Part 2

Haaaa, I thought I was going to have to go and play on the Hobbit thread.

Oh, look, fresh new carpet. Let's go see if there's a full bar!

Keepin it alive!!!

Mossad do you think you could link the old thread on this one some how? I have no idea how to.

PING to Thread #2, and:


Al-Qaida (Al Qaeda) program to make chemical, biological weapons was halted by war in Afghanistan

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1065670/posts

For reference, here is the link to the First Thread:

Al Qaeda again threatens New York, Washington and Los Angeles
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1013726/posts

Started Nov. 3, 2003, locked (and moved to chat) on Jan. 26, 2004

Has a total of 15, 463 replies.

The "honor of the last post on that thread" goes to Cindy:

====

To: jerseygirl
Adding on to post no. 15454...

I'm still running into the following dates:

February 1, 2004 - once in awhile
February 2, 2004 - OFTEN
February 2-4, 2004 - once in awhile

15,463 posted on 01/26/2004 12:22:04 PM PST by Cindy

Thanks a bunch.

Bookmarked, thanks!

I am afraid that I have to ask, WHO this thread (#1) threatened, to the point that it is now hidden.

Who wants the info on the first thread out of site?

No, not Mr. Robinson, but rather the unknown (to me) names, who kept complaining.

Ruth

Quite appropriate that the privilege of "last post" went to Cindy, considering all her contributions and hard work.

Let's make this one just as informative.

Whoo-hoo!! I didn't know what I was going to do without my daily dose of 'net intel. Thanks!

Hi, Mossad1967...thanks for starting a nice, fresh thread...will try to keep up with this one!

Here is the reason for locking the thread and moving it to chat (if you go to the old thread, you get this:)

Locked on 01/26/2004 12:22:49 PM PST by Sidebar Moderator, reason:
The size of this thread is causing FR to slow down whenever it is accessed. It is going to be locked and moved to the chat/general interest forum. If anyone wants to post a 'Part 2' thread, go ahead, but post it to chat. Thank You

Thank you so much for starting Part 2 for us. The information in the previous thread was outstanding and the work that many put into it was awesome!

That being said, I don't understand why the original thread was locked in the first place. The reason that was given doesn't hold much water in my opinion.

Keep the info flowing!

>> Who wants the info on the first thread out of site?<<

Technical reason is hogwash IMO. The database isn't loading thousands of pages of that thread per view. Even refreshing the DB index is trivial at 15 thousand records. If the number of posts was 15 million, I might buy it.

Shrug, the reality is too many whiners didn't like the thread for various reason so the Admin succumbed.

The reason for locking the previous thread may not hold water for you, but believe me, every time any of the moderators attempted to access the thread the entire system slowed down. There is a known problem with how the database software works and John Robinson has not yet fixed it.

If we were trying to hide something, we could have just pulled the thread. We didn't. We merely locked it so that no more replies could be posted. The entire thread is still visible to anyone who wants to read it.

We then invited participants to start a new thread.

Thanks Mossad!

Thank you for your response.

DoD Homeland Defense Official Convinced Terrorists Would Use WMD

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1065706/posts

WASHINGTON, January 26, 2004 -- If al Qaeda and other terrorists were given even "half an opening," they would use weapons of mass destructions within the United States, said DoD's official responsible for homeland defense.

Paul McHale, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense, addresses members of the Reserve Officers Association Jan. 26 at the group's mid-winter meeting in Washington. McHale encouraged reserve officers to continue the fight against terrorism. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Doug Sample, USA
(Click photo for screen-resolution image); high-resolution image available.

"That's a chilling but hard reality," Paul McHale, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense told members of the Reserve Officers Association here today. He said he's personally convinced that "we must be prepared not only to defeat such attacks, but, God forbid, to respond to them."