tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18991145.post4592030669414433669..comments2023-10-09T09:11:58.065+00:00Comments on Ben's Blog: Little BrotherBenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02152545728675983286noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18991145.post-63596960778903262942008-10-17T09:02:00.000+00:002008-10-17T09:02:00.000+00:00There is perhaps another factor to take into accou...There is perhaps another factor to take into account, too. Al Qa'eda is the enemy of Israel. The US supports Israel. So much so that it's actually part of the candidates' platforms in this year's election. The IRA, of course, had nothing to do with Israel.Ian Saleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15375389971610069381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18991145.post-89349486546505294842008-10-17T08:46:00.000+00:002008-10-17T08:46:00.000+00:00Well, we did have internment ... for all the good ...Well, we did have internment ... for all the good it did. No, not a daft question at all. I do often wonder why we didn't get into the tizzy over the much more clear-and-present-danger IRA than we do today over the possibility of Islamic fundamentalists.<BR/><BR/>Possible suggestions, in no particular order:<BR/><BR/>1. The IRA had their faults but suicide bombing wasn't one of them. There was a degree of rationality which meant we knew where we stood.<BR/><BR/>2. Whisper it softly, but could it possibly, <I>possibly</I> have anything to do with the fact that the Americans got in a tizzy on this one and so naturally we follow suit?Benhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02152545728675983286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18991145.post-14850820470630664292008-10-17T08:36:00.000+00:002008-10-17T08:36:00.000+00:00If it's not a daft question, why do we need all th...If it's not a daft question, why do we need all these new laws and giant databases to prevent Al Qa'eda when we never did to prevent the IRA?Ian Saleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15375389971610069381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18991145.post-38866391099995699242008-10-16T21:42:00.000+00:002008-10-16T21:42:00.000+00:00Hey Ben,I've got a google alert setup for Cory Doc...Hey Ben,<BR/><BR/>I've got a google alert setup for Cory Doctorow's Little brother so that when people make posts about it I can invite them to come discuss at the Urban Monarch book club.<BR/><BR/>So... <BR/><BR/>here it is:<BR/><BR/>http://www.urbanmonarch.com/category/media/book-club/Greg Cervenyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02017831760716055166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18991145.post-38687136431786946932008-10-16T16:27:00.000+00:002008-10-16T16:27:00.000+00:00When I was a teenager, I used to drive miles in th...When I was a teenager, I used to drive miles in the small hours of the night to the only 24 hour petrol station in my part of Lancashire. There were plenty of closer, more sensible, less menacing places to get petrol, but I loved the sweeping curve of the main road out there and the chance to drive with no lights on just for the thrill of it (it was usually Dark Side of the Moon / The Final Cut in the tape deck, incidentally). <BR/>I love the fact that so many human decisions are not rational. But it does mean that no system to detect malavolent, as opposed to life-enhancing, oddness will ever work anything like 99% of the time.Johttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14736501243972791343noreply@blogger.com