I feel terrorized constantly. Everytime a police office pulls behind me, every time they address me I feel a shiver of fear down my spine. I've had a few brushes with the law but nothing real, no, it's not from that. It's the fact that they're given so much power with little oversight, often with little education, and on top of it all they adopt this swaggering bravado that comes from knowing they're above the law. I've been helped by a cop once, maybe twice. I've been harassed by them several times a year for the last decade and a half. It's a well-known cop tactic to use force or threats to intimidate people into coercion and/or arrest. That's also the definition of terrorism according to Websters. Does that mean that cops are terrorists?
Of course not, that would be silly. And don't get me wrong, there are some good cops out there. A friend's brother seems like a good guy. My wife's childhood friend sounds kind enough. But with "terrorism" the hottest new word since "synergy" and just as capable of capturing the public's attention, what does that mean?
What if a civil rights activist on the wrong side of the law (a law which, must be noted, often was a tool of the very establishment often oppressing these dissidents) shoots a cop in an escape gone wrong? Is that an act of terrorism? Or a simple act of rebellion compounded by a basic criminal act?
This last week the FBI added its first woman to its most wanted list of terrorists. Assata Shakur, fka Joanne Chesimard, was a leader of the Black Liberation Army in the 70's. She killed a trooper who stopped her and two other in 1973. Went to jail until '77 when she escaped with the help of the BLA and the Weather Underground and she fled to Cuba. Yet in another example of how our nation's priorities are seriously fucked up, New Jersey and the FBI just issued a $2 million bounty on Shakur (incidentally she's Tupac's step-aunt) for her return as they consider her a dangerous terrorist.
So a woman who killed a state trooper in 1973 and escaped jail in '77 for Cuba is worth $2 million and being called a terrorist? Does anybody even know what the word means anymore or is just another worthless catch-all, like "freedom" or "justice" or "derogatory"? For those of you unfamiliar, terrorism is what happens when college kids blow up a crowd or shoot up a movie theater or shoot up a school and possibly wipe out a community's education system, as well as flying planes into Wall Street trading buildings. Basically, it's violence launched on a group of people with the intent of striking fear into their hearts. So is terrorism what's going on in Damascus?
Israel's been bombing Syria without even having the courtesy to officially declare war. I know we're allies with the great tribe nation of Israel but seriously, how is this
different from the bombs anti-Americans have launched at us? It just is? Ahh, it's okay because Israel's acting in our interest. I mean, hell, Assad is a horrible bastard and we do want the anti-government rebels to win. I mean, imagine Iraq had we not supported the secular young warlord Saddam Hussein's rise to power. It would be a mess.
At least their people are being attacked from outside instead of crumbling from within thanks to corrupt heartless leaders and regulators.
Am I referring to Wall Street? Not this time. No, this time I'm talking about Bangladesh and the factory sweatshop collapse. Bangladesh is the world's sweatshop. It makes 80% of its GDP from selling cheap clothes to the Western world. This particular building was apparently built with little regard for structural soundness or the safety of its workers, as evidenced by its collapse, leaving a death toll now close to 610 poor workers. Or about a fifth of the amount of people who died in the 9/11 strikes. Is it terrorism if the greed of a few kills many citizens of a nation? Especially when the citizens were going to work in the very industry that employs most of the citizens of that nation? To go to a shitty job where you may die for pennies an hour? How can we purchase goods from companies that treat their workers like this? Isn't such disregard for human life, undertaken for the sake of capitalism, completely counter to the American way?
Ahh, fuck it. The stock market is rallying thanks to American innovation (even if some people, like myself, might believe the single-minded obsession with tech is a bit limiting and short-sighted). U.S. home prices are up. Minority purchasing powers keep rising, a sign of general American improvement through diversity (which, let's be honest, is currently one of our only remaining real and true international strengths). "Iron Man 3" just set the record for second-best opening weekend, a sign that Americans have a little extra money for the pictures and, even more, that kids are enthralled by a rich playboy who also happens to be a genius engineer. Rhode Island just became the 10th state to legalize gay marriage, nevermind the fact that it's about the size of my backyard in Wyoming. Or, on the topic of homosexuality, that the Jets have yet again embarrassed themselves with another spectacular PR mess. But for all intents and purposes, things are going okay at home.
Maybe that's why they're issuing a $2 million dollar bounty on a woman they're claiming is a most-wanted terrorist for killing a state trooper 40 years ago as part of an organization that was extinguished before I was even born. Maybe the button down D.C. suits are confusing a slight uptick in our national fortunes with a warning that soon the rising proletariat might have enough free time to really start protesting? Or the authorities are worried that this rise on the back of widespread liberalism might lead to another 1960's situation with rebellions and activists left and right and it won't just be bored rich folks pushing forth draconian measures and taking the wrong things too seriously?
Not really sure. But can somebody tell me the definition of terrorism? Maybe in the comments section below? When do Al Qaeda strikes go from being terrorist acts to being considered acts of war or espionage, with Al Qaeda members being afforded Geneva protections? And why the fuck are we wasting ANY time or money on some sextagenarian who hasn't been relevant in America since the Carter administration, much less calling her a terrorist? Because seemingly right now the word "terrorist" is being used the way that "religion" seems to mean people who use holy texts as a justification for hostilities, hatred and prejudices without embracing the parts that tell them about love, acceptance, mercy, and that whole "he who has not sinned cast the first stone" thing. It's been twisted and spun to have no meaning except in subjective context, which in reality means that the word "terrorism" (like, increasingly and sadly, the word "religion") means nothing. And it's way too dangerous a word to be left without meaning.
- Ryan
Of course not, that would be silly. And don't get me wrong, there are some good cops out there. A friend's brother seems like a good guy. My wife's childhood friend sounds kind enough. But with "terrorism" the hottest new word since "synergy" and just as capable of capturing the public's attention, what does that mean?
What if a civil rights activist on the wrong side of the law (a law which, must be noted, often was a tool of the very establishment often oppressing these dissidents) shoots a cop in an escape gone wrong? Is that an act of terrorism? Or a simple act of rebellion compounded by a basic criminal act?
 |
| Assata's mug |
So a woman who killed a state trooper in 1973 and escaped jail in '77 for Cuba is worth $2 million and being called a terrorist? Does anybody even know what the word means anymore or is just another worthless catch-all, like "freedom" or "justice" or "derogatory"? For those of you unfamiliar, terrorism is what happens when college kids blow up a crowd or shoot up a movie theater or shoot up a school and possibly wipe out a community's education system, as well as flying planes into Wall Street trading buildings. Basically, it's violence launched on a group of people with the intent of striking fear into their hearts. So is terrorism what's going on in Damascus?
 |
| NPR posted this pic - is this kid a victim of terrorism? |
At least their people are being attacked from outside instead of crumbling from within thanks to corrupt heartless leaders and regulators.
 |
| Collapsed sweatshops killing citizens - is the architect a terrorist? |
Ahh, fuck it. The stock market is rallying thanks to American innovation (even if some people, like myself, might believe the single-minded obsession with tech is a bit limiting and short-sighted). U.S. home prices are up. Minority purchasing powers keep rising, a sign of general American improvement through diversity (which, let's be honest, is currently one of our only remaining real and true international strengths). "Iron Man 3" just set the record for second-best opening weekend, a sign that Americans have a little extra money for the pictures and, even more, that kids are enthralled by a rich playboy who also happens to be a genius engineer. Rhode Island just became the 10th state to legalize gay marriage, nevermind the fact that it's about the size of my backyard in Wyoming. Or, on the topic of homosexuality, that the Jets have yet again embarrassed themselves with another spectacular PR mess. But for all intents and purposes, things are going okay at home.
Maybe that's why they're issuing a $2 million dollar bounty on a woman they're claiming is a most-wanted terrorist for killing a state trooper 40 years ago as part of an organization that was extinguished before I was even born. Maybe the button down D.C. suits are confusing a slight uptick in our national fortunes with a warning that soon the rising proletariat might have enough free time to really start protesting? Or the authorities are worried that this rise on the back of widespread liberalism might lead to another 1960's situation with rebellions and activists left and right and it won't just be bored rich folks pushing forth draconian measures and taking the wrong things too seriously?
Not really sure. But can somebody tell me the definition of terrorism? Maybe in the comments section below? When do Al Qaeda strikes go from being terrorist acts to being considered acts of war or espionage, with Al Qaeda members being afforded Geneva protections? And why the fuck are we wasting ANY time or money on some sextagenarian who hasn't been relevant in America since the Carter administration, much less calling her a terrorist? Because seemingly right now the word "terrorist" is being used the way that "religion" seems to mean people who use holy texts as a justification for hostilities, hatred and prejudices without embracing the parts that tell them about love, acceptance, mercy, and that whole "he who has not sinned cast the first stone" thing. It's been twisted and spun to have no meaning except in subjective context, which in reality means that the word "terrorism" (like, increasingly and sadly, the word "religion") means nothing. And it's way too dangerous a word to be left without meaning.
- Ryan
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