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    burbere003Hamilton Nolan
    5/13/13 11:55am

    Unless you're aiming for a talking head slot on cable news, it would help if you read a couple of books on the subject.

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      Pretty Chickenburbere003
      5/13/13 12:14pm

      Hamilton reads books about this subject and many others. What is your actual point with this comment?

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      burbere003Pretty Chicken
      5/13/13 12:20pm

      It's the false equiv. between terrorism and street crime.

      I would suggest he read Crevald's Transformation of War and Laquer's (sp?) History of Terrorism. Dipping into the Galleanist movement ("Propaganda by Deed") of the early 20th century would also be helpful.

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    pricekxHamilton Nolan
    5/13/13 12:18pm

    You almost hit it when you touched on black-on-black crime, The key is, nice middle class people see that terrorism can effect anybody. But we all know good 'ol street crime is at least partially the victims fault and could never happen to them. Warped view, but how many people read this and thought, 'well that's what you get for living in NOLA'.

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      AlphaOysterpricekx
      5/13/13 12:35pm

      You're right, but I'd make an addendum - this was not black-on-black crime, it was a shooting into a crowd filled with people of various classes and races. The victims are of a variety of races.

      Which just goes to show that the race and class of victims isn't the difference here - it's that "warped" view your'e speaking of "that's what you get for living in NOLA." Thus continuing the national trend of turning a blind eye towards "expected" crime.

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      A Media DudeAlphaOyster
      5/13/13 8:07pm

      I'd say it's considered "Black-on-Black crime," regardless of the races of the victims.

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    AssFault on the Highway to HellHamilton Nolan
    5/13/13 12:25pm

    It ate me alive when a rich white guy flew a private plane into a building in Austin several years ago, motivated by political angst according to his own suicide note/manifesto, and was not considered a "terrorist" by the media's choice of nomenclature. Many citizens of Austin had to drive by that building with its face torn off for months, reminiscent of Oklahoma's federal building when it too was razed by white guys, who at that time at least were referred to as "domestic terrorists." Only one other life was taken that day as opposed other crimes considered "acts of terrorism," but thousands of lost lives were intended.

    It was as if our collective consciousness and its mouthpiece was saying, "Oh but that rich white guy was just another disgruntled taxpayer, folks, targeting the IRS. I mean (chuckle) can't we all agree we've felt like doing the same thing to the IRS with our own private planes from time to time?"

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      Flm3454Hamilton Nolan
      5/13/13 12:28pm

      I think the same overlooking has been happening with kids shooting kids on accident lately. A 4 year old shoots a 2 year old. We hear about it at work maybe in passing, or in a tweet from a major news source. If we actually take the energy to seach for more information, all we hear are adults making excuses for it that don't involve guns being readily available to a child with no real understanding of its danger.

      To go more along with this article, I had a discussion with a coworker about this. A white kid in Newtown shooting and killing around a dozen innocent children and adults and causing terror is not a terrorist, apparently. A kid with a Middle Eastern background kills 3 people and injures many and is a terrorist. I was 11 when 9/11 happened and I grew up hearing the word "terrorist" thrown around so much that it truly lost its meaning and has come to represent fear of extreme cultures and religions that we don't understand. Or, more simply put: people that aren't white. On another note, white people and the media have come to accept that non-whites live in a violent culture, so shooting have become, to the general white public, less serious. It's sad and disgusting to me.

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        Captain_CrutchHamilton Nolan
        5/13/13 4:03pm

        I'm a little late to this party, but definitely check out John Cassidy's piece called "What If the Tsarnaevs had been the 'Boston Shooters'?" It's another great look at how we see these things, and (albeit hypothetically) uses the same event as the point of reference.

        http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/j…

        As for the media, part of the problem is their fear of losing access. They're already a dying breed because of citizen journalism's success, so now the only way they can distinguish themselves is through their access to powerful people. Problem is, they are now all the more beholden to those people, many of whom don't want a lot of press about how bad guns (and the minorities they kill) are compared to the specter of terrorism.

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          Burner9287Hamilton Nolan
          5/13/13 11:59am

          Bombings = Terrorism

          Gun Crimes = Freedom

          Brown People = Terrorists

          White People = Lone Wolves

          Why do we allow this bullshit narrative to exist?

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            Ladybug2Burner9287
            5/13/13 12:54pm

            The narrative exists so that the powers that be can constantly reinforce the current social paradigm. “Brown terrorists” justify the MIC. “Street violence” reinforces the status quo of doing nothing to alleviate poverty/ poor education or provide meaningful opportunities because “they choose” to live like this and it’s just better to lock them up rather than be proactive (or the PIC). “Love Wolves” allow middle America to have a false sense of security that such events are aberrations which don’t require any sort of social or government action because of the rarity and the futility of trying to prevent all tragedies (freedom, no one wants to live in a nanny state, rights). Also, the events are framed in such a way that one would think there were no commonalities between these events. But a good chunk of these crimes involve mental illness, easy access to guns, middle class or lower backgrounds and/or young, disaffected males.

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            Fly Over CountryBurner9287
            5/13/13 1:37pm

            and Black people = ?

            Come on, keep going...

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          NiPODHamilton Nolan
          5/13/13 12:10pm

          Sustained terrorism does not work. It only hardens the population against those who perpetrate the actions. Coming from a country which has seen its fair share of terrorism, Northern Ireland, i can honesty tell you there is nothing to be afraid of.

          With terrorism its best not to dwell on it because realistically there is nothing we as the general population can do about it. If someone is determined to set of a bomb in a major population centre, they can try all they want, but realistically they will not succeed.

          Realistically the best advice is to not give a fuck and get on with your life.

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            EasttoMidwestHamilton Nolan
            5/13/13 1:37pm

            These false distinctions seem to come from the need to believe that it is safe inside and that danger comes from without, and that certain arenas are sacrosanct but others are not.

            We gloss over the Texas fertilizer plant and focus our horror on Bangladesh.

            We weep for the children of Sandy Hook and shrug our shoulders about how sequestration effects parentless and hungry kids.

            We shudder at street rapes but ignore the fact that most people are abused by "loved ones" in their homes.

            We howl about the Chinese dissident locked up for life but say that the exonerated in the US probably deserved to in prison for some other reason.

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              JohnMcClanesSmirkHamilton Nolan
              5/13/13 5:25pm

              For a quick primer on the inanity and naked propaganda value of the "War on Terror", a good place to start is with Adam Curtis' brilliant 2004 film, The Power of Nightmares. It's not a perfect movie, but at it's best it's a hilarious indictment on how silly the concept of "terror" is.

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                drunkapeHamilton Nolan
                5/13/13 11:50am

                So.....wtf happened in New Orleans....can someone elaborate?

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                  Guantanamo Babydrunkape
                  5/13/13 11:53am

                  Based on the video in the previous story linked at the top of this story, there was a Mother's Day parade in New Orleans. Most all the attendees were black. A black young man suddenly stepped in front of the crowd and just started shooting. Pretty dark shit. I mean, he just started shooting at women and children innocently in the crowd. But, you know, it's black people, so who cares, right?

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                  gramercypolicedrunkape
                  5/13/13 11:55am

                  Yes: Try reading the article about the NOLA shootings on the gawker home page.

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