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Journal Em Emalb's Journal: I keep hearing that "people are scared" 55

Journal by Em Emalb

So, in a mistake worthy of not repeating, I ventured (through a link from da Mekka-bomb's journal) into the Yur Rites Oynline section again.

I know, I know.

Well, people keep repeating this stupid mantra:

They need to stop, because they are instilling fear in the hearts of Americans.

Uh. NO. No they aren't. They are just annoying us. Those few souls who are afraid would be afraid if they heard on the local news that a wild boar escaped from the local zoo and was 50 miles from their house.

Some people like being afraid.

The rest of us just get annoyed and move on.

Now for the poll:

Were you afraid of terrorism at ANY POINT after 9/11?*

A) Yes. And last I heard that wild boar was 25 miles away! Oh Lord, what will I ever do?

B) Yes, without the sarcasm, asshole.

C) Not really, but there were a few times I got a little worried.

D) No. They got us once, but now we all know better.

E) The terrorists are ourselves, and I live in constant fear.**

F) Other

*yeah, you might have been afraid on 9/11, but a few days later you were just pissed off right?

**kindly remove your tinfoil hat before stepping onto the carpet please.

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I keep hearing that "people are scared" More

I keep hearing that "people are scared"

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  • I built a boar-proof hideout in the side of a mountain. It's just me and some blocks of cheese. And duct tape.
  • I'm more likely to be hit by some idjit driver as I cross the road, than I am to get blown up by a terrorist bomb.

    MT.
  • ...who decided that the American thing to do on 9/11 would be to triple the price of gas.
    I think the state attorney general had his way with them afterwards...

  • Terrorism (Score:3, Insightful)

    by sql*kitten ( 1359 ) * on Wednesday January 14, 2004 @10:39AM (#7973047)
    The thing about Europeans in general and Brits in particular is that terrorism isn't a big deal for us. I mean, for decades New Yorkers have been funding the IRA to leave bombs in shopping centres in the UK... *shrug* so what if a couple of New York buildings got knocked down, where were the New Yorkers when the IRA attacked Canary Wharf or the Baltic Exchange? I'll tell you where: sitting in their Irish-themed pubs drinking bad Guinness and donating money to NORAID. Ah, but the boot's on the other foot now, isn't it?

    I'm not saying that terrorism is justifiable... I am saying that certain Americans should grow up a little.
    • Balctic Exchange: 2 people dead, 80 wounded.
      Canary Wharf: 1 dead? The IRA fucking said there is a bomb here, it is going off, do this to keep people safe.

      I'm not sure how else to say this, but fuck you. ...drinks bad guinness on this side of the pond.
      • That the IRA murdered their 3000 a few here and a few there rather than all in one go changes nothing. If it had been Dallas attacked by al-Queda that would be a whole 'nother matter. But it was New York, by planes from Boston, both cities that have been actively funding terrorist activity on British soil for years.

        I also notice that NORAID hasn't been banned, nor its leaders imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay. Seems rather a double standard to me... maybe if there were enough Arabs in the US that their votes ma
        • That the IRA murdered their 3000 a few here and a few there rather than all in one go changes nothing.

          The IRA never tried to kill anybody. Get your facts straight. That's why they warn people, you know. So they can clear the area. Just because nobody clears the area.

          If it had been Dallas attacked by al-Queda that would be a whole 'nother matter. But it was New York, by planes from Boston, both cities that have been actively funding terrorist activity on British soil for years.

          What about British pe

          • Re:Terrorism (Score:3, Informative)

            by WIAKywbfatw ( 307557 )
            Xerithane, I think I can quite accurately say that you're talking out of your fucking ass. Sorry if that's offensive to you, but it's the truth.

            You say "the IRA never tried to kill anybody"? What a bunch of bullshit!

            Well what about Lord Mountbatten, the Queen's uncle, who was assassinated by a bomb placed on his boat?

            What about Conservative MP Ian Gow, who was also assassinated by a device attached to his car and who blew up in his driveway in front of his wife's eyes?

            What about the Brighton Hotel Bombi
            • Well what about Lord Mountbatten, the Queen's uncle, who was assassinated by a bomb placed on his boat?

              I should have clarified what I meant. I mean the IRA doesn't go out and strike trying to kill civilians.

              You also faile to mention that the Canary Wharf bombing that killed two and injured hundreds went off less than an hour after the IRA called off a self-imposed ceasefire. So, while it had a ceasefire in place, it planned, placed and armed a killing device. How cold is that?

              Go research why the ceas
          • Go read up on some Irish history, and you'll understand why there is the hate-on for the British government.

            Maybe you should read up on some history, there's more to it than English actors always playing the bad guy in Hollywood movies, you know.

            Fuck man, open your eyes and stop comparing the current Arab terrorists with Irish freedom fighters.

            The British army is in Northern Ireland to protect the Protestant MAJORITY from the IRA who claim to represent the Catholic minority. There's a little thing cal
            • Maybe you should read up on some history, there's more to it than English actors always playing the bad guy in Hollywood movies, you know.

              If that's the best you can do, you should take up arguing for the special olympics.

              The British army is in Northern Ireland to protect the Protestant MAJORITY from the IRA who claim to represent the Catholic minority. There's a little thing called democracy which says that NI wants to remain part of the UK. The IRA aren't fighting for anyone's "freedom", they are terro
              • If that's the best you can do, you should take up arguing for the special olympics.

                You do seem to have some very misguided ideas, have you ever actually been to England or Ireland? Or are you one of these fifth-generation Americans who still calls themselves Irish? Just curious.

                ? If the majority is really the majority, why can't the police do that?

                Umm, because the police deal with criminals and dealing with terrorists (who can afford military-grade weapons, in the case of the IRA, thanks to their ove
                • You do seem to have some very misguided ideas, have you ever actually been to England or Ireland? Or are you one of these fifth-generation Americans who still calls themselves Irish? Just curious.

                  Yes, I have. I can get my Irish citizenship.

                  Umm, because the police deal with criminals and dealing with terrorists (who can afford military-grade weapons, in the case of the IRA, thanks to their overseas sponsors) requires more than the police can (or should) deploy?

                  Mmmhmm. You do remember how both sides w
                • And, it's not just Catholics that are being burned out and attacked:
                  Loyalists attacking everybody [guardian.co.uk]

                  Aren't safe, even when they've already killed you. [guardian.co.uk]

                  Tony Blair doesn't really care though. [guardian.co.uk]

                  Because if they are British, they aren't terrorists. [guardian.co.uk]

                  I pulled all those from the Guardian, because it's based out of Britain. It's biased towards the British side, which shows just how fucked up things are.

                  Britain isn't the victim, they are the bully.
                  • I pulled all those from the Guardian, because it's based out of Britain. It's biased towards the British side, which shows just how fucked up things are.

                    No, the Guardian is the Marxist paper which will do anything it can to paint Britain in a bad light. Try The Times for a more objective view.
                    • No, the Guardian is the Marxist paper which will do anything it can to paint Britain in a bad light. Try The Times for a more objective view.

                      Well, good thing all these events actually happened.

                      Convenient you can write them off because you don't like the Guardian. Still doesn't change the fact that Britain uses terrorist attacks, IRA tries to not kill civilians (Britain doesn't even do that), and you still feed into all the bullshit that is delivered to you.

                      If people didn't turn a blind eye, the IRA wou
                    • The IRA is not the cause of disquiet, it's just one path of many, to get to peace.

                      Yes, the I'm sure there are many Moslems who feel exactly the same way about al-Queda, the PLO, Islamic Jihad, etc etc. Your entire argument proves my point: Americans have no problem with terrorists, so long as they aren't killing Americans.
                    • Your entire argument proves my point: Americans have no problem with terrorists, so long as they aren't killing Americans.

                      If you could think beyond a simple if/else pattern, you would understand that you are arguing two separate things.

                      A "terrorist" that attacks resources is different than a terrorist that attacks civilians. I will not tolerate murdering of civilians, but I don't see the IRA doing that as their goal.

                      Besides, if Americans were beating and killing Arabs, I would feel much more sympathy.
    • The thing about Europeans in general and Brits in particular is that terrorism isn't a big deal for us. I mean, for decades New Yorkers have been funding the IRA to leave bombs in shopping centres in the UK... *shrug* so what if a couple of New York buildings got knocked down

      Pretty much took the words out of my mouth. What Americans need to realise is that the September 11th attacks were nothing new. The only difference is that this time it was on American soil. Yes, it was on a different scale for a sing

      • Finally two people saying what I was thinking for ages since 11 september... However, most people here don't like to hear this from us.

        So, yup, if tomorrow I blow up because I entered the wrong building at the wrong time. Bad luck for me, my time had come....

        That is a far greater threat to our society and way of life than any terrorist act. Perhaps that's what the terrorists were really hoping for...

        Most definately. The origin of the word "Terrorist" is after all "Terror". They want us "to be in

  • C) (Score:2)

    by blinder ( 153117 )
    I've learned a long time ago that "worry is a wasted emotion."

    Living in Baltimore, we were sorta in the middle of it all... to the northeast... NYC, to the south DC. I remember my first thought, after learning that the 9/11 deal was not an accident that morning was "i better get to the store... because they'll probably have a marshall law or something like that" and we needed a few essentials. So, I went to the store, got what we needed, then came home, called my GF, told her to come home, because she was
  • A & E, baby, A & E.

    People WERE scared. REmember all that Duct tape BULLSHIT?! My wife was a bit concerned. Luckily, I always have duct tape on hand (being the good mr. fixit that I am), I had that 3M window insulation (because my 1978 windows are ass), so we bought some bottled water with sport tops and that was that.

    If anything, all this constant "Code Red! Red 5! Abandone Ship! Sharks and Mermaids! Sharks and Mermaids! Gauges reading 7 RPMs! Aluminum Metallic Alloy! Atlas 7!" has turned into
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • Yea, you know those of us who live in chemical valleys know all about duct tape, and towels and what not. Everyone here just kinda shruged and went, ehh.

      It's called shelter in place. And really, it's just so there are less places to count the bodies (some of the stuff they work with around here is deadly in 1 ppm, slowing it's diffusion (in and out) down isn't going to do much good for ya). If you don't know what you're doing(it takes some actual training, not a 5 minute news segment), ya gonna die(and
  • Hell, Israel's got streams of suicide bombers and I bet heart disease still kills more people there than they do.

    So why worry? Smoking an drinkin is more likely to kill me then any darned terrorist.

  • I flew into the U.S July 4th 2002...which was interesting... there were more security personel than travelers in the airports. It's hard not to feel a wee bit nervous flying on a day like that.

    • Agreed... I was flying out of New York after a weekend there to celebrate my birthday on the 6 month aniversary (exactly... we were actually leaving the city as they turned on the big light show thingy).
  • It seems like the time with the power outage I thought it might be terrorist related (after all it was the biggest one ever). There might have been one other time, though I can't be certain. I think it was more jokingly ("oh boy, those terrorists are at it again!"), not "oh my gosh, they're going to kill us all!" type of hysteria that some people really get into.

  • Si (Score:2)

    by Servo ( 9177 )
    "C"

    I watched 9/11 on TV, when I still lived in FL. About a month later, I had to make a decision if I were going to take a promotion that would move myself and my (now ex) wife into the NYC metro area. That was difficult, but obviously if I were that afraid I wouldn't have done it.

  • F: (lame lame lame) (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Abm0raz ( 668337 ) on Wednesday January 14, 2004 @11:21AM (#7973456) Journal
    The plane in PA went down very close to my family's area. I was more concerned (from the wildly vague and mostly inaccurate news reports coming in) that my friends in Pittsburgh were alright (the initial reports were that it went down in the city) then, when I found out it was in Somerset, that my family was alright.

    People die. We're born then we die. That's what we do. Living is what we do inbetween. We're all going to die sometime. Some spend their entire life worrying when and how their going to croak. I don't consider that living. Go out and do something. If you ever let the fear of terrorists stop you from doing something (except maybe parading down Main Street Mecca with a sign that says, "Allah has sex with pigs" in arabic) then [Overused_cliche] The terrorists have already won.[/Overused_cliche]

    -Ab
  • I passed 9/11 in Peru getting a Fiance Visa for my now wife. (We actually picked up the Visa in the US Emabassy in Lima on the 11th.) I had a conversation there with a gentleman who was picking up some Visas for two children he was adopting. He had also done this 10 years before for a child he adopted.

    The interesting/bizarre/scary (depends on your perspective) thing was that last time he was in Lima was during the height of the Shining Path resistance in Peru. He said he was actually knocked off his fe

  • C) (Score:2)

    by sielwolf ( 246764 ) *
    I've been through BWI when a bunch of troops have been moving out. Its quite an image: a couple hundred guys and goils of all soits in their desert camo, giant rucksacks, making calls home, standing around all loose.

    Other than that, I'm never too worried about a lot of the slipppery slope scenarios. I guess its because I'm the "Oh great, a cop just got me going 81 in a 70 mph zone... eh, oh well. I guess I'll just pay the ticket. Thanks, officer." sort instead of the "Man.. this is SUCH a speed trap.

  • B but... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by aridhol ( 112307 ) <ka_lac@hotmail.com> on Wednesday January 14, 2004 @11:43AM (#7973684) Homepage Journal
    Yes, I was scared. But, for the most part, it wasn't of terrorism.

    I admit, I was somewhat worried for my wife, who works in the sort of place terrorists would love to get their hands on - biochemical (virology) research. She studies ebola. Yes, I was worried that she may have been a target in an effort to get the goods. But not as scared as the government thinks I should be.

    Second, I was worried for my father and my brother, both of whom were, at the time, in the military. I was worried that my government would send them off to get shot at by people that had nothing to do with the terrorist plots, but would object to a foreign military presence on their territory.

    So yes, I was scared. But not for the "right" reasons. And still am, to some degree - although my father has retired from the military, both my brothers are now in. They can still be shipped off to war. Not likely, but possible.

  • C. (Score:2)

    by arb ( 452787 )
    Being here in the land of Oz, far removed from the action, it is not such an In Your Face thing. Our gub'mint's idea of preparing the populace? Fridge magnets. Seriuosly - they spent something like $11 million printing up little booklets and fride magnets. I still haven't figured out what I'm meant to do with a fridge magnet next time I am confronted by a terrorist...

    About the only times I felt a bit edgy was for a couple of days after Sept 11 (I worked on the 22nd floor of a building in the city and the s
  • I've been worried, but I don't think it'll ever be the same thing. Airport security is waaay overboard. Come on, people, they won't do the same thing twice. Poison gas in a mall, sure, but flying another plane into a building, no way.
    • I would like to point out they tried that same plane bit over the holidays. I mean, these people don't mind themselves in order to "punish" the "infidels". I'm not thinking they're -enourmously- bright...I do believe they're lucky, however.

      But I do agree that the probability is for poison gas in a mall over the planes. But, like I said, they're not the brightest bulbs out there; they may say to themselves, "Hey, it worked once..."

  • I'm not much of a worrier. I flew to Europe in December of 2001, and it was very strange to see soldiers in fatigues with M16s in an American airport, but I wasn't scared. It just reminded me of airports in other countries.
  • What I'm sick and tired of is the constantly fluctuating "alert levels" yellow, orange, yellow, orange.
    You know what, theres a story they need to read about a little boy that cried wolf.

    I'm not really worried about terrorists. If they get me they get me, nothing I can do to change it.
    All living in fear will do to me is keep me from living life on my terms.

  • Other. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by DaytonCIM ( 100144 ) on Wednesday January 14, 2004 @12:22PM (#7974101) Homepage Journal
    Granted I did go to Home Depot and buy plastic sheeting and duct tape to secure my home from chemical attack*, I never felt "threatened."

    I think there were enough people running around shouting "the sky is falling, the sky is falling" that I never had to feel threatened or unsafe.

    In addition, I knew that 9/11 was a one shot deal. The terrorists effectively put everything they had behind the attack.

    I was annoyed at the news media going off every 10 minutes about another "attack."

    In conclusion, I think that Em Emalb is a good citizen and should be pardoned of all crimes. Yes. Thank you and good night.

    * Not really.
  • 9/11 really doesn't have much to do with it, except as a demonstration that you really can catch people with their pants down. Ever since the '94 story when the German police caught people smuggling ex-Soviet plutonium, I've been .. concerned. Given cops' success with drug smugglers, I ass/u/me that plenty of pluto has been successfully delivered to whoever wants it. I think it was August 1994 that I informally bet my friends that a city, somewhere, would be nuked within ten years. So I still have a few

  • D... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by bethanie ( 675210 ) * on Wednesday January 14, 2004 @12:47PM (#7974372) Journal
    Given the disclaimer that we were scared the first coupla days, but then just pissed off. And what also pissed me off was that the papers kept saying to "have extra formula and bottled water on hand" for babies, and never even mentioning that if you were breastfeeding, your bases were covered. Might have turned on a few lightbulbs for folks.

    I have never invested in the duck tape and window covering crap. Even when I lived in the suburbs, I didn't delude myself that we were important enough to be a target. And now that I'm out in the sticks, I feel even more obscure.

    Worst part of 9-11 was thinking about those folks on the airplanes who realized that they were about to die. Folks in the buildings got to call home, and so did some folks on the planes... But all in all, just thinking of the fear and the sorrow of the people and their families... That's the absolute worst part of any of this.

    ....Bethanie....
  • A. Hell yeah, I was scared. Couldn't locate a couple of family members for a few days afterwards, and several of my home-town neighbors and two of my friends died in the towers' collapse. There were fighter jets flying over my apartment for days after -- I couldn't sleep.

    C. After the initial shock passes, it's just time to realize that shit happens and life goes on. Not to trivialize the event; because it certainly wasn't trivial. But dude, duct tape really won't save me if someone nuked Boston. And

  • What was the duct tape for, anyway. I understand the plastic window coverings to encase your house and keep the bad scary things out, but what was the purpose of the duct tape? As a connoisseur of plastic window coverings to keep the Minnesota weather on the outside, I am aware that the 3M window insulators come with high-quality, durable, water-tight, air-tight tape to adhere the plastic to your surface of choice.* My question is this: Is dubya just a shill for the duct tape industry?

    *I, meanwhile, am
  • Family and friends work/worked at the Pentagon. I was a bit concerned for their safety.

    As for my personal welfare, not worried at all.
  • On the night of Sep 11 I was wandering around a really nice hill talking about a great concert when someone rang my brothers mobile & told him about the start of the attacks. At the time I thaught (and said) bloddy 'hell thats going to cause some problems' - 'what stupid thing is bush going to do'

    I never imagined that the US would so rapidly give up rights to feel safer - Every time I had been to the US I had been semi-impressed with just how seriously ordinary people respected their country & the
  • Disclaimer: I live a couple of miles north of Ground Zero. I know I'm in the #1 target area for anti-US terrorists.

    I think we ducked a bullet over the holidays. There was something planned, they made the mistake of planning it over the holidays and our extra vigilance caught it.

    It would be easy to cause a lot of death and destruction in the Subway system, or at Grand Central, or Penn Station, or in Times Square without a lot of technical expertise or planning ability. These are areas that I traverse a

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