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Well, since these are kids into Labor Party politics, they’re probably not super aggressive. Nor are they used to guns. So running away and/or hiding is a more natural reaction. And running away is a good survival instinct much of the time — it’s just that on a small island it’s not very effective. Also, that police uniform clearly confused everyone when it came to reacting.

Finally, while it’s a small island, it’s got a lot of trees and a rocky shoreline. That would make it difficult to see what was going on from a distance, thus making it difficult for people to figure out exactly what was going on besides hearing shots and screams.

That’s sad. That probably means there are kids and/or adults still unaccounted for. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the victims died from drowning. I can’t imagine the water is very warm and even a bad swimmer will dive in to avoid getting shot in the head. Sad.

So the press helicopter is supposed to figure out that the “cop” is actually the killer, turn around, fly back to an airport, pick up a police/military sniper who just happens to be armed and ready, fly back to the island, reacquire the “cop” target (and not hitting any other cops that might also be there via boat), and take him out from the sky (the newly acquired sniper being an expert at shooting from a helicopter also). I’m sure that’s an easy task done in a minute or two. /sarcasm.

Reactions always take time. And reactions to unexpected new events take longer. Look at 9/11, passengers on the fourth flight reacted to the new threat. But it still took them time to figure that out. And they had the knowledge of the earlier attacks to help them make that change. The half hour or ninety minutes it takes for people to adjust is a lot of time for a determined man to kill a lot of people.

Big difference between OKC and now — the Internet. Back then, the information about making powerful bombs with fertilizer was only being used among Islamic terror groups. So McVeigh etal. had to actually go to the Phillipines and make contact with such people to learn the info. Now the info about fertilizer being helpful is common knowledge all over the many stories about OKC. And I’m guessing that the info on how to actually make it is available in many places on the web (I’m guessing it’s knowledge that can be found on the many Islamic terror web sites without much difficulty these days).

Back then, a poorly written Anarchist’s Cookbook would probably be the main source for someone without official military training. These days, anyone with internet access could easily find the knowledge about bomb making.

Perhaps the bomb was merely a distraction for his main attack. So the real sick “fun” came from getting to kill kids trapped with nowhere to run. Thus, the timing was dictated not by the most effective time for the bomb blast but the most effective time to launch his assault on the island. Doing it then before the Minister arrived on the island with his normal security detail probably gave him the most time to “enjoy” his main goal -— the shooting spree. Judging from the witness descriptions and that one photo, this reminds me of Columbine where the killers were more into the one on one killing and the bombs are a side show.

Though, from what I’ve read, Norway has very few cops per capita (less than half of even Sweden’s minimal level) and even the Royal family travels freely about with minimal security presence.

If the above is true, then Norway caught a break in that a bomb that powerful could have killed hundreds more at a busier time of day.

Over at Pajamas Media, it was pointed out that Norway has very few cops on a per capita basis. It was less than half of what Sweden has for example. So the bombs in Oslo would have made for a very effective diversion of official attention while he commences his shooting spree elsewhere. Norway is a country that’s still not even begun to come to grips with increasing criminal violence among Islamic immigrants let alone how to deal with and respond to actual large scale attacks like this one.

The use of a cop uniform was diabolically effective. The following quote from an AP article today nails it —

“Elise said she had just come out from an information meeting in a nearby building when she heard gunshots. She saw a police officer and thought she was safe, but then he started shooting.”

Islam is so violent that they’re constantly making threats against everyone (including each other) on a daily basis. It would probably be impossible for a non-Muslim maniac to commit an atrocity that wasn’t preceded by some Islamic threat against his chosen target. In other words, when something occurs all the time, everything else seems linked even when they’re not.

Norway has very few cops per capita. Parking a car bomb ahead of time and letting a timer do the job while you spend a few hours traveling to your next attack site wouldn’t be that difficult or risky. In fact, the car bomb(s) would serve as excellent distractions for the attack on the island as the attention of the nation’s police and emergency responders would be focused on Oslo.

Remember that this is a very tiny island. It’s not as if the kids could just run away in all directions as they could on the mainland. Swimming away takes much longer than running. It also means that there is no concealment or cover as you flee by water except by going underwater. And even a pistol can shoot farther than most people can breath underwater, let alone a rifle or assault weapon. Finally, if he was wearing a police uniform, then he’s got the element of surprise on top of that. A kid who didn’t see the initial attack but hears the gunshots is very likely to go towards the supposed policeman for protection.

It reminds me of that South Korean mass murder case where a cop went house to house killing many as his uniform gave him an edge of surprise.

At the local level, you need something like that just to cover rougher winters. One extra big snowstorm can cost a lot.

Still, they need to cut more spending. If it isn’t infrastructure repairs or keeping prisons filled, then it needs to be cut.

While the threats to our homeland are great, we are better prepared to fight back than ever before in our history. The constant fights and deployments since the first Gulf War have created a vast pool of experienced combat veterans to go with our vast technological edge. The surge in Iraq has also produced a force that can successfully fight an insurgent war and win hearts and minds. And that was in an inherently hostile and broken Islamic culture. Despite it’s flaws, Mexico is Christian and has people who desire better lives and have a work ethic. We would find willing allies in Mexico much easier than in Iraq where such cooperation and individual bravery goes against the culture.

Our only real problem is our ruling elites lack of willpower to lead and not steal. And as the Tea Parties and the last election show, they’re running out of time. It’s just sad that the cowardice of the American and Mexican elites have allowed this problem to become on where tens of thousands (and probably hundreds of thousands more) have died and will die before peace and stability return.

There are two people barred from running for President by the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution -- George W Bush and William J Clinton. It's impossible to hide the fact those two men have already won two elections to the office.

Castle would have lost to Coons. Why? Because he would have been the big spending incumbent in that race. Now Coons is the big spending insider. And he’s already making the mistake of going all negative and forgetting to give people a reason to vote for him, just like Castle. The elites of both parties really don’t seem to learn from each election. They just think that they didn’t do enough of what failed before.

Coons also lacks charisma. And like Castle, he’s been facing cakewalks in his prior elections.

Castle and his cronies have been squashing rivals for a long time. To get better challengers in Delaware requires Castle’s removal first. Then, just maybe, we can begin to build a pool of talent again within the DE GOP.

Oh, yes, Ting. His mailings and calls were heavy in the primary until he had safely edged O’Donnell and Protack in a three way race. Then he just disappeared. Which was his role as Castle’s man — squash the outsider conservatives and protect Castle’s buddy Carper.

No. This race became competitive way too late for that type of activity. Besides, the Castle is too close with the Dems in this state for the Dem Party to try that.

No. Governor Tom Carper’s secretary Anne Marie Fahey was murdered by her boyfriend Thomas Capano and dumped at sea. It was an interesting case in that they never found the body but they did find the cooler she’d been dumped in. Capano was from a prominent developer family.

Coons is the New Castle County Chief Executive. He got the job when the Feds prosecuted his predecessor. Interestingly, the predecessor beat the rap and tried to take back the job in the Dem primary, but his fear and power where gone.

His main claim to fame as boss is that he spent the huge surplus his predecessor built up in just a few years. So he’s definitely vulnerable there. Coons has no charisma and like Castle, he really hasn’t been in any real tough races yet (the Castle GOP didn’t bother to run anyone against Coons in the last general election).

Yeah, his predecessor was strange — a Democrat who treated his offices as personal property but never raised property taxes and kept spending increases down enough to have big surpluses.

I doubt he’d say anything different since his points seemed to be mainly about the November race.

For all of Castle’s spending on mailings and calls, I’m guessing that the support from Limbaugh, Hannity and Levin in the last few days were vastly more effective in reaching GOP voters. Candidates really need to spend less money on mailings and work on other techniques for reaching voters.

He never did give people a reason to vote for him. It was all about her. And that’s just insane for an incumbent. To be honest, I don’t believe that he is the stronger candidate against Coons, at least once we get close to November.