Al-Qaeda leader Bin Laden 'dead'

[Beostein]

Has anyone seen this interview by Katie Courick with Leon Panetta yet? I'm too tired to rant about the infuriating things in this video at the moment as I have a mothers day breakfast to attend in two hours and need top stop researching and sleep badly X_X Hope you all find it equally interesting if you haven't already seen it.

http://www.rolandsmartin.com/blog/index....ion-video/

[FastTadpole]

We'll never know what really happened but we can have guess and speculate until we turn a deep shade of purple. I find it more interesting to study the propaganda and how it was disseminated lots of that from the social media standpoint here..

Quote:Visualizing the Spread of bin Laden Death News on Twitter
by Robert Quigley | 11:57 am, May 8th, 2011

There has been a lively back-and-forth among journos over the course of this past week as to whether the dissemination of the news of Osama bin Laden’s death via Twitter and other social media does or does not constitute journalism. Tabling that murky question for now (the answer to which is probably an unsatisfying ‘yes and no’), looking at the spread of that information is in itself fascinating.

Social media optimization company SocialFlow analyzed 14.8 million Tweets sent in the hours after bin Laden’s death and found, among other fascinating data, that the Tweet by Rumsfeld chief of staff Keith Urbahn that got the ball rolling was retweeted more than 80 times within one minute after it was sent, and that by the 3-minute mark, it had led to more than 300 reactions:



While Urbahn’s initial Tweet and a retweet by New York Times media reporter and influential Twitter user Brian Stelter were key to the dissemination of the news, zooming in on smaller nodes in this visualization shows the importance of other well-followed sources in getting the word out:



While Twitter did outpace traditional media outlets in reporting on bin Laden’s death, SocialFlow notes a key distinction: Only when an emergency presidential address on an undisclosed topic was announced, strengthening the hypothesis that bin Laden had died, did bin Laden death Tweets kick into overdrive, outpacing Tweets about Libyan ruler Moammar Gaddafi:



SocialFlow:

As we build out digital social spaces, we must not get derailed by metrics of status affordances that have taken center stage. Just because we have easily accessible data at our fingertips doesn’t mean that we have the capacity to model and place a value tag on human behavior. Followers, friends or likes represent an aspect of our digital status, but are only a partial representation of our general propensity to be influential. Keith Urbahn wasn’t the first to speculate Bin Laden’s death, but he was the one who gained the most trust from the network. And with that, the perfect situation unfolded, where timing, the right social-professional networked audience, along with a critically relevant piece of information led to an explosion of public affirmation of his trustworthiness.


Full, fascinating analysis at SocialFlow. It may not resolve the question of whether social media is or isn’t journalism, but it says a lot about how Twitter works, and how people communicate with each other about major news.

Full Story: http://www.geekosystem.com/bin-laden-dea...s-twitter/
http://digg.com/news/technology/visualiz...on_twitter

[yeti]

The latest Guns & Butter is available here:
http://archives.kpfa.org/data/20110511-Wed1300.mp3

Quote:"Osama bin Laden: Dead or Alive?" with David Ray Griffin. We examine all the evidence, both that indicating bin Laden died, and that suggesting he was still alive in 2009; the important bin Laden videos and audio recordings, the significance, if any, in the timing of their release; and statements by significant political and intelligence figures.

It's a great 2009 analysis about this whole clusterfuck.

[FastTadpole]

Nice dig yeti, best broadcast I've heard so far on the topic.

So although there are already US (CIA) drones (linkity, link, link, link) and a lot of apparent US control in Pakistan, there is also a Chinese Military presence being built up in Pakistani territory as well.

Chinese & Pakistani Military Positioned Along Indian Border - India On Alert - (LoC)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi2JakpC27c

Not that nations are the be all end all but they are tools of the so called 'elite' but that is yet another powder keg in the region.

BIG Congress legislation on the table right now brought about by, at least in part, the death of bin Laden.

Congress To Vote On Declaration Of World War 3: An Endless War With No Borders, No Clear Enemies
http://concen.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=40041

[FastTadpole]

Gee couldn't have predicted this one ...

Osama Bin Laden Speaks From Beyond the Grave
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/osama-bin-...d=13634924

Also the plot thickens with NATO involvement...

Quote:NATO Helicopter Attacks Pakistani Army Post

military.com — A NATO helicopter attacked a Pakistani army post near the Afghan border on Tuesday, injuring two soldiers and further increasing tensions following the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden, Pakistani officials said.

http://digg.com/news/story/nato_helicopt...rmy_post_2

Wasn't NATO only supposed to be operating west of East Germany? Well I suppose if you go far west enough you can find a loophole.

[FastTadpole]

Quote:‘US to deploy troops if Pak nukes come under threat’
Posted by News Desk on May 16, 2011

LONDON: US troops will be deployed in Pakistan if the nation’s nuclear installations come under threat from terrorists out to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden, the Sunday Express can reveal on Sunday.

The plan, which would be activated without President Asif Ali Zardari’s consent, provoked an angry reaction from Pakistan officials last night. Barack Obama would order troops to parachute in to protect key nuclear missile sites. These include the air force’s central Sargodha HQ, home base for nuclear-capable F-16 combat aircraft and at least 80 ballistic missiles.

A US source told the Sunday Express: “The plan is green lit and the president has already shown he is wiling to deploy troops in Pakistan if he feels it is important for national security.” However, news of the plan has further increased tension between the US and Pakistan with relations already at an all-time low after the Operation Geronimo raid by the US Navy Seal special forces team that killed bin Laden at the house where he had been hiding in Abbottabad, near to a Pakistan military academy.

An angry Pakistani official said: “Pakistan has an elaborate command and control structure and is fully capable of defending its strategic assets under any circumstances and does not need any assistance from any country, including the US, to safeguard its nuclear installations.”

The plan reflects growing concern over reprisals for the al-Qaeda terror leader’s death. More than 80 people were killed and 140 injured when two Taliban suicide bombers struck at a military academy in the north-western town of Charsadda on Friday.

Alex Neill, of the Royal United Services Institute, said: “The United States places its own national security issues above all other sovereignty issues and trust in Pakistan’s abilities are extremely low.”

“If Obama can persuade congress that placing US troops at the installations is necessary to protect US citizens from possible nuclear attack, then that’s what he will do.” The Pentagon on Saturday refused to deny the existence of the plan, with a spokesman saying only: “We are confident that Pakistan has taken appropriate steps towards securing its nuclear arsenal.”

http://digg.com/news/world_news/us_to_deploy_troops_if_pakistan_nukes_come_under_threat
http://twitter.com/FastTadpole/status/71178460869050370
http://unitednewsservice.com/2011/05/16/...er-threat/

[SiLVa]

(05-18-2011 09:32 PM)FastTadpole Wrote:  Chinese & Pakistani Military Positioned Along Indian Border - India On Alert - (LoC)
Not that nations are the be all end all but they are tools of the so called 'elite' but that is yet another powder keg in the region.

BIG Congress legislation on the table right now brought about by, at least in part, the death of bin Laden.

Congress To Vote On Declaration Of World War 3: An Endless War With No Borders, No Clear Enemies
http://concen.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=40041

Looks like they're pulling no punches...
Gamers Target U.S. Troops in Chinese Military ‘Shooter’
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/05/...y-shooter/

[FastTadpole]

   

All respect to the intelligent thread points but I couldn't resist.

[R.R]

(06-06-2011 10:39 AM)FastTadpole Wrote:  

[TheQleaner]

[TheQleaner]

[ridzy]

Good news of course, but were the deaths of so many innocent Afghan and Pakistani civilians worth it? It was the meddling of foreign powers that created Al Qaeda in the first place. Maybe we can learn a lesson and stop being so imperialistic, but I guess not. Our politicians will carry on working in the interests of the rich and powerful.

[TheQleaner]