Terrorists targeting our schools???

[Mile High Shack]

WASHINGTON -- Education and law enforcement officials in six states were put on notice last month that a computer disk found in Iraq contained photos, floor plans and other information about schools in their areas, two U.S. government officials said.

The officials stressed they had no evidence of any specific threats involving the schools in eight districts located in California, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, New Jersey and Oregon.

The downloaded data was found by the U.S. military in July. All of the information is publicly available on the Internet and included an Education Department report guiding schools on how to prepare and respond to a crisis, said one of the officials, who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity.

The person who possessed the disk was described as an Iraqi national with ties to the Baath Party that ruled Iraq under Saddam Hussein, according to a senior law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity Friday. The person was not part of the terrorist insurgency being directed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The official declined to describe the person further or discuss the person's current whereabouts or possible intent.

The material on the disk appeared to be randomly downloaded from the Internet and included such things as manuals on workplace safety, crisis management studies and building security diagrams.

The FBI alerted local education and law enforcement authorities of the finding last month.

"We are unaware of any specific information that indicates terrorists are plotting or planning an attack at a school here in the United States," Homeland Security Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said.

Officials did not provide the names of the districts. But Kay Baker, superintendent of Oregon's Salem-Keizer district, confirmed hers was among them.

"Local law enforcement has no knowledge of a specific threat to any of our school buildings," she said. "We will work collaboratively with law enforcement on any further developments."

San Diego schools also were included, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune, and ABC News said there was a second California district. The Salem Statesman Journal reported the other districts were Fort Myers, Fla.; Jones County, Ga.; Birch Run, Mich.; and Franklinville and Rumson, both in New Jersey.

Roger Shatzkin, a spokesman for the New Jersey Office of Counterterrorism, confirmed officials there were told about the disk about two weeks ago.

"They were alerted, they were already doing things they should have been doing," Shatzkin said.

The disk contained an Education Department report called "Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities," published in May 2003, as well as photos and floor plans.

In a separate but more widespread warning put out this week, the Education Department advised school leaders nationwide to watch for people spying on their buildings or buses to help detect any possibility of terrorism like the deadly school siege last month in Russia.

The warning follows an analysis by the FBI and the Homeland Security Department of the siege that killed more than 330 people, nearly half of them children, in the city of Beslan.

"The horror of this attack may have created significant anxiety in our own country among parents, students, faculty staff and other community members," Deputy Education Secretary Eugene Hickok said in a letter sent Wednesday to schools and education groups.

The Education Department's advice is based on lessons learned from the Russian siege. But there is no specific information indicating a terrorist threat to any schools or universities in the United States, Hickok and other officials emphasized.

Federal law enforcement officials also have urged local police to stay in contact with school officials and have encouraged reporting of suspicious activities, the letter said.

In particular, schools were told to watch for activities that may be legitimate on their own _ but may suggest a threat if many of them occur.

Among those activities:

_ Interest in obtaining site plans for schools, bus routes and attendance lists.

_ Prolonged "static surveillance" by people disguised as panhandlers, shoe shiners, or newspaper or flower vendors.

"It's a positive sign that they're finally discussing this after years of downplaying or denying even the possibility of a terrorist strike on schools," said Kenneth Trump, a Cleveland-based school safety consultant. "Public officials are in fear of creating fear, but we have to put the cards on the table, educate people in the school community and make sure they are well prepared."

The federal government is advising schools to take many steps to improve the security of their buildings. Those include installing locks for all doors and windows, having a single entry point into buildings and ensuring they can reach school bus drivers in an emergency.



if these terrorists P.O.S. bomb innocent children, this is going to start WWIII sooner than expected.

[alkemical]

i'm not going to try, or have any intentions of belittling this thread...

but i have an honest question/statement:

why are we ruled by fear?

flu shot shortage, killer bees, tainted candy, the sun, the air, the water, someone's after your family, buy an adt system-lock yourself in-keep "them" out....

seriously... look at our news, tv shows (cops, inside edition, etc)

they just keep feeding us fear

[Mile High Shack]

Originally Posted by amesj523

i'm not going to try, or have any intentions of belittling this thread...

but i have an honest question/statement:

why are we ruled by fear?

flu shot shortage, killer bees, tainted candy, the sun, the air, the water, someone's after your family, buy an adt system-lock yourself in-keep "them" out....

seriously... look at our news, tv shows (cops, inside edition, etc)

they just keep feeding us fear

so you don't see this as cause for fear....some dude in Iraq having the schmeatics and floor plans for schools in america?

[alkemical]

you missed the point.

and pretty much my opening statement

[W*GS]

Originally Posted by amesj523

why are we ruled by fear?

Because when we humans are fearful, we react emotionally and viscerally, instead of rationally and coolly. There are many among us who will attempt to make us fearful, while they promote solutions to lessen our fear, and thus we turn to them for protection.

Both the Left and the Right use fear in their attempt to gain power and control.

Ignore the fearmongers, because they want you scared, worried and anxious, and more liable to be manipulated by their schemes to control you.

[Nick C.]

Originally Posted by W*GS

Because when we humans are fearful, we react emotionally and viscerally, instead of rationally and coolly. There are many among us who will attempt to make us fearful, while they promote solutions to lessen our fear, and thus we turn to them for protection.

Both the Left and the Right use fear in their attempt to gain power and control.

Ignore the fearmongers, because they want you scared, worried and anxious, and more liable to be manipulated by their schemes to control you.

Bravo! you hit the nail on the head.

[alkemical]

thanks wags & nick for going with me on where i was going


mhs, your kds have a greater % of getting killed in a car accident than by a "terrorist".

but see how people jump?

flu vaccine shortage? didya know you can get the nasal spray vacc?

or you can be like me and not get'em.

[mosca]

Originally Posted by amesj523

why are we ruled by fear?

fear is a natural core human emotion. i wouldn't say that we are ruled by it. but it makes perfect sense for the fear of further terrorist attacks to influence someone to choose a more pro-active approach to preventing it.

[watermock]

You still don't understand the fundamental difference between a thunderstorm, an auto accident, a flu vaccine and a terrorist act.

WTF is wrong with you people? Are you all lemmings?

You can't differenciate the difference between an act of God and a Terrorist act and have the stupidity to put them in the same class?

WTF is wrong with you people?

[watermock]

"My cousin got his head sawed off by terrorists today"

"Yeah man, a hurricane tore the roof off my mom's house last week and a beam fell on her, she's gone"

"Yeah, I guess it's all the same stuff isn't it"

"Yep, no difference whatsoever"

[Nick C.]

Originally Posted by watermock

"My cousin got his head sawed off by terrorists today"

"Yeah man, a hurricane tore the roof off my mom's house last week and a beam fell on her, she's gone"

"Yeah, I guess it's all the same stuff isn't it"

"Yep, no difference whatsoever"

you are quite the character,

[watermock]

Originally Posted by mosca

fear is a natural core human emotion. i wouldn't say that we are ruled by it. but it makes perfect sense for the fear of further terrorist attacks to influence someone to choose a more pro-active approach to preventing it.

Generally I have been neutral on Mosca's comments, but I have to take this to task I am afraid. Fear is a prime motivator yes. The actual emotion is anger motivated by fear. Fear is always the prime motivator, especially if motivated by anger. It's not rocket science. I think the basic question is if Bush overreacted. I don't think so. Saddam was playing cat and mouse for a decade. Our losses would be cut in half for not the crazies we literally went into kill. Unfortunately, they all ran off like cockroaches.

You may think I am a fool, many do, but like the Orkin man says, you have to cut them off at the source. To me, that means taking out Iran's nuclear reactor and sending the fear of God into Syria and liberating Lebanon. The terrorists are putting up a hell of a gorilla war with suicide and roadside IED's to try to scare the people off.

Contrary to popular belief, the war has gone well, but not better than hoped. That sounds odd, but we have 9,000 casualties, 1000+ dead, but those were expected casualties on the initial invasion.

The major problem is the backward nature of Islam itself, when worshipers are given conflicting signals from the mullahs, who want to control the country for themselves and ally with Iran. How this escapes people is beyond me.

Maybe I am optimistic. Elections are due in Afgan, and AlQaeda has vowed to disrupt them. We will see how much is left.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

File it under


Notice how there were no terror threats during bush's last (alleged) big lead in the polls?

[watermock]

Jesus Christ could walk up to a little kid and the kid would go ape. This is so pathetic.

Hey, why don't you show me a baby being held by Herman Munster there dimwit.

[TailgateNut]

Keep us afraid, and we'll follow the fuehrer! We may be safe then, but all of or jobs will be in other countries, the aging will not be able to get affordable healthcare or prescription drugs, our soldiers will be busy fighting wars based on lies, and to top it off the Rich will be nice and cozy rubbung elbows with the Bush's!
I don't care about the debates, and I don't think Kerry is the magic answer for all of the damage which has been done in the past four years, but to face another four years of "scare tactics" and outsourcing with no concern for the "average citizen" scares me even more. So, his scare tactics have backfired!

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by TailgateNut

Keep us afraid, and we'll follow the fuehrer! We may be safe then, but all of or jobs will be in other countries, the aging will not be able to get affordable healthcare or prescription drugs, our soldiers will be busy fighting wars based on lies, and to top it off the Rich will be nice and cozy rubbung elbows with the Bush's!
I don't care about the debates, and I don't think Kerry is the magic answer for all of the damage which has been done in the past four years, but to face another four years of "scare tactics" and outsourcing with no concern for the "average citizen" scares me even more. So, his scare tactics have backfired!

TN with another WFF smackdown on Der ChimpenFuhrer.

[watermock]

Originally Posted by TailgateNut

Keep us afraid, and we'll follow the fuehrer!

It's amusing you call Bush on fear tactics, yet you call him Hitler. You wouldn't call that a scare tactic?

We may be safe then, but all of or jobs will be in other countries, the aging will not be able to get affordable healthcare or prescription drugs, our soldiers will be busy fighting wars based on lies, and to top it off the Rich will be nice and cozy rubbung elbows with the Bush's!

We may be safe then? Isn't national security the prime directive of the government? There isn't a word about Socialism in the Constitution. The chicken in every pot came in 1932. We now have a card seniors can use that reduces precription costs by 80 percent. And that isn't the rubbing elbows crowd.

I don't care about the debates, and I don't think Kerry is the magic answer for all of the damage which has been done in the past four years, but to face another four years of "scare tactics" and outsourcing with no concern for the "average citizen" scares me even more. So, his scare tactics have backfired!

I love this "outsourcing" argument. Do you think Michael Jordan suddenly outsourced when Bush came into power? He was busy letting his shops in China or wherever, make his shoes with no qualms whatsoever long before Bush ever came to power. Outsourcing has been going on for two decades you dimwit.

And it certainly happened under Clinton. He had a luxury of an exploding internet and low oil prices. WTF is wrong with you people, are you totally dispatched from reality?

We are clawing ourselves out of a resession, fighting a dual war, trying to overcome hurricane damage, and they are all crying like fools when interest rates remain around 6 percent.

[TailgateNut]

If I played along with all of their scare tactics, I could just sit at home and lock myself into a corner closet.

They may attack a stadium or sports venue, I guess I'll give up my season tix.
They may hit another airliner, I guess Ill drive where-ever I need to go!
They may hit a school, I guess my children will need to be "home -schooled starting on monday.
They may poison our water systems, I guess I need to stop drinking water, or obtain some elaborate testing equipment.
Blah, blah, blah.....
I will not allow terrorists to succeed in their quest to change my life, this includes the current administration.
I bet they have a surprise right before the election! My vote still will not change. I'm tired of living on "the planet of the Apes"!

[baja]

Originally Posted by watermock

Generally I have been neutral on Mosca's comments, but I have to take this to task I am afraid. Fear is a prime motivator yes. The actual emotion is anger motivated by fear. Fear is always the prime motivator, especially if motivated by anger. It's not rocket science. I think the basic question is if Bush overreacted. I don't think so. Saddam was playing cat and mouse for a decade. Our losses would be cut in half for not the crazies we literally went into kill. Unfortunately, they all ran off like cockroaches.

You may think I am a fool, many do, but like the Orkin man says, you have to cut them off at the source. To me, that means taking out Iran's nuclear reactor and sending the fear of God into Syria and liberating Lebanon. The terrorists are putting up a hell of a gorilla war with suicide and roadside IED's to try to scare the people off.

Contrary to popular belief, the war has gone well, but not better than hoped. That sounds odd, but we have 9,000 casualties, 1000+ dead, but those were expected casualties on the initial invasion.

The major problem is the backward nature of Islam itself, when worshipers are given conflicting signals from the mullahs, who want to control the country for themselves and ally with Iran. How this escapes people is beyond me.

Maybe I am optimistic. Elections are due in Afgan, and AlQaeda has vowed to disrupt them. We will see how much is left.

Yes I see the grateful liberated Iraqis placing boxes of flowers on the side of the road just like Bush said, oh wait a minute those are road side bombs, never mind.

[watermock]

Are you aware that Elections occured in Afganistan yesterday?

There were accusations of "irregularities" in the process.

That's pretty amusing since it's the first election ever held there. There isn't even a precedent for irregularities.

The gratefull Iraqi's are not placing IED's on the road. Terrorists are.

[Nick C.]

Originally Posted by watermock

Are you aware that Elections occured in Afganistan yesterday?

There were accusations of "irregularities" in the process.

That's pretty amusing since it's the first election ever held there. There isn't even a precedent for irregularities.

The gratefull Iraqi's are not placing IED's on the road. Terrorists are.

OMG please tell me you just type dumb **** to get reactions out of people!

the irregularities don't have to be based on Afgan precedent or any Precedent for that matter.

[watermock]

the irregularities don't have to be based on Afgan precedent or any Precedent for that matter.

You don't get it, there is no precident. Therefore there can be no irregularity. What is escaping your grasp? Do you think the Taliban was going to reckognize the elections? WTF is wrong with you?

What do you want? The Taliban supporting Bin Laden or free elections?. Your an idiot.

Listen dimwit, there has to be something regular to have an irregularity. It's prima facie.

The fact of the matter is the terrorists didn't come to vote. Big surprise. Are you going to call mice to the table to partake this Thanksgiving?

WTF are you smoking? We are talking about the first free elections in the history of the country, and you minimize and ridicule it. **** off.

[Nick C.]

Originally Posted by watermock

What do you want? The Taliban supporting Bin Laden or free elections?. Your an idiot.

Listen dimwit, there has to be something regular to have an irregularity. It's prima facie.

The fact of the matter is the terrorists didn't come to vote. Big surprise. Are you going to call mice to the table to partake this Thanksgiving?

WTF are you smoking? We are talking about the first free elections in the history of the country, and you minimize and ridicule it. **** off.

"Free Elections"

So say I try a new brand of Chips and they taste stale and "irregular" I should not trust my senses and just say "oh these chips must be ment to taste like this"?

[watermock]

Originally Posted by Nick C.

"Free Elections"

So say I try a new brand of Chips and they taste stale and "irregular" I should not trust my senses and just say "oh these chips must be ment to taste like this"?

Wouldn't that assume that you had a bag of chips to compare them with? Your bringing this down to a bag of potato chips? Hell, the Taliban probably banned them as well.

While your sitting on your as eating said potato chips, maybe they can have one now. Maybe women can work, maybe women can take off the Burpa. Maybe, just maybe, they can produce something more than opium.

[Nick C.]

Originally Posted by watermock

Wouldn't that assume that you had a bag of chips to compare them with? Your bringing this down to a bag of potato chips? Hell, the Taliban probably banned them as well.

yes I had a bag of chips before but not from the same country! get it now?
if something goes wrong you don't assume it is right just cause it is in a new location.

and yes I brought this down to a bag of chips trying to get on terms that you would understand prehaps I should have chosen Beer insted of Chips