Month: May 2021

From The ‘Can’t Fix Stupid’ Files

I have always thought morons that break the law and post selfies or videos of the act and think they will get way with it…..I feel they are swimming in the shallow end of the gene pool.

Take all the selfies and videos that have been posted of those committing the insurrection of 06 January….were they so flipping stupid to think that they would be safe in posting these incriminating social posts?

Well my thought is they were idiots in the highest degree….but is there a reason they are this flipping stupid?

Many Trump supporters who took part in the January 6th riots at the United States Capitol building made the job of law enforcement officials much easier by snapping incriminating photos of themselves committing crimes as they were happening.

MLive.com this week talked with several extremism experts for some clues about why so many MAGA rioters thought they’d get away with sharing photos of themselves breaking the law to the entire world.

Sam Jackson, a professor at the University at Albany who studies anti-government militias, tells MLive.com that the rioters likely thought they would succeed in overturning the results on the 2020 election and thus imagined creating historical records of themselves to show they were heroes at a world-changing event.

“I think a lot of it has to do with the folks who participated feel like they weren’t doing anything wrong, probably combined with a sense that they thought they were doing something historic,” he explained.

…

“The people who went to the Capitol trying to ‘stop the steal,’ by and large, expected that they were going to succeed at that and thought that they would really push the government to make different decisions,” he said. “Some of them didn’t realize the seriousness with which storming the Capitol would be taken.”

(alternet.org)

Good to have scientific explanation….but mine is more simple and just a valid….these insurrectionist are just morons….they lack any knowledge beyond stupidity.

Speaking of morons….

The greatest threat to America is not foreign terrorists, its domestic morons.

John Fugelsang
 
Clarence Darrow accurately tagged Trump and his worshipers….

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

End Qualified Immunity!

We have new legislation on police reform and part of that bill wants to end ‘qualified immunity’….but is this situation really?

Qualified immunity is a type of legal immunity. “Qualified immunity balances two important interests—the need to hold public officials accountable when they exercise power irresponsibly and the need to shield officials from harassment, distraction, and liability when they perform their duties reasonably.”

Specifically, qualified immunity protects a government official from lawsuits alleging that the official violated a plaintiff‘s rights, only allowing suits where officials violated a “clearly established” statutory or constitutional right. When determining whether or not a right was “clearly established,” courts consider whether a hypothetical reasonable official would have known that the defendant’s conduct violated the plaintiff’s rights. Courts conducting this analysis apply the law that was in force at the time of the alleged violation, not the law in effect when the court considers the case.

Qualified immunity only applies to suits against government officials as individuals, not suits against the government for damages caused by the officials’ actions. Although qualified immunity frequently appears in cases involving police officers, it also applies to most other executive branch officials. While judges, prosecutors, legislators, and some other government officials do not receive qualified immunity, most are protected by other immunity doctrines.

in short this statue protects these offenders from being held accountable for their actions.

Here are a few examples of this situation….

Here’s a list from USA Today of outrageous examples where qualified immunity has recently shielded reckless government officials from accountability: 

  • Officers who stole $225,000.
  • A cop who shot a 10-year-old while trying to shoot a nonthreatening family dog.
  • Prison officials who locked an inmate in a sewage-flooded cell for days.
  • SWAT team members who fired gas grenades into an innocent woman’s empty home.
  • Medical board officials who rifled through a doctor’s client files without a warrant.
  • County officials who held a 14-year-old in pretrial solitary confinement for over a month.
  • A cop who body-slammed a 5-foot-tall woman for walking away from him.
  • Police who picked up a mentally infirmed man, drove him to the county line and dropped him off at dusk along the highway, where he was later struck and killed by a motorist.

If an individual, a civilian, committed any of these offenses then the rule of law applies…..but not when the individual wears a uniform.

But not to fear these offenders will still be shielded from accountability for the bill will not be sent out of Congress for the president’s signature……

A compromise to the portion of the bill on “immunity” has been offered by GOP senator Tim Scott……“Scott, who has served as the Republican leader on police reform talks, is suggesting that the doctrine be pulled back for law enforcement and that liability shift from individual cops to the departments that employ them.”

This proposal still does not punish the individual just shifts it to his/her employer….the individual still walks on the offenses they commit.

This is unacceptable!

If I am personally responsible for my actions then the individual cop should as well….this will do little to correct the culture of violence by the police.

I can see the Dems caving to this proposal so that bi-partisanship can be claimed….and once again the Dems will illustrate that they have no spine.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“Letting The ‘Terrorists’ Win”

That was a statement made by a Dem when asked about the pro-democracy move in the party.

A Dem said that?

Yes he did and he is Manchin from West Virginia.

Sen. Joe Manchin won praise from the Daily Caller and Fox News contributors while infuriating voting rights advocates on Tuesday with his suggestion that scrapping the filibuster and passing sweeping, popular pro-democracy reforms would spark a second insurrection just months after a right-wing mob stormed the U.S. Capitol.

The West Virginia Democrat’s comments came in a wide-ranging interview with Vox. With an evenly split upper chamber in which Vice President Kamala Harris breaks tie votes, the party’s most conservative senator plays a key role in advancing or thwarting the legislative efforts of President Joe Biden and Democratic congressional leaders. In contrast to his discussions with Republicans about Biden’s infrastructure proposal, Manchin publicly insists he is “not a roadblock” to the president’s agenda.

The For the People Act, which passed the Democrat-controlled House in March and is backed by Biden, aims to modernize voting registration, restore the Voting Rights Act, end gerrymandering, increase election security and campaign transparency, empower small donors, and implement various ethics reforms. A wave of voter suppression bills introduced this year by GOP state lawmakers has bolstered demands for enacting it.

https://www.rawstory.com/joe-manchin-filibuster-2652802054/

Why would anyone especially a democrat be opposed to any pro-democracy legislation?

“Letting the ‘terrorists’ win?

So to him expanding voting and promoting voters rights is a creation of ‘terrorists’.

Only terrorists are d/bags like Manchin that would kill positive legislation for his own ego and pocketbook….his pursuit to be more than he will ever be.

It is a worthless spineless corporate tool….that is more about his coffers than the people of this country….typical to ALL politicians….cowardice runs rampant in the parties.

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“lego ergo scribo”

Liz In The Cross Hairs

If you follow politics then you bare aware of the problems that Liz Cheney is having with the cowards in the GOP……and now the leader of House Repubs is not the only party leader is gunning for Liz ……now the number 2, Steve Scalise, that Tea Party dullard that has NO idea to be a governing politicians….all he has a bedfellow (take that anyway you choose) of Trump and that ilk within the GOP.

The tide turned more sharply against Rep. Liz Cheney on Wednesday with the No. 2 House Republican publicly calling for her ouster from her post over her continuing criticism of former President Trump. Rep. Steve Scalise, the House GOP whip, said via a statement that he’s in favor of New York GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik taking over Cheney’s post. From the statement, per the AP: “House Republicans need to be solely focused on taking back the House in 2022 and fighting against Speaker Pelosi and President Biden’s radical socialist agenda, and Elise Stefanik is strongly committed to doing that, which is why Whip Scalise has pledged to support her for [House Republican] Conference chair.” More:

  • Axios calls the endorsement “a new escalation in House Republicans’ internal feud over Cheney” and observes that “the rift has threatened to derail Republicans’ chances of taking back control of the House in the 2022 elections.”
  • The AP notes that Stefanik, 36, is a big Trump backer, and one who now flies above the rest of the pack of potential replacements for Cheney thanks to the Scalise endorsement. But Axios cites data from FiveThirtyEight that shows Cheney voted in line with Trump’s positions 92.9% of the time, to Stefanik’s 77.7%.
  • The Hill reports there are gender politics at play in the decision to remove and replace Cheney, the highest-ranking woman in the GOP leadership and the sole woman on Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s leadership team. “It’s an awkward reality for a party vying to win back female suburban voters in next year’s midterm elections, at a time when there are fewer than three dozen women in the 212-strong GOP conference,” observes the Hill. Replacing her with Stefanik or another woman would mitigate some of that.
  • Kicking Cheney out of her No. 3 post would require two-thirds of the 212 House Republicans voting in favor to do so, and the process could begin as soon as next Wednesday. Fox News notes that in a secret February ballot, she cleared that 145 to 61. “That showed she had more rank-and-file support than the public battle would have suggested,” it observes, “but the animosity level has risen.”
  • The view of Stephen Collinson at CNN: “In the Hunger Games that is the House Republican Conference, Cheney was effectively pushed by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who made the opposite choice regarding fealty to Trump. … McCarthy’s trip to visit Trump at Mar-a-Lago weeks after the mob attack sent a clear signal that he sees the route to recapturing the House next year going through millions of Trump’s voters.”
  • The Wall Street Journal editorial board observes that “the better part of political prudence would be for Ms. Cheney to ignore Mr. Trump”—but that’s easier said than done, as “Trump won’t ignore her. He issued four statements on Monday and three of the four were attacks on fellow Republicans, including one on Ms. Cheney. She may be ousted because she is daring to tell the truth to GOP voters—and at personal political risk.”

Steve Scalise is a spineless politician that has no principles only carries water for the morons that worship Trump.

Never thought I would ever be on the side of Cheney on anything….but I applaud her spine and her principles….and she proved that she will kowtow to the Orange buffoon from Florida…..

Liz Cheney does not hold back in a new Washington Post op-ed, in which she declares that the GOP has reached a “turning point” and must decide, as history watches, whether to remain faithful to the Constitution. Her words come as former President Donald Trump renewed his insistence that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, and House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy did an about-face, reversing course from his initial stance, following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, that Trump was responsible for the mob attack. “I am a conservative Republican, and the most conservative of conservative values is reverence for the rule of law,” Cheney writes. That means it’s well past time to accept the election results.

She calls for a three-part plan for Republicans: back Justice Department investigations into Jan. 6, “support a parallel bipartisan review by a commission with subpoena power to seek and find facts” into the attack, and go back to the “genuinely conservative” principles they stand for, rather than continuing to be taken in by Trump’s “cult of personality.” None of this means she’s veering to the other side—she calls out “the ridiculous wokeness of our political rivals, the irrational policies at the border and runaway spending that threatens a return to the catastrophic inflation of the 1970s”—but she believes Republicans can only move forward if they back away from Trump. “History is watching,” she writes. “Our children are watching.” Full column here.

I seldom agree with Cheney on much but I will give her props…..a GOPer with a spine…..

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“lego ergo scribo”

Looking to 2022

Next year, 2022, will tell the tale…..will the voter truly be turned off by the events of 2021 or will they look at those situations as something to continue with the elections and re-election of enablers.

Now that Biden is entrenched it the seat of power I need to look to the mid-terms in 2022.

I know it is early in the process but I want to give a few thoughts before the rush begins.

2022 elections could be a massacre for Dems if they keep playing it “safe” with their approach to governing…..something they exceed at doing…..they go small and in the end have little to show for their efforts.

The House has a small majority for the Dems and that may not bode well for them to keep the majority in 2022.

The GOP will spread lies…..no let’s call it what it is…..manure……and about 47% of the American people will believe the lies….so to me 2022 is not looking too good for the people of this nation.

I think they will lose control of the House if they do not pursue and get the minimum wage increase….and I am not alone…..

After the Democrats in the House approved a far-reaching Covid-19 relief package early Saturday with all but two members of the caucus on board, progressive anger and despair escalated over the Biden administration’s refusal thus far to make sure the $15 minimum wage increase remains in the bill as it heads to the U.S. Senate.

As journalist David Sirota, founder of The Daily Poster and former staffer for the 2020 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, put it on Saturday: “If you were writing a Dickensian novel, it would be about millions of desperately poor people being promised a $15 starvation wage, and then watching their millionaire senators tell them that a parliamentary adviser in the palace said no.”

While Biden and his administration have made clear they will not move to use Harris’ authority as presiding officer of the Senate to disregard or overrule the Parliamentarian’s determination, the anger on the progressive left—both inside and outside of Congress—has only grown since Thursday.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/28/democrats-will-lose-2022-if-15-wage-dies-senate-anger-grows-biden-harris-bow

Plus the GOP is working hard to suppress the vote in 43 of the 50 states.  If they succeed then many people will be eliminated from voting and that plays into the GOP win.

The more I watch our spineless Congress do their ‘work’ (a questionable term) I am more and more convinced that 2022 will be the end of a Dem majority in the House.

There is lots of ideas but yet their are members of caucus that have NO spine or consideration for the people they supposedly serve.

Unless they get their sh*t together they will go down in in a flaming defeat in 2022.

Do your part and make these worthless toads do something for the people and stop serving the special interests and their deep pockets.

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“lego ergo scribo”

Trump Hold-Over Policies

Biden is having to deal with a whole array of policies that are hold-overs from the Trump admin……policies like the border situation……the Afghan peace deal…….etc etc……

For those that depend on Medicare there ism a policy leftover that could further raise your costs when using the program…..

A little-noticed scheme hatched in the late stages of the Trump presidency has consumer advocates and universal healthcare proponents warning about a creeping attempt to further privatize Medicare—an effort the Biden administration is being urged to stop in its tracks.

On December 3, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)—then under the leadership of Seema Verma—unveiled an innocuous-sounding proposal titled the Geographic Direct Contracting Model (Geo) with the purported goal of delivering “Medicare beneficiaries value through better care and improved quality.”

But a look beyond the plan’s technocratic exterior reveals what Center for Health Journalismreporter and editor Trudy Lieberman described earlier this week as a privatization model that could “take root and potentially turn every senior into a customer of a privately-run managed care organization.”

“Perhaps due to the wonky nature of the discussion,” Lieberman added, “the proposed change has generated almost no media coverage although it would upend the health insurance for millions of Americans.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/03/13/advocates-sound-alarm-over-quiet-trump-era-move-could-further-privatize-medicare

This is something that needs watching and reporting…..the MSM has neglected this in favor of Beyonce, mundane Covid coverage and such mind numbing BS….this issue is important to millions of retired Americans and it should be treated like it is important.

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“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–05May21

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Will Mike Pence challenge his master in 2024?

It has been reported that Trump is vaguely promising he will run for president again 2024….but now Pence is signalling a plan as well….

In his first public address since the end of the Trump administration, former Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday put down a marker for a potential return to elected office, telling an audience in early-voting South Carolina that he will spend the coming months “pushing back on the liberal agenda” he says is wrong for the country. “We’ve got to guard our values … by offering a positive agenda to the American people, grounded in our highest ideal,” Pence told an audience of several hundred at a Columbia dinner sponsored by a conservative Christian nonprofit. “Now, over the coming months, I’ll have more to say about all of that.” The choice of South Carolina for Pence’s post-administration debut has definite political overtones, helping him develop exposure for a potential 2024 presidential bid, theAP reports.

 

Pence, who since leaving office has been doing work with the Heritage Foundation and Young America’s Foundation, has not indicated if he plans a future run. Earlier Thursday, South Carolina Democratic Chair Trav Robertson said Pence was coming to the state to “try and salvage his relationship” with Trump supporters irked that Pence didn’t support efforts to block certification of the 2020 presidential election. On Thursday, Pence promised to reveal more of his ideas soon, promising that he would be challenging the Biden administration’s “avalanche of liberal policies” as he ramps up speaking engagements around the country.

What will he do if the master of the GOP decides to run….will their be any challengers or will he cowtow to the Orange man from Florida or will they all prove that they are truly the cowards I believe them to be?

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“lego ergo scribo”

Teasing From Trump (Again)

Our last guy to stay in the White House keeps throwing breadcrumbs to the worshipers…..a teasing about 2024 and his possible run for the presidency again…..just a week goo what-his-name went on FOX (where else?) and threw out those rancid breadcrumbs for the loyal to consume…….https://lobotero.com/2021/04/22/trumps-trail-of-breadcrumbs/

Of course he went on FOX for an interview that he as usual threw more garbage for the loyal to eat and regurgitate….

Former President Trump hasn’t committed to a 2024 run, but it’s beginning to look more likely that he would ditch Mike Pence if it happens. In an interview with Marie Bartiromo of Fox Business on Thursday, the former president instead spoke glowingly of a different possible running mate—Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. “A lot of people like that—you know, I’m just saying what I read and what you read—they love that ticket,” Trump said, per Politico. “But certainly, Ron would be considered. He’s a great guy.” The governor has not responded publicly to the comments. Trump also said DeSantis has “done a great job as governor.” Politico notes that DeSantis’ star is rising within the GOP for his resistance to COVID restrictions. Also in the interview:

  • Giuliani: Trump blasted the raid of Rudy Giuliani’s apartment and law office by federal agents on Wednesday, reports the Hill. Giuliani “is a great patriot,” said Trump of his former personal attorney. “He just loves this country, and they raid his apartment.” The former president called the raid “unfair” and a “double standard” for his allies. “I don’t know what they’re looking for or what they’re doing,” he said. “They say it had to do with filings of various papers and lobbying files. Well, did Hunter [Biden] file? Did [President] Biden file? Because they did a lot of work with other countries. To the best of everyone’s knowledge, they didn’t file.”
  • ‘Ungracious’: Trump complained that the Biden administration is not crediting him for his accomplishments on the COVID vaccines and other issues. “It’s ridiculous,” Trump said, per Mediaite. “Obviously they’re very ungracious people. I did the vaccine. They like to take the vaccine. But even the fake news isn’t giving them credit for that. We did the vaccine, saved tens of millions of lives throughout the world by coming up with a vaccine. If I weren’t president, vaccine, you wouldn’t have a vaccine for five years, three to five years would be the minimum. I got it done in less than nine months. And that’s only because of me.”

Is he serious about 2024?  Or is he just trying to keep the donations roll in?

Should we take his threat of running in 2024 seriously?

Well He dropped a huge hint just yesterday….

Donald Trump dropped a very big hint Tuesday about his plans for 2024. The former president—who hasn’t acknowledging losing the 2020 election yet—told Candace Owens at the Daily Wire that his supporters will be “very happy” with his decision about another White House run, the Hill reports. “As you know, it’s very early. But I think people are going to be very, very happy when I make a certain announcement,” Trump said in a wide-ranging interview set to air Tuesday night.

Trump said that for campaign finance reasons, “you really can’t do it too early because it becomes a whole different thing.” After Owens joked about becoming his running mate in 2024, Trump laughed and said, “That would be fantastic.” Trump also launched a new website Tuesday that resembles what Politico calls “an old-school blog.” Readers can’t comment on Trump’s posts, but they can share them on social media. Trump is still banned from Twitter and Facebook. The latter site plans to announce Wednesday morning whether its Oversight Board has recommended lifting the ban.

Our orangeman from Florida will have his own platform for the spread of lies, hate and total bullshit.

On the eve of Donald Trump’s Facebook fate being decided, the former president launched his own communications platform. From the Desk of Donald J. Trump, unveiled Tuesday and found here, features a timeline of messages from Trump and offers readers the option to share them to Facebook or Twitter, both of which have banned Trump himself from their platforms. But the Facebook ban may not be permanent; the AP reports. At 9am Wednesday, the company’s quasi-independent Oversight Board will rule either for or against the former prez; if it decides in his favor, his Facebook and Instagram accounts will be reinstated. If not, his ban from both sites will remain “indefinite.” As for Trump’s Twitter suspension, a spokesperson says it remains permanent.

But back to Trump’s new virtual desk. As the AP points out, it’s “little more than a (display) of Trump’s recent statements,” which can already be accessed elsewhere on his website, and Fox News notes that it offers no option for readers to actually reply to said statements. Followers can, however, sign up to receive alerts every time a new message is posted. Many on Twitter were jokingly referring to it as a blog. Politico hypothesizes that the site could lead to more social media trouble for users sharing his messages, but Twitter says there won’t be any problem as long as the messages don’t violate its guidelines. Facebook didn’t comment on the matter. Those who were hoping for more, fear not: Trump’s spokesperson tweeted that the “desk” is not the new social media platform Trump’s team has been promising for months, but that news on that is coming soon.

Will the horror return?

Any thoughts?

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“lego ergo scribo”

Remember Gitmo?

NO?

It is a US prison on the island nation of Cuba.

Right now it is solely used as punishment for those accused of being “terrorists”.

Some are calling for the prison to close…..

The Guantánamo conundrum never seems to end.

Twelve years ago, I had other expectations. I envisioned a writing project that I had no doubt would be part of my future: an account of Guantánamo’s last 100 days. I expected to narrate in reverse, the episodes in a book I had just published, The Least Worst Place: Guantánamo’s First 100 Days, about—well, the title makes it all too obvious—the initial days at that grim offshore prison. They began on January 11, 2002, as the first hooded prisoners of the American war on terror were ushered off a plane at that American military base on the island of Cuba.

Needless to say, I never did write that book. Sadly enough, in the intervening years, there were few signs on the horizon of an imminent closing of that U.S. military prison. Weeks before my book was published in February 2009, President Barack Obama did, in fact, promise to close Guantánamo by the end of his first year in the White House. That hope began to unravel with remarkable speed. By the end of his presidency, his administration had, in fact, managed to release 197 of the prisoners held there without charges—many, including Mohamedou Ould Slahi, the subject of the film The Mauritanian, had also been tortured—but 41 remained, including the five men accused but not yet tried for plotting the 9/11 attacks. Forty remain there to this very day.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021/05/04/will-americas-forever-offshore-prison-ever-be-closed

I say NO…..the prison should remain open and the convicted of the 06 January insurrection should be given the maximum and fine and prison time and be sent to Gitmo.

Since these cowards are traitors and terrorists what better place than Gitmo for them to serve their time and think about the treason they committed.

Since our domestic prison system is overcrowded the use Gitmo the prison infrastructure is already available.

Let Gitmo serve the purpose that we have come to know and hate.

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“lego ergo scribo”

 

Does Terrorism Work?

From time to time I get papers written by grad students…..and the interesting ones I try to share with the readers IST…..

Just a few short years ago terrorism was all the buzz….today not so much……

Does terrorism work?

That is the question for the ages.

Some will say it does not….while others may disagree…..

This paper takes a look at the question…..

Terrorism is one of the most widely discussed issues in the twenty-first century due to the increasing terrorist occurrences and its destructive impacts, especially since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Terrorist incidences in the world reached its peak in 2014 with about 16,903 attacks leading to 32,658 fatalities (Global Terrorism Index, 2015). However, there was a fifty-two per cent reduction in the number of deaths associated with terrorist incidences in 2018 compared to 2014 (Global Terrorism Index, 2019). While there is a decline in the number of deaths attributed to terrorism, its impact remains prevalent. For instance, there is an upsurge in the number of countries that experienced terrorism in 2018 with at least one causality from seventy-one countries, which is the second highest in the past twenty years (Global Terrorism Index, 2019). The increasing nature of terrorist attacks has led to the intensification of scholarly interest in terrorism and terrorism-related issues. To this end, prior research has examined the definitions, causes, effects and strategies used by terrorist groups (Halliday, 2001; John, 2014; Elu and Gregory, 2015). However, it seems that the few studies that have examined the effectiveness of terrorism as a means of political struggle have been inconclusive.

In order to understand the reason for the continued existence of terrorism and its proliferation, it is crucial to examine if terrorism works, that is, if it achieves its stated objectives. This essay will contribute to the ongoing discussion on the effectiveness of terrorism by arguing that the answer to the question “Does terrorism work?” depends on our definition of “terrorism” and “work”. These concepts are a subject of debate, and as a result, there may not be one formula for measuring whether terrorism is effective. Thus, the success-level of terrorism is determined by various factors, especially by how it is evaluated. For example, while Dershowitz (2002:13) understands success in terms of attracting media attention and securing temporal concessions, Abrahms (2006:51) perceives it as the achievement the organisation’s central strategic objectives. Consequently, this essay will contend that although terrorist organisations rarely achieve their strategic goals, they often succeed in the achievement of other objectives.

Does Terrorism Work?

You tell me…does terrorism work?

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“lego ergo scribo”