. . . is here to help. At about the 2:10 mark, though the send up is pretty good, IMO:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-may-3-2010/explosive-and-the-city

In short, FOX, CNN, and MSNBC are shown here to be only too kind in pointing out where and how the bomb maker screwed up.

And then I hear NPR today outlining how and why the guy screwed up when he bought the SUV for the attempt - found it on Craigslist, used his e-mail address, etc.

I mean news is news, keep the people informed and all that but Good Lord, do we have to provide a tutorial on how these things work?

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Our local CT newscasts have also been sure to let us all know why it didn't work as planned.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

that's because the media is run by a bunch of eggheads. it is all about selling the "news". the more outrageous the story, the more they want to sell it. the most important thing is to make a buck, no matter what.

Yes. It’s doesn’t seem right that thanks to a news broadcast, the potential terrorists may now know that there are a few things they shouldn’t do. Though I’m not so sure that not getting caught after the big boom is nearly as important to them as the big boom itself.

Also, you have to realize that in the big picture of things (terrorism), the potential terrorist is probably not going to consult a news broadcast to learn how to construct and deploy a bomb. (and get away with it)

If you want to limit the information necessary to construct and deploy bombs. Looking into limiting news broadcasts (their details) is not the place to start.

In the NYC case. I don’t think future terrorists are taking note that a can of firecrackers is not going to set off a closed (EPA Certified) can(s) of gasoline. Or, thinking about being tracked down by a craigslist purchase. Most are smart enough to know these things already. I think NYC got lucky in that this guy simply wasn’t that smart to begin with. If he was, he could/would have done a Google search on how to get those firecrackers to start the much bigger boom that he was looking for.

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1980 300D - Veggie Burner !

I agree with what you’re saying here. But, I wouldn’t go so far as to call them “eggheads”.

They are actually pretty good at figuring out just how to reach out of a box in your living room. Grab you (average general public) around the neck. Make you listen to something they have to say. And most of all... make you believe what they are saying.

I'm thinking the "egghead" stamp might be better placed on most of their listeners.

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1980 300D - Veggie Burner !

old saying: "It Takes Two to Tango"

one, the "talking heads" serving up their version of the "facts", and two, the moronic zoned out television viewer buying it hook, line and sinker.

I recently purchased a book titled, "The Unreality Industry - The Deliberate Manufacturing of Falsehood and What it is Dong to our Lives". the authors are Ian I. Mitroff and Warren Bennis. the cover has a picture of a guy in a suit with a television for a head. the television screen shows a big SMILE. the picture brings to mind Aklim's comment: "The Bigger the Smile, the sharper the knife".

on another note, some years back, I caught a story that featured the inventor of the PET (Positive Emission Tommography) imaging machine. he was speaking to an audience at UCLA. he showed the student audience images of PET scans of the brain while listening to an audio source. the brain was lit up like a LIGHT BULB. then, he showed an image of the brain while viewing television. I"ll never forget it. the brain literally SHUTS DOWN. cold, out of commission, as in "We've powered down the brain and the television is now controlling us".

there is a reason it is called the Idiot Box.

^ So, looks like it's time to repeal the First Amendment.

Actually, that is from Star Trek, mostly DS9. The Rules of Acquisition. #48 to be specific.

I am not sure how a brain can shut down completely. I did try to google it and got THIS link. What was he watching that can shut down a brain cold? It should still be active. It might be more or less active depending on the interest level but completely down?

The Triangle skill has also been suggestively linked to a particular region of the human brain. In a study conducted by Andrew Whiten and colleagues at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, a person's brain is scanned using fMRI. When the human subject and an animated character on a TV screen are both looking at the same moving object, a small area in the human's brain—located an inch behind the middle of forehead—is highly active. But when the person and cartoon character are looking in separate directions, this brain region is much less active. In a separate study by other researchers, this same brain region is more active when a person is watching two cartoon characters collaborating on a joint project compared to when the characters are working independently.

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In the past there have been a few stories that were entirely fictional where someone punked the news media. We need to do that again.

Maybe with an explosive device made of a different high-energy substance?

I was thinkin' Velveeta.

Or Cheez-Wiz in the micro

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Strelnik
Invest in America: Buy a Congressman!

1950 170SD
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It's a tough one. Hoping that newscasters would limit the info they let out would only be effective until some rival network sees a vacuum and moves into to claim some territory.

And I can only imagine that any would be bomber of similar ilk is going to take note of his failure and look to learn where he went wrong somehow.

What worries me is the reality that plenty of Muslims, Pakistanis, you name it are going to feel that bombing Americans is in the 'turn about is fair play' category owing to our drone missile attacks that frequently kill innocent civilians.

We can rationalize all we want about why it's necessary, etc. but the average visceral response of them loosely lumped in the 'other camp' is not going to buy it.

The Hydra headed beast.

The more you stir the water, the muddier it gets. - Lao Tzu

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Mainstream American media isn't reliable journalism. This includes CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, etc.

If you want reliable news go to NPR, PBS, BBC, or the handful of wire services.

On the flipside, reporting on how the bomb makers screwed up won't help them later on. They already know how they ffed up. Telling our news services to hush hush on the details is pointless.

There are gag orders for a reason. If the government really feels that there is some uber sensitive information that shouldn't be released than they'll lock it up, but they better have a good reason for it.

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-Typos courtesy of my mobile phone.

My biggest concern with the whole "here's how to do it" thing is that some whacko (regardless race/ethnicity) is going to say "that is an embarassment" and think they need to prove that we need to fear something again. The taliban, after "taking responsibility" must be a bit red-cheeked after hearing literally every news outlet in America talk about how poorly the bomb was constructed. Of course you can google how to make bombs...but I'm more concerned that they are going to send over someone to "do it right" and then claim responsibility yet again. I'm not trying to fear-mongor, but thats really my only concern with this whole fiasco. In all, we should just be more aware of things, and kudos to the guy who called the cops with a keen eye.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
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Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Well put, and you could be right. And as we continue to use drone fired missiles, I suspect it's bound to happen.

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Good points. Now, can you convince the other side to NOT use IEDs, suicide bombs and human shields? Perhaps come out to some deserted plain and duke it out?

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
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03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

You want to do it outside? Gross.