Letters to the Editor
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Feel Sorry for the Kid
Funny - as a new parent I'm sitting here fuming not about the arson but that any parent could take such a risk.
A person who is so callous and indifferent to the welfare of her child as to expose herself to this type of prosecution is beyond comprehension to me.
If you're going to be a radical extremist - please - don't have kids.
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From those who want less government...MORE GOVERNMENT!
I first became aware that I was participating in a terrorist activity, aka demonstrating against Ringling Bros. Circus in my town, by one of the participants. She said that the the Animal Enterprise Act essentially would allow my arrest if someone testifies that they saw a person that was about to go into the facility and buy tickets for the circus, change his/her mind and leave. This would essentially mean that I was obstructing the purveyors' ability to gain income. By holding an accurate picture of an elephant chained and being beaten with a bullhook by an employee of the circus, I could be arrested as a terrorist.
It horrifies me that freedom of speech has been kirigamied to this extent. I am sickened by a bunch of corporate backed prosecutors going after people that have a passion for the dependent beings of this world. The mere thought of this mother being put in jail based on a bunch of shady underhanded dealings makes me feel that we are surrounded by an iron curtain. One of our own making. We allowed this to happen. The tiny minority that screamed and rattled the cages and desperately tried to get everyone, anyone to pay attention to what was happened, everyone that was too wrapped up in day to day life to notice that our neocon government had over-stepped to the point of weighing heavily with their steel toed boot on our necks. There are ALF people...or rather visitors to the website that are currently incarcerated for being associated with that organization.
There has never been a more crucial time in our national history. Regardless of the outcome in the democratic primaries, we have to band together and vote in change. Big fat sweeping change. And never, ever again fall for the soothing, consoling whispers of our leaders telling us that they will take care of everything, don't you worry, they've got it covered. Go back to your life. Hopefully, at some point, Briana will be able to do just that.
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Equal to 9/11
Now the ELF can very well be considered terroristic...but would you consider them to be on the same level of the 9/11 perpetrators? No?
Yes.
They are roughly equal.
The 9/11 conspirators died for their cause. The ELF conspirators tried to get away with their crimes.
The ELF people did not kill anyone, but that was more by good luck than judgement.
I suspect that the motive of the 9/11 terrorists was primarily to destroy the twin towers and other important buildings of symbolic value. Killing people was a by-product of their actions rather than the main purpose. If they had just wanted to kill as many people as possible there were other things they could have done that would have killed more people.
Many of the people killed by 9/11 were firemen. I doubt whether Al Quaida had planned to kill firemen. The ELF conspirators might have killed firemen too. Probably they gave it no thought either. Lucky for them they didn't kill any firemen, otherwise they would be in the same boat as Timothy McVeigh.
So the only question remains as to whether Briana Waters is an innocent stooge or a co-conspirator. Considering that her boy friend at the time of the fire bombing is a fugitive from justice, if she is innocent, it seems to me that it is incumbent on him to come forward and testify on her behalf.
But then he is no gentleman. And probably she is no lady.
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Mixed messages
First of all, this evidence does seem to point to her NOT being present that night. Second of all, I also understand the dilemma of whether pure property crimes can/should be considered arson. It's a conundrum.
However. Let's pretend she WAS there.
She could spend as much as two decades behind bars for allegedly holding a walkie-talkie.
If she WAS present and this WAS terrorism, to say that she shouldn't get this much time "just for holding a walkie-talkie" is pure nonsense. It probably depends on state laws, but in some cases, all participants in a conspiratorial act are equally culpable. Though police often make deals with those they believe are less culpable - such as the one that drove the getaway car but was not one of the ones who actually shot the gun that killed the teller at the bank robbery - if they deny and go to trial, they are considered just as guilty. By this article's logic, if the ringleader of a crime stays home and lets the minions do the dirty deed, he or she should not be prosecutable. Someone please let Charles Manson out of jail.
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There's no conundrum here.
I also understand the dilemma of whether pure property crimes can/should be considered arson. It's a conundrum. -- catnmus
What a stupid post.
A building was intentionally set on fire. Unless this is being done by the fire department for practice, it's arson.
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Alibis and Blogging
She has no specific recollection of where she was on the 21st; most likely, she said, she was sleeping at home in Olympia.
Hey, another excuse for daily blogging -- one can always remember where one was by looking up old posts, and even prove it with IP address information.
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Penny Barrett
The lesson you should learn from your story is that it is extremely ill-advised to take legal advice from a fellow protester at the circus.
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EnvironMENTALists are promoting a communist-backed hoax. Hang 'em high!!!!!!!
......... and, your point is?
You lie down with dogs, and you wake up with fleas.
She broke the law. Hiding in the bushes with a walkie-talkie while keeping watch for a crime of arson is a crime. Sitting in a get-away car and keeping watch for a bank robbery is a crime. Aiding and abetting a crime is a crime.
Janitors and custodial staff mop floors during the night. How do these morons know they are not killing someone?
I'm glad they destroyed "environmental" research. Serves them right.