There's not a thing on this planet I'd bet my child's life on Cary so that framing doesn't tell you anything.caryking said:Civ, you may not like my question; however, you don't have the right to change it...Civilized said:caryking said:Civ, would you bet your child's life we don't have terrorist sleeper cells in the US?Civilized said:Werewolf said:
Seive, put your pump shotgun up........no worries.
Because...why? I should be worried about Laura Loomer telling me about Hamas terror cells allegedly all over the US?
My first thought was obviously "Who the **** is Laura Loomer, and why is she likely making stuff up about secret Hamas terror cells all over America, which obviously sounds like complete bull****, I wonder?"
From Wikipedia:Quote:
Laura Elizabeth Loomer (born May 21, 1993)[1] is an American far-right and anti-Muslim political activist, white nationalist, conspiracy theorist and internet personality. She was the Republican nominee to represent Florida's 21st congressional district in the 2020 United States House of Representatives elections, losing to Democrat Lois Frankel. She also ran in the Republican primary for Florida's 11th congressional district in 2022, narrowly losing to incumbent Daniel Webster.
Loomer has worked as an activist and journalist for several organizations, including Project Veritas, the Geller Report, The Rebel Media and InfoWars. Loomer gained notoriety as a result of being banned from numerous social media platforms, payment processors, vehicles for hire, and food delivery mobile apps for various reasons, including violating policies on hate speech and spreading misinformation. She has also been banned and removed from events, and had press credentials revoked, for harassment and causing disturbances.
Yep, checks out.
Ask that a different way Cary.
What do I now believe the probability is that a terrorist attack in the United States would come to bear directly on my child's life?
0.00...%? How many zeros would I have to get out to before I thought that percentage was accurate?
Sadly, the the chance of their lives being impacted by a domestic terrorist, or lone wolf gunman that was born on American soil perpetrating a mass shooting is orders of magnitude greater than being harmed by a foreign terrorist in America. That threat is present enough that we occasionally brainstorm with our kids what their survival strategy should be if a gunman enters their school or wherever they are.
As a parent, my kids getting hurt or killed at school or in a movie theater or at a grocery store or friend's house takes up a lot more headspace than them being the victim of terrorism. Neither threat is likely, but one is much more likely than the other.
I wish mass shootings and gun violence drummed up the same political will and fervor of the more-unlikely threat of terrorism stemming from illegal border crossings.
All that said, threat reduction from terrorism and mass shootings fortunately aren't mutually exclusive. More needs to be done at the southern border for a variety of reasons and I'm glad the pendulum looks to be swinging in that direction.
Civ, would you bet your child's life we don't have terrorist sleeper cells in the US?
There are lots of loons in a country with 400 million people. There is a mathematical chance that one or some of those loons could harm me or my family. I don't spend much time thinking about it, because the chance is quite remote and almost completely outside my control so it doesn't do any good to worry about it.
I also don't think closing the delta between where southern border crossings were 4 years ago vs. now is the some sort of anti-terrorism panacea.
If I told you there was a 10% chance that there are terrorist sleeper cells in this country and a 10% chance in any given year (if there are cells) that one of those cells will kill 100 people (lot of ifs, ands, and buts there) then there's a 1/100 chance in any given year of a terrorist attack on our soil killing 100 people.
Or stated another way, there's an expectancy that 100 people will die in terrorist attacks over an 100 year period.
At our current rate (not a safe assumption since the rate is increasing), 100 people in America die in mass shootings EVERY year. Dying in a mass shooting is 100x more likely than the terrorist scenario I just outlined.
Even if you're more bullish on the prospects of terror cells or a terror attack if there are cells, it doesn't change the fundamentals of that analysis.
So yeah, do what you can to reduce the number of wannabe terrorists coming across the southern border. But don't lose sight of that goal being far less beneficial to the lives of Americans than reducing mass shootings and other firearm violence.
