terrorism – The R.oB. Opinion

Close the Washington Monument

Schneier on Security: Close the Washington Monument:

“Terrorism isn’t a crime against people or property. It’s a crime against our minds, using the death of innocents and destruction of property to make us fearful. Terrorists use the media to magnify their actions and further spread fear. And when we react out of fear, when we change our policy to make our country less open, the terrorists succeed — even if their attacks fail. But when we refuse to be terrorized, when we’re indomitable in the face of terror, the terrorists fail — even if their attacks succeed.”

(Via Schneier on Security .)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. We have been dancing to Osama’s tune for too damn long. We need to stop taking cues from insane men in caves. Refuse to be terrorized.

Terrorists Defined as ‘All Who Oppose Us’

Terrorists Defined as ‘All Who Oppose Us’:

“But in no real sense of the word is Assange a terrorist, except in the sense that ‘terrorists’ are people who we have come to see as belonging outside of our justice system, miscreants somewhere in the range of child molesters. Dubbing Assange a terrorist is, as Dave indicates, mostly about saying to your base, ‘I am willing to have those who oppose us hunted down and killed on the spot.’ It’s not about actual governing. It’s about rallying cries for the GOP’s white populist base.”

(Via Ta-Nehisi Coates :: The Atlantic.)

Growing Up Secure

Asking for Trouble:

[Fallows post] ‘When we can’t talk about what we’re really doing, and when we penalize politicians for speaking the truth, we’re asking for trouble. Of the sort many people will encounter at the airport tomorrow — and in months ahead. ‘

The question I’m always left with after reading this is this: How do you get to a place where, as a society, we cultivate a mature approach to risks facing us?

(Via Ta-Nehisi Coates :: The Atlantic.)

Indeed I’ve been asking that for some time now.

Two on the Street Right Now

“Let me put this in perspective,” Biden said on Face the Nation. “There have been three people tried and convicted by the last administration in military courts. Two are walking the street right now. There have been over 300 tried in federal courts by the last administration and by us. They’re all in jail now. None of them are out seeing the light of day.”

We’re looking into Biden’s assertion that more than 300 people have been tried in federal courts and will post our findings soon.

Here, we are examining Biden’s assertion that three people were tried and convicted by the last administration in military commissions, and that two of three have been released

After consulting news reports and military documents, we discovered that Biden was correct. We also checked with experts who both support and oppose military commissions for various reasons, and no one disputed Biden’s numbers.

via PolitiFact | Two of three convicted in military commissions have been released.

You gotta love Joe for that soundbite!