Not Terrorism

Garden Gnome Liberation Front

From Spiegel Online: Police in Bretagne have arrested a 53-year-old man suspected of the thefts of 170 garden gnomes. However, it is proving difficult to return the gnomes to their real owners — the thief painted them different colors, making identification tricky. If this were in the United States, I wonder if the government would […]

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Adidas Endorsing “Eco-terrorism”

About two years ago there was a string of news stories about a fight in California between developers and environmental activists; at one point, someone planted endangered plants in the area, and developers responded by calling it an act of “eco-terrorism.” (Here’s one old news clip I was able to find.) So I got a […]

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Racists Vandalize PETA Building, But of Course That’s Not Terrorism

The danger of all this “terrorism” rhetoric is how politically malleable it is: industry groups can mold it into “eco-terrorism,” KFC can hammer it into “corporate terrorism” to smear Peta, and on and on and on. The word can be melted and reformed into a weapon against the latest enemy of the hour. The flipside […]

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Whalers Call Paul Watson “Eco-Terrorist,” Then Shoot Him

Call me Ishmael. I mean, call me an “eco-terrorist.” I mean, call the Japanese whalers complete hypocrites. So, you remember how whalers held members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society hostage when the activists boarding the whaling boat in order to deliver a letter? Well now the whalers have turned to physical violence, shooting Paul […]

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Whalers Release “Eco-Terrorist” Hostages

Your browser is not able to display this multimedia content. Two anti-whaling activists that have been held hostage by Japanese whalers were released today, after the Australian government intervened. The activists, members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, had boarded the Japanese whaling ship Yushin Maru No.2 on Tuesday to deliver a letter. According to […]

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Community Service for a “Global Incident of Terrorism”

Looks like Lubbock, TX has made its mark on a map of “global incidents of terrorism.” While some cities may have gotten a spot on the map for, say, flying planes into buildings or murdering people, Texans have more of a backwoods flair. From the Global Incident Map, this is listed under “General Terrorism News” […]

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Customer Service Terrorism

More on the property destruction hypocrisy. Apparently breaking stuff is funny and “truly American” as long as it isn’t part of, well, a (current) social movement. From the Washington Post: Sometimes truly American virtues arise in outlaws who — by dint of heroic but questionable endeavors — display the mettle of the national character. For […]

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Love the Property Destruction Hypocrisy

Whenever a bulldozer is vandalized, an SUV is spraypainted or a children’s movie encourages compassion for endangered animals, business interests are quick to shout “TERRORIST! TERRORIST!” But property destruction out of self-interest, or purely reckless behavior, is apparently not much of a concern. Check out this recent spat in Nashville, Tenn. Rep. Rob Briley was […]

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Death Threats to Biologists “Not Necessarily a Crime”

Apparently making a series of death threats against researchers is “not necessarily a crime”… if you’re a born-again right wing Christian. From Paula Pant at The Colorado Daily, “CU biologists get death threats”: Last weekend more than a dozen envelopes bearing the image of skull and crossbones and containing letters threatening the lives of CU-Boulder […]

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Prosecuting Ideology: Turning “Vandalism” into “Eco-Terrorism”

When environmental activists around the country were rounded up as part of “Operation Backfire,” Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales told reporters, “Today’s indictment is a significant step in bringing these terrorists to justice.” And when the SHAC 7 were sentenced for “animal enterprise terrorism,” it was for “their roles in a campaign to terrorize officers, […]

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