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?
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.
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?
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.
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Does this thread count as “increased chatter”? Everybody wave to the nice Homeland Security officials!
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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? :eek:
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.)
