Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => Politics => Topic started by: lupinus on May 04, 2010, 05:37:19 AM
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http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/05/04/pakistani-american-arrested-times-square-plot/ (http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/05/04/pakistani-american-arrested-times-square-plot/)
NEW YORK -- A U.S. citizen from Pakistan accused of driving a bomb-laden SUV into Times Square and parking it on a street lined with restaurants and Broadway theaters was to appear in court Tuesday to face charges for his failed attempt to set off a massive fireball and kill Americans, federal authorities said.
The suspect, Faisal Shahzad, was taken into custody late Monday by FBI agents and New York Police Department detectives while trying to leave the country, according to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and other officials. He was identified by customs agents at John F. Kennedy International Airport and was stopped before boarding a flight to Dubai, Holder said early Tuesday in Washington, D.C.
More at the link. According to the morning news he's a naturalized citizen for about a year, and was picked up after boarding a plane headed for Dubai.
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Man, this guy left a clue trail a mile wide. Rocket science? Not so much. Good police work, IMO.
TC
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Something doesn't seem right. Not sure what, though.
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Something doesn't seem right. Not sure what, though.
That we still allow folks from Splodeystan to immigrate to the USA?
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He's just pissed off about Obamacare.
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Something doesn't seem right. Not sure what, though.
The thing that I don't like about this case (and a few others) is they way that some officials want to proclaim that "he was acting alone" so quickly. There are all kinds of investigations that police will not comment on, but for some reason, they feel that they can state definitively less than 48 hours after the incident that he acted alone. I think that is pretty odd.
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The PTB risk nothing by saying "lone operator". It may be a smokescreen to hide their ongoing search for accomplices. I sincerely hope they're still following the evidence to see if it's so.
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Why would white male domestic terrorist Faisal Shahzad (real name Billy Bob Smith*) be trying to leave the country?
*Bloomberg investigation files data
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Faisal Shahzad
He can't be acting alone. He doesn't have a middle name. ;/
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That we still allow folks from Splodeystan to immigrate to the USA?
Pakistan isn't Splodeystan, though. It's a US ally, they're targeted by Al-Quaeda in the Global Holy War [tm], etc.
they feel that they can state definitively less than 48 hours after the incident that he acted alone.
Don't you think that sensible accomplices would have pointed out: "Hey, Faisal, this is the wrong brand of fertilizer" or "Don't you think we should build a test device before we try and, you know, blow up Times Square"?
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Pakistan isn't Splodeystan, though. It's a US ally, they're targeted by Al-Quaeda in the Global Holy War [tm], etc.
It's a "US ally" by military coup. The population doesn't support the US.
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It's a "US ally" by military coup. The population doesn't support the US.
The current President of Pakistan has been properly elected (and is famous for divesting his office of several powers).
OTOH, Al-Quaeda and its allies murdered three thousand Pakistani in the last year alone. Doesn't look like they consider them friends.
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Don't you think that sensible accomplices would have pointed out: "Hey, Faisal, this is the wrong brand of fertilizer" or "Don't you think we should build a test device before we try and, you know, blow up Times Square"?
I don't necessarily assume that he would have sensible accomplices. =)
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The PTB risk nothing by saying "lone operator". It may be a smokescreen to hide their ongoing search for accomplices. I sincerely hope they're still following the evidence to see if it's so.
I have thought about that, but a simple "we can't comment right now" would seem to suffice.
I'm sure that like so many of these cases, there will be more questions than answers by the time the media has moved on to a different story.
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That we still allow folks from Splodeystan to immigrate to the USA?
Maybe if we had a State Dept. that wasn't filled with mandarin Marxists from "good schools" we might have some common sense policies regarding the obvious. Too many of our top-echelon tops live in complete delusion about the realities of this planet today.
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Maybe if we had a State Dept. that wasn't filled with mandarin Marxists from "good schools" we might have some common sense policies regarding the obvious. Too many of our top-echelon tops live in complete delusion about the realities of this planet today.
R's and D's are completely guilty of this McCain has always wanted to illegals, never mind legal ones like our current suspect. I can't go to Pakistan and drive a cab, every country in Europe that our so called biggov elite and rad/lib elite so much think we should be like, require so much red tape and proof that the job you take can not be filled by a local that it is nearly impossible to find a legit job there if you're a yank. Was there a shortage of cab drivers that needed to filled by Pakistani's?
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Am I the only one here that is estatic? Estatic that the "suspicious white male" was just apparently stuffy in his sweatshirt? You know all the news shows already had their domestic terror experts retained and their !OMG TEA PARTY TERRORIST WAR! graphics all ginned up. I was thinking, "hmm, doesn't much look like the Reichstag, but it will do for them."
Actually, it will do for them anyway. In the vein of never wasting a crisis it appears the watchword will be "See something, say something." Yea for an excuse to spy on everyone.
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A test case, mayhaps. Perhaps underwear boy in Detriot was a probe also. But then again, they are not looking for a knock out or even staggering blow. They are looking for symbolic wins. "See, we poked the Great Satan in the eye !!"
It's also just enough to make us turn up the heat on our own citizens.
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http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-may-3-2010/explosive-and-the-city
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http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/308720/may-03-2010/times-square-terrorism
Colbert nails it
"That was a wonderful bomb and we were all sufficiently terrorized"
"There is no need to try that again"
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Pakistan isn't Splodeystan, though. It's a US ally, they're targeted by Al-Quaeda in the Global Holy War [tm], etc.
OTOH, Al-Quaeda and its allies murdered three thousand Pakistani in the last year alone. Doesn't look like they consider them friends.
Sad to say, there is a huge swath of Pakistan that falls under the heading of splodeystan. Or, as we put it Talibanistan. The Paki government has little to no control in the north and northwestern areas of it's country along the border with Afghanistan. It serves as a haven for Taliban and other sorts who keep the local populace under their boot heel through various violent means. The local populace themselves have a nagging habit of just rolling over for the Taliban, and paying their extorted "taxes" or allowing them the free run of their land while submitting to their perverse form of Sharia.
The Taliban would regularly make incursions from Splodeystan/Talibanistan in order to make attacks against Americans and cooperative Local Nationals in Afghanistan, and then would flee back across border where they could sit with relative impunity because "Pakistan is our ally, and they asked us not to invade their airspace." Ally status or not, Pakistan is an uncontrolled region with a government impotent to adequately secure itself. Add to this evidence that the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence agency of Pakistan) was actively supporting the Taliban and working against Americans and I can not see any reason which would justify allowing anyone into the U.S. on Pakistani papers at this time.
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The Taliban would regularly make incursions from Splodeystan/Talibanistan in order to make attacks against Americans and cooperative Local Nationals in Afghanistan, and then would flee back across border where they could sit with relative impunity because "Pakistan is our ally, and they asked us not to invade their airspace." Ally status or not, Pakistan is an uncontrolled region with a government impotent to adequately secure itself. Add to this evidence that the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence agency of Pakistan) was actively supporting the Taliban and working against Americans and I can not see any reason which would justify allowing anyone into the U.S. on Pakistani papers at this time.
....really?
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....really?
Really. If Paki's want in they should have to pass a rigorous background check conducted by us. We should not be taking the Paki government's word on who they are and where they are from.
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Even that one surgeon/M.D.?
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Even that one surgeon/M.D.?
And how would you know it actually was that Surgeon/M.D.? Because the Pakistani government told you it was?
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Ah. There's the root of the issue, then. Corrupt gov't. Shame, really, that after all that work, money, and life went into the "WAR ON TERROR!" we still have to deal with a PITA gov't.
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(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg62.imageshack.us%2Fimg62%2F9320%2Fpakilove.jpg&hash=b3c383a1075d35f55ac73430660f751c20cd8933)
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And how would you know it actually was that Surgeon/M.D.? Because the Pakistani government told you it was?
Hey, we accepted the PRC's word for the ages of their gymnastics team, and that went well, didn't it? No one exploded during the floor exercises & such.
I think we should always accept the pronouncements of corrupt and/or despotic regimes at face value. To do otherwise is just wrong. And racist.
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Even that one surgeon/M.D.?
you can always trust doctors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Mengele
At Auschwitz, Mengele did a number of twin studies. After the experiment was over, these twins were usually murdered and their bodies dissected. He supervised an operation by which two Romanie children were sewn together to create conjoined twins; the hands of the children became badly infected where the veins had been resected, this also caused gangrene.[9]
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Hey! Not to worry. The boot that Obama has on the neck of BP will soon be on the necks of all Overseas Unrully Males Of A Certain Radical Religious Persuasion And Of A Certain Color That We Wish Wouldn't Always Get The Blame And We Hoped They'd Change Into Fat White Male Protestant Tea Baggers. [popcorn]
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Pakistambodia =(
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Anyone seen a recent photo of this guy? All the news sites seem to be using his facebook page...
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If this guy had any training in Pakistan I'm guessing it was metered out by Wile al-Quyote.
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If this guy had any training in Pakistan I'm guessing it was metered out by Wile al-Quyote.
Now that's a weird part of this whole thing. The splodey-folk in Pakistan know how to do a lot better than some fireworks, a few propane tanks and some bags of the wrong fertilizer.
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Anyone seen a recent photo of this guy? All the news sites seem to be using his facebook page...
google image search comes up with this (http://www.iub.edu.pk/Teachers.asp?Id=38) [tinfoil],,,but i think he's to old. [popcorn]
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google image search comes up with this (http://www.iub.edu.pk/Teachers.asp?Id=38) [tinfoil],,,but i think he's to old. [popcorn]
Real happy looking bunch, eh?
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Anyone seen a recent photo of this guy? All the news sites seem to be using his facebook page...
I thought he looks like Nick.....Say has anyone heard from Nick recently ?? :police: :police: :police: :police: :police: =D =D =D
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Don't you think that sensible accomplices would have pointed out: "Hey, Faisal, this is the wrong brand of fertilizer" or "Don't you think we should build a test device before we try and, you know, blow up Times Square"?
Maybe he was the Private Pyle of his terrorist training camp. He wants to be a secret agent for Al-Q, but they don't really want to use him, so he tries to prove himself.
Or perhaps we are doing such a fine job breaking up Al-Q, that they have a hard time coordinating anything anymore? Maybe all their splodey-experts are gettin' Predator'd?
Maybe he hooked up with some bunch of young Al-Q hotheads, who think Al-Q is being too slow and methodical? "I wants me my virgins now!"
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Now that's a weird part of this whole thing. The splodey-folk in Pakistan know how to do a lot better than some fireworks, a few propane tanks and some bags of the wrong fertilizer.
I thought so as well when I read the detailed list of contents. "That won't explode". Hell, would it have exploded even if it had been the right kind of fertilizer? I thought you had to add some other stuff to it to make it splodey?
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Maybe he was the Private Pyle of his terrorist training camp. He wants to be a secret agent for Al-Q, but they don't really want to use him, so he tries to prove himself.
This sort of sillyness is more typical for terrorists than anything.
Hamas IIRC lost several terrorist 'engineers' in the suicide-bombing era due to sillyness such as people smoking while mixing up tubfuls of explosive.
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This sort of sillyness is more typical for terrorists than anything.
Hamas IIRC lost several terrorist 'engineers' in the suicide-bombing era due to sillyness such as people smoking while mixing up tubfuls of explosive.
You hear that, anti-smoking nazis?! Smoking can be good! :laugh:
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Even that one surgeon/M.D.?
Or my coworker who's as much of a southern good ol' boy as any cracker born in the US. He was bitching about this guy yesterday afternoon.
Then there are my Afhgan, Iranian, and Nigerian coworkers. Needless to say, the terrorism jokes run rampant around the SOC. :D
Chris
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http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100505/D9FGCQTG0.html
After authorities pulled Shahzad off the plane, he admitted he was behind the crude Times Square car bomb, officials said. He also claimed to have been trained at a terror camp in Pakistan's lawless tribal region of Waziristan, according to court documents. That raised increased concern that the bombing was an international terror plot.
Don't worry, they are not even sure it is even terrorism. They are just concerned.
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Hamas IIRC lost several terrorist 'engineers' in the suicide-bombing era due to sillyness such as people smoking while mixing up tubfuls of explosive.
It's all silliness until some terrorist gets blowed up. Then it's God having a laugh at your expense.
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Mildly interesting, audio of ATC telling the plane carrying the would-be terrorist to return to the gate shortly before takeoff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGKP_mnOONI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGKP_mnOONI)
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Mildly interesting, audio of ATC telling the plane carrying the would-be terrorist to return to the gate shortly before takeoff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGKP_mnOONI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGKP_mnOONI)
[Janet Napalitono Voice] See, the system worked !!![/JNV]
:facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm:
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Am I the only one who thinks it's a dumb political move for Napalitano and the others to brag about how successful they were in thwarting the attacker and catching the perp?
This guy was as fail as they come, and he very nearly got away. Shouldn't that reflect poorly on Napalitano?
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Maybe he was the Private Pyle of his terrorist training camp.
I was thinking more along the lines of Spies Like Us, but without the accidental success. Makes me wonder where the real ones are.
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Horse shoes. Hand-grenades.
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Dude was a mediocrity from the word "go."
Yet, he got his hands on an H1-B visa.
http://isteve.blogspot.com/2010/05/paging-tom-friedman.html
Paging Tom Friedman
Thank God the U.S. has student visas and H1B visas for the cream of the world's students, such as that Times Square would-be bomber:
From the New York Times:
According to immigration officials, Mr. Shahzad arrived in the United States on Jan. 16, 1999, less than a month after he had been granted a student visa, which requires a criminal background check.
He had previously attended a program in Karachi affiliated with the now-defunct Southeastern University in Washington; a transcript from the spring of 1998, found in the garbage outside the Shelton house, showed that he got D’s in English composition and microeconomics, B’s in Introduction to Accounting and Introduction to Humanities, and a C in statistics.
GPA in Karachi = 2.0 = U.S. student visa!
He enrolled at the University of Bridgeport, where he received a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering in 2000, followed by a master’s in business administration in 2005.
From CollegeData.com on the U. of Bridgeport:
SAT Scores of Enrolled Freshmen SAT Math 448 average
390-490 range of middle 50%
Score of 700 - 800
1%
Score of 600 - 700
4%
Score of 500 - 600
21%
Score of 400 - 500
48%
Score of 300 - 400
25%
Score of 200 - 300
1%
SAT Critical Reading 447 average
400-490 range of middle 50%
Score of 700 - 800
0%
Score of 600 - 700
3%
Score of 500 - 600
19%
Score of 400 - 500
56%
Score of 300 - 400
21%
Score of 200 - 300
1%
SAT Writing 442 average
390-480 range of middle 50%
Score of 700 - 800
0%
Score of 600 - 700
3%
Score of 500 - 600
19%
Score of 400 - 500
52%
Score of 300 - 400
25%
Score of 200 - 300
1%
ACT Scores of Enrolled Freshmen ACT Composite 19 average
16-22 range of middle 50%
Score of 30 - 36
3%
Score of 24 - 29
16%
Score of 18 - 23
40%
Score of 12 - 17
38%
Score of 6 - 11
3%
Score of 5 or Below
0
In January 2002 Mr. Shahzad obtained an H1B visa, a coveted status meant for highly skilled workers and good for three years, with a possible extension. Records show that Elizabeth Arden, the cosmetics giant, applied for a visa for Mr. Shahzad; he worked there as a temporary clerk in the accounting department in 2001, through an employment agency called Accountants Inc., according to a timecard found in his trash.
Granted, he tried to set off a car bomb in Times Square, but in return for the H1B visa, Elizabeth Arden got a "highly skilled" "temporary clerk in the accounting department." Sounds like a good deal to me! The economy would collapse if there weren't an endless supply of temporary clerks to keep wages down. As Tom Friedman has tirelessly pointed out, how can we possibly keep ahead of the Chinese unless we let all the rich families in the Islamic world unload their dumbest sons on us?
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...wait. You can get an H1B visa as a CLERK?
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only if your "brown". :angel:
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Am I the only one who thinks it's a dumb political move for Napalitano and the others to brag about how successful they were in thwarting the attacker and catching the perp?
This guy was as fail as they come, and he very nearly got away. Shouldn't that reflect poorly on Napalitano?
Besides a pathetic display of bureaucratic self-congratulation, the news conference appeared to be a dissemination of information that would be helpful to our enemies. Why we were told about "secret VIN numbers" that aid in forensics? That is something the public has a need to know? All of it stinks.
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Besides a pathetic display of bureaucratic self-congratulation, the news conference appeared to be a dissemination of information that would be helpful to our enemies. Why we were told about "secret VIN numbers" that aid in forensics? That is something the public has a need to know? All of it stinks.
When they said that the VIN (not a VIN number, as it is a Vehicle Identification Number) was removed, I immediately wondered if they had removed the secondary VIN as well.
I'm not even a car guy and I know about the secondary VIN. Unfortunately, we seem to want to aid our enemies ignorance as much as we can.
Telling us that they picked him up through his cell phone was a REALLY bad idea, though. Next time they will know to have a new phone to use that hasn't been used before. :facepalm:
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...wait. You can get an H1B visa as a CLERK?
MB:
We have a baker's dozen "temporary work visa" categories for everything from nukular physicists to ditch diggers.
Institutions like the one mentioned in the article make their money off of providing school visas to mediocrities with well-off parents all over the globe...and help getting a work visa afterwards. Getting an immigration marriage of convenience after that is up to you.
See, if you were interested in getting a shiitty education and just going through the motions, instead of being all focused on quality education leading to teaching credentials, you could have been here YEARS ago.
I'm not making this up.
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just got back from changing the batteries in my radiation detector >:D
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I thought H1B visas existed for qualified people like programmers, or at least tech support people?
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I thought H1B visas existed for qualified people like programmers, or at least tech support people?
You are correct. The intent of the H1B was to help people in "specialty occupations" make it into the states. However, many companies stretch that definition and get away with it.
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I thought H1B visas existed for qualified people like programmers, or at least tech support people?
Just tell them ( in your best middle eastern accent ) you want to drive a cab, even though you don't know your way around and you would never be able to pass a drivers test. They'll let you in right away. :mad:
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I don't get it ???
Wouldn't a bomb in NYC kill a lot of cab drivers? =|
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martyrs. =|
and arn't vin numbers stamped all over cars now? i could have sworn i had seen at least 4 times in my car. [tinfoil] (plate on the dash, frame under the finder, under the back seat, and next to the spare tire. if i'm remembering right. [popcorn])