I think he should have stuck to playing Unreal Tournament. I feel those great first person shooters totally sate my appetite whenever I get the urge to blow someone's head off. Someone once said to me that such games encourage violence. I'd disagree. Now the games are getting more realistic (Ie. Soldier of Fortune II's Ghoul Technology) I can beat, slash, shoot, kill and mutilate things without hurting a soul. My friend's no longer have to suffer me attacking them with swords, sticks and air-rifles anymore (we won't mention paintballing though)

YES! VICTORY IS OURS< THE SNIPER IS DEAD

The problem lies with the amount of media attention the first sniper(s) got, thus the reason for copy-cat killers to come out of the wood work lies deep and far more apealing. Not to mention think how many terrorist organisations out there saw the coverage the sniper(s) got including the president getting involved himself. In my own personal opinion this is only the beginning.

The chechens just shot 2 people and 2 more are hurt.
Those godd*m terrorists!

(I was born in Moscow and I love that place... you have no idea how mad I am... so I'm just following the news really closely here in New York.)

There's absolutely nothing wrong with this world, raptor, it's the people who live on it that are the problem. Well, some people.

More than 90 people died in Moscow.
(Why isn't there a crying smiley?)

But at least the terrorists didn't get what they wanted.

I cannot find words to express my feelings Elentari31... but I cannot stop to think about all these innocent people and their suffering, and the suffering of their families...

[Edited on 26/10/2002 by Eryan]

The point is that if terrorism never works, perhaps there will be less terrorists. Except of course for the insane ones. The definition of insanity is to perform the same action over and over, expecting a different result.

Anywho, terrorism should NEVER work, even a little, because if it does, we'll have even more crawling out of the woodwork.

The Sniper: Perhaps a public execution would deter copy-cats? Brutal, but was effective enough in Medieval times.

Terrorists: If you give in --> encourages others --> even more people die
You cannot afford to give in to terrorists, misguided, brainwashed, ignorant, insane or otherwise.

I agree with you Gimli. When more than 100 people die than that is definately not an allergic reaction. I was deeply disgusted with the way the russians handled this. (if anyone if from russia I apologize for that, but it's my oninion.)

I against death penalty. I think it's better to let them have their own personal living hell locked up in prison till the day they die and then let the man upstairs do whatever he does to us after we die. Yes, it makes us feel better to know he/she is dead, but killing is wrong no matter who does it (unless it's self-defence of course) and makes us no better than any other killers.

Wouldn't have made you sicker to find out that 700 innocent people died?And I think death penalty is not an option in this case-those criminals would become martirs-they should be left to rott in a 1/1 cell,to set an example to ohers that might try something like this.

[Edited on 30/10/2002 by raptor]

At one time I thought terrorists were only happy to martyr themselves for the cause when they knew they had a good chance of escaping. In the last twenty years, however, anti-terrorist squads have become so well trained, there is little chance of terrorists surviving once negotiations break down.

I just wish the people who preach to these gullible young people and encourage them to become martyrs, would be the next people to fly a plane into a building. Once those cancankerous old gits had successfully martyred themselves, maybe the trouble would stop. Until these mindwashing religious zealots are stopped, there will never be an end to the present troubles.

If these b*****ds want a war, give them one. And don't do it with one hand tied behind your back. Nuke the bloody lot of them. I know the arguement against this is that millions of innocent people would die. But how can any citizen in such a country call themself innocent when they allow their leaders to behave in such a way. Okay, it cannot be easy to rise up against a military dictator, but if I read things correctly, it was the people of Afganistan that rose up against the Taliban. Civil war is a nasty and bloody business, but if you allow your leaders to commit atrocities in your nation's name and do nothing about it, you are not exactly innocent yourself.

Such tinpot dictators maintain their rule through terror tacticts. I'd hate to be in a situation where I had to live under such a leadership, and would be terrified of sticking my neck out, but they only maintain control by suppressing the masses. If the entire populace were to rise up against them, they'd soon be out. So if it comes to war, and people start complaining about innocent victims, don't forget anyone who lets someone else get away with such acts is himself an accomplice. If your leader provokes a situation in which you are liable to get nuked, either stand with him or stand against him.

Canadian Entertainers? Like Celine Dion and Bryan Adams? Frankly they can keep 'em.
*being deliberately antagonistic again*

Actually, contrary to the way my last post sounded, I deplore the thought of war, particularly with nuclear weapons. Wars are terrible, terrible things and cause so much suffering and bitterness. We in the West probably deserve the the wrath of the Middle Eastern terrorists for our actions in their country, for after all, we are infidels who should not soil their sand with our feet. At the end of the day, we do not properly understand their religion, and constantly commit taboos because of our ignorance.

It's just the way that the world seems to be toitering on the verge of destruction at the moment. I feel sure that within the next ten years something terrible is going to kick off, and if it does, everyone will have to decide which side they want to be on. What I was trying to say was, if the s**t does hit the fan, it is going to effect everyone and there is going to be a lot of suffering. There must be a lot of people in the Middle East who don't want to get dragged into this conflict by their leaders, get bombed and lose their homes and families. If so, they should make their choices now.

I'm not saying we in the West are right (the fact we are more concerned about oil than lives stinks for starters), but that is the side I am on. Wars are nasty affairs, but if you are willing to kill and maim people in the first place, why make the pretence of doing it with a surgeons precision. We may have the technology to fly a cruise missile along a street and hit a specific building (and how loud are the cries condemning the death of a civilian when one does happen to miss), but did the terrorists believe they were hitting a military target on September 11th. War is nasty... Why play to one set of rules when your enemy doesn't.

If it does come to war, and I really hope it doesn't, I'd rather our leaders use our military potential (ie. whatever weapons we have in our arsenals) and get the d****d thing over with quickly. I'm sure the Japanese would have preferred to make the American's fight for every inch of soil they took at the end of WWII, but they weren't given the opportunity. Having a nuclear bomb explode over your city must be terrible, and I know all about the lasting damage it causes, but fuel/air mixtures and good old TNT aren't very nice either.

Before these terrorists try poking the West with their sticks again, they should be made aware of what they might wake up.

LOL! Was that last bit for my benefit Plastic? No need. I have made a resolution that I'm not gonna get all fired up about these political things anymore.

I would, however, like to clarify the chain of events that led to the birth of Israel as we know it today.

It all started waaaay back in the late 1800's with the Zionist movement. European Jews began emigrating to Palestine around 1870 (I think...around there). In the late 1890's a bunch of Zionists got together and decided that the Jews, hopefully with some help from Turkey, should have their own homeland. Over the years, more and more Jews immigrated to Palestine from Europe.

During WWI, When the Ottoman Empire collapsed, Palestine came under British rule and the British decided that, yes, the Jews deserved a homeland and that Britain would help establish it (it was called the Balfour Declaration, or something like that). Jewish immigration went way up and the Arabs, needless to say, got P.O.ed, and things got really ugly...

Jump forward to WWII. The Palestinian Jews, of course, supported the war effort of allied nations which, boys being boys, meant that the Anti Zionists supported the Nazi's. At least, they didn't see anything wrong with killing Jews in large numbers... At that point, Britain limited the number of Jews immigrating to Palestine to 2,000 a month.

That's when THE JEWISH LEADERS THEMSELVES went to the United Nations and said, in a nutshell, "We want a country of our own!" A UN Special Committee recommended that, since the Jews were already there, under their own power mind you, that Palestine should be divided into Jewish and Arab sectors. The United Nations adopted the recommendation, the British packed up and left, and in 1948, with the votes of many nations, the US and Britain included, the independent state of Isreal was born, and the middle east hasn't seen peace since. America and Britain have been Israel's greatest allies ever since.

And I shall refrain from giving my opinion on any of it because that's what always gets me in trouble...

Going to hell or heaven isn't that depending on your religion/believes??

like me I won't go to Heaven nor to Hell I'll just die and end exsisting eventually my corpse will be rotted away and only a stone will remind some people I have roamed the earth.

And someone who believes in Heaven and Hell will go to his/her Heaven or Hell

Why the h*ll does everyone always blame the Americans, and in this case the British? Seems like whenever somthing goes wrong everyone points to the west. The reason the Palestinians hate the Israelies is because when the U.N. devided Palestine between the Zionists and the Palestinians, the Arab world all attacked the Jews to force them out. Result, the Jews kicked their butt, so the Palestinians lost the land they would have gotten in a fair war that they started.

I am not trying to start any fights with anyone Ok? This is just the way I see it.

Another bad news.......
Some idiot threw a deffensive grenade in front of a highschool in our capital city and 3 or 4 girls are in the hospital one step to death.
I can't belive what happenes these days in this f__ __ __ _world...

killin defenseless pple will prove nothin! those that r killin others r just afraid 2 target sum1 w/ a gun!

Yes, me too Raptor, it is a shame. It is also a shame that these terrorists can't find something more productive to do with their lives than take the lives of innocent non-combatants.

At least we have one up on them: When a terrorist thinks that he has arrived in paradise, and is surrounded by his awaiting allotment of virgins, we can all laugh knowing he is actually in hell, and knowing that each of those surrounding beautiful demons bears the mother of all social diseases.

Eternity in hell is a very long time, doubly so lacking a source of an antibiotic.

Meaningless, Raptor? I do not feel so!
I will answer you by a quote from the "Silmarillion", a fragment of the song sang by Beren when parting on his hopeless errand...

And yet another quote, this time from FOTR:

This world, our world, is inhabited not only by evil, cruel, heartless, selfish, twisted men... but also by many beautiful people, noble, heroic, benevolent, ready to self-sacrifice, intelligent, creative... Let us not forget that when all seems hopeless!

I have been most fortunate so far in my life. My parents have been wonderful to me, I have been brought up in a safe part of the world where the only thing to complain about is the weather (and even that is not dangerous), I have always been well fed and comfortably warm. I have lived in a time where I have been safe from the ravages of war and disease. I am fit and healthy, as are my children. I am most fortunate, and I am consiously aware of how fortunate I am.

My heart and thoughts go out to all those people who are less fortunate, and whose lives are full of anguish, pain, hunger and suffering. i hope one day that the world sorts itself out and such miseries are a thing of the past.

Erm... what precisely do you mean?