I remember the commercials, I missed them. I never knew the dog died 2 years ago.
Because Guitarlynn posted a response.
I can lock it, but peopld are starting to post on it again!
I miss the commercials. 
Byt bye, Gidget, even if i missed you by 2 years.
I miss the little Chihuahua too. I got to youtube and watch him every now and again when I find myself missing him.
New Leader for Al Qaeda:
bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13788594
Ayman al-Zawahiri
He was apparently the major planner behind 9/11 and was a major advisor to Bin Ladin and in general this was pretty expected. He was already someone people want to catch so it does little to change the lists- I think he was pretty much the person 2nd to Bin Ladin people wanted to catch anyway so nothings changed in that department.
Thing is too financially among other things the group is doing pretty poorly even in Bin Ladin’s last days. This could probably be attributed to the fact support is decreasing and as such so is financial support on top of that (where-ever it was coming from). Terrorist organisations can harp on all they like about their twisted ‘ideals’ but it takes a faiur bit of money to make things work (Al Quaeda if I recall supports the families of the guys who martyr themselves for their ‘cause’) along with morale, and as actual support dies that too eventually dries up.
I won’t say I’m not apprehensive though- something tells me if they do go, they’ll want to go out with a literal bang but for now it looks like unless something changes eventually things could really fall apart, and with less support that not only means less means to carry out plots but even eventually hide as things eventually deterioate. Of course there will always be some support for them, but as it gets smaller and smaller it will be harder for them to go on.
Plus the guy is 60 and look at how Bin Ladin was in caves eventually, it does a number on anyones health.
Though of course it’s very possible he’ll make another mark on his record before either someone catches him or the inevitable health hazard of caves does a number on his body but still.
This was inevitable, but is still very scary.
Ah yes. Well. At least the twin towers have been avenged.
I don’t think something like that can ever be avenged.
Those victims and families suffered for hours, and still are suffering. Osama was suddenly shot, and that was all.
People like him can never get what they deserve.
Exactly how I feel. It is a win for national security, but history made on such a large and devastating scale will never be avenged.
Oh my God I just saw this now. I can’t believe it. I loved him as Kenikie. He’s in a better place now.
Ryan Dunn is a dude from the Jackass movies and show. He does all of these hilarious, yet painful stunts for laughs. Today, he died in a car crash. It pained me so much when i heard the news. May he rest in peace. I’ve watched him entertain us for so many years. Now, it’s his turn to watch us from heaven.
I have not seen his work, but I did hear about his passing on the news. May he rest in peace and may we lend our prayers to his family.
love70ways: Well, his stunts are usually crude and painful, but he always did find a way to make the Jackass fans laugh.
And to think that my Karl Malden memorial thread only got one reply. Maybe Karl needed to hit a beehive with a baseball bat.
Articles:
(Sort of both a general report and about the killer):
mlive.com/news/us-world/inde … t_6_t.html
guardian.co.uk/world/2011/ju … oting-oslo
Killer profile:
guardian.co.uk/world/2011/ju … ay-attacks
Videos:General reports:
bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14270019
bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14265207
Items about the killer:
bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14270276
bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14262696
Recently you may have heard of the recent tragic events in Norway. Basically I though this post could serve as an area for more information surrounding it. There has been confusion in the beginning from the media. At first Al Qaeda claimed they were a part of it- this was proved to be utterly false (it is of course common for terrorists to make such claims when they never committed them, many do) and in fact was instigated by desires not in pro-Islamic terrorism- but terrorism in fact of a different kind. Seeped in Islamo-phobia and right-wing extremism, a native Norwegian decided to take matters into his own hands, bringing innocent children and people into his own personal ‘crusade’, while it seems revering an ancient Christian organisation (The Knight’s Templar) which was involved in the original crusades themselves and apparently identified as Christian himself.
A believed white supremist, he wished to bring about a “Conservative revolution” in the generally left-wing and liberal Norway. He wished to create an extremist right-wing party of his own and had been corresponding with other extremist right wingers in different countries- including the UK.
He was also involved in the bombing. Buying a large amount of fertiliser to make it and renting a farm in order to cover his tracks in terms of bomb production.
After the bombings he went to the island Utoya and then began shooting at the children of those of the Labour party at a youth camp as wellas the members of staff. He dressed in a policeman’s uniform before opening fire on the small island, even using his uniform to lure people out of hiding places saying they were safe before shooting them. As people desperately tried to swim to safety he opened fire on them as well. Most of his victims were young, which is not surprising, given that it was a youth camp after all, where 700 people were residing in total including staff members.
His name is Anders Behring Breivik, and he is currently under arrest. Still rumours of a second shooter have meant a second man has also perhaps been arrested, who has been reported as smiling after being taken away. (Though I still have to see this confirmed myself by a reliable news source). All I can get at the moment is that he is also a native Norwegian, Caucasian as well (unsurprisingly really), and has dark hair if he does exist.
The normally peaceful, accepting and tolerant Norwegian people are still reeling from events, but still showing they will not be thrown off or give this man the satisfaction of violating their principles as they perform the necessary measures within their justice system. They say they will not be prevented from living their normal lives or dispensing justice in the way they see fit. Although the general sentence is 21 years, he, if considered a threat to society (which he most probably will), will likely never be free again. He is clearly incredibly disturbed as well as someone who is chillingly rather intelligent despite his ideology and morality in the way he was able to commit his actions so efficently well. He is a threat and likely always will be.
So far 93 lives have been lost and as more bodies are likely to be found, this number is likely to rise. Seven have been reported as lost in the bombing.
When I read the article on yahoo, my jaw dropped. I was shocked to hear the news. How can something so tragic like this happen.
It always angers me that Muslim extremists are blamed first, and when that accusation turns out to be false, it isn’t terrorism.
Yes there was a lot of conclusion jumping. Here in the Uk, one Guardian journalist also more or less stated the whole blaming Al Quaeda and articles thereof was pure guess work and terrible.
Overall, I think some… certain groups and people find the whole thing really uncomfortable since the guys manifesto really ties in closely to their own beliefs in politics. As in freaking over (gasp!) Islamic people moving into Europe like Sharia law is really going to be set up (uh, no.) Granted I do think there are miscommunications not only with these people here but across the pond, since I remember an genuinely very nice christian lady when I was last in America asking me about this, I more or less just told her the truth as I saw it- that Islam probably after Christianity wasn’t that rare at all but they mostly just seemed like normal people who wanted to get on with life. And as an atheist I had a couple of muslim friends too who were more or less fine with me. I think she was genuinely surprised but she hardly argued against me or anything.).
The guy involved in the shooting/bombing claimed to want to set up the Norwegian equivilant of the EDL, a right wing protest group in the UK prone to violence too. The EDL (mainly based in England I think) condemned it as a whole group but it’s not at all surprising that he was probably in contact with some of them or a number of members- they’re very prone to islamophobia, just like he is. And these people themselves would not be uncomfortable in discussing things with some News anchor in Fox news, if it wasn’t for the fact they were violent that is I guess- otherwise their viewpoints match up pretty well. Only their methods would probably be questioned. If they dropped the violence, Fox news would praise them like no tomorrow. Hence the discomfort I think they probably have in labelling him a terrorist and instead make him out ot be ‘extremist’ as if to say ‘oh no, no-one like us could be a terrorist!’. Thing is though when you view certain people as ‘lesser’ or for whatever reason ‘evil’ or ‘dangerous’ it’s obvious someone is going to take that to its logical extreme and go too far. The guy himself even more or less stated he thought his actions were henious but necessary. (At least that’s what his lawyer said he told him).
Thing is though? I do remember reading somewhere that overall: very very little of terrorism in Europe is Islamic at all in basis! (MOST terrorist actions are in fact stopped before they actually happen in fact). Most of it is domestic and if they claim any religion at all… it’s Christian which is expected really- I mean it’s the most commonly held religion here and just because someone says they’re best buds with Jesus doesn’t mean they’re any less likely to do horrible things than anyone else.
It’s usually more politically based though than religion based though really- to split hairs a good proportion probably do believe god would be happy with them doing it too or agrees with them though and if they die happy heaven times will abound. Like here in N.Ireland where people in certain groups who call themselves Protestants and Catholics kill each other. They’re both terrorists (the UDA and IRA respectively). Domestic terrorists. Though their actions are mainly motivated by extremist patrotism really rather than religion today- and the fact if you’re Catholic you’re more likely to want a united Ireland and if Protestant, stay part of Britain as really a symptom overall. Considering here there’s less than 2 million people, we get more than our fair share of domestic terrorists, and its seeped into our very culture and history, the worst times having been when my parents were my age and a bit older- though some things are happening recently here too.
Basically once this English talk show host (Kilroy) claimed that while not all muslims were terrorists all terrorist were muslims- people laughed themselves sick or were incredibly angry here because the man clearly didn’t have a clue what he was talking about. The IRA even targeted England a few times in the past! Clearly anyone making that statement is either incredibly ignorant or a liar. Not all terrorists are muslims. In fact in the grand scheme of things they don’t even make up a large minority of the (successful or otherwise) attempted terrorist acts in Europe. The vast majority of terrorist attempts? Fail. They get found out and are therfore of course not given a lot of media coverage, though they do get some and there’s sometimes the odd newspiece on figures in that area. But the intent is still there as are the groups and individuals who want to do them.
I generally think though a terrorist is any agenda (political or religious) ridden force which wants to establish fear and use violence to get what they want. So the guy is: a terrorist. There’s no way around that. He wanted a conservative revolution and used violence as a way to try and spark it. The only thing you can add to that is that he’s a domestic terrorist, just like the vast majority of terrorism is in Europe.
Great post as always, Mentalguru!
Indeed. It brings up the question of 'Why Norway?'Really, though they’re a member of NATO and have troops in Afghanistan there are much bigger targets Al Qaeda could go after. An attack on Norway isn’t going to resonate as much as an attack on, say, France.
This may actually be the end of the Christian right’s legitimacy in many parts of Europe. They’ve been gaining a worrying amount of power in places such as France; hopefully this will turn the tide. Considering that the far right in Europe is comprised of a dangerously large number of Fascists who have switched over from the condemnation and hate of Jews to the condemnation and hate of Muslims, using the myth of ‘Eurabia’ to instill fear in Xenophobes.
This really isn’t new. The only difference is that such European countries as Germany and Great Britain have always been countries that had large populations of people who emigrated, mostly to the United States. Now that they have to be immigration countries themselves, their response is less than pleasing. In Germany especially even the government isn’t very welcoming of Turkish immigrants. It may be the feelings of the German populace, or the conservative government, but it has to change.
People often seem to forget that Terrorists before the 80s were mainly domestic, and CHRISTIAN. Yet now the press, especially Fox, are jumping on the case and claiming he had no ties to any church anywhere and that he wasn’t a christian. Mind you, this man was a devout catholic with ties to several churches and stated in his manifesto he wanted a CRUSADE. The largest terrorism act in the United States before 9/11 was a case of domestic terrorism. The IRA are catholic terrorists in the Uk; they’re extremists, not terrorists, apparently.
At least Fox has done something right and dropped Glenn Beck. That man was a lunatic hurricane of hatred if there ever was one. Unfortunately, that means O’Reilly is back in the spotlight. Oh well, at least I can get some fun out of listening to Jon Stewart deconstruct his ramblings.
Oh my, no. Most Muslims in Europe are in fact fairly secular and those who aren’t have never been extremist in any version of the word. There are the several Christian terrorist groups such as the Lord’s resistance and the IRA operating in Europe. The only Muslim terrorists who consistently attack a country are the Chechans, and they’re probably the last of their kind by this point.
Nationalist terrorists in Europe these days are a given. Its even worse in the balkans, where terrorism, nationalism, and illegal trafficking combine into a terrible mix for anyone living there. Luckily though, it seems to have toned down lately. It really flared up before the 1999 NATO bombings and the 90s in general.
Indeed. We can look for a Non-European example which just surfaced, for there’s been a foiled terrorist plot on Fort Hood. They’ll probably talk a bit about it, why it failed, and move on. There will be no meticulous combing of the man’s manifesto in order to find out why he did everything, or perhaps to get reassurance he wasn’t a good christian in his earlier years or something like that.
Indeed. However, from what I’ve seen, the main proponents of the claim that only Muslims are terrorists are the North American news stations. In Europe the reality is that most news stations understand that most terrorism is domestic and treat it as terrorism.