Official: No laser, terrorism link

Since it's "official" that terrorists are not at work, does that leave
Amateur Astronomers for the feds to start looking at?
Considering that airport security considers octogenarian grandmothers to be
very high risk, given the scrutiny they undergo trying to board a commercial
aircraft, which is of course understandable in light of the fact of the
numerous highjackings elderly women have partaken in around the world.
Clearly, green lasers are the next grave threat to the security of the NWO.
sigh, I think the feds have completely lost any modicum of logic they may
have ever had...
Orion



Official: No laser, terrorism link
----------
CNN

"The FBI investigation into recent incidents involving laser beams
aimed at aircraft has found no link to terrorism, the Department of
Homeland Security's transportation security chief said Monday.
'There's not any evidence that these lasers are being used by
terrorists,' said Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary of border and
transportation security. 'The FBI certainly continues to investigate
and look at these fact scenarios. It's also a safety issue that the
Department of Transportation would certainly want to look at.'"
(01/03/05)

http://tinyurl.com/3wkvr

Orion quoted CNN thusly:
Official: No laser, terrorism link...

*****

I don't imagine that the geniuses at CNN know that this headline means
"There is no laser involved, but there is a terrorism link." Surely
they would have written "No laser-terrorism link" if they knew the
simpest rules of writing English. Say, would that be the same CNN that
has contributed so much to the dumbing of America with gems like
"efforting" and "calm but tense?" Yep, that's the one. And the same CNN
that still doesn't have a single talking empty-head who knows how to
pronounce "Al-Qa'eda*"? Yep.

Davoud

*The first syllable is pronounced something like "caw," the sound that
is attributed to a crow, but the consonant sound comes from the throat
rather than the back of the tongue. The "eda" sounds just like the
"ada" in "Canada" would sound if "Can-ada" were two words. "Caw-ada" is
much closer than "kaida." Apologies to my Canadian friends.

Oh, you wanted astronomy. OK, it's pronounced "yed ul-jawz," and rhymes
with "bed you'll-hows," and not "beetle juice." The "B" came to us from
a mediaeval transcriber who mistook the Arabic equivalent of "Y" for a
"B" because he saw only one dot under the letter, rather than two. It
means "Hand of the Giant."

--
usenet *at* davidillig dawt com

Davoud wrote:
Orion quoted CNN thusly:

Official: No laser, terrorism link...


*****

I don't imagine that the geniuses at CNN know that this headline means
"There is no laser involved, but there is a terrorism link." Surely
they would have written "No laser-terrorism link" if they knew the
simpest rules of writing English. Say, would that be the same CNN that
has contributed so much to the dumbing of America with gems like
"efforting" and "calm but tense?" Yep, that's the one. And the same CNN
that still doesn't have a single talking empty-head who knows how to
pronounce "Al-Qa'eda*"? Yep.

Davoud

I don't mind spitting in al kay duh's face by miss-pronouncing the name.
Why should I waste effort on properly wrapping my tongue around this
particular obscenity?
As for CNN, at least they're not as "Fair and unbiased" as Fox, for now
anyway.
As for astronomy, the only beetle juice I'll see tonight is if I go
squish one in my basement.
:-)

Shawn

Davoud:
And the same CNN
that still doesn't have a single talking empty-head who knows how to
pronounce "Al-Qa'eda*"...

Shawn:
I don't mind spitting in al kay duh's face by miss-pronouncing [sic] the name...

My point is not that we should honor Al-Qa'eda by making certain to
pronounce its name properly. Rather, it is to point out that it is
emblematic of our lack of understanding of Al-Qa'eda that we don't even
know how to say its name. It is axiomatic that one should know one's
enemy; the average American knows practically nothing about this
organization, and that makes fighting it all the more difficult. More
than half of Americans still believe that Al-Qa'eda and Saddam Hussein
were in collusion, for example. As for spitting in Al-Qa'eda's face,
I'm not certain that mispronouncing "Al-Qa'eda" will prevent the next
attack.

Davoud

--
usenet *at* davidillig dawt com

Davoud wrote:
My point is not that we should honor Al-Qa'eda by making certain to
pronounce its name properly. Rather, it is to point out that it is
emblematic of our lack of understanding of Al-Qa'eda that we don't even
know how to say its name.

It may be emblematic, but the pronunciation of the name is, in my opinion,
a mere drop in the bucket. If the name of the organization were Jay
Random Terrorists we wouldn't understand them any better simply for being
able to pronounce their name. No, the only way to understand them better
is to understand the people better.

In the course of compiling my list of star names, I learned that eta UMa
has a name, Alkaid, which is akin to Al-Qaeda. Interesting, but that
etymology told me nothing at all about the principles and behaviors of
the people who make up Al-Qaeda.

It's possible that they might be upset about the American pronunciation,
but that alone would never suffice to anger them. It's American foreign
policy first, and American pronunciation a distant 37th, that angers them.

As for spitting in Al-Qa'eda's face,
I'm not certain that mispronouncing "Al-Qa'eda" will prevent the next
attack.

Nor will pronouncing it correctly.

Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt

Always remember that the Official response is to first deny knowledge while
thinking up a good response, which may or may not be a lie.

Clear, Dark, Steady Skies!
(And considerate neighbors!!!)

In a similar vein, I think anyone who mispronounces "nuclear" as
"nuculur" shouldn't be allowed to have his finger on the button
that launches nuclear missiles.

-Paul W.

On Tue, 04 Jan 2005 21:56:32 -0500, Davoud wrote:

My point is not that we should honor Al-Qa'eda by making certain to
pronounce its name properly. Rather, it is to point out that it is
emblematic of our lack of understanding of Al-Qa'eda that we don't even
know how to say its name. It is axiomatic that one should know one's
enemy; the average American knows practically nothing about this
organization, and that makes fighting it all the more difficult. More
than half of Americans still believe that Al-Qa'eda and Saddam Hussein
were in collusion, for example. As for spitting in Al-Qa'eda's face,
I'm not certain that mispronouncing "Al-Qa'eda" will prevent the next
attack.

Davoud

you are correct. Nobody has their finger on the button that launches nuclear
missiles. That's an antiquated spelling you're using . The correct spelling
is nucular for now.

matt

"Paul Winalski" wrote in message
...
In a similar vein, I think anyone who mispronounces "nuclear" as
"nuculur" shouldn't be allowed to have his finger on the button
that launches nuclear missiles.

-Paul W.

matt wrote:

you are correct. Nobody has their finger on the button that launches nuclear
missiles. That's an antiquated spelling you're using . The correct spelling
is nucular for now.

matt

"Paul Winalski" wrote in message
...

In a similar vein, I think anyone who mispronounces "nuclear" as
"nuculur" shouldn't be allowed to have his finger on the button
that launches nuclear missiles.

-Paul W.





The great misunderstanding about the "BUTTON" is that the President,
whomever it may be, can just order it pushed. The appropriate military
authority must make a specific request, backed up by specific
indications that a retaliatory, or preemptive, strike should be made,
only then may the NCA, read President, make the hard decision.
Absolutely any person in the chain of command may halt the whole
operation, at least temporally, by simply not acting.

Dave N.

Yes. An astro Concentration Camp is being set up as I write
.. Good luck.



Orion wrote:

Since it's "official" that terrorists are not at work, does that leave
Amateur Astronomers for the feds to start looking at?
Considering that airport security considers octogenarian grandmothers to be
very high risk, given the scrutiny they undergo trying to board a commercial
aircraft, which is of course understandable in light of the fact of the
numerous highjackings elderly women have partaken in around the world.
Clearly, green lasers are the next grave threat to the security of the NWO.
sigh, I think the feds have completely lost any modicum of logic they may
have ever had...
Orion

Official: No laser, terrorism link
----------
CNN

"The FBI investigation into recent incidents involving laser beams
aimed at aircraft has found no link to terrorism, the Department of
Homeland Security's transportation security chief said Monday.
'There's not any evidence that these lasers are being used by
terrorists,' said Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary of border and
transportation security. 'The FBI certainly continues to investigate
and look at these fact scenarios. It's also a safety issue that the
Department of Transportation would certainly want to look at.'"
(01/03/05)

http://tinyurl.com/3wkvr