"Incident" at Boston Marathon

[dare2be]

It is fascinating how people use sports to cope with major life events.

Meh, I don't use sports to cope with major life events. I use sports to create major life events.

Wait, that's wrong too.

 

[forty_three]

So how is it that the Russians warned the USA about the older brother yet we let him back into the country after spending 6 months in Russia? This is according to both Geraldo Rivera & Bill O'Reilly. I'm not a fan of Fox News, but that's a piss poor job by the FBI if you ask me.

Well, of course those two would be the ones to froth at the mouth over it. And soon there will be a stampede of congressmen from red states shouting at the top of their lungs about it. And not one of them will understand the task facing the three letter agencies.

These guys snowed the investigators. And with the insane volume of things they have to follow up on, things get missed. Where are Geraldo and Billy Boy when they do get someone deported or stop an attack? Oh, that's right. That doesn't get ratings. If anyone even knows about it.

The good guys have to be right every time. The bad guys only have to be right once. Armchair intelligence guys are just as effective as armchair quarterbacks. Three of the 9/11 hijackers got stopped for speeding the night before on their way to NY. And everyone was like "THEY SHOULD HAVE LOCKED THEM UP!" On what grounds? Hidsight, it would be great to have stopped those three. But it wouldn't have changed anything on that next day. All of those people would have still died.

So I guess the rational, well reasoned response will be "ZOMG LOCK UP EVERYONE ON A WATCH LIST!" Which will improve traffic problems in a lot of places. Because 75% of people in this country are on some kind of watch list. I am on a few, I'm sure. My boss also owns a farm. The FBI talks to her once a month because of her fertilizer purchases. And everyone agrees it's pretty pointless. But it's in the Patriot Act, so they have to do it. Maybe if the feds weren't asking every farmer where they buy their shit, more investigators could focus on things like "Hey, this guy we talked to last year just bough 9 pressure cookers and 30 packs of batteries off Amazon."

It really sucks it got missed. REALLY SUCKS. But for every one that's missed there are 20 or more that didn't. And those guys are in places where they can't hurt anyone.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

I think this was my favorite tweet from last night:

 

[Eddie_Shack]

Well, of course those two would be the ones to froth at the mouth over it. And soon there will be a stampede of congressmen from red states shouting at the top of their lungs about it. And not one of them will understand the task facing the three letter agencies.

These guys snowed the investigators. And with the insane volume of things they have to follow up on, things get missed. Where are Geraldo and Billy Boy when they do get someone deported or stop an attack? Oh, that's right. That doesn't get ratings. If anyone even knows about it.

The good guys have to be right every time. The bad guys only have to be right once. Armchair intelligence guys are just as effective as armchair quarterbacks. Three of the 9/11 hijackers got stopped for speeding the night before on their way to NY. And everyone was like "THEY SHOULD HAVE LOCKED THEM UP!" On what grounds? Hidsight, it would be great to have stopped those three. But it wouldn't have changed anything on that next day. All of those people would have still died.

So I guess the rational, well reasoned response will be "ZOMG LOCK UP EVERYONE ON A WATCH LIST!" Which will improve traffic problems in a lot of places. Because 75% of people in this country are on some kind of watch list. I am on a few, I'm sure. My boss also owns a farm. The FBI talks to her once a month because of her fertilizer purchases. And everyone agrees it's pretty pointless. But it's in the Patriot Act, so they have to do it. Maybe if the feds weren't asking every farmer where they buy their shit, more investigators could focus on things like "Hey, this guy we talked to last year just bough 9 pressure cookers and 30 packs of batteries off Amazon."

It really sucks it got missed. REALLY SUCKS. But for every one that's missed there are 20 or more that didn't. And those guys are in places where they can't hurt anyone.

I don't know if you've read this or not, but it's a huge, in depth story. It's fascinating though, what's sprung up since 9/11 and how they operate.

Top Secret America | washingtonpost.com

Read the whole thing, it's worth it.

I'm a little worried the government and the general public have this feeling that we can somehow legislate our way out of terrorist attacks. Just a couple more cameras on street corners, just a few more government agencies dedicated to intelligence gathering, just a few more drone strikes, we'll get them yet. This is no doubt a horrible tragedy, but the answer isn't necessarily going to be more laws, more government funding, more computers, more cameras, more agencies.

 

[dare2be]

Meanwhile, while the capture was going down last night, this was happening:

[YOUTUBE]ZQYF-pG3UmA[/YOUTUBE]

 

[BOSSMANPC]

She's still doing the talent shows dare? I remember the video from the other one seems like a while ago. She's a talented young lady there sir.

 

[dare2be]

School shows, every year since pre-k. She wants to get into drama so she might start skipping the school-sponsored shows.

 

[beardown07]

 

[BOSSMANPC]

School shows, every year since pre-k. She wants to get into drama so she might start skipping the school-sponsored shows.

I still have the other, I remember you sent it to me (I think I was sick at the time) and she sang "The Sun will come up tomorrow" very well done.

It's just incredible how fast they grow.

 

[forty_three]

I don't know if you've read this or not, but it's a huge, in depth story. It's fascinating though, what's sprung up since 9/11 and how they operate.

Top Secret America | washingtonpost.com

Read the whole thing, it's worth it.

I'm a little worried the government and the general public have this feeling that we can somehow legislate our way out of terrorist attacks. Just a couple more cameras on street corners, just a few more government agencies dedicated to intelligence gathering, just a few more drone strikes, we'll get them yet. This is no doubt a horrible tragedy, but the answer isn't necessarily going to be more laws, more government funding, more computers, more cameras, more agencies.

Nope. Freeing up the red tape to follow up on things that work is what is needed. Not more laws, better ones.

I work with banks a lot and have been involved in some investigations of the money that feeds some of these people. THAT'S how you stop it. Like weeds. Kill the root, the plant dies.

I would venture to say that I may have had a bigger impact on some of these jerks than the Agents asking about fertilizer... But that's just a guess. I know of six financiers that aren't on our soil anymore and won't be coming back. So there's that.

 

[KennyBanyeah]

Nope. Freeing up the red tape to follow up on things that work is what is needed. Not more laws, better ones.

I work with banks a lot and have been involved in some investigations of the money that feeds some of these people. THAT'S how you stop it. Like weeds. Kill the root, the plant dies.

I would venture to say that I may have had a bigger impact on some of these jerks than the Agents asking about fertilizer... But that's just a guess. I know of six financiers that aren't on our soil anymore and won't be coming back. So there's that.

100% agree. I'm not sure of the agencies and/or politicians want all these financial doings coming out though.

As for attacking the root, that can be interpreted in different ways. In many parts of the world (I've been to my share of these places) the US is perceived as a violent, evil and greedy neo-colonial power. This perception, be it justified or not, needs to be thoroughly explored. Honest questions need to be asked as to why so much hatred is focused on the USA. This examination has typically ended at the standard "they hate our freedom" or "they're jealous of our wealth as a nation". That's no longer good enough. These qualities apply to countries who are far less frequently targeted by these groups of people.

The US government needs to honestly and openly try to figure out what is fueling hatred towards itself and its people. If it happens to be self-induced then obviously widespread changes need to be made. Misconceptions about how evil the US is at regional scales worldwide need to de-bunked. In short, the image of the US on a global scale has been in need of an overhaul for some time. As a preventative measure, in the interest of its citizens safety, the US govt. needs to expend resources and some of its considerable brain power uprooting the underlying perceptions and misconceptions that are feeding all the hate.

 

[dare2be]

The US government needs to honestly and openly try to figure out what is fueling hatred towards itself and its people.

Nice unintended pun right there. I'd say a majority of our foreign policy decisions center around protecting our foreign oil interests.

 

[KennyBanyeah]

Nice unintended pun right there. I'd say a majority of our foreign policy decisions center around protecting our foreign oil interests.

Didn't notice that. But yes that is the perception out there.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

 

[BOSSMANPC]

That's a cool shot.

 

[KennyBanyeah]

That's a cool shot.

Not cool enough for the dipshit that's trying escape though Boss.

 

[BOSSMANPC]

Not cool enough for the dipshit that's trying escape though Boss.

LOL, Good point, things got a little toasty for him.

 

[Eddie_Shack]

100% agree. I'm not sure of the agencies and/or politicians want all these financial doings coming out though.

As for attacking the root, that can be interpreted in different ways. In many parts of the world (I've been to my share of these places) the US is perceived as a violent, evil and greedy neo-colonial power. This perception, be it justified or not, needs to be thoroughly explored. Honest questions need to be asked as to why so much hatred is focused on the USA. This examination has typically ended at the standard "they hate our freedom" or "they're jealous of our wealth as a nation". That's no longer good enough. These qualities apply to countries who are far less frequently targeted by these groups of people.

The US government needs to honestly and openly try to figure out what is fueling hatred towards itself and its people. If it happens to be self-induced then obviously widespread changes need to be made. Misconceptions about how evil the US is at regional scales worldwide need to de-bunked. In short, the image of the US on a global scale has been in need of an overhaul for some time. As a preventative measure, in the interest of its citizens safety, the US govt. needs to expend resources and some of its considerable brain power uprooting the underlying perceptions and misconceptions that are feeding all the hate.

I'm going to be intentionally vague here to avoid derailing the thread, pissing people off, and getting into a bunch of arguments, because this isn't the thread for that. Nor am I condoning ANY attacks on innocent American citizens, please don't argue that point.

But do some research. The United States does a lot of things in the Middle East that are just flat out wrong. We ignore a lot of things in Africa (mass, r*pe, genocide, starvation), our government just plain does a lot of nasty, shady things, especially in the Middle East. The American people aren't evil, but a lot of the things our government does are. In a Democracy, that means we share that blame.

Again, please don't tell me about how that doesn't justify terrorism. I'm not making that point. But you can only poke a dog so many times before it bites you.

 

[KennyBanyeah]

I'm going to be intentionally vague here to avoid derailing the thread, pissing people off, and getting into a bunch of arguments, because this isn't the thread for that. Nor am I condoning ANY attacks on innocent American citizens, please don't argue that point.

But do some research. The United States does a lot of things in the Middle East that are just flat out wrong. We ignore a lot of things in Africa (mass, r*pe, genocide, starvation), our government just plain does a lot of nasty, shady things, especially in the Middle East. The American people aren't evil, but a lot of the things our government does are. In a Democracy, that means we share that blame.

Again, please don't tell me about how that doesn't justify terrorism. I'm not making that point. But you can only poke a dog so many times before it bites you.

I don't think we disagree.

And of course murder (call it terrorism or what you will) is never justified.

 

[Eddie_Shack]

I don't think we disagree.

And of course murder (call it terrorism or what you will) is never justified.

Yeah, it wasn't really directed at you, just more of a general statement. I tend to piss people off when I talk about the US government's foreign policy, so I have to choose my words carefully.