Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's a key difference between the two, and I'm confident that you know that yourself :)
Enlighten me.
Boston was not invaded, sieged, or sacked.
The Boston Marathon Bombing: Keep Calm and Carry On
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Re: The Boston Marathon Bombing: Keep Calm and Carry On
#12"Terrorism, even the terrorism of radical Islamists and right-wing extremists and lone actors all put together, is not an 'existential threat' against our nation. Even the events of 9/11, as horrific as they were, didn't do existential damage to our nation. Our society is more robust than it might seem from watching the news. We need to start acting that way." I wonder if there were people saying that to Romans about…
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Re: The Boston Marathon Bombing: Keep Calm and Carry On
#13"Terrorism, even the terrorism of radical Islamists and right-wing extremists and lone actors all put together, is not an 'existential threat' against our nation. Even the events of 9/11, as horrific as they were, didn't do existential damage to our nation. Our society is more robust than it might seem from watching the news. We need to start acting that way." I wonder if there were people saying that to Romans about…
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Re: The Boston Marathon Bombing: Keep Calm and Carry On
#14I got lucky to leave the USA the day before they raise the crazy level at the airports. I wonder what they will imagine to render flying and border-crossing worse.
I guess "make the leaders live abroad for a while and force them to read enlightenment century books" is off the table as a reaction to terrorism?
Re: The Boston Marathon Bombing: Keep Calm and Carry On
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's a key difference between the two, and I'm confident that you know that yourself :)
Enlighten me.
The Germans were the border of the nation of Rome from 100 BC until the Empire fell. They once slaughtered an entire Republic field army--and remember the Republic's army consisted of most of Rome's young, able-bodied citizens. They defeated Augustus, among other emperors, and eventually sacked Rome. Twice. Before making the whole thing collapse.
So, small difference.
Re: The Boston Marathon Bombing: Keep Calm and Carry On
#16Glad this got posted quickly. I can already see the glee in intelligence / law enforcement agencys' eyes as they think how they can use this latest incident as reasoning for more over-arching powers. For a long time Londoners had to put up with IRA bombs but "Kept calm and carried on" (to use the phrase). I hope the US can follow suit. [EDIT] Changed "secret service" to "intelligence / law enforcement agencies" to av…
"For a long time Londoners had to put up with IRA bombs but "Kept calm and carried on" "
I really feel like a "keep calm carry on" ad campaign could do some good. Shift the mindset from 'ACKKK TERRORISTS!' to 'I can handle this'
Re: The Boston Marathon Bombing: Keep Calm and Carry On
#17I think for HN it's worth noting, perhaps in the title, that this article is written by Bruce Schneier.
Because I needed to look it up, too:
"Bruce Schneier an American cryptographer, computer security specialist, and writer. He is the author of several books on general security topics, computer security and cryptography."
Re: The Boston Marathon Bombing: Keep Calm and Carry On
#18As Bill Maher so eloquently put it: "Its horrible, but this time, let's not overreact, wallow, erect monuments to terrorism; let's handle it Israeli-Munich style"
Source: https://twitter.com/billmaher/status/323951293506924544
Re: The Boston Marathon Bombing: Keep Calm and Carry On
#19Its too bad that most people don't have a basic appreciation of statistics or probability. Its too bad Schneier only spends a tiny paragraph on it: "Even though this will be in the news for weeks, we should recognize this for what it is: a rare event".
The chance that a person will die from a bombing, or be shot, or their plane crash, or a hurricane kill them is so small that there is almost NO reason to be afraid of it. It is far more likely that a person will die of Heart disease or cancer than any of the above. What will almost certainly kill us, we accept. What is almost inconsequential to us, we abhor.
Re: The Boston Marathon Bombing: Keep Calm and Carry On
#20Reading this, the thought struck me that we should perhaps not think of terrorism as violence, but rather as black hat PR. So TSA and GWOT are actually no more helpful than a bad review for a movie.