Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Refuse to be terrorized (2006)

wired.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 91 posts

Re: Refuse to be terrorized (2006)

#71

Post by awakeasleep »

sliverstorm wrote: post #56
acabal wrote: post #8

Good article but it'll never be read by those who need to read it most. Unfortunately terror has now been institutionalized. The TSA is a massive bureaucracy that generates jobs and cash flow. It's not something that will ever be dismantled overnight. That's not even mentioning the political convenience it provides: with it politicians can keep us afraid, thus getting our votes when they promise to protect us. It goe…

Fear actually engenders itself. The other evening, I was walking down the sidewalk late at night. An attractive woman was coming the other way. I am young, was well-dressed and clean-shaven, but she looked like she was afraid of me. That made me uncomfortable, which I am sure made me act strangely which only serves to further engender her fear.

Honestly, what were you thinking about when you looked at her?

Re: Refuse to be terrorized (2006)

#72

Post by rjbond3rd »

wisty wrote: post #60
kstenerud wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are two kinds of terrorists: The desperate and the insane. A life of terrorism is very unstable, and usually quite brutal and short. The desperate join up because the only other alternative is rolling over and either dying or becoming enslaved in some way. Theirs is a rational choice. The insane are men who crave power to such a degree that there is little they won't do to secure it, but in order to succeed the…

Studies by Israelis (who have tonnes of captured Pakistani terrorists) have shown terrorists are often from well-off backgrounds (but from a poor country), and otherwise "good" people (empathic, sense of social responsibility, etc). If your country is poor, and you happen to be from a privileged background, you might feel the need to give something back. If your community believes that "martyrs" are good, then terror…

You raise a fascinating point about what happens to societies when the males have no chance of getting a girlfriend or wife (they may become destructive because they aren't stakeholders).

Re: Refuse to be terrorized (2006)

#73

Post by RocknRolla »

splat wrote: post #58
RocknRolla wrote: post #55

"The real targets of terrorism are the rest of us: the billions of us who are not killed but are terrorized because of the killing. The real point of terrorism is not the act itself, but our reaction to the act. I know this is not going to be popular because Schneier is a crypto/security God and all but I call B.S. on the above quote. If you would have given any of the 9/11 terrorists or UBL a button and told them th…

Their goal is to maximize destruction given the resources they have. If they had a button that instantly destroy the US, of course they would press it. But the fact is that they don't have such a button; they have very limited resources. Their most efficient use of resources is to make random, very visible and violent attacks and hope that our responses do even more damage.

Huh? Just because they don't have said resources to kill everyone in the U.S. doesn't mean it's not their ultimate goal... No one can say whether or not they could eventually acquire those resources via rogue states.

UBL specifically stated that jihadist should NOT differentiate between Military/Government and civillians.

Re: Refuse to be terrorized (2006)

#74

Post by funkah »

sliverstorm wrote: post #56
acabal wrote: post #8

Good article but it'll never be read by those who need to read it most. Unfortunately terror has now been institutionalized. The TSA is a massive bureaucracy that generates jobs and cash flow. It's not something that will ever be dismantled overnight. That's not even mentioning the political convenience it provides: with it politicians can keep us afraid, thus getting our votes when they promise to protect us. It goe…

Fear actually engenders itself. The other evening, I was walking down the sidewalk late at night. An attractive woman was coming the other way. I am young, was well-dressed and clean-shaven, but she looked like she was afraid of me. That made me uncomfortable, which I am sure made me act strangely which only serves to further engender her fear.

In that situation I just cross the street or turn down another street or whatever. One less thing for her to worry about and I avoid being thought of as a potential rapist. I wouldn't say it's a fear-based thing, though. It's more about avoiding a situation which is uncomfortable and awkward for both parties, however fleeting.

Re: Refuse to be terrorized (2006)

#75

Post by cema »

bronson wrote: post #67
cema wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It amazes me that people freak out when they see "Muslim-looking" people on flights. I may not be flying often enough, but I am flying both in the USA and International, and I have never seen this happening. (Maybe someone was freaking out quietly and I have not noticed.) Is this your experience, or are you extrapolating from what you have read about it?

First sentence in the article: passengers refused to fly with two Arab-looking men looking at their watches.

So, extrapolating?

Re: Refuse to be terrorized (2006)

#76

Post by wtvanhest »

georgieporgie wrote: post #57
SonicSoul wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so you wouldn't worry about lightning storms in your sleep, but if you are out in the field during one you'll probably take some precautions? maybe get out from under the tallest tree? You probably wouldn't completely ignore it.

Lightning precautions are based on the testable realities of physics. There is no relation between that and the voodoo pseudo-security that is the TSA and public 'security' in general.

This is true, it is hard to prove if what the TSA does is actually preventing terrorist attacks. Just because it is not proven does not mean it is not working.

Re: Refuse to be terrorized (2006)

#78

Post by SoftwareMaven »

rjbond3rd wrote: post #72
wisty wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Studies by Israelis (who have tonnes of captured Pakistani terrorists) have shown terrorists are often from well-off backgrounds (but from a poor country), and otherwise "good" people (empathic, sense of social responsibility, etc). If your country is poor, and you happen to be from a privileged background, you might feel the need to give something back. If your community believes that "martyrs" are good, then terror…

You raise a fascinating point about what happens to societies when the males have no chance of getting a girlfriend or wife (they may become destructive because they aren't stakeholders).

I wonder what will happen in China as their "need" for male heirs continue to drive their one-child family planning (not to mention infanticide and abandonment leading to out-of-country adoption).

Re: Refuse to be terrorized (2006)

#79

Post by sliverstorm »

awakeasleep wrote: post #71
sliverstorm wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fear actually engenders itself. The other evening, I was walking down the sidewalk late at night. An attractive woman was coming the other way. I am young, was well-dressed and clean-shaven, but she looked like she was afraid of me. That made me uncomfortable, which I am sure made me act strangely which only serves to further engender her fear.

Honestly, what were you thinking about when you looked at her?

'Hmm, she's dressed nice, I wonder if she's going to the blues club? Gee, this is awkward. Oh no, she's kind of looking at me out of the corner of her eyes and reaching into her purse...'

You trying to imply I was being uncouth?

Re: Refuse to be terrorized (2006)

#80

Post by [deleted] »

funkah wrote: post #74
sliverstorm wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fear actually engenders itself. The other evening, I was walking down the sidewalk late at night. An attractive woman was coming the other way. I am young, was well-dressed and clean-shaven, but she looked like she was afraid of me. That made me uncomfortable, which I am sure made me act strangely which only serves to further engender her fear.

In that situation I just cross the street or turn down another street or whatever. One less thing for her to worry about and I avoid being thought of as a potential rapist. I wouldn't say it's a fear-based thing, though. It's more about avoiding a situation which is uncomfortable and awkward for both parties, however fleeting.

[deleted]
Post reply on HN