[extropy-chat] Alert for Suspicious Farmers' Almanacs

[Adrian Tymes]

--- Samantha Atkins <samantha at objectent.com> wrote:
> Terrorism is so bloody loosely defined that saying
> it is this or that category of crime is virtually
> meaningless.  Its definition is arbitrary so any
> acts or purported acts or secretly accused acts may
> be subject to whatever whim the authorities care to
> exercise.

You know, I had to laugh at that.  But I think you'll
find yourself chuckling too, at least if you like dark
humor about serious situations.

Terrorism has a definition.
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=terrorism
cites Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1998
version:

> The act of terrorizing, or state of being
> terrorized; a mode of government by terror or
> intimidation.

Now, contrast this to the fact that a lot of these
laws and policies we're objecting to are getting
passed on the fear, also known as terror, that
"terrorists" might otherwise harm us or those we care
about; and/or by intimidating those who would stand up
to abuses.

Also, from Wikipedia, terrorism...

> [...]is the term commonly used to refer to the
> calculated use of violence or the threat of
> violence, against the civilian population, usually
> for the purpose of obtaining political or religious
> goals.

Arrest and imprisonment is a form of violence, no?
Though, granted, it's more "threat of" than the real
thing.

> Although the exact meaning of the term is disputed,
> it is commonly held that the distinctive nature of
> terrorism lies in its deliberate and specific
> selection of civilians as targets, a choice designed
> to attract wide publicity and cause extreme levels
> of public shock, outrage and fear.  Terrorists
> believe these conditions will help to bring about
> the political or religious changes that they seek.

Civilians don't stop being civilians even under
military-grade high security alerts, especially when
the alerts stay active enough to become status quo.

I believe you should see the parallels I'm seeing by
now.