the next Arab you see scratching his butt?? and then resume waving the flag while continuing the shopping frenzy cuz the retail sales are nowhere near spectacular this season?
PA your logic is flawed. Can crimes still be commitment even though we have police? You should understand that the war against terror is not a 1, 2, or 5 year commitment. So while the color coded system is, for lack of a better word silly, the system behind it is not.
MY logic is flawed? tell me one good reason why we had two years of fighting terror when we are still where we began?? isn't it what everyone just said.. you can't 'fight' terror.. you can 'prepare' against it.. and then go about your life hoping it doesn't strike you..
IF this 'war' had not taken place.. we'd still have these terror alerts.. there'd still be some 'Al-kayda' planning attacks and we'd be prepared ... on alerts trying to go about our lives..
why have these sham wars under such a flimsy pretext as 'National Security' or 'fighting terror'?
Politicians are in a box. If a terrorist attack happens and there is no warning, they look like idiots. If they constantly run up warnings with nothing ever happening, then people ignore the warnings.
Ultimately it has been more than 2 years since an attack on American soil. That is the only measure of success that Americans really care about.... On the other hand, if we get hit again, it would hardly suprise us..
Terror attacks have been thwarted and I agree fighting terror is best done in the background that's leaves the public out of the picture but there are situations in which you need to alert the public. While you might call the attacks against the Pentagon and trade center a sham the majority do not.
PA:
One of the reasons your logic is flawed is that you seem to be looking for objective proof of something that is generally not susceptible of objective proof.
** Logical Premise: If I did not do A, then B would have occured. **
The purpose behind all of our anti-terror activity (A) is to prevent the occurence of additional terror attacks in the US (B). Raising the terror alert to high cannot possibly be used to demonstrate the falsity of the premise. Raising the terror alert is part of (A). It is not the occurence of (B).
The reality is that even the occurence of a terror attack in the US will not demonstrate the failure of the policy or premise. Maybe the actions prevented 9 out of 10 terror attacks from occuring.
In deciding whether you believe that the actions in our war on terror are working or not working, all you can do is look at the actions and decide for yourself whether it makes sense that the action is reasonably related to accomplishment of the objective and then base your opinion on faith. As to the color coding system, the things that occur at the law enforcement level when the level of alert goes up are infinitely more important than what the average Joe or Mary does in their daily lives. More law enforcement and security personnel are dispatched to high value targets (airports, nuclear installations, courthouses, etc.), higher levels of searches occur at such targets, security personnel become a little more keen in their observations, surveillance of "people of interest" is heightened, etc., etc., etc.
Now ask yourself. If you were a terrorist and you were planning to con your way through security at a nuclear plant on Wednesday based upon the security scheme you've observed over the last 3 months and you find five guys checking everyone out as they enter the perimeter of the facility instead of one guy waiving everyone through the gates while he's listening to bee bop on his headphones, and you begin thinking maybe you've seen that same Dodge that is behind you now a couple other times yesterday, might that change your plans?
Well thanks to the US government my trip to new york is cancelled. Dumbass govt. No reason for this being here. I just wanted to ramble.
[QUOTE]
Originally posted by underthedome: *
**America is a country that will not be bent by terror*
[/QUOTE]
err... kinda looks like it already has been given the frequent elevation of these warnings.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Nadia_H: *
err... kinda looks like it already has been given the frequent elevation of these warnings.
[/QUOTE]
Strange gloating tone to this.
[QUOTE]
Originally posted by storch: *
**Strange gloating tone to this.
[/QUOTE]
*
Are you speculating on how i feel inside ? You won't get far. Don't speculate. There was no 'gloating' attached, merely what i perceive to be an accurate statement of what i observe - the terror warnings keep being elevated every now and then. Is the country being driven towards being made to feel afraid ? Yes in my opinion. We can agree to disagree can't we.
I presume UTD was talking about the long term bending to terror. Huge difference between that and real concern about how to protect Americans.
For what purpose was your post if not a flippant retort to UTD's statement?
What with the sarcastic "err..." and so on.
[QUOTE]
Originally posted by storch: *
**I presume UTD was talking about the long term bending to terror. Huge difference between that and real concern about how to protect Americans. For what purpose was your post if not a flippant retort to UTD's statement? What with the sarcastic "err..." and so on.
[/QUOTE]
*
Now you and i are going to play semantics. First off, that wasn't a quote by UTD as i SHOULD have clarified from the beginning. It was by Tom Ridge, UTD included that comment in his post when he bumped up this thread. It was by Tom Ridge, not UTD.
Secondly, please don't presume that you know whether or not i have "real concern" about how to protect the US. i have friends and family who have been living there for decades, thank you, so yes whether or not something disastrous happens there again, is of 'real concern' to me.
The 'err' was to indicate that 'err - something is not accurate about the statement quoted above by Tom Ridge. You are not a psychic and neither am i, let's leave the i-can-guess-what-you're-thinking stuff to psychics. Don't presume that i am gloating if you don't know me. :) Don't judge my intentions based upon a one-syllable word ('err'). Whether or not i am infact gloating, the fact of the matter is - no one knows that for certain because you can't read inside me now can you?
[QUOTE]
Originally posted by Nadia_H: *
*
Are you speculating on how i feel inside ? You won't get far. Don't speculate. There was no 'gloating' attached, merely what i perceive to be an accurate statement of what i observe - the terror warnings keep being elevated every now and then. Is the country being driven towards being made to feel afraid ? Yes in my opinion. We can agree to disagree can't we.
[/QUOTE]
Nadia:
I think you are ignoring the things that occur in the US when the warning level rises as I set forth in my earlier post. The average guy and gal doesn't go into fear and paralysis when the warning level goes up. Maybe the first time. Or the second time. But now, you'd probably have a hard time finding a single US citizen who changed a travel plan, cancelled a plane reservation, or will skip a new years eve celebration based upon the current move up.
The warning system is now geared much more highly to steps that local, state and federal law enforcement take based upon the increase in the terror alert. The average citizen will be a little more alert to his/her surroundings and probably be a little more inclined to notify law enforcement about unusual or suspicious activities. The new guy on the cleaning crew at a nuke plant or on airplane maintenance duty will probably catch a few increased levels of scrutiny from workers too.
The idea that the warning increase spreads fear in the public is more wishful thinking of people who would like the American public to live in fear than reality.
I think I'll presume anything I wish. If you don't want anyone to form an opinion about your feelings on a particular subject, you should cease to comment on them.
Until then, I believe I will continue to form opinions based on the context and tone of postings here. If you expect me to simply take your word for it that you are infallibly neutral, fair and reasonable in all your posts, errr... OK I guess I will.
"Well thanks to the US government my trip to new york is cancelled. "
Who says these warnings don't have a positive effect!
Priceless! 