NYC to be Blown Up on Groundhog's Day? WTF?

[Eve]

According to this link and a tiny handful of others, Il Giornale, "the respected Milan daily," has reported a threat from Al Qaeda to blow up NYC on or by Feb. 2 (Groundhog Day!). It has gotten no press in the US or UK.

From the link: "The threat was contained in a video clip featured on a web site associated with the fundamentalist terror group. It announced al Qaeda plans to destroy New York in a nuclear blast on February 2. Il Giornale claims the FBI blocked and removed the web site. The video clip showed three possible scenarios: 1. A bomb or giant fireball from the skies that will cover the metropolis with a radioactive cloud. 2. A storm of radioactive clouds that will topple skyscrapers one by one, along with the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge. 3. An explosion on board a charter aircraft that will cause a radioactive cloud to spread over the city."

Hmmmm. Does not seem overly realistic ("A bomb or giant fireball from the skies?" "A storm of radioactive clouds that will topple skyscrapers one by one?"). Anyone else hear anything about this, or have any guesses as to why a "respected" (by whom, I wonder?) newspaper would have this on its front page and it goes completely unreported in the rest of the world?

[Cajun Man]

Fear tactics, m'dear.

[Happy Lendervedder]

Feb. 2, 2004?

Ahh, it's the 31st anniversary of The Straight Dope. It makes sense.


Coincidentally, also my 29th birthday.



Happy

[Zebra]

Great,

Six more months of nuclear winter!

[Doomtrain]

You know the worst part? It'll wind up getting blown up over and over again and turn out to be a bad Bill Murray movie.

[Lamar Mundane]

Zebra-

Touche

[Larry Mudd]

That makes sense -- it's common knowledge that al Qaeda operations are timed specifically to please usenet numerologists, and plainly, 02/02/04 --- 02+02=04. Duh!

Assuming the convention is to contract it to a snappy 224 ("Two twenty-four") we see significance in that the second season of 24 concerned a nuclear bomb being detonated on U.S. soil.

They've been hinting about this for a long time. 224 people were killed by al Qaeda in the US Embassy bombings in '98, and 224 more were injured on a another single day of coordinated bombings by insurgents in Iraq this past October.

[/TFH]

[World Eater]

Well I guess I'll go ahead and say "smell ya later" in advance.

[Cartooniverse]

I'll be in Traffic Court in Harlem all day. A most excellent day to do away with the city, I'd say !!!!!!!!!!

Seriously. Please. Are these the same reliable sources that have videotape of the Kentucky Fried Rat???

Cartooniverse

[Scylla]

Groundhog day, you say?


Hmmm. For me, that is significant.

I would not have thought a connection between Al Quaeda and Marmot Marmosa, but now that you mention this, the pieces are all coming together.

And they say Bin Laden was hiding in caves.

My God, woman! Those aren't caves. Those are groundhog holes!

[Zebra]

Seriously, if a groundhog came out of his hole just a nuck went off. Would he see his shadow? Would it be bruned into the ground? Would he see a shadow of his bones? Would it frighten him back into his hole? How deep would his hole have to be for him to be safe. Does AlQueada know about Puxatauny Phil? Would he be a target? What specifically has the White House done to protect Phil?

[Diceman]

At least it'll warm things up.

[Casey1505]

Originally Posted by Happy Lendervedder

Feb. 2, 2004?
Coincidentally, also my 29th birthday.
Happy

I've heard rumors that your parties are always a blast.

No worries, Eve. Sounds like a typical post-Super Bowl riot. Haven't figured out why it's in NYC, though. Must be a lot of Panther fans there.

[Polycarp]

Originally Posted by Scylla

Groundhog day, you say?


Hmmm. For me, that is significant.

I would not have thought a connection between Al Quaeda and Marmot Marmosa, but now that you mention this, the pieces are all coming together.

And they say Bin Laden was hiding in caves.

My God, woman! Those aren't caves. Those are groundhog holes!

God, how I hate one trick ponies!

Everything has to be related to the Evil Groundhog Conspiracy with you, doesn't it?!?!

Next thing you know, you'll be explaining how Al-Qaeda-trained groundhogs will be piloting little blimps in to deliver the bombs!

[paperbackwriter]

Originally Posted by Larry Mudd

That makes sense -- it's common knowledge that al Qaeda operations are timed specifically to please usenet numerologists, and plainly, 02/02/04 --- 02+02=04. Duh!
[/TFH]

Just to expand the point:
WTC garage bombing : 2/26/1993
Khobar Towers suicide bomb: 6/25/1996
Embassy bombings: 8/7/1998
USS Cole attack:10/12/2000
Riyadh housing complex bombs:5/12/2003

And, of course, 9/11. Any of these dates strike anyone as significant? I mean before the listed events. It seems that Al-Queda times its attacks for tactical reasons, not because any particular date is important. I'd consider Groundhog Day to be exactly as safe as I'd consider the week before and after.

[hijack]
Does this thread count as "increased chatter"? Everybody wave to the nice Homeland Security officials!
[/hijack]

[RTFirefly]

Originally Posted by Eve

2. A storm of radioactive clouds that will topple skyscrapers one by one, along with the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge.

This made me think of the commercial where the people are falling like dominoes all over the city. Only this time, it would be skyscrapers!

Groundhog Day isn't until after the NYC MegaDopefest, so what the hey. Now if they'd decided to blow up NYC on New Year's Day, that would have pissed me off. How the dickens would I have gotten a room refund from the (smoking ruins of the) Wolcott?



paperbackwriter, I think you've been whooshed.

[Doomtrain]

Originally Posted by paperbackwriter

[hijack]
Does this thread count as "increased chatter"? Everybody wave to the nice Homeland Security officials!
[/hijack]

My tax dollars at work! Lovely.

[lieu]

It comes against the backdrop of appeals to New Year revelers to stay away from the traditional New Year’s Eve celebrations in Times Square, Rome’s St. Peter’s Square, Moscow’s Red Square and London’s Trafalgar Square...

[Navin R. Johnson]
Look out... they hate squares!
[/Navin R. Johnson]

[Larry Mudd]

I don't think paperbackwriter was whooshed, RTF. Our longdistance laird that likes creation was simply expounding in sober tones on the point which I'd made ingestingly, that febrewery secund is of no import to the fafafather of all schemes for to bother us. Attabom, attabom, attabombomboom! (Traditional alevoila hat noted and all.)

Confusioned? See Jests, jokes, jigs and jorums for the Wake lent from the properties of the late cemented Mr T. M. Finnegan.

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Oh well. At least Bill Murray can get us a "do-over"...

[paperbackwriter]

Originally Posted by Larry Mudd

I don't think paperbackwriter was whooshed, RTF. Our longdistance laird that likes creation was simply expounding in sober tones on the point which I'd made ingestingly, that febrewery secund is of no import to the fafafather of all schemes for to bother us. Attabom, attabom, attabombomboom! (Traditional alevoila hat noted and all.)

Confusioned? See Jests, jokes, jigs and jorums for the Wake lent from the properties of the late cemented Mr T. M. Finnegan.

See? This, this is why I will never get through Finnegan's Wake!

[Shirley Ujest]

Eve that looks like a great time to book a vacation.

[wmulax93]

On the plus side, it may rid the world of Paris Hilton.


Oh wait, we'd have to put up with months of tributes to her then.

Crap.

[Larry Mudd]

See that wrecking ball come swinging down on her
Everyone knew that hotel was a goner
They broke all the windows, they took all the door knobs
And they hauled it away in a couple of days
Now someone yell 'timber' and take off your hat

Someone's falling down, falling down, falling down....
--Tom Waits

Okay, it ain't no Candle in the Wind, but it's good enough for the girls we go with.

[Annie-Xmas]

Groundhog Day? Is that Al-Queda or PETA?

[KRC]

Groundhog Day will be the 25th anniversary of Sid Vicious's death. Obviously Bin Laden is a punk rocker.

[Zebra]

I hope that we are still here and the 'afterlife' is pretty the same as the regular 'life'.

[Eve]

Well, it sorta came true; I blew up on Groundhog's Day. Some guy was yapping into his cell phone while the train announcer was telling us about a track change, and I turned around and yelled, "If you don't shut the fuck up for five goddam seconds, I am going to shove that thing so far down your throat it will untie your shoelaces!"

[OxyMoron]

Originally Posted by Eve

....I am going to shove that thing so far down your throat it will untie your shoelaces!"

Y'know, I'd pay extra if my cell phone did that.