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eftychia: Me in kilt and poofy shirt, facing away, playing acoustic guitar behind head (Default)
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QotD

posted by [personal profile] eftychia at 05:25am on 2004-01-27

"Does anyone belive that posting guards or doubling the number of guards [at monuments] serves as a deterrent to terrorism? The security posture of the capital is reminiscent of the simple-minded soul who doggedly searches for a lost item in the lighted area under a street lamp instead of in the darkness where he actually lost the item but can't see well enough to find it. Similarly, the activity of our capital's guard force is emotionally fulfilling, providing the satisfaction of doing something, but is probably unavailing." -- Doug Crowe, in a letter to the editors of The Washington Post (Saturday, 2004-01-24, p. A18)

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There are 6 comments on this entry. (Reply.)
redbird: closeup of me drinking tea, in a friend's kitchen (Default)

(no subject)

posted by [personal profile] redbird at 05:40am on 2004-01-27
I suspect this is coming from the same kind of emotional reaction that has given a bus terminal in midtown higher security--including concrete barriers outside and the removal of all the trash cans--than the rest of the neighborhood. It's not that terrorists are especially likely to attack a bus terminal (rather than a train station, an office building, a museum, a foreign embassy...). It's that it's the Port Authority Bus Terminal, and someone in authority seems to have interpreted 9/11 as an attack on the Port Authority (which owned the World Trade Center, though they had leased it out a few weeks beforehand).
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] vvalkyri.livejournal.com at 05:50am on 2004-01-27
Oh, God, YES.
Exactly.

And making people stand in line at the Smithsonian doesn't help much either.

Ugh.
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] jim-p.livejournal.com at 06:30am on 2004-01-27
Yes indeed. I call this "placebo security". It has all the appearance of the real thing, but contains no effective ingredients.
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] bruhinb.livejournal.com at 08:03am on 2004-01-27


...but contains no effective ingredients.


Contains no ingredients known to be effective against terrorism, that is. It's a really valuable policy if your real goal is to train people to behave more like cattle, though.
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] anniemal.livejournal.com at 07:16pm on 2004-01-27
Just a heartfelt "Hoo Yeah."
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Re:

posted by [identity profile] dglenn.livejournal.com at 07:18pm on 2004-01-29
I've been trying not to assume malice when stupidity suffices, but it's pretty fucking hard not no notice that pattern and wonder.
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