BamaD
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Zonie63
quote:
ORIGINAL: kdsub
Zonie would you just rather not hear the threats? Would you rather be ignorant without the information to make up your own mind as to the severity of the threats?
No, I never said that I didn't want to hear the threats. However, I usually prefer to operate independently and seek out a variety of sources of information, without relying on the government or mainstream media to spoon feed me the "5 things I need to know." I also put it into perspective of the entire world situation, as well as the history and background which led to the present day. And I also temper it with some of my own personal experience and remember many times we've been warned of "threats" which never materialized (or were incredibly exaggerated), as well as the times we probably should have been warned but weren't.
I also know that on the internet and elsewhere, there are always lots of blowhards who make all kinds of threats which will never be carried out. There are also those who try to incite and make calls for violence, which means that they want somebody else to actually do it. It doesn't actually mean that anyone is planning any specific attack; they're just talking out loud. It's just like when they say "death to America" or "the streets will flow with the blood of the unbelievers"; it's all a bunch of loud talk. I'm not saying we should ignore it or not pay attention to it, but we don't necessarily have to go into panic mode or make every idle statement into headline news.
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If say there were an attack and the government had information which they decided not to pass along to the public...what do you suppose you would be saying then?....As in 9/11.
If you're saying that there's a problem when government refuses to pass along necessary information to the public, I agree with you completely. I think that issue is part of what's being raised in this thread.
On the other hand, we also have had to come to realization that...there's always a risk out there for any of us, at any time or any place. I've flown on airplanes many times, and each time, I realize there's always a risk of a crash or a hijacking. I sometimes consider certain possibilities whenever I go downtown and visit any government buildings. I understand the need for tight security at these places, and it's precisely that reason that I consider my own personal risk in entering or walking near those buildings. I suppose one has to consider similar risks when entering shopping malls, grocery stores, convenience stores, movie theaters, etc.
So, as far as a general overall warning about the risk of terrorism or other violent crime, I think that the warning has already been given and continues to be given. Apart from that, if the government has actual hard information about an impending attack, then a specific warning would be warranted.
Just for the record: I am heeding the warning here. I can say that I have no plans to visit the Mall of America at any time in the foreseeable future. But I don't think that will make me any safer or less safe.
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I want to know... I am not staying up nights worrying but I want to be informed.
As do I. I think the public has a right to know and should be kept better informed. I think the government should be more transparent and open, encouraging the free flow of information. The way it is now, they're the ones deciding what's important for us to know and what we "don't need to know." But the fact that they keep so much secret makes me wonder.
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NOW
If our President makes up false threats as Bush did to start a war... then it is a different story... Do you think Obama is making these threats up? If not do you think the Homeland Security should make the general public aware of these threats no matter how remote they may be? Do you think that perhaps France may have been better off making its citizens aware of the threats it had information on... before there were attacks?
Butch
If these threats are being made up (and I never said that they were), I would not assume that they would come from Obama. They could be coming from other elements in the government not necessarily aligned with Obama.
The key word here is "information" and how reliable is it? Are you saying that the government of France had actual hard, provable data about an attack at an exact time and place? Or is it more a matter of "we think maybe someone is planning an attack somewhere, but we don't know who, where, or when...but something might happen"? Maybe the Mall of America might be attacked, maybe not. Maybe some other mall might be attacked. Or maybe the terrorists are just saying all this as a ruse and could be planning an attack at a completely different place. We really don't know, and I'm not sure that the government really knows either.
I wish that somebody had a crystal ball which could reliably predict where these attacks will take place so that we would know for sure and be able to intercept them and thwart them before they could carry out their dastardly, treacherous actions.
I wish there weren't evil people in the world who wanted to make attacks like this.
_____________________________
Government ranges from a necessary evil to an intolerable one. Thomas Paine
People don't believe they can defend themselves because they have guns, they have guns because they believe they can defend themselves.
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RE: Threat to the Mall of the Americas - 
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