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Brilliant article & bookmarked... |
Posted on 7/12/2004, 5:58:00 PM by vanderleun
FOR MANY YEARS I LABORED under the impression that being a columnist for the New York Times meant, at the very least, you were somewhere north of blood simple. But I was young and blood simple myself.
Blood simple is, it would seem, part of the job description for many Times columnists. It may have something to do with the dyslexia of the Publisher or it may simply be post-mortem effects as the Times, having lost large chunks of circulation thanks to bias and bogus reporting that is woven deep into its corporate culture, strives to hang on to the true believers that are left it.
In any case, one simply cannot take on all the blood simple pap that these scribblers spew. Life is too short and lunch is too long.
Still, every so often, there's a real poser that creeps through the shields and lands on the retina with a resounding d'oh -- a hit, a palpable hit. Exhibit A from today is Bob Herbert's The Real Enemy Staring Us in the Face in which he is not referencing the mirror.
In rolling towards the end of his allotted turn upon the page, Herbert delivers himself of the oft-repeated plaint that if things are so dangerous here at home we need to get serious about Afghanistan. He posits an attack on the US timed for the elections and then goes on to say:
If we know that bin Laden and his top leadership are somewhere along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, and that they're plotting an attack against the United States, why are we not zeroing in on them with overwhelming force? Why is there not a sense of emergency in the land, with the entire country pulling together to stop another Sept. 11 from occurring?
Why are we not more serious about this? The real question is why Mr. Herbert is not more candid about his thoughts or if Mr. Herbert missed the widely attended seminar "Terrorism 101" given at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. If he had attended and paid attention since, it would be known to him that any men and materials necessary to attack the United States in the coming months are not now on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border awaiting shipment. They are already here in the United States.
The late "Bin-Laden and his top leadership" are not at present "plotting" an attack. They have already plotted. The "plotting" has long since moved into the past tense. Events were set in train long ago. If you'd been paying attention, you'd know that September 11 was not started on September 10 but years before.
Yes, Bob, whatever men, materials and munitions are going to be used are already in place. And have been for quite some time. Where, what, when and who, we don't know, but a good place to start some investigative reporting, Bob, would be in the mosques, shops, and housing around Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, not in commanding more sweeps along the Afghan-Pak border.
That shouldn't be too difficult for you, Bob, it's only about a $10 cab ride from the Times. A resourceful institution like the Times shouldn't have too much trouble finding informed anonymous sources in the Muslim community of New York City. You might even talk to a who who knows what, when and where. You might even actually talk to a Islamic fascist who has already decided to kill you and a hundred thousand New Yorkers and has the means to do it in a van parked in a garage somewhere in Vinegar Hill, Brooklyn.
That would be the smart thing to do. The blood simple thing is to call obliquely for a massive US invasion of Pakistan. And even if that did happen, even if we leveled the mountainous region to a fine powder of radioactive ash, what do you think your reaction would be, and that of your once admirable but now disgraced newspaper? Shock, horror, and a call for an investigation of the "lies" that led us to incinerate parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. You and yours would hold it was all done "to influence the election!"
I hope, Bob, that you'll keep all this in mind in those last nanoseconds before the nuclear blast blows in the windows of the Times Building and brings down the walls on all those inside just before it sets the whole place on fire.
You'll have time. Remember those words of William Burroughs: "The blast doesn't travel at the speed of light, but the light from the blast does."
Who knows, maybe you'll have time to file one last column: "Why Me?"
Outstanding. Have you been to the threat matrix threads?
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Brilliant article & bookmarked... |
Here's a link to the latest one:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1169117/posts
Speaking of Bin Laden, how come we've never seen him on Al-Jazerra TV in the past few years?
I'm not sure what the threat matrix threads are or how to go to them. Even though I've been around FR for a couple of years there's a whole culture that I don't understand and there don't seem to be any cultural FAQs that clue you in.
For instance, what's a "bump?"
And is there someplace to go where the cultural insides of FR are discussed. So much scrolls by on the main page that I sometimes just can't keep up.
A "bump" or "bttt" means "bump to the top" and moves the thread back on to the main pages of latest posts, in whatever forum you're in.
In this case, you're in "News Activism" forum. There is a list of forums on the right side of your page.
The Threat Matrix threads are a collection of FReeper observations, analyses, pertinent links, and news of the latest information available to us here on potential terrorist acts. It's fascinating, very up-to-date. There have been 13 of them so far, with thousands and thousands of posts. I linked the latest one, because it's the only one I've been able to keep up with, so far.
I think there's a FReeper Lore thread that would answer a lot of questions you might have about day to day expressions used by FReepers.
I hope you post more, here, and often. That was an excellent article. I guess you're quite aware of the opinion most FReepers have of the NYT. ;-D
To take a look at the latest "Threat Matrix" thread, just click on the http I posted above in my reply to you. It'll take you right there.
I took at look at your posts over the last few months, by clicking on your name in a reply, then clicking on "Find in Forum" on your profile page.
You are a real asset to FR, I'm pinging a few other people here to this thread to read this article of yours (that is, putting their names in the To: section after yours so that they get an alert in the "New Posts to You" spot at the upper right of the page).
Is this helpful? If not, let me know.
Actually the light from the blast would most likely
set stuff on fire before the blast got to it.
Of course in a ground blast that might not happen as
most of the effect will be directed up.
Then again if it was set on the top floor of a high rise......
This is a "bump" or "bttt" for your article. ;-D
Well done article.
Thanks for the ping.
You're welcome. I've invited FReeper vanderleun to the current Threat Matrix thread, also.
vanderleun, thanks for this article. Don't get discouraged at not knowing everything. I have been here since 1998 and I STILL get confused sometimes! Wait till John Robinson redesigns things, and all the graphics and procedures change! That makes it really interesting...LOL!
One thing about this place...I am always learning something new. Lots of great people here, as I am sure you will find out. Welcome (belatedly) to Free Republic!
Miss M., I appreciate your remarks.
I'd like to see a lot more of Vanderleun on the forum, and may start a ping list.
Vanderleun, I'm pinging people as I think of them.
Take a good look at the map I am posting. Why CAN'T we find Bin Laden in Afghanistan? Look at all the Mosque's across the United States. Why couldn't Bin Laden have disguised himself and is living the high life in one of these Mosque's with all the sources of communication at his fingertips?
The Real Enemy Staring Us in the Face in which he is not referencing the mirror.
This map is even outdated. There have been more Mosque's spring up since this map was made. I'm telling you, they have all moved into America so silently, none of us were even aware. I pray for us all..............
I thought by the title this was a biography of my marriage.
In my home state, former mosques are empty with the signs removed.
Yes the map is out of date.
where is Buffalo?? remember the lackawanna 6 ?
They are actually bigger than just the six.
there just happens to be a link between cigarette smuggling
and the terrorists here locally.
The Peace bridge, Rainbow bridge, Lewiston Porter bridge and Niagara falls power station.
Can't get any info from locals, we are like sheep being herded to slaughter.
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