12/20: Boy suicide bomber
 

http://cellar.org/pictures/boysuicidebomber.jpg

It's gotta be hard to convince people to be suicide bombers. So you start out when they're young. In this case, these Palestinian guys are celebrating the 14th anniversary of the militant group Hamas. The bombs are fake; the socialization is real.

I guess they didn't get the Arafat memo to quit doing crap like this.

Words don't exist...

The sadder thing is that the little boy pictured there will almost definitely grow up to be a bitter, angry young man.

Oh they GOT the note
 

They got the note, the basic problem is that Arafat's control has really slipped over the last 10 years or so. My FIL can go into the reasons, but the basic problem is that Arafat is ruling on 2 things 1)Momentum
2)Some fear - (he doesn't take descent well - to the point of hit squads)

Good little martyr. God, the look on that kids face... How twisted. He just wants a piece of cake and a game of tag. The sheet-hood thing is always a bad sign.

I look at a pic like that, and think "If they're getting to them THIS young, and with THAT kind of message, what hope is EVER for peace in the middle east?"... This kid will grow up to be another suicide bomber, will kill 10 ppl in a senseless act, piss someone off on the other side, and repeat the cycle, over and over and over again....

It almost seems to be his destiny, the fact that its been ingrained so very young into his mind.



But maybe not. In the 1930's, germany had a "Young Nazi Indoctriniation" program, where large numbers of kids were taken by the nazi's and thrown all kinda of weird propaganda bullshit. Special schools. Special movies. Special "lets throw rocks at jews and laugh" fun kid events..... ;p
But 10 years after the war, and a lot of child-psych de-programming time, Germany's young adults were not (all) murderous Jew-hating feurer-lovin' reichstag automatons.


Anyways.. The point is that I see a pic like this and think "jesus... how will the problems over there EVER be solved?". But ..... I think there is hope. ....

I think they're getting a little too good at this
 

So suicide bombings are becoming so common that they are actually mass producing the nylon explosive holders?

I can just see someone at the local Hamas office "yes I'd like to try on the twenty-pound explosive vest please, do you have that in XL?"

Another thing is look how well the things are made:

1) Symmetric design, doesn't matter which way you're facing.

2) low profile, can be worn under clothing

3) simple, just blocks of explosive with a blasting cap to initiate each, no doubt a battery in one of the pockets, and somewhere the dreaded momentary switch.

IT is pretty scary, wonder if you cna buy deluxe version with extra padding for your comfort for an extra ilo of rocks and rand or whatever they're reduced to using as currancy.

I"m sure thsoe blocks woudl have an outer layer of ballbearings too, reminds of swordfish...

What is it iwth wearing all while and extremists? Gives us ultra minimalists a bad name...

Actually, a lot of suicide bombers just throw a bomb in a backpack.

Also, they generally wrap it in nails or something - more stuff to fly into the victims, ya know. How thoughtful of them.

Too sick.:(


Don't give the Germans too much credit. There were not that many Jews left to hate. My buddy is a manager in a blood products company. They have a lot of overseas customers. The Germans were the only ones that wanted to know, " What percentage of your donors are black?"

I remember once
 

when I was young (13 or so), I was coming out of a bathroom in a mall in Atlanta and a skinhead walked over to me and asked if I wanted to join the WAR -- White Aryan Race. I said "No, thanks," and kept on my way. I guess the blue eyes, blonde hair had something to do with it, because I always wondered what made him try and recruit me. ...ahhh, memories...

Hopefully he told them

"All of them. Every last single donor. Our blood is certified and guaranteed 100% black, the finest there is."

(of course, it's times like those you wish you were on a videophone :-) )

That would've been too perfect! I afraid my buddy was pissed to the point of inarticulation.

Re: I think they're getting a little too good at this
 

While over there in the office of the Israeli Airforce, "This is the Hamas office. Do not attack it. Over there is the Police Station. That is where all the terrorism comes from. Attack that. And don't forget that Police Monitor stand over there. He is also a terrorist. Hit him too."

Why do they hit Arafat's people (Fatah) and not Hamas? Hitting Hamas would only make Sharon less powerful. It's all about promoting Sharon. Sharon loves pictures like the one above. It only makes us all more extremists and therefore makes Sharon more powerful. Hitler also came to power this way. Night of a Thousand Knives - or a thousand nails ... what's the difference as long as moderates are driven into the arms of extremist thinkers.

http://www.inlandempireonline.com/ph.../meast-314.jpg

This is too important an image to let slip off the page.

The orignial post by Undertoad was not a one of a kind situation.

There are enough of these youngsters to open a chain of GAZA Kids stores.

well, i happen to live with germans, YES, real germans (they're in fact, german immigrants)...and they happen to be, seriously, the nicest people i have ever met. they are not racist, or nazis, and i have never heard them say a bad thing about any other people, save the assholes and idiots everyone complains about.

so i do give them a lot of credit, and instead of judging them based on the fact that germany used to be nazi-occupied, i judge them on their personalities.

god dammit.
 

your buddy should have known that african americans are more likely stricken with certain diseases, just like us white folk are with certain diseases, and that the question brought up may have been a valid question.

of course those places test the blood time and time again to make sure it is safe, but i am damned near positive that things slip through the tests undetected.

it's extremely ignorant of you to assume that just because they asked if the donors were black, they were being racist.

and to make another point:

a racist is a racist.

a nazi is not necessarily a racist.

didn't anyone take a history class and learn about the nazis? i sure as fuck did. which is why i know that not even all of the nazis in nazi-occupied germany were "racists".

saying not to give "the germans" too much credit here is like saying that all americans are money-grubbing patriotic assholes.

it's like saying that all australians have kangaroos in their backyards and drink foster's beer.

it's like saying that all scots wear kilts and play bagpipes at the crack of dawn.

it's like saying that all brits drink tea and have poor dental hygiene.

it's like saying that all canadians walk around in parkas and snow boots and say "eh" after every sentence or phrase that comes out of their mouths.

you're fucking stereotyping.

and it's wrong, and it's lame, and it's ignorant of you.

i am appalled at this generalization. "the germans". don't give THE germans credit. and why not? i bet most of them are wonderful people. and most of them probably are not nazis. and i'm willing to bet that most of them aren't racist.

so how about not giving the GERMAN credit, if infact THAT GERMAN said and meant what you thought.

Jeni,
I was just trying to make your point from the other angle, the present overly-simplistic view of German society is that they are industrious tidy hyper-rational and passionless.We should always judge people for themselves not by some kind of group think.

As you noted blood products are thoroughly screened, this isn't the Red Cross after all, its a real business where one bad pint gets you shut down, every pint is tested no matter the source. The foreign custumer was out of line, he knew the process. My friends impression was it had NOTHING to do with saftey, just an individuals rascist phobia, it was African blood not diseased blood that was the problem. His facility was on the edge of a mixed race working/middle class neighborhood, real people with real jobs, not some Hollywood caricature of Black America. Most of his custumers were regular lunch hour donars ie working people. The few qualified donars with blood disease got a premium for their blood due to its research value.

Re: god dammit.
 

that is mildly inaccurate... aside from all that, we also cross the border to drink american gas... eh?

Funny,I cross the border to drink Canadian beer. ;)

its amusing that canadians are so uppity, often referring to american beer as "piss water"... amusing only because our biggest brands are just as bad [molson canadian, export, and labbatt whatever-they-make]... naw, only good beer we have are from the small breweries like creemore and maybe moosehead [though that tastes more and more like water every time i have it - despite the great name]. "maudite" is a french-canadian brew i just recently discovered - thick as syrup, and 8%! now that's a beer.

My sister-in-law is from Thunder Bay so I've heard the american beer is piss speech. We won't be able to break that stereotype until everyone takes the pledge. No Coors, never, under any circumstance. Some US beer is getting better and some of the majors have bought up micros in an effort to stay profitable, but as long as NASCAR exists we won't have a leg to stand on.

egads... i don't know what possessed me but here i am looking at ratebeer.com after i did a little search for maudite... guess i wasn't wrong, since many people seem to agree its a weird but good sort of brew!

http://www.ratebeer.com/ShowBeer.asp?BeerID=1921

hey if anyone cares to recommend an american beer that doesn't taste like the big ones [i.e. coors, bud] then i'll give that a shot... i think the only US micro i've tried is a steamwhistle? it was rather bitter but not so terrible, if i recall...

(can we get more off topic?)

Sure
 

Apparently we nearly encountered an asteroid today,

/. has the story here

http://slashdot.org/science/02/01/07/138256.shtml

and the beeb has it here

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci...00/1746330.stm

Thing came within twice the distance from the Earth to our moon, which in cosmic terms is parting our hair right down the middle.

Would have been a very big news day had it hit.

the drift continues
 

The cosmic equivelent of Clemens asking for a little more plate....

Oh yah, the Steelers are gonna rock the bears in the Super bowl.

Drift and flow...
Does anyone remember Randy Johnson hitting a bird with a pitch during spring training? Do I really remember that or am I making it up? Monday, ya know.

Re: the drift continues
 

*looks at Griff's post several times*

Hey Griff, what was that? Something about the Rams beating whomever represents the AFC? ;)

There was a link here somewhere for video of that. Snow day here so we're a little disjointed as well... We were coming up the driveway from our adirondac cc ski trip as the first snow started falling excellent timing now we don't have to drive to ski :) Just wait for Sycamore to see that Bears comment then we'll wake up to some fireworks!

American beer: Its not cool to say so but I'm partial to some of the Yeungling products. Saranac makes a nice Indian Pale. Petes Wicked is always good. Stout is really where its at though, when we bicycle toured Ireland the Mrs and I lived on Beamish Stout and pub sandwiches that was perfect. I guess the Guiness folks were on strike while we were over there. To me Beamish was a hair lighter and a little sweeter. must return to the old sod must graduate little ones from high school get back to wandering life...

Ha Ha! Thought you'd like that!

*laughs*

All kidding aside, I'm very happy for the Bears. I'm so glad to see them doing well, particularly in their last year at the "old" Soldier Field.

The AFC is really a toss up at this point. I'll go with the Steelers in the end.

The NFC is clearer. Taking my prejudice out, Green Bay is the only team, IMO, that could beat the Rams. But I don't think it will happen.

Rams over the Steelers. Another nail biter like Super Bowl XXXIV.

I happen to like Yuengling myself. Much better tasting than, say, Budweiser or Miller.

I've had Beamish on occasion, as well as Murphy's. Both are alright, but I'll take Guinness in a heartbeat. The drink that eats like a meal. :)

I used to know someone that spent significant time in Ireland back in the early 90s. He apparently drank a ton of Guinness while there, and will no longer drink it here. He said it tastes tons better over there. That wouldn't surprise me.

Griff, if I win the pub contest next year, I'll be sure to invite you and the missus over to the Emerald Isle. :)

Your lack of faith in the unstoppable glory and power of that force of nature known as the Green Bay Packers is quite disturbing... I will pray to St. Lombardi to intervene on behalf of your of your heathen, blaspheming soul.

Perhaps this is just a manifestation of some physical problem... are you, perhaps, not getting enough cheese in your diet?

St. Lombardi succumbed to Satan...he coached the Redskins. :)

mmmm.... pub crawl.... I'm there! I was wondering if it wasn't some kinda freshness issue, since I haven't had Beamish here, I can't compare... What I know is it takes a couple kilometers to regain your pedaling efficiency after a two pint lunch.

The Steelers are susceptible to the long ball which makes Oakland and St. Louis potential problems, setting aside cheesier matchups.. Pitt hopefully gets the Bus out of the shop, a confident Kordell is a beautiful thing but they must get serious about the run if its a super bowl ring they want.

Yes. And St. Francis walked among the lepers. Same thing.

Re: Re: I think they're getting a little too good at this
 

Damn I wish we had moderator points a-la slashdot here in The Cellar, I'd be torn between modding you +1 funny or insightful.

Even though I have a great deal of sympathy for Israel, targeting the police really is just fucking stupid. He gets +1, Dead Fucking On.

Stop thinking, let things happen, and be the bomb
 

Looking over that photo again I noticed something:

They have a blasting cap in *each* explosive block. I think that really they only need to set off one block, and the shockwave will be enough to set off the rest.

You know, a sixer of beer and a couple of sub sandwiches could be smuggled into a football game wearing one of those vests....

Are you from Cleveland, Joe?

No.