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Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building

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Re: Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building

#61
post #33

What are people's thoughts on the hosting company pulling the site so quickly at the request of the FBI? Would they legally be required to? IANAL but I can't think of any reason.

I suspect they were not legally obligated to take it down (without a court order or a National Security Letter, anyway). But they also, of course, had no obligation to keep it up. I'd probably take it down if I worked there.

And if had my servers hosted there, I might consider moving them.

Re: Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building

#62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think he has a point about the sloppiness and unresponsiveness of the government -- although the sloppiness and unresponsiveness of a large, bureaucratic organization hardly justifies carrying out his own miniature September 11th! Doubly painful in that the people he killed probably liked the IRS no more than he did -- few workers in government bureaucracy _enjoy_ what they have to put up with... Killing others and…

It's just a bug in our design as humans, IMO, but it's that same bug which allows us to occasionally do monumentally amazing things. It just depends how you spin your perceptions to yourself, I suppose, and if you can accept that greatness is, more or less, a large scale way of turning a frown upside down. :)

Oh, I'm a nut too, and humanity would be much worse off without its nuts, but what concerns me is that particular, Timecube-esque variety of nut -- not particularly creative or ambitious, but turgid and cramped. Why do people end up like that...?

Re: Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree, The way I see it is that if its a criminal act against the government it because terrorism. Had he been out to kill someone in that building it would have been a criminal act. This was terrorism.

The most common definition of is usually along the lines of the one I found on google [ http://www.google.com/dictionary?aq=f&langpair=en|en&#38... ]. > Terrorism is the use of violence, especially murder and bombing, in order to achieve political aims or to force a government to do something. This was a single, possibly mentally unstable, man crashing a plane into a building. He may have thought he was trying to ach…

That definition says nothing about the perpetrator needing to be a part of an organization. If his act meets the definition - which I think it clearly does - then we have to call it terrorism.

Re: Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building

#64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

did you actually read it or just skim it? It made perfect sense to me. I see exactly where he is coming from, and why he did what he did. I have been wondering how long until someone did something like this. I would bet this will be the first of many things similar, where people start to rebel against the government. The less violent the better however.

It made perfect sense to you? Did we read a different note or something? The one I read seemed to ramble and drift and eventually lose the thread of logic by the end. I saw no great injustice perpetrated that necessitated the need to fly a plane into a building.

It did ramble and drift a bit but it all added to his story.. just very slowly. I don't think he should have flown a plane into the building. However I believe he did it because he tried the proper way spending over $5k of his own money and months of his time to change it. No one listened/cared (which is the main problem) about his problem. So when push came to shove and the government and businesses took everything he had by taking advantage of him, he had to finally stand up and say no more. Thus we have this event today, which is his way of raising enough commotion about the problem to hopefully get them changed. Honestly I cannot believe its not more common (not the plane part but the people rebelling part).

Re: Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building

#65

The Department of Homeland Security released a statement calling this a criminal act, not terrorism. I am confused. A few years ago everything was considered terrorism and now nothing is. This guy wasn't targeting individual people in the IRS, he was targeting the whole establishment. This is akin to the Oklahoma City bombing. If that was a terrorist incident and 9/11 was a terrorist incident, this is too. He even ha…

"Terrorism" became an overloaded term once we coined the term "War on Terror".

While this is an act of terrorism for sure, this is not the Terrorism that originates from those we are supposedly fighting in the War on Terror, therefore we should not raise our country's alertness level, have reason to panic, or mobilize our armed forces in response.

(my 2 cents)

Re: Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building

#66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree, The way I see it is that if its a criminal act against the government it because terrorism. Had he been out to kill someone in that building it would have been a criminal act. This was terrorism.

Why is it terrorism? Are you now living in terror that it will happen again?

Terror? No, but I'm reasonably sure that there will be a large number of off-balance nutters who are upset about corporations and taxes and the gubment who will use this event as a rallying call for further violence.

Re: Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building

#67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree, The way I see it is that if its a criminal act against the government it because terrorism. Had he been out to kill someone in that building it would have been a criminal act. This was terrorism.

Why is it terrorism? Are you now living in terror that it will happen again?

Ineffective terrorism is still terrorism.

Re: Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building

#69

The Department of Homeland Security released a statement calling this a criminal act, not terrorism. I am confused. A few years ago everything was considered terrorism and now nothing is. This guy wasn't targeting individual people in the IRS, he was targeting the whole establishment. This is akin to the Oklahoma City bombing. If that was a terrorist incident and 9/11 was a terrorist incident, this is too. He even ha…

How is this guy different than the Ft. Hood shooter? Both went on rants against the actions of the US Government; both apparently snapped; both wanted to inflict mass carnage. Senators like Joe Lieberman have insisted that the Ft. Hood shooter be labeled and tried as a terrorist.

Re: Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building

#70
post #54

The Department of Homeland Security released a statement calling this a criminal act, not terrorism. I am confused. A few years ago everything was considered terrorism and now nothing is. This guy wasn't targeting individual people in the IRS, he was targeting the whole establishment. This is akin to the Oklahoma City bombing. If that was a terrorist incident and 9/11 was a terrorist incident, this is too. He even ha…

You, sir, have obviously failed to memo that in this post-9/11-world, only brown people are terrorists. Here's a key, in case it gets confusing again: - Guy in an airport with a Koran and an accent: terrorist. - White software developer who flies a plane into buildings for ideological reasons: not terrorist.

While I agree with your point, I'd like to point out that McVeigh was white: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_McVeigh
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