Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Politics
posted by Fnord666 on Thursday October 12 2017, @07:23AM   Printer-friendly
from the oink-I-say dept.

Newsweek has this article on America's skewed definition of terrorism:

What is terrorism? According to the FBI, animal activists who stole two piglets from a farm were terrorists. As of now, Stephen Paddock, who killed 58 people at a country music concert in Las Vegas two weeks ago, has not been labeled a terrorist by the federal security organization.

In a viral story posted on The Intercept, journalist Glenn Greenwald details an account of federal agents investigating animal activists and scouring farm-animal sanctuaries to find two missing piglets that allegedly had been stolen from a farm. The FBI devoted such resources to finding these two piglets because their alleged theft and the capturing of undercover videos of the farm's conditions count as terrorism.

Why is the piglet theft classified as terrorism, but not the Las Vegas shooting? The distinction is rooted in the definition of the term. In spite of the emotions the word "terrorist" might elicit, the definition is not "mass killer" or "Muslim extremist" or "very bad person." The legal definition of terrorism is "the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property in order to coerce or intimidate a government or the civilian population in furtherance of political or social objectives."


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 3, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday October 12 2017, @12:10PM (9 children)

    by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Thursday October 12 2017, @12:10PM (#581094) Homepage Journal

    Those slogans are PR. Police can't realistically protect shit out of their direct eyesight and they never have been able to. Any thoughts to the contrary are about as realistic as expecting a unicorn to come poop glitter on the bad guys and turn them into friendly leprechauns.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +1  
       Informative=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Informative' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   3  
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 12 2017, @12:28PM (7 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 12 2017, @12:28PM (#581101)

    Yeah, right. So you just pay them to chase pigs for the benefit of your agricultural overlords' public image, 'cause they have proven and effective skills in PR.

    And you consider this is a normal situation, not worth of being even remotely annoyed about.
    It's the mundane reality for as long as you remember, therefore is absolutely sane!!

    • (Score: 1, Troll) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday October 12 2017, @12:39PM (6 children)

      by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Thursday October 12 2017, @12:39PM (#581103) Homepage Journal

      English isn't your native language I take it.

      --
      My rights don't end where your fear begins.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 12 2017, @12:52PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 12 2017, @12:52PM (#581110)

        The point of FBI chasing non-violent "terrorists" on money from your pocket just to defend the bottom line of agribusiness barons is surely soooo much less important than my command over English language, isn't it? That point so insignificant it doesn't worth addressing.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 12 2017, @04:31PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 12 2017, @04:31PM (#581204)

          Ignore the mighty buzzbrain. Hes the resident troll on staff.

      • (Score: 1) by oldmac31310 on Thursday October 12 2017, @02:55PM (1 child)

        by oldmac31310 (4521) on Thursday October 12 2017, @02:55PM (#581154)

        You are an asshole.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 12 2017, @07:32PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 12 2017, @07:32PM (#581305)

          'What does a sphincter say?" Wayne

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 12 2017, @07:41PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 12 2017, @07:41PM (#581309)

        ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ನನ್ನ ಸ್ಥಳೀಯ ಭಾಷೆ ಅಲ್ಲ

      • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday October 12 2017, @09:49PM

        by Phoenix666 (552) on Thursday October 12 2017, @09:49PM (#581371) Journal

        I gotta be honest, his command of English far exceeds your command of his native language. Exceeds your command of your native language too, actually.

        --
        Washington DC delenda est.
  • (Score: 4, Touché) by Phoenix666 on Thursday October 12 2017, @12:59PM

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Thursday October 12 2017, @12:59PM (#581112) Journal

    So you concede the misapprehension is the result of intentional propaganda, but you still blame the public at large for getting the wrong idea.

    Let me quote here what a certain Soylentil wrote down thread:

    "Nope. Words have meanings and this one hasn't changed. You may use it incorrectly but that's all it is, you using it incorrectly."

    Which of course means that in this case the word "protect" doesn't mean what the public thinks it means, or what common usage would indicate, but rather your facile judgement that it instead means, "you'd be a fool to believe 'protect' when said by the police means what you think it means."

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.