Right now I hate vacationing across the Potomac from DC ...
Ah, well.
Posted by Matrix (Member # 376) on :
It wasn't a scare apparently. It was going to happen if they didn't get the guy. I might be wrong, seeing that I read it at 8am this morning on cnn.com
Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :
Well, apparently it was only in the planning stages, but apparently this guy was the key guy in plannining the thing, and the guy who would have built the bomb.
[ June 10, 2002, 15:58: Message edited by: First of Two ]
Posted by Snay (Member # 411) on :
Well, he still had to construct the thing first, so ...
Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :
I wonder what effect this capture will have on the boys who cry 'fascists.'
Posted by Snay (Member # 411) on :
Probably the same effect it'll have on boys who think its great when the government tramples on the Constitution.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
I wonder if Rob's chest will contract at all if anyone mentions that the fact that this guy was an American citizen kinda invalidates much of the logic behind draconian immigration restrictions.
Most likely not.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Interesting how it took three posts before anyone put up a link to an article...
Hey, did you guys hear about that stuff that happened, in that place, w/ that one thing? You know, at that one time, w/ those people? Yeah, that was neat...
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
Ahhhh, fission-fusion-fission warheads. Those wacky Soviets! They never DID seem to figure out that cesium 137 is not your happy little playtime friend.
Posted by Balaam Xumucane (Member # 419) on :
Over dinner last night, my dad was saying that he'd read what a terrible guy our Cesium-doughboy was. My father was glad that he would be subjected to the same treatment as the other military combatants (i.e. military tribunals and such). To some extent I can see his point. The man was planning to do horrible horrible things to other American citizens. But then Timothy McVeigh actually succeeded in doing horrible things to other American citizens (albeit without foreign sponsorship), and was prosecuted and punished as an American citizen. I may not agree with the terms of his punishment, but at least he did get the speedy, fair and public trial by a jury of his peers he was promised as a United States citizen.
As I understand it, the rules pertaining to classifying anyone as a military combatant apply when the country is at war. I'm sure someone will argue that we are at war with 'terrah.' Arguably, a war against an idea seems to be stretching the definition of war. I just don't know how loosely we can afford to play with the rules when it comes to the treatment of our population. This isn't a definition we want to start slipping.
This guy's a fuckwit, obviously, and rightly deserves a good shin-kicking, but it would seem that we have ample evidence to prosecute him via our criminal justice system. Why not do it this way? Err on the side of civil liberty. If we want to be the good guys, isn't it in our best interests to act accordingly?
Posted by Magna Ultrus (Member # 239) on :
Presumably, so that the Military Men feel they have big penises.
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
Timothy McVeigh wasnt working for a foreign army
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
The Rosenbergs were convicted in a civil court, although I don't know if espionage for a foreign government could be considered "perfoming an action in the name of a enemy of the state."
Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :
quote:I wonder if Rob's chest will contract at all if anyone mentions that the fact that this guy was an American citizen kinda invalidates much of the logic behind draconian immigration restrictions.
Most likely not.
Not unless you can point me towards a post wherein I advocated draconian immigration restrictions.
And make a reasonable definition of 'draconian.'
"Make an effort to learn to speak the language" = not draconian
"Give us 2 pints of your blood, some tissue samples, and everything you owned when you got here" = draconian
[ June 11, 2002, 13:04: Message edited by: First of Two ]
Posted by DeadCujo (Member # 13) on :
It's so easy to build a bomb these days.
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
Is it? I'd probably get confused over whether to use the red wire or the blue wire.
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
using different color wire is for sissies.. its right up there with explaining your plan to someone after putting them in an easily escapable trap.
Posted by David Templar (Member # 580) on :
It's really not that hard to stick little tags onto the wires, instead of color coding them. I mean, who can tell the difference between indigo and some other shades of blue while sitting onto of a block of C4 the size of a small car, anyways?
[ June 14, 2002, 14:58: Message edited by: David Templar ]
Posted by thoughtychops (Member # 480) on :
Macguyver could. But he could also design the bomb better than the bomb builder, so perhaps that doesn't count.
They're going to use a kind of soap foam to contain the radiation of a dirty bomb. There is a lame joke here, but I'm too tired to think of it.
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
"Take two bottles into the nuclear maelstrom? Not me!"