Blowback Democracy

In a Newsweek article about loyal conservatives in the Bush White House who have had to leave their positions because they differed from the neocons on how the war on terror should be fought (the neocons preferring to violate the Constitution) Vice-President Dick (head) Cheney's spokesperson Lee Anne McBride stated:"This administration is united in it's commitment to protect Americans, defeat terrorism and grow democracy." Yeah, right. These are the same people who successfully stopped democracy in 2000 by going to Supreme Court to stop a democratic election from being played out.
These are the same people who, when Ahmed Chalabi, their candidate for leadership in the Iraqi elections lost, still put him in charge of the oil ministry. Their idea of democracy is their people in charge and if you don't like it shut up you're aiding the terrorists.
So it comes as no surprise that when Hamas wins the majority of seats in the Palestinian Parlimentary elections, beating out the US backed Fatah, that the US has vowed to cut off it's funding for the PA. Not only that, but the US has asked other countries to cut off funding for the PA as well.
What has happened is a clear case of blowback. Blowback occurs when a country like, say the US creates an organization like, say alQaeda, to serve a political purpose, like keeping the Russians from taking Afgahanistan, said organization then turns around and (allegedly) attacks the US by flying jet planes in to the seats of power in that country.
Hamas got it's start when Israel, looking to divide the secular PLO by introducing an Islamic alternative, started funding the group that evolved into Hamas. Hamas then paid Israel back by introducing the suicide bomber, which, while ineffective at aiding the Palestinian cause, certainly went along way towards insuring retaliations against Palestinians. Which would give them another reason for another round of suicide bombs.
So, maybe now, Hamas has wised up. All their prior tactics got them was thinning ranks, and the scorn of decent people everywhere. They've played out the violence card and now want to try a different tack. Maybe it's time to stop acting like that awful six-year old looking for attention and take a seat at the grown-ups table.
And maybe this should be a lesson to any country that wants to use terrorism to their advantage. It always comes back to bite you on the ass.

"Didn't You Get The Memo?"

Dick Cheney looks on miffed as President Bush begs Condaleeza Rice's forgiveness for not wearing the red tie she picked out for him, instead committing a fashion faux pas by wearing the same tie as she picked out for Cheney.

Two Special Favors Must Add Up To Something

I know, you shouldn't believe everything you read, especially if you're prone to visiting sites that run stories about UFO conspiracies and weather control machines. Doesn't mean they're always wrong, just when they're writing about UFO conspiracies and weather control machines. However, once in a while, I'll read something so incredulous that you wonder why to corporate media isn't jumping on this like a runaway bride.
It seems that Bush, who is trying his damnedest to distance himself from Superlobbyist Jack Abramoff, even going as far to snap up any pictures that may exist of the two together, replaced the prosecutor investigating Abramoff. Twice.
It seems that the US attorney in Guam was investigating Abramoff in 2002 when he was demoted by none other than George W. (W stands for without shame) Bush. The replacement attorney then recused himself because of connections to the case (kind of like the Supreme Court should have done in 2000 when they appointed Bush Imperial President) and the case proceeded no further.

Is this what a $25,000 check buys you? Besides a chance to be a "pioneer", does it get you out of jail free, courtesy of the top criminal in the country? Just when you think that Bush couldn't get anymore corrupt, he proves you wrong.

So when I read this, I thought this is big news and should be all over the corp........oh, that's right. It seems no matter how corrupt the Bush Administration acts, the media looks the other way. I know that tomorrow morning when I look at my local Sunday paper that if this story does get any coverage, it'll be buried to make room for a story on the preparations in Detroit for the Big Game next weekend. And when or if it does, the Republican apologists will find a way to tie it all in to 9/11 and the war on terror and how any body who dares question the integrity of Bush not only deserves to be spied on, but also sent away to one of the secret torture locations, as they are truly unpatriotic enemies of the empire, I mean, Republic.

Which is while tomorrow, I'll be back at the sites that offer me real news, albeit sandwiched between stories about UFO cospiracies and weather control machines. They lknow how important a story like this is.

All This ranting and Nothing About Bush Appointing the Prosecutor In the Abramoff Case To A Federal Judgeship

My kids were over tonight, watching Revenge of the Sith for the thousandth time while I fixed supper, when I heard something that struck a note with me. Chancellor Palpatine, after being rescued by Obi wan and Anakin while being held hostage by General Grievous and Count Dooku, remarks after the escape of grievous "As long as he's(grievous) on the loose, the Galactic Senate will support the war." And that is why, if Osama is alive (which, he isn't) Bush still wouldn't try to capture him for as long as he remains at large, the majority of American masses will cower in fear and submit their rights for the "War on Terror".
No, this isn't going to be one of those posts where someone points up the eerie similarities between Revenge Of The Sith and the Bush administration. Or how the Imperial presidency that Bush is creating is like the Empire set up by Palpatine. It is about how fear is a major part of the propaganda campaign used to keep the sheeple in line. Anytime Bush gets caught violating the Constitution, he invokes 9/11 or Bin Laden releases another audio tape from beyond the grave to keep the masses quivering with fear.
For the past week or so, I've been offline, and all I've seen and heard is endless propaganda in the corporate media. From this weekend's hot new box office release, Annapolis, (which looks to me to be a pointles remake of An Officer and a Gentleman, Americans mind so lacking imagination that they'll watch a bad remake of a bad movie rather than try to challenge their minds with something new and different) another in a long line of recent movies portraying the military as noble, when in fact, there is nothing noble in committing torture.
As the President toured the country, trying to get the masses behind his illegal surveillance program, the local morning radio show (syndicated in other markets now) defending the crimes by raising the spectre of "terrorists". Of course, you not supposed to ask yourself, "If these are terrorists Bush is spying on, then why does he feel that the courts wouldn't give him wiretaps?" Maybe it's because as Anakin says to Obi Wan right before their long and drawn out light saber battle "Either you are with me, or you are my enemy" and since the war protestors aren't with Bush, that gives him the right to categorize them as enemies. Needless to say, I no longer listen to that radio show (they're called Free Beer and Hot Wings and they suck!)
Then of course there's the Winter Olympics! Nothing better to get the flag waving started than ice dancing! I'm just pissed because I know that my two favorite new shows are on the network carrying them so that means two weeks where my set won't be turned on at all. Makes me wish that the American team got it's ass walloped just so all the official sponsors that laid off workers to have more money to offer lucrative endorsement deals to burn out snow boarders end up having to lay off the Second Executive Vice President In Charge Of Bad Business Decisions. I know, that's mean, these people work real hard to go somewhere and become a distraction for those people who work real hard and get nowhere.
Then there was the blatant fear mongering. Iran was developing nuclear weapons. Sorry folks, but that was a lie. Iran was building a nuclear power plant and now even Bush backs a Russian plan for enriching uranium in Russia, thereby preventing the waste from getting into the hands of those who would want to develop nuclear arms. Oh well, maybe it's time to focus on Syria until another reason to attack Iran comes up. (I mean besides the one where they start trading oil in euros instead of dollars, just like Saddam did right before we set our sights on him)
Maybe that's where Osama comes in. Even after declaring six months after 9/11 "I don't know where Osama is. I don't know and I don't care. he's not that important."Bush will surely get another audio tape of Osama saying "I'm in Iran now and you can't get me! Nyahh nyahh nyahh nyahh nyahh nyahh!"

Voice From Beyond The Grave

You'd have to be a real braindamaged chemically imbalanced beer swilling flag waving window licking jackanape brainwashed with fear not to notice that when Osama speaks (from beyond the grave) it always seems to be at a time that works out best for George W. The last audio tape (apparently the actor from the previous video was unavailable, or too many people noticed how much he didn't look like Osama) was released right before the election of 2004, with Kerry running neck and neck with Bush. Now Bush is in hot water again, for going around the courts to illegally wiretap Americans. Who comes to Bush's defense? Osama!
If Bush really felt the need to spy on people who may have contact with alQaeda, the NSA courts would not have a problem granting him the wiretaps. So who does Bush consider terrorists? Everybody who doesn't agree with him.Bush has proven himself time and time again to be an untrustworthy man. And everytime he breaks the law (torture, illegal wiretaps), he uses 9/11 to justify it.
Benjamin Franklin once said "Those who are willing to sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither" and I think that applies to the majority of Americnas today. They're more than willing to turn this country into a prison under constant lock down for a threat that doesn't exist. "Hell, yeah, let's put a fence along the Mexican border to keep alQaeda from sneaking a suitcase nuke." Of course that'll make this country even more like a prison, but as long as they can watch the SuperBowl on bigscreen tv's drinking lousy mass produced American swill beer while they do it (nothing against microbreweries, mind you) the chemically imbalanced brain damaged jackanapes won't even notice. Which is what Bush is counting on.

Diplomacy Is For Pussies

In an almost stunning repeat of the prelude to the Iraqi war, the Bush administration has refused to negotiate with Iran about it's nuclear power plants. I guess diplomacy only works if you plan to use it, and I'm sure before the bombs start falling and more troops start dying, Bush will claim that the war in Iran was a last resort. And I'm sure that all those brain damaged beer swilling chemically imbalanced Faux News watching hypocrites will support this one too, because even after being told for so many years by Conservatives about how good nuclear energy is, now all of a sudden, it's a bad thing. And that's all they're doing, building a nuclear power plant (see photo below)
Iran he decided to use nuclear power, because it will allow them to sell their oil reserves and make some money. The problem is two fold. It's planning on selling them in euros, and they have a contract to sell it to China, which has $1 Trillion in reserve. So when they pay for the oil they intend on purchasing from Iran, they'll have to convert those dollars into euros. Eventually, those dollars will come back here like so many bad checks, with nothing to back them up, since America manufactures very little anymore. (But we still consume so much).
Meanwhile, the Russians have offered to enrich Iran's uranium in their country, but Bush is a war president, everything he does with war on his mind. It doesn't matter to him, or to anyone in Congress, that we're about to start WWIII, as none of their family members are serving in the military. But this time, we won't be fighting the bad guys, the US will be the bad guys. We're not fighting to bring democracy anywhere, we're fighting to control the world's resources.
And hey, what about that war on terror anyway? On Monday, an alQeada expert said that Osama is probably dead(which of course, he is)and that lead the US to fire back "No he isn't!", which is just another excuse for the government to round people up just because they're Muslims.
None of these wars have anything to do with 9/11, no matter how many times Bush invokes that fateful date to justify everything from torturing people just because their Muslims, to spying on American anti-war activists, to invading sovereign nations. Only a jackanape can support this war (and a brain damaged beer swilling chemically imbalanced jackanape at that), brainwashed into thinking anything the US does is justified by our military might, making our troops act as mere thugs and bullies for the New World Order. Diplomacy is for pussies.

The Greatest Threat Of All

Friday, President Bush made a statement refering to Iran as "the greatest threat to Israel", it's important to remember a couple of things. One, when Iranian president Ahmedhijhad said that Israel should be "wiped off the face of the Earth", he never suggested that Iran were to do this. he was merely responding to threats made against his country by Israel if Iran should continue it's nuclear power program. Two, Israel, which has not signed to NPT, has plenty of nukes of it's own, and could certainly nuke Iran should they try anything against them. It's that whole MAD (mutually assured destruction)thing that kept the USSR and the US from nuking each other in the Cold War. Israel has the biggest dick on the block and Iran is suffering from nuclear penis envy.
Of course, Bush never mentioned Iran as any threat to the United States. We certainly have enough nuclear weapons to keep any country in check and have proven time and time again that we're not bashful about using them. In fact, this past summer, Dick (head) Cheney even had STRATCOM draw up a contigency plan for nuking Iran should there be a terrorist attack on US soil, even if Iran was in no way linked to these attacks. If that's not a threat, then I don't know what is.
What President Ahmedhijhad is also doing is planning a conference to investigate the claims of the Holocaust. And being a Holocaust denier is rapidly becoming one of the greatest crimes in the world, next to opposing US imperialistic designs. While I may not be a student of the Holocaust, I do understand that there has been innummerable cases where one group of people has tried to wipe out another group of people. The US, for instance, has slaughtered millions of indigeonous people in order to build this great country of strip malls and strip clubs. Not to mention all the civilians we nuked in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Or in our participation in the firebombing of Dresden. Or, even the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians whose only crime was standing between the Bush regime and all that luscious oil in the ground they covet so.
In fact, I think it safe to say that the US has killed more civilians than the number of Jews that were ever were slaughtered in Nazi Germany. But the point is, why is the Holocaust more important than say, the ten million Slavs slaughtered under the brutal Communist governmentof the USSR? The millions slaughtered by Pol Pot in Cambodia? Are Jewish people more important than any other group on this planet? No. Of course not. We are just constantly reminded of their suffering everytime they commit an atrocity against the Palestinians.
Perhaps there can be a day when "Never Again!" applies to all people.

The World Belongs To The Non-Believer

Recent events in the Middle east have been raising the hopes of Christians waiting for the rapture, their interpretation of two unrelated verses in the Book of Revelations (Charlie Manson's favorite part), that says when a greater Israel is reborn, Jesus will come from the Heavens, all Christian's souls will be lifted up with him to the Heavens where they will watch the Jews and the Muslims fight it out over the control of the world. It's interesting to note that in the Koran, it's the Muslims who watch from the clouds while the Christians and the Jews fight it out.
Whoever will battle the Jews is irrelevant, what's important to note that whoever it is, both sides will wipe each other out, leaving the earth in the control of the non-believers, who will refuse to pick sides. So, in other words, the world belongs to the non-believers, everybody else is just our guests. So, in that case, we have a few requests of our guests that we hope you will follow in order not to be rude.

1. Please stop fighting with each other. It's not very becoming and it sets a bad example for your children. Beyond your worship of that invisible guy in the sky, you all have the same rules about how to treat each other, I believe that not killing each other is one of them.
2. No more strip malls, subdivisions or cell phone towers, They are ugly and we don't want to have to look at them when you guys are gone.
3. Don't cut down anymore trees. I mean, tree farms are okay, but to cut down a hundred year old tree so you can plant a more conventional looking sapling is wrong. We like hundred year old trees, they're pleasant to look at, especially if they're all gnarly and twisted.
4. Please don't kill animals for sport. Shooting a deer to help feed your family (or to avoid the steroids in beef) is okay, but to shoot an elephant because you have an inferiority complex is wrong. Seek counseling.
5. Leave our air alone. It's going to stink bad enough when your carcasses are laying all over the place immediately following the rapture. Not to mention all your sport utility behemoths that will be littering the roads and ditches with the engines still running. May I suggest public transportation? We still have to breathe, even though you won't; show some consideration.
6. You guys are going soon, don't try to put your people in our government. Just keep watching Pat Robertson and let us deal with reality.
7. I can't say enough about our water, we need it to drink when all you beer makers and vintners have gone to the great beyond. Please don't drive your petrol leaking wave runners in our fresh water supply, we don't pour our used oil in your holy water.
8. Don't be greedy. I, mean, it's not like you're going to be taking it with you, right? Why not share it with every one, since some of you are not long for the world anyway?

Let me remind you once again, you are guests on our planet, try to leave it like you found it.

The Global Struggle Advocating Violent Extremism is About to become World War III

The other morning, I woke up to find an interesting story on my home page on my computer. It was a report from the "Hot Zone", inside Iran, where a reporter has been sent to start the propaganda campaign for the planned attack against Iran. The story was about a rock band in Iran, where Western music has been banned. And gosh, wouldn't they be better off if they had the freedom to rock and roll? Just think how much the people of Iran could be better off in a democracy where aspiring musicians could purchase copies of Live Dead and listen to a CD's worth of endless guitar noodling.
Tonight, at the grocery store, the Financial Times had a headline across the front"Iran Pushes Nuclear Issue!" The idea is to get the American people so frightened of a nuclear Iran that they beg the Bush administration to do something.
And of course, it had to be the Financial Times, for our real reasons for attacking Iran are purely financial. Iran plans to start trading it's oil in euros, as opposed to dollars. It's the same reason we attacked Iraq, Saddam started trading his oil for euros only back in November 2000. If one country decides to dump the dollar, others may soon follow suit and all the billions that our leaders have tucked away in their personal accounts won't be worth anything. That's why the Democrats refuse to speak out against the war (except for John Conyers, one of the few Democrats who believes he's in an opposition party. Apparently, he didn't get the memo.), their bank accounts and stock options stand to be crushed when the world decides to dump those worthless pieces of paper the Fed has been printing out at an alarming rate lately.
You see, following WWII, the world pegged it's currency to the dollar, which was backed up by our gold reserves. But in 1971, after all these foreign countries were demanding the US pay them for their dollars in gold, Richard Nixon took the US off the gold standard. Now our currency was to be backed by goods and services produced in this country. Any one see where this is going?
That's right! America doesn't produce any goods these days, at least anything we can offer the world (except maybe Grateful Dead Live CDs) in return for the dollars they have sitting in their reserves. Most of the goods and services we purchase in this country are made overseas, even we don't buy American! So when these countries come a-calling with their dollars, what can we offer them? Oil! The world's oil demands keep increasing, yet the supply is about ready to peak (just like a Deadhead right before Jerry's seventh guitar solo), so who better to have guardianship over the world's remaining supply than those trustworthy guys in the White House? The only way to ensure that the oil is in the right hands (and maybe make a couple billion more for Halliburton in overcharges as well) is to attack Iran. So now we need an excuse, a back up plan in case the nuclear hoax they got cooking turns out to be, well, a hoax, so why not get the people behind the idea of a democracy in Iran, an Amercian type democracy, like the one we put in Iraq, where even if our guy doesn't win, he still gets put in charge of the oil.
Of course, a lot of countries were foolish enough to go ahead and make conracts with Iran. That's okay, the Bush administration never met a contract, treaty, or law they couldn't break. If "Old Europe" wants to deal with the "Axis of Evil", so be it, just remember that when the bombs start falling, Halliburton is first in line. And if it means we're just about to start WWIII, it means thirty years of gainful employment for high school grads too po' to go to college.
Just don't be foolish enough to wonder what this all has to do with 9/11 or the war on terror. None of it ever did.

Al Qaeada To Use AIDS Infected Suicide Bombers

No, I'm not making this up. A plot has been uncovered where al Qa'da is recruiting HIV infected people to be suicide bombers against soldiers in Iraq. So not only do our troops over there have to worry about being exposed to Depleted Uranium, now they have to worry about the blood splattering of a suicide bomber being HIV positive. Just another reason to bring our troops home, if you asked me, but I'm sure all those flag waving beer swilling brain damaged Faux News watching monkeys see no problem here.
Of course, having heard from a friend who returned from Iraq about all the fraternization going on between the fighting men and women of our aremd forces, it won't be long before most of them are infected anyway. Either death, by HIV related illness, or DU related illness, will be long and drawn out, and won't count in the Bush administrations official death toll.

It couldn't be more obvious by the look of terror behind the smile of Weekly Standard editor (and PNAC co-signor)William Kristol on the Fox News morning show that he knew that the Abramoff scandal could spell the end of the Republican hold on Congress which could mean the end of the PNAC agenda getting fully played out. As each panel member scrambled to theorize what this means for Congress, Kristol, appealing to the doomsday cult faction of the Christian religion that Karl Rove so brilliantly played the "gay married terrorist" card to in the 2004 elections, blamed it all on Casino gambling on Indian reservations (conveniently forgetting to mention the Florida offshore gaming ships which brought about the "hit" on Gus Boulis, the crime that started this whole thing in the first place) which he said was generating too much money.
Yes, there was a mountain of millions moving around, and everybody wanted a taste, besides, as one of the other talking heads put it, "People expect the Congress to be corrupt." Well, at least the Republicans. It's amusing to watch the ones who so piously impeached Bill Clinton for lying about a blow job, now scramble to cover their asses. Even George W gave back $6000 he got from Abramoff rather than try to justify taking it because of 9/11. ( Any money Dick Cheney may have received is either not disclosed because of "executive privilige" or "national security interests")
In this coming election year, it will be interesting to watch the Republicans try to take any higher ground. Law & Order? What about the crimes you committed Mr. Delay? Accountability? What about the money you took, Mr Hastert? A recent AP-Ipsos poll shows that this coming election year is the Democrats to lose. Anyone want to bet they'll find some way to blow it?
Maybe the lesson from all that the American people can learn is that as long as we keep sending Democrats and Republicans to Washington DC, there'll always be corruption at the taxpayers' expense. Why should they vote for lobby reforms when their wives can get in on the action as well? Why not give tax cuts to the wealthy who then can buy more congressmen to give them more tax cuts so they can buy more congressmen until all the tax burden is shifted directly on the ever-decreasing middle class?
In reality, Mr. Kristol has nothing to worry about. The mid-season replacements start next week and not only is there a new season of American Idol, but that Skating With The Celebrities looks darn good too.

No Rush To Find The Cure

I came down with a cold the other day, and endeavored myself to go visit the local supermarket to purchase a remedy for it. There wa a whole aisle of about fivehundred different cold remedies, to alleviate symptoms of the cold. There were expectorants, decongestants, antihistamines, cough suppressants, non-drowsy formulas, everything for a cold but a cure. And I understood why, with corporate America in a rush to isolate and patent every strand of DNA out there, they are in no big rush to cure the common cold.
Now it seems to me, that in all the leaps that scientific advancement made in the last, oh, fifteen years, that someone should have been able to isolate the cold virus. They can do it for the bird flu, they can even bring back the Spanish Flu virus of 1918, but they haven't made any advances in curing a cold. They can treat the symptoms, with an array of remedies, but there is no cure. And why should they?Which do you think a pharmaceutical company will make more money on: a cure you take once, or a remedy that relieves symptoms while the virus runs it's course?
It's the same way with America's petroleum sickness. There is no cure. We can treat the symptoms with hybrid cars, but the sickness is still there. We can use mass transit systems, but as long as they run on fossil fuels, the sickness will remain. And as long as there is money to be made there will be no cure.

A Stroke Of Luck

News of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffering a stroke couldn't have come at more convenient time for the embattled PM. Evidence that Mr. Sharon took a $3million bribe in his 1999 campaign have surfaced in Israel, with some there calling for him to step down. I'm not saying that Mr. Sharon deliberately had a stroke, but anyone could see this overweight behemoth was a heart attack waiting to happen.
And so now we see another thing Israel has in common with the US. Corruption at every level of their government. Here in the US Republicans caught in the Jack Abramhoff scandal are scrambling to cover their tails, with House Speaker Dennins Hastert "donating" the bribes he took to charity. Too late, pal, you already took them and if you were really sincere, you would have given the money to charity before it loked like you were about to get caught. In fact, if you were really, really sincere, you would never have accepted the bribes in the first place and turned Mr. Abramhoff over to authorities immediately.
Already, the spin apologist supporters of the criminal Bush regime are making excuses for the wrongdoings perpetrated by their party. Everyone does, it they say, just look at Ariel Sharon.

Inalienable Rights

In the Declaration of Independence, it is stated that"All men are created equal...and are endowed...with certain inalienable rights". And it seems to me, that if the Bush administration is intent on setting up an "American style democracy" (would that be a democratic republic, George? Do you even know what that means?), that maybe we should ask of our allies in this "war on terror" (which seems to be fighting everything but terorists) is that they endow those within their borders with the same inalienable rights we Americans (used to) enjoy.
We used to have the right to privacy, for instance, but now we have a president who thinks it's okay to spy on Americans. Yeah, I know, I've heard all the apologists say "If you're not getting phone calls from alQa'da, you've got nothing to worry about." That's no excuse for the president breaking the law, mind you, just fear mongering by parties who have no respect for the Constitution. If someone were to receive a call from al Qa'da, how would Bush know? Is alQa'da listed in the phone book? Is it under the yellow pages, or is it in the US government section?
Now, if alQa'da were calling, I think that Bush would have no problem getting a wire tap from a judge. Even the most liberal of activists judges wouldn't say "Terrorists have a right to privacy". Given that, it's a pretty fair shake that anyone that Bush had to break the law to wiretap is probably not from alQa'da. But then, given the paranoia run rampant through the whole rightwing of the country, I could be a terrorist. After all, like George Bush said(just like Anakin Skywalker, right before he became Darth Vader)"You're either with us, or against us", and since I oppose the Bush administration, I could be considered to be a threat (yeah, right), couldn't I?
Yes, we have many inalienable rights in this country, but how about the Palestinians in our "ally", Israel? they don't have the inalienable rights that we (used to) enjoy. The freedom of assembly, the freedom to vote for whom they choose, the right to bear arms, all denied by the Israeli government. In fact, there are roads in their own country they are not allowed to drive down. They have had their land stolen to make way for a wall that separates them from the rest of the country while denying them access to their own land on the other side.
The UN resolution that called for a Jewish state in Palestine, also called for the creation of a Palestinian state as well.And as long as the US enables Israel to continue denying Palestinians their inalienable rights, there will never be an end to "terrorism".