[LoveMyPugs]

Though, I never understood why they coralled everyone in the gym? SO we could all blow up together?

I never understood this. In all honesty, I'd prefer to be on my own barricaded in a classroom with a few other students then coralled in a gym with the everyone else where I'm free picking for the psycho student with the gun. I just saw 28 weeks later last night and they do this with the civilians when there is a new outbreak. The shove them all into a room and then one infected guy gets in and they all start turning within seconds of him biting them. the people who were spread out and on their own survived.

[girlygirlgag]

thank you for the concern missladyj. I appreciate it even though I wasn't coming on here for that it's nice to know that busties care. It was just a little close to home if you know what I mean. Makes you think about things a bit. I mean shit it could have been, "I hate Del Tech and I wish it would burn to the ground" and yet they contemplate closing the school. Me personally, I can't deny contemplating buring the mathlab down myself (fucking trigonometry). Seriously, it was a freaky day.

GGG - if the goth thing pisses you off you should seriously read about the West Memphis 3 such a fucked up situation and makes me sad for young people who are into goth or metal like Mr. Pug and I were when we were in high school. it's a scary world.

I remember that. They dumped those bodies about two, three hours south of here.

I graduated years before Columbine we had one bomb threat, and it was a senior prank. Though, I never understood why they coralled everyone in the gym? SO we could all blow up together?

[treehugger]

Pugs, how scary!

And, lookie here. Guess who I work for. Blah.

[girltrouble]

glad you are ok pugs!!!!


lanie: the government spying on peaceniks is nothng new, in the 90's they were spying on grannies for peace or some such, and they thought MLK should be spied on, dispite his resolute non-violent stance.

faerie, i lurves you. i am so jealous... she came to seattle and was on the radio. very interesting. i can't wait to read her book, since i seem to be digging on political non-fiction right now...

i was also going to mention the world but you can only podcast portions of it, and not the news parts. its too bad too. it found undercover journalists in burma after the crackdown while everyone else got lazy and made things up. they also talk about world politics in with a complexity that is better than most bbc programs. (case in point: a piece about chinese outsourcing to africa, and charges of racism and abuse, and the larger context of china's support of african countries). but if you love obscure world music, download their music podcasts, (global hit), they are amazing.

i also like as it happens which is fun and playful news, and i love the hosts' voices.

[erinjane]

A student wrote a "threatening" message on the wall in the bathroom. I don't know what it was but it was significant enough for the school to consider closing and to call in police and dogs. When I arrived at school they were handing out flyers and telling everyone that ID badges needed to be displayed at all times. It was a little scary. I guess for me that was the closest to home (school) scenario I've ever experienced. I know it's nothing like what other students have experienced but it was scary. Can't imagine how I'd feel if it was something significant like an actual attack of some kind happened.

This exact same thing happened at my university 3 weeks ago. There was a threatening message on the bathroom wall, the specifics of which were not released, it only said that something would happen on a particular wednesday. My class that day was cancelled and of course nothing ended up happening. I don't think anyone really thought something would happen, but it still puts fear in you that you can't even go to school without looking over your shoulder. We have hightened security measures and a couple of weeks ago they were checking everyone's bags as we entered.

A few days after our incident two high schools had copycat incidents. What kind of idiot thinks it's funny to write threats on a wall and send a school into lockdown?

[LoveMyPugs]

thank you for the concern missladyj. I appreciate it even though I wasn't coming on here for that it's nice to know that busties care. It was just a little close to home if you know what I mean. Makes you think about things a bit. I mean shit it could have been, "I hate Del Tech and I wish it would burn to the ground" and yet they contemplate closing the school. Me personally, I can't deny contemplating buring the mathlab down myself (fucking trigonometry). Seriously, it was a freaky day.

GGG - if the goth thing pisses you off you should seriously read about the West Memphis 3 such a fucked up situation and makes me sad for young people who are into goth or metal like Mr. Pug and I were when we were in high school. it's a scary world.

[ginger_kitty]

All the post-Columbine issues kids have to deal with seems overwhelming. Like phobia, I am seriously glad I finished school before all these issues/scares have come up. My school only had one bomb threat the in the four years, I atteneded and that was just a prank.

Came in to post this:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21348319/

[phobia]

Jeez. So glad I graduated pre-Columbine. Our school regularly had bomb threats, and none of them were real. We were always evacuated and marched to the junior high gym and instead of sitting in class got to flirt and sit around and gossip and stuff. The way things are going, schools will soon be no better than kiddie prisons. Yeesh. People need to understand the reality of the threats they face. I'm not saying everyone should just ignore everything, but really, stuff like people in Bumblefuck, Idaho worrying about terrorist attacks, or that Jane is giving kids advil in study hall, really needs to be examined rationally and coolheadedly. Living in a climate of constant terror is what has led us to elect Bush again (!!!) and willingly give up our civil liberties. We all need to do some serious examining of the threats we face, and honestly and rationally (sorry to use the word twice but I can't think of a good synonym) and determine a) if they ARE even threats, and B ) how to best deal with them in ways that will produce results, not just expensive beurocratic nightmares (TSA, I'm looking at you!) that treat average people like criminals and STILL let the bad guys through.

Sorry. Rant over. You may now continue with your regularly scheduled programming

[missladyj]

I work in a school and a couple of years ago a kid phoned in a bomb threat and we went to lockdown. Which is the post Columbine plan that our school district came up with
it was pretty scary situation but turned out to be a hoax.

Glad you are okay Pugs!!

[girlygirlgag]

Sometimes it is so hard to discern if it is a serious threat. With what just happened in Cleveland (BTW, are any of you as sick of the media clinging to the GOTH thing as I am?) you don't want to take anything lightly. BUT, kids know when things are heated and may do something liek that just for that kind of reaction without any truly nefarious intentions at all.

I guess it is always better to err on the side of caution. Stay safe and keep your eyes and ears open.

[LoveMyPugs]

A student wrote a "threatening" message on the wall in the bathroom. I don't know what it was but it was significant enough for the school to consider closing and to call in police and dogs. When I arrived at school they were handing out flyers and telling everyone that ID badges needed to be displayed at all times. It was a little scary. I guess for me that was the closest to home (school) scenario I've ever experienced. I know it's nothing like what other students have experienced but it was scary. Can't imagine how I'd feel if it was something significant like an actual attack of some kind happened.

[pepper]

yay! totally visible, thanks!

[laniethezany]

Thanks for the suggestions re: podcasts. My problem isn't that I can't find enough stuff that sounds interesting - I tend to find too much. So having an endorsement from someone who's heard a particular podcast helps me narrow down all the choices.

faerietails, your mention of The List made me think of posting about The Green Scare. That is some seriously scary stuff. (Quick summary - there was some legislation passed a while back that was supposedly aimed at preventing environmental terrorism, but "terrorism" was defined to include all kinds of peaceful political activity and, of course, does NOT include the wide-scale environmental havoc wreaked by large corporations. This new trend in going after activists who express dissent with governmental policy was coined the "green scare" because of the parallels to the McCarthy era "red scare" in the 1950s).

While I don't personally know the person, a friend-of-a-friend is being prosecuted under this legislation. Hearing the progression of the investigation and grand jury proceedings has been terrifying.

Edited for legibility issues vis a vis font color. Is this better?

[faerietails2]

Oooh, GT, I just met Naomi Wolf a couple of days ago! Her book is fantastic. She mention how she's now on The List ever since she started travelling to promote the book and gets searched everytime she flies.

[phobia]

Oy, the conservatives are scary. GT, I pretty much agree with you, but my point was more that I'm hopeful that there are ways we can withdraw without doing *much* additional damage to our reputation. Not that I think the current administration of egotistical fratboys cares about our reputation! God what deluded fuckwits. I just can't even express my anger anymore...

Democracy Now is one of the best shows on the radio! Although we don't get it here in Syracuse, the Finger Lakes NPR station carries it, which is awesome because I can listen when I'm off working in those areas. Other podcasts...hm, I really only listen to the Splendid Table and Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air has podcasts available, if you're interested in that sort of thing and you can stomach Terry Gross's rediculous star-struck idiot questioning.

There's all kinds of podcasts floating around, though. It shouldn't be too hard to find ones that cater to your interests.

[girltrouble]

lanie, congrats on graduating, that's awesome. actually, the patriot act, and many other plans WERE planned before bush even got elected. if you look up the history of neo-cons, there are many papers they wrote that were specifically about many of the post 9/11 events. if you'll look, many of the people who came in with bush worked under nixon. when he got impeached, they brooded, planned, schemed, and when presented with the ventuilqist dummy that is our commander-in-chief, they saw their chance and took it. 9/11 was just a happy coincidence/perfect excuse for them to seek unlimited, unchecked power for the executive branch. these guys don't believe in our republic or democracy, and the certainly don't believe in checks and balances, after all, they've been using the constitution as toilet paper since they took this to the supreme court.

if you can read naomi wolf's new book if you really want to be creeped out.

here are two of my best/favorite radio programs/podcasts. along with democracy now, the best news in this country.

between the lines great interviews/info.
counterspin super snarky news crit, and great info/interviews from the fairness and accuracy in reporting people.

phobia:
our image cannot be salvaged by the morass in iraq. they are convinced we intend to occupy the country, that we are on an anti-muslem crusade. we do not do anything but confirm their worst fears when we build permenent bases or or our bigget embassy, and neglect basic services for the iraqi people. bush and his ilk are intent on running the government into the ground. they have very little interest in finding a way to fix iraq. they would rather pass it on to the next (probably democrat) administration, so they can use it as political fodder to get back into the white house. quick-- who was the president who started the vietnam war? chances are you remember the person who ended it, and they usually take the blame for all the shit in the war too.

i also have to say about this blackwater business, if we can't find enough people to run a war with our military, then we ought not be fighting one. if we need more people we should re-instate the draft. it's not that i say this with glee, but if a war has the moral cause we really believe in, we should all sacrifice, not just our soldiers. if we can't stomach seeing our brothers, fathers, off to war, again, we ought not be fighting.

[laniethezany]

GT - That story about the government wanting to wire tap us way before 9/11 is upsetting but not really surprising. The USA PATRIOT Act was a big topic of conversation when I was in law school. (I just graduated this past May) One of my professors pointed out that one of the scariest things about the Act is that, given how quickly they introduced it and hurried it through Congress, that means it's either what they already had sitting in a drawer just waiting for a climate where it would be passed or it's what they came up with right off the top of their heads. Given additional time to scheme, who knows what else they would have thrown in there.

Just for an added burst of fun, John Ashcroft Jr. (son of the former U.S. attorney general) attended the same law school as me. I didn't have any classes with him, but several of my friends in the year below me did. He was just as scary right wing fundie as his dad.

ETA: I have recently become completely addicted to crocheting, which is rad but makes it difficult to read. I've been looking into books on tape that I can "read" (listen to) while I stitch, but I figure podcasts would be a good way to go as well. Do any of you news-savvy BUSTies have any suggestions? Muchas appreciation.

[phobia]

GT -- I pretty much agree with you, actually, I just don't think it's a good idea (or feasible) to just pull out without giving the Iraqis any sort of path forward. Does that make sense? I feel like it would be a better idea, and not hurt our "image" so much, if we could help the Iraqis work together to forge some kind of post-US plan. But if they can't figure out how to work together (I'm thinking of parliament here, mind you, not even the terrorists), I don't know how that's possible.

Ginger, here's a link to the Lancet article that your article refers to, in case anyone's interested. Unsafe abortion: the preventable pandemic.

[faerietails2]

(Oops! I accidentally cross-posted this in the green thread, but I meant to put it here.)

I just read this article about how New York City is the single-biggest U.S. destroyer of Amazon rainforests. That's where they get their wood for all the boardwalks, park benches, etc!

"If deforestation continues at its present rate, within four years it will be the single-greatest contributor to climate change, pumping a staggering amount of CO2 into the atmosphere -- more than all the flights in the history of aviation."

Yikes! This is awful.

[girltrouble]

i guess i'm one of the people who thinks we need to get out now.

the simple fact of the matter is that the majority of all the killings in iraq are civilian via terrorist, most of the extremists object to the fact that arab land is being occupied by the west, their tactic is to blow up people, theirs, ours, either neither or both.

an american withdrawl would not, contrary to what we are constantly told, would not make things worse, rather it would remove the reason for terrorists to be shipped there from other countries, leaving nothing but iraqis to work out their issues.

would there be a civil war? more than likely, but no terrorist bombings.

i can understand why people might think that we should stay there. the "we broke it" theory, but if our mere presence increases the body count... we do the civilians a diservice.