Terrorists on ROFF?

Tom Littleton wrote:

Lazarus writes:

I am utterly terrified by the current obsession with
terrorists in the US.


I agree. In our worst year, most Americans were more likely to be struck by
lightning.
What you may or may not see is that here in the US, a combination of the mass
media and our own elected officials have fanned the paranoia to this level for
their own selfish purposes(ie: monetary gain, and staying in office). Although
fortunate not to have encountered such surroundings, I have spoken, fished and
spent time with quite a few who grew up in the Middle East and Northern
Ireland. I look at my own nation and realize we are weak, soft people at times.
Tom


I have trouble with you labeling people as soft and weak because they live
with peace. If that's true, I think I'll take soft and weak.

Willi

On 13 Oct 2004 23:56:00 GMT, (Tom Littleton) wrote:

Lazarus writes:
I am utterly terrified by the current obsession with
terrorists in the US.

I agree. In our worst year, most Americans were more likely to be struck by
lightning.
What you may or may not see is that here in the US, a combination of the mass
media and our own elected officials have fanned the paranoia to this level

(snipped)

The paranoia was already there. My mother used to become almost
hysterical about the idea that someone would break into their house or
grab her purse when she shopped at the local (then extremely safe)
mall. Because she saw so much about those kinds of incidents on TV.
You can recite stats on criminal violence per 100,000, per
neighborhood, per each mile on a highway no end and they'll still get
in their cars and drive for miles to get something a few cents cheaper
somewhere, but they'll panic if they see two black youths innocently
walking down the street.

Most parents worry a lot about the possibility that their child /
children will be kidnapped and murdered, "...because there's so much
of that going on these days." Cite history and population increases
and density and the speed of dramatic news spreading and they _still_
think that their kids are in several tens or hundreds of multiples
more danger than they were when they were kids.

40 to 50 years ago we'd never have heard about the recent few child
kidnappings in CA out here in the Midwest. If they were mentioned in
any newspapers, they'd have been small inside items. TV, in its
search for ratings and drama, has overly sensitized the part
(majority) of the public that watches TV to dramatic dangers.

For an example, watch the weather news. Watch how they make dramas
out of weather that you'd have just whined about as too much rain to
go out and play in when you were a kid. Now the recent hurricanes
were newsworthy, indeed. But a couple of hours worth per evening? To
persons not in their path?

Cyli
r.bc: vixen. Minnow goddess. Speaker to squirrels.
Often taunted by trout.

http://www.visi.com/~cyli

On 13 Oct 2004 23:56:00 GMT, (Tom Littleton) wrote:

Lazarus writes:
I am utterly terrified by the current obsession with
terrorists in the US.

I agree. In our worst year, most Americans were more likely to be struck by
lightning.
What you may or may not see is that here in the US, a combination of the mass
media and our own elected officials have fanned the paranoia to this level

(snipped)

The paranoia was already there. My mother used to become almost
hysterical about the idea that someone would break into their house or
grab her purse when she shopped at the local (then extremely safe)
mall. Because she saw so much about those kinds of incidents on TV.
You can recite stats on criminal violence per 100,000, per
neighborhood, per each mile on a highway no end and they'll still get
in their cars and drive for miles to get something a few cents cheaper
somewhere, but they'll panic if they see two black youths innocently
walking down the street.

Most parents worry a lot about the possibility that their child /
children will be kidnapped and murdered, "...because there's so much
of that going on these days." Cite history and population increases
and density and the speed of dramatic news spreading and they _still_
think that their kids are in several tens or hundreds of multiples
more danger than they were when they were kids.

40 to 50 years ago we'd never have heard about the recent few child
kidnappings in CA out here in the Midwest. If they were mentioned in
any newspapers, they'd have been small inside items. TV, in its
search for ratings and drama, has overly sensitized the part
(majority) of the public that watches TV to dramatic dangers.

For an example, watch the weather news. Watch how they make dramas
out of weather that you'd have just whined about as too much rain to
go out and play in when you were a kid. Now the recent hurricanes
were newsworthy, indeed. But a couple of hours worth per evening? To
persons not in their path?

Cyli
r.bc: vixen. Minnow goddess. Speaker to squirrels.
Often taunted by trout.

http://www.visi.com/~cyli

"Larry L" wrote in message
...

"Lazarus Cooke" wrote


Get a life guys, stop being paranoid, and killing innocent people with
your paranoia.

Go fishing.

Lazarus



Thank you and I mean that sincerely .... this country is so paranoid it is
it's own worst enemy
And I agree and concur wholeheartedly. Hearing Joe American from OshKosh
being paranoid about Al Queda kidnapping the local gas jockey, or meekly
submitting to having his body and luggage searched when he takes his yearly
flight to Sheboygan to visit the in-laws is just ridiculous. When I consider
Joe American's lifestyle to what I experience here and experienced in
Israel: open gunfights in the street, tank battles in front of the complex,
incoming mortar fire....And the next day, no one is terrorized. Its back to
life as usual. Were it that Americans had such resiliance and thick skin
inside their own country. Instead of 'getting over it', which is the
ultimate power against fear, we get milked and milked by our leaders, led by
the nose all over helenback, and are an embarassment in front of the world.
Ever noticed how little 'sympathy' for 9/11 we are getting from countries
who deal with terrorism on a regular basis? We're embarassing ourselves.

--riverman

"Larry L" wrote in message
...

"Lazarus Cooke" wrote


Get a life guys, stop being paranoid, and killing innocent people with
your paranoia.

Go fishing.

Lazarus



Thank you and I mean that sincerely .... this country is so paranoid it is
it's own worst enemy
And I agree and concur wholeheartedly. Hearing Joe American from OshKosh
being paranoid about Al Queda kidnapping the local gas jockey, or meekly
submitting to having his body and luggage searched when he takes his yearly
flight to Sheboygan to visit the in-laws is just ridiculous. When I consider
Joe American's lifestyle to what I experience here and experienced in
Israel: open gunfights in the street, tank battles in front of the complex,
incoming mortar fire....And the next day, no one is terrorized. Its back to
life as usual. Were it that Americans had such resiliance and thick skin
inside their own country. Instead of 'getting over it', which is the
ultimate power against fear, we get milked and milked by our leaders, led by
the nose all over helenback, and are an embarassment in front of the world.
Ever noticed how little 'sympathy' for 9/11 we are getting from countries
who deal with terrorism on a regular basis? We're embarassing ourselves.

--riverman

riverman wrote:
"Larry L" wrote in message
...

"Lazarus Cooke" wrote

Get a life guys, stop being paranoid, and killing innocent people
with your paranoia.

Go fishing.

Thank you and I mean that sincerely .... this country is so paranoid
it is it's own worst enemy

And I agree and concur wholeheartedly. Hearing Joe American from
OshKosh being paranoid about Al Queda kidnapping the local gas
jockey, or meekly submitting to having his body and luggage searched
when he takes his yearly flight to Sheboygan to visit the in-laws is
just ridiculous. When I consider Joe American's lifestyle to what I
experience here and experienced in Israel: open gunfights in the
street, tank battles in front of the complex, incoming mortar
fire....And the next day, no one is terrorized. Its back to life as
usual. Were it that Americans had such resiliance and thick skin
inside their own country. Instead of 'getting over it', which is the
ultimate power against fear, we get milked and milked by our leaders,
led by the nose all over helenback, and are an embarassment in front
of the world. Ever noticed how little 'sympathy' for 9/11 we are
getting from countries who deal with terrorism on a regular basis?
We're embarassing ourselves.

I'm not sure who this "we" is. Everyone I know has gone about their daily lives
without having to pay for a shrink. Personally, I'm not the least bit
embarrased. Ever notice what little sympathy we in America get for *anything*?
Probably because we don't need it and can take care of ourselves.
--
TL,
Tim
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

Thank you and I mean that sincerely .... this country is so paranoid it
is
it's own worst enemy
snipped
--riverman

Hmmmm, you sure know a lot about our country for a Congolesian. Been
scopin' us out like ol' Bubba spottin' white tail preseason. Hm, Hm, Hm...
Got you figured out ri'chere.

--
Frank Reid
Reverse email to reply

"Tim J." wrote in message
news:lHsbd.360471$mD.266581@attbi_s02...
riverman wrote:
"Larry L" wrote in message
...

"Lazarus Cooke" wrote

Get a life guys, stop being paranoid, and killing innocent people
with your paranoia.

Go fishing.

Thank you and I mean that sincerely .... this country is so paranoid
it is it's own worst enemy

And I agree and concur wholeheartedly. Hearing Joe American from
OshKosh being paranoid about Al Queda kidnapping the local gas
jockey, or meekly submitting to having his body and luggage searched
when he takes his yearly flight to Sheboygan to visit the in-laws is
just ridiculous. When I consider Joe American's lifestyle to what I
experience here and experienced in Israel: open gunfights in the
street, tank battles in front of the complex, incoming mortar
fire....And the next day, no one is terrorized. Its back to life as
usual. Were it that Americans had such resiliance and thick skin
inside their own country. Instead of 'getting over it', which is the
ultimate power against fear, we get milked and milked by our leaders,
led by the nose all over helenback, and are an embarassment in front
of the world. Ever noticed how little 'sympathy' for 9/11 we are
getting from countries who deal with terrorism on a regular basis?
We're embarassing ourselves.

I'm not sure who this "we" is. Everyone I know has gone about their daily
lives without having to pay for a shrink. Personally, I'm not the least
bit embarrased. Ever notice what little sympathy we in America get for
*anything*? Probably because we don't need it and can take care of
ourselves.
--
TL,
Tim

I'm not so sure we can 'take care of ourselves', Tim, especially when we
import so much stuff, and consume so much more than we generate. As long as
we need furrin friends, furrin oil, furrin trade, furrin investment and rely
on friendly furrin markets for our goods we can't really 'take care of
ourselves'. We need international goodwill and cooperation in many arenas,
which depends a lot on being percieved as a goodwilled and cooperative
nation outselves.

And I'm even less sure that Americans are 'going about their daily lives'.
We just allowed a ton of personal freedoms to get compromised, we are
standing in lines for airplanes for 3-4 hours, we justify having a president
who is alienating our country to many other parts of the world because he
'makes us feel safer at home' (and a lot of evidence shows that he is, in
acuality doing the opposite), we are rushing out to buy duct tape and window
plastic, we are casting suspicious glances at any Arabs in our midst, we no
longer travel around the world as freely as we used to, our economy is being
dragged down by the largest military budget and the largest federal deficit
in history, our country is being polarized worse than it ever has in our
countries history....exactly what about your 'daily life' is the same now as
it was 5 years ago??

Maybe our country does need a collective shrink!

--riverman

riverman wrote:
"Tim J." wrote in message
news:lHsbd.360471$mD.266581@attbi_s02...
riverman wrote:
"Larry L" wrote in message
...

"Lazarus Cooke" wrote

Get a life guys, stop being paranoid, and killing innocent people
with your paranoia.

Go fishing.

Thank you and I mean that sincerely .... this country is so
paranoid it is it's own worst enemy

And I agree and concur wholeheartedly. Hearing Joe American from
OshKosh being paranoid about Al Queda kidnapping the local gas
jockey, or meekly submitting to having his body and luggage searched
when he takes his yearly flight to Sheboygan to visit the in-laws is
just ridiculous. When I consider Joe American's lifestyle to what I
experience here and experienced in Israel: open gunfights in the
street, tank battles in front of the complex, incoming mortar
fire....And the next day, no one is terrorized. Its back to life as
usual. Were it that Americans had such resiliance and thick skin
inside their own country. Instead of 'getting over it', which is the
ultimate power against fear, we get milked and milked by our
leaders, led by the nose all over helenback, and are an
embarassment in front of the world. Ever noticed how little
'sympathy' for 9/11 we are getting from countries who deal with
terrorism on a regular basis? We're embarassing ourselves.

I'm not sure who this "we" is. Everyone I know has gone about their
daily lives without having to pay for a shrink. Personally, I'm not
the least bit embarrased. Ever notice what little sympathy we in
America get for *anything*? Probably because we don't need it and
can take care of ourselves.
--
TL,
Tim

I'm not so sure we can 'take care of ourselves', Tim, especially when
we import so much stuff, and consume so much more than we generate.
As long as we need furrin friends, furrin oil, furrin trade, furrin
investment and rely on friendly furrin markets for our goods we can't
really 'take care of ourselves'. We need international goodwill and
cooperation in many arenas, which depends a lot on being percieved as
a goodwilled and cooperative nation outselves.

And I'm even less sure that Americans are 'going about their daily
lives'. We just allowed a ton of personal freedoms to get
compromised, we are standing in lines for airplanes for 3-4 hours, we
justify having a president who is alienating our country to many
other parts of the world because he 'makes us feel safer at home'
(and a lot of evidence shows that he is, in acuality doing the
opposite), we are rushing out to buy duct tape and window plastic, we
are casting suspicious glances at any Arabs in our midst, we no
longer travel around the world as freely as we used to, our economy
is being dragged down by the largest military budget and the largest
federal deficit in history, our country is being polarized worse than
it ever has in our countries history....exactly what about your
'daily life' is the same now as it was 5 years ago??

Just about everything. I'm not sure what folks you hang around with that
are dis'ing Arabs and rushing out to buy saran wrap and duct tape, but
advise them to invest in tin foil hats instead. ;-)

I should have known this would turn into a political rant. My bad. I'll
bail out of this end of the thread and leave the empty soapbox for you.
--
TL,
Tim
------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

On Thu, 14 Oct 2004 13:34:03 +0100, "riverman" wrote:


I'm not so sure we can 'take care of ourselves', Tim, especially when we
import so much stuff, and consume so much more than we generate. As long as
we need furrin friends, furrin oil, furrin trade, furrin investment and rely
on friendly furrin markets for our goods we can't really 'take care of
ourselves'. We need international goodwill and cooperation in many arenas,
which depends a lot on being percieved as a goodwilled and cooperative
nation outselves.

And I'm even less sure that Americans are 'going about their daily lives'.
We just allowed a ton of personal freedoms to get compromised, we are
standing in lines for airplanes for 3-4 hours, we justify having a president
who is alienating our country to many other parts of the world because he
'makes us feel safer at home' (and a lot of evidence shows that he is, in
acuality doing the opposite), we are rushing out to buy duct tape and window
plastic, we are casting suspicious glances at any Arabs in our midst, we no
longer travel around the world as freely as we used to, our economy is being
dragged down by the largest military budget and the largest federal deficit
in history, our country is being polarized worse than it ever has in our
countries history....exactly what about your 'daily life' is the same now as
it was 5 years ago??

Just about everything...and I thought you now spent all (or most) of
your life in the Congo, England, wherever - not that there's anything
WRONG with that...seriously, though, being essentially an expat, all the
"we" and "our" stuff is perhaps not as meaningful as from someone in the
US on a day-to-day basis. For example, friends from Switzerland (with
relatives in the US who keep them "in the loop," as it were) recently
here for a month or so, and for the first time since 9/11, were truly
surprised at what they found. They said they had half-expected a police
state under siege from within, based on what they had heard in the Euro
press. And even though they are worldly, sophisticated people, they
said they now look with some suspicion at (unknown-to-them) Arabs,
paraphrasing Abd al-Rahman al-Rashid, because not all Muslims are
terrorists, but it seems that most terrorists are Muslim.

And as to the polarization, IMO, you can put the majority of
responsibility for that solidly at the feet of the Clintons and company,
including esp. Terry McAuliffe.

TC,
R

Maybe our country does need a collective shrink!

--riverman