Sunday June 30, 2002

     Some of these were posted on the ABC boards, others were not.

Investigation Committee

     I've wondered if there would ever be an investigation committee of common citizens grilling the Senators and Representatives with the same harshness as they are grilling those before those congressional committees?

Senator. What did you know and when did you know it?
Representator. What did you know and when did you know it?
Senator. What have you been concerened with for the last few years? Why wasn't national security?
Representator. How much pork barrel government funds have you sponsored? Why weren't those funds spent on improving intelligence analysis equipment and methods?
Senator. Why were interested in airline and airport ontime and baggage handling performance? Why weren't you more interested in security and safety?
Representator. Why are your investagtion committee meeting in secret? What information are you hiding from the public? Senator. National security my butt. Where was your concern for national security when USS Cole almost got sunk? When the embassies got blown up? When the first World Trade Center bombing happened? Don't you read the newspapers, watch the news media? Couldn't you see what's been happening for the last 20 years?
Representator. Why is your loyality to your political party more important than your loyality to the nation and the common security?
Senator, Representator. Why do we common folk feel like your actions and/or lack of actions make us feel like we've been betrayed?
Senator, Representator. What did you know and when did you know it? Why didn't you know something tragic was going to eventually happen? Why didn't you do something to stop it?
Senator, Representator. Haven't your actions been teasoneous?

Oh well. It's like one of the repsonses on the board said. "It'll never happen."

Politic Speak

     I've gotten to where I can't stand to hear Bush or any other politician talk. All they really want to do is say the few key words and phrases: freedom, democracy, American way of life, national security, greatest nation on Earth. It's as if those words have become magical, some kind of shaman's magic words. Speak them and all will be well in the world again.

American Public

     More and more the public listens to those words too. Americans are so easily lead around by politics and the news media and the entertainment media. It's really sad but I think they're more Homer Simpson families in the States than ever before. All that has to be done to defeat the States and give the public an American flag to wave, a beer to drink, an American sport game to watch on the telly, slip it those magic words for them to hear. The terrorists types could over throw the government and no one would ever notice the diff.
     They're all arrogant egotists. America greatest this, America greatest that. They never think that other people in the world feel good about their own nations and cultures. The States lose a friendly nation everytime the "g" word is used.

Security Intelligence

     There still isn't any. The politicians and intelligence agencies are still thinking American this, American that. It's the July 4th celebration they believe is the next attack date. What a joke. The terrorist don't give a damn about Americanism or monuments. They attack financial and military and government institutions on regular workdays. They want to make every day of the year a target date.
     It's really a sad state of affairs when a nobody like me can figure out more about potential terrorism than the agencies of the last so-called superpower nation.

     http://boards.abcnews.go.com/cgi/abcnews/request.dll?MESSAGE&room=us_homefront&id=388
     Data Bits Dribble In Byte By Byte 3:41AM PDT, Jun 7, 2002
     http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/DailyNews/WNT_ross-bryant_transcript1.html
     Usual terms and assumptations apply.
     Atta's mindset. It's almost like a bumbling, amatuer criminal with grandeur schemes than he's really capable of accomplishing. No concept of the real, nitty-gritty details of finance which seems to contradict that of his own top level terrorist organization. Hold up the bank and steal the money out of the safe on the spot? Please, a street urchin in any Mideast city knows better than that. But perhaps that's the way the warlords in Afghanitan do business and what's he's accustom to. Why would he be wanting to borrow money anyway with the supposed resources of alqadea? Making up the plan or making changes on the fly as chance encounters happen. He sees a picture on the wall and wants to buy it then and there. He could have taken a tourist sightseeing flight over DC and NY, taken his own pictures and attract less obivious attention. Plus there's more than enough aerial pictures of those cities on the internet somewhere. His pride in alqadea and Bin Laden may be real but if he's one of their best operatives it's sorely misplaced. More likely it's just an example of their success in mind indoctrination.
     The chance encounters with other terrorists like this makes me wonder who else in the States has a story like this one. Have you met a terrorist with Atta's attitude in the past 2 or 3 years?
     Assuming the cropdustor plan is genuine it brings back that bit of unfinished, neglected business. (Typical FBI, CIA, States intelligence from recent history?) So where's the terrorists' stash of bio-chem material? It's still out there somewhere and I don't think anyone is looking for it anymore.
     I belief in the related broadcast on the evening news there was an inference to changing from using small planes to crash to hijacking airliners. (That's assuming the cropdustor is a cover story.) It was mentioned that was Bin Laden's thought. But then a couple of weeks ago there's that transcript from Italy, I think, that had the "madman but a genius" reference. So who's idea was it, Atta's or Bin Laden's? And who in alqadea would be calling Bin Laden a madman, knowly or unknowly?
     *****
     http://boards.abcnews.go.com/cgi/abcnews/request.dll?MESSAGE&room=us_homefront&id=390
     After reading the link, I have to wonder if there is another version of this story somewhere. One where she also remembers him ripping away clothing, etc. LOL I can't believe this was the best story she could come up with in 8 months. Of course the fact that "there is no security camera" means no recorded proof that he was actually there. I bet the interviewer had one hell of a time not laughing out loud. Al-Qaeda policy requires that followers do nothing that would attract unnecessary attention. You can bet that if they would have needed to resort to this sort of a plot to obtain financing, Atta would have known precisely what the qualifications for a loan are and he would have had all necessary documentation to justify the loan. This bimbo should have sold the story to the Enquirer
     *****
     It was *not* Enquirer who bought the story. It was the FBI and other official investigators. She passed that so-called lie detector test of theirs. This is the source of grounding all cropdusters and other related warnings last Fall. But given the nature of officialdom, it was information that came to their attention and they had to act upon it.
     I don't doubt that the encounter happpened and was much as she tells it. How does any of us recall accurately the details of an apparently everyday interview 18 months afterwards?
     So where does this lead now? Bin Laden, alqaeda and terrorism isn't as sophiscately evil as we're lead to believe? They fumble and bumble around at creating terrorism no worse than the States intelligence community at connecting data bits and detecting it? The news media hyped up another news story for our entertainment like that "jihad" word incident?

Thursday August 1, 2002
2:35a
     Hamas can not even tolerate students at a university who basically live and learn together in a relative peaceful enviroment. Such is the viciousness of terrorism during these days.
     Arabs, Koreans, Japanese, Americans and probably kids from other parts of the world were among the victims this time. I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't a few Palestinian workers who got injuried either.
     What could hamas have expected to gain? Or rationally expect to gain?
     Nothing for their offical cause or issues. Neither the Palestinan State nor the destruction of Israel, nor the retailiation and revenge for one of their own (hamas that is, not just a Palestinian) being killed.
     They expect to do it and get away with it. Kill for the sake of killing. That's all.

The Janus Complex
     Two faced. That's one of the factors that aids them or they may even depend on to succeed. They're presenting one face to their Palestinian supporters and the other to the rest of the world. One is good the other bad.
     To the some of the Palestinian, refugee, oppressed they are the Salvation Army, the Christian aid ministeries, the Western food bank, the Red Cross and Red Cresent. They are the one's who bring food, medicine and other forms of aid to the Palestinian poor, unemployed, homeless.
     To the rest of the world they are the merciless, brutal terrorists. And to those in the Palestinian community who oppose them, informants for their enemy, political and academic stratigists discussing alternative (less violent or more peaceful) methods, they are still merciless, brutal terrorists.
     How does one confront a two faced opponent?
     You can raise your sword to strike down the bad face but then he simply spins around. Now you're the bad face about to strike down a good face. During that moment of hestiation he spins around again, the bad face returns and strikes again with his own blow against you.
     It's not only one head with two faces but many heads with two faces. I think the recent exchange of events has already demonstrated the action and reaction principle ... for the hundredth time. Cut off one hamas head and another grows in its place (like the mutant enity it is) to reek its retailation and revenge.
     How does one confront a two faced opponet?
     You apply more restrictions, more oppession to the people hamas hides among. Poof ... the good face appears to provide more aid and comfort to the new refugees, poor and homeless. The bad face is again in your face striking its own blows against the oppressor.
     You begin to match blow for blow ... random public target for random public target. Some sort of fuzzy logic that where ever the two faced heads hide among the public is the target in reprisal for what ever random public place the bad face just blew up. Is there a expectant rational that the common Palestines will begin to avoid being around Janus?
     How does one confront a two faced opponet?
     You try dismemberment. Cut off its hands, arms, feet and legs. If it can move it can't do anything. You choke off its air and food support. It turns its good face, with a pitiful, hopeless, victimized expression to the world. It pleads for help and sympathy. Meanwhile there's that bad face looking at you with its grinning, got you again, smirk.
     How does one confront a two faced opponet? ... Most perplexing problem.

Wednesday August 7, 2002
States v Iraq
Interesting war planning
     The alqaeda still has terrorist cells in the States. Hussein is supporting and encouraging the terrorism bombings against Israel. He has been developing bigger and better weapons. There's no real reason to assume he does not already have a few or more. During the last war with Iraq he launched missles against Israel as well as some Arabian nations. The States appear to be more and more seperated from its allies with some recent policies. The States wants to get Hussein out of power. The States war planning is directed toward Bagdad and that end. It's about the expected forces needed for an invasion into another country ... and related combat causalities.
     Wait, wait don't tell me. Some of the dots are *not* connecting.
     The homefront lines have already been infiltrated, there's already enemy agents in the States, they've already demonstrated their capablities. And they're supposed to just keep on sleeping while their supporter is attacked? Hussein is as bad as Bin Laden. Bin Laden may be out of power or even dead but that's not proveable. And alqaeda and its current leader remains. And the States expects better results by ousting Hussein? Israel is already in the cross-hairs (or that equivalent in missle guidance) of most of her antagonists. Colateral damage from a war with Iraq? Hussein is a viscious dictator and those types are more interested in maintaining their power than anything else. The only two dots that appear connected and moving together are the hamas attacks against Israel and the States' talks of war with Iraq. So he has those weapons of mass destruction, he's mad with his power but not dumb. He knows if he uses them it would not only be the States who attack and retaliate. It's basically what kept the States and Soviet Union from using them.
     What does a military dictator do when he knows he's going to loose? Do as much damage to his arch enemies while he can. Destroy the countryside's resources as he retreats so as to not leave them for the advancing enemy. Wait, wait don't tell me. It's the oil fields. Poison them with the bio-chem weapons, irradiate them with dirty nuclear bombs.

Last Few Posts to ABC Board
Real Time Testing
     Sadam building his own nuclear weapons has always had the assummation that he can get it right the first time. That is there'll be no test explosions in Iraq which would prove he has them. So the "proof" testing would be real time field use. Nuclear bomb designing, building and fabrication maybe a cookbook science and technology. Still, getting all those details fabricated right the first time has to be done.
     Whether it's Hussein who obtains already tested designs and bombs or some other terrorist, there's always going to be this threat to the world.
Prove Their Loyality
     Where is the US Muslim support? A really depressing thread.
     Fifity-two weeks, 364 days and it's back to the blind hatred for Islam, Muslim, Arabian, anything remotely related and everything non-red-white-blue. "Prove their loyality" "Islam rots their brains" and thousands of others words and phrases putting down a third of humanity because of the horrendeous acts of so few. Whatever their nationality or faith those few were human. Call the terrorists animals if you like, still they were/are human. You might as well cite every murder, every war, every massacre, every genocide, every dispicable, disgusting, dasterly deed done through out all history ... and then point the accusing finger at all humanity.
     Another tragic event, another year passes, and still the blind hate from all sides lives on.
Hades
     ... is eternal damnation to suffering from tormented American political arguments while death and destruction lurks at the edge of the abyss.
Board Dynamics
     During the five years I've been in chat rooms and followed message / discussion boards, I've been as much interested in the dynamics of the these public forms as the subjects and topics for discussions.
     It seems extremely rare that a really productive and intelligent exchange of ideas and opinions ever happened. That's more apt to occur in private chat or exchanges among a few individuals rather than in the main public areas.
     There always seems to be the usual disrupters who make outrageous statements, use obscene remarks and language. That's just someone wanting to draw attention to themselves and domainate the forum. That tatic works too often when enough of the others give them what they want, attention.
     But there are other methods a few can use to control the dynamics of a forum.
     It's not neccessarily a random few in a group sharing the same views and opinions. They form alliances, either by chance or by design. The first post of a thread can be some sub-topic and that person's original opinion. But it doesn't take many afterwards till the talk is drawn back toward the same repetitive views of a few others. It happens too soon in the thread for it to be a natural drift in the talk.
     Then they are the professional posters. They are either truely paid for their work or dedicated volunteers. There was a bit of news within a year or two about a music company which had some of its employees in chat rooms. They were there to hype up the talk about their latest releases.
     Political entities do the same. Some of them are quite good at what they do. But too much a good thing arouses suspicions. With that their mistakes and errors and misleading facts are discovered. But they are professionals and those go unchallenged.
     A couple of months ago I got bored with the posts on these boards. I think it was around the million iteration of the Bush-Clinton, Republican-Democrat, Conservative-Liberal, Right-Left arguments. So I ventured into using some of the lesser used features of ABC's message boards. At least for me, other may have been using them all along.
Pro-Posters
     There was a bit of news within the last year or two about a music company which had some of its employees in chat rooms. They were there to hype up the talk about their latest releases. The same probably happens in other businesses which have a product or service to promote.
     I suspect political groups do the same. It's the new campaign medium.
     Wonder how many professional posters they are on these boards? How would one know the difference between the common individuals expressing their opinions and those who are here making a concerted influence those opinions? What affects would it have on the boards' dynamics? Is it a natural drift toward the political issues, Bush-Clinton, Republican-Democrat, or is it forced toward that?

Junk Pile
He will fumble it.
     There'll be another terrorist attack against the States within 12 - 15 months. Probably a US embassy, government installation or States related coporation in some European city, or anywhere else for that matter. Lots of the local nationals will get killed and injured, their economies crippled for a while.
     If it's a bio-chem attack it will be easily linked to Hussein but a bombing could be made to link too. The rest of the Western world and parts of the Mideast world will finally loose their tolerance for terrorism too. Then it would be easy to get the unifing support needed for a campaign to remove Hussein. And others like him.
     But the man is impatient. He's part of the instant gratification generation. He wants his war against Hussein and he wants it now. He will fumble it.
     He probably needs to fire his political stradegists too. Another year or so will be closer to his re-election. And another attack plus the beginnings of a war begun/continued by terrorists would be more to his advantage than a two year old, unsupported war that he started alone. But he will fumble that too.
Other guy's dumber.
     If a nuclear or bio-chem weapon is used anywhere in the world in a terrorist attack against the States or Israel, it will be linked or made to link to Hussein. Whether or not he really had anything to do with it. The rest of the world will then see to it that he's terminated.
     But he's so egotistically power mad he can't see that.
     One would think he would be praying to Allah that binladen, alqueda, hamas or any other terrorist group doesn't do anything really stupid within the next few months, or years, or ever.
The Stats.
     Exclude 52 month inactive interval, include Oklahoma City event.
     Maximum interval 26 months, minimum 2, average 12.1, stddev 7.2, minus/plus 1 stddev 4.9 to 19.2 months.
     Since WTC 1993
     Maximum interval 26 months, minimum 7, average 14.4, stddev 7.7, minus/plus 1 stddev 6.7 to 22.2 months.
     Target Date
     Terrorists do not have a preference for dates related to American holidays, anniversaries or special events

Event                                         Date      Interval

World Trade Center                            Sep 2001  11
USS Cole, Aden Yemen                          Oct 2000  11
US Installations, Islambad                    Nov 1999  15
Embassies, Kenya/Tanzania                     Aug 1998  26
US Military base, Dahran, Saudi Arabia        Nov 1996   7
SA Government Building, Riyada, Saudi Arabria Nov 1995   7
Federal Building, Oklahoma City               Apr 1995  24
World Trade Center, New York                  Apr 1993  52
Pan Am 103 Lockerbie, Scotland                Dec 1988  13
American University, Beiruit, Labanan         Nov 1987  19
La Belle night club, West Berlin, Germany     Apr 1986  --
TWA Flight Rome to Athens                     Apr 1986   4
Aiports, Rome and Vienna                      Dec 1985  15
US Embassy, Beiruit, Lebanan                  Sep 1984   9
US and Fench Embassies, Kuwait City           Dec 1983   2
US Marine Barracks, Beiruit, Lebanon          Oct 1983   6
US Embassy, Beiruit, Lebanon                  Apr 1983   0

A. All intervals
B. Exclude inactive 52 month interval
C. Since WTC 1993

              A             B               C
Maximum      52.           26.              26.
Minimum       2.            2.               7.
Mean         14.7          12.1             14.4
StdDev       12.4           7.2              7.7
- 1 StdDev    2.3           4.9               6.7
+ 1 StdDev   27.1          19.2             22.2

***

Exclude inactive, 52 month interval

Maximum  = 26
Minimum  = 2
Mean     = 12.1
StdDev   = 7.2
- 1 StdDev = 4.9
+ 1 StdDev = 19.2

Since STC 1993

Maximum  = 26
Minimum  = 7
Mean     = 14.4
StdDev   = 7.7
-1 StdDev = 6.7
+1 StdDev = 22.2

============

Wednesday December 18, 2002
Smallpox
     Will they or will they not?
     It's not quite like the other weapons, it's contagious. I'm sure there are other types of diseases that can be used as a terrorist weapon and some of them may also be contagious. But it appears most of the nuc-cio-chem weapons are effective only within the area of attack puls whatever is downwind. It's this human to hum contact weapon that makes it different.
     Then there's the history of smallpox, one of the dreaded plagues of human history. Also one of human's better accomplishments is the eradication of it from society.
     And therein lies the question: Will they or will they not re-release smallpox back into human society?
     Does any terrorist group, for whatever political rational, really what to go down in history as the group who released such a plaque upon humanity?
     They are wagering that the country being attacked will contain disease and thus limit its spread only within the target area. But that is not a given. It can and probably will spread to other countries, other innocent groups and even their own countries and societies.
     Logically they would not. But then again, terrorists are not best examples of humanly, rational, logical individuals either.

Wednesday December 18, 2002
The Attacks Continued
     Almost without interruption they carried out their plans. There was the Bali event in Indoneasia (or Malaysia), the Austrailians got hit hard there. Then another attack somewhere in Africa, Kenya maybe. There's probably several other less devistating events scattered around the world.
     There's been a pick up in attacks on the occupation forces in Afganistan too.
     Of course the States claim to have prevented hundreds of attacks too. But how do I really know that? The government still claims "national security" for not releasing any real information. It's still more important to protect intelligence sources and methods than to actually use the intelligence.
     And there have been arrests made in a few countries.
     But that probably doesn't make much diff either. Rule #3 is "Trust no one."

Thursday January 2, 2003
Osman Bin Laden
     So Bin Laden, your alqada holy warriers have been reduced to murdering hospital workers. They were men and women who had dedicated their lives to helping and healing your Muslim brothers and sisters. Decades they had spent among your peoples doing the work that Allah guided them to do. Now they are dead, by your will ... not Allah's. Have you made yourself greater than G-d Almighty?
     Hundreds dead in Bali, thousands of lives disrupted and destroyed. Humans, Muslim and non-Muslim, celebrating and living the life Allah gave them. But you, Bin Laden the almighty, challenge your own G-d's will. With each of these attacks, the others before, and the still more to come, you go up against your own G-d's will.
     You preach terrorism against a great satan. Incite hatred against some phantom enemy of Islam and Muslims. But your deeds leave death and destruction among common Muslim brothers, incite hatred against Islam. Your great blow against that ghostly satan even terrorized your own holy warriers. They turned away from the horror their brothers had created.
     Your satanic acts aganist Allah's humanity are not for the benefit of Islam.
     You, sheik Osman Bin Laden of Arabia, are an enemy of Islam.


Omar the Taliban
     A year has passed since last we met, in some cave among the Afgan mountains. Are you still lurking about there? [Running among the hills and mountains, hiding in caves, calling on the mountains to fall, to protect them from G-d's wrath.] Or have you accompanied your benefitor on his travels to other parts of the world?
     You once said words to the effect "Allah will totally destroy America, lightening from the skys, extinction by acts of men doing Allah's will and bidding."
     The Afgan landscape (physical, political and religous) is changing. As is the rest of the world's landscape. So again I ask you, Omar. "What do you think Allah is telling us about the taliban, obl, terrorism, murdering innocent men, women and children by the thousands, oppression of human dignity and the freedoms Allah wanted all His children to have?"
     You've had a year to ponder your response.

Wednesday February 12, 2003
Debating Decades
     Seeking solutions to problems by debate is ... finding no solution. It feels like the world civilizations can be crumbling and collapsing but the debate would rage on as to causes and solutions and who's to blame. Thirty years ago, 1973, it was abortion and Roe-Wade. Thirty years ago it was oil embargo and energy crisis. Three decades of debate and still no answers ... and still those battles rage on.
     It's the oil, no, it's the weapons, no it's Hussein, no it's Bush, no it's Clinton, no it's terrorists, no it's religions, no it's militant extremism, no it's Israel - Palestine, no it's communism, no it's corportate capitalism, no it's greed for wealth and power, [insert endless list here] ....
     Yes, it is some blend and combination of all those things ... plus the endless debating. It's not creating a war for distraction from one's own internal failings. It's keeping the pointless, fruitless debating hyped up to be the distraction. And even then it's not distraction from some other problems but distraction from finding solutions.
     This Bush-Hussein, Iraqi oil, disarmament war whatever it name it goes by and whatever its outcome, it too will be debated for decades to come.
     "Good luck USA" ... more appropriately it's "Good luck future generations of the world".

Is War Inevitable?
     It's been in the plan for months, if not years. And you still think it can be avoided? It's irrational to expect a rational response from an irrational mind. You thought a build up of forces would force him to back down. Not likely. He beleives he can and will survive with his personal wealth and power intact. He has already proven to the world he has no compassion for his fellow humans. He intends to sacrafice more Iraqii lives for his own personal gains. Now you've got and are still putting in place forces which you can not maintain indefinitely. War is and has been a sure thing for least 15 months.
     The Arabians think they can entice a revolt against him with promises of immunity. The Americans have thought the same in past years. He's crushed any suspected source of opposition for 40 years. They know to revolt is sure death. What good is immunity then?

NSS
     National security secrets. Can't use the intelligence they collect. So what good is it? If they do someone might figure out how their sources and methods work. As if there's really all that much new in the business. Spies, traitors, data analysis, super high resolution space photos, a bit of info here a bit there. It's all the same as it's always been. What's to protect?
     Give them ten locations, three of your best guesses where the goods are and the rest false ones. Let them figure out if you really know what you know. You've got the resources to document the activity of them moving the goods. Use that bit of information for a little more proof.
     Concern about the terrorism battles in the States' homeland is not important at this time. The theory being used is that when Hussein is removed the threat of terrorism within the States will be greatly deminished. Ill conceived theory in my opinion but none the less that's the current policy.
     Then it could be no one wants to think or talk about the bloody, nitty, gritty and gutty details of terrorist attacks in the States nor preparing for them.
     Then again it's more important for the Americans to bash, trash and diss each other's politics and politicians.

Frontlines
     "If you do want war ... Go to the front line. Put your life were your mouth is"
     Do not worry. There are no front lines in terrorism, it's whereever the next terrorist attack happens. The front lines has already and will continue to be bought to the homeland. It's usually a nation's leaders whose mouths puts its people's lives in harm's way.

Barbs
     "Join the Peace Army ... Does the Peace Army have any kind of intelligence test you have to fail to join?"
     As if advocating peace implies a lack of intelligence. There's only one test to be given and it's a pass fail only result.
     How intelligent is it to prepare for war with an adversery you suspect / know has bio-chem weapons, who may / will use them on your own soliders, his on people, the neighboring countries? How intelligent is it to virtually ignore the possibility / probability of terrorism fallout within the homeland?

A General Once Said
     "A General who goes into battle expecting everything to go as planned should not be a General." Sounds like Eisenhower ... or one from the Great War. Usually applies to world leaders also.