Free for all http://www.freesoapbox.com Sat, 22 Nov 2008 01:49:34 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.freesoapbox.com/images/M_images/mambo_rss.png http://www.freesoapbox.com Free for all http://www.freesoapbox.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=88&Itemid=40 A computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer without permission or knowledge of the user. The term virus is also commonly used, albeit erroneously, to refer to many different types of malware and adware programs. Rod http://www.freesoapbox.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=74&Itemid=40 If you regularly spend time in the woods, wilderness, mountains, on water or in any other places in which you may be faced with emergencies and may have to rely on your ability for survival, it's important to know what to do and what your priorities should be. In fact, it's useful to enrol on even the most basic of survival courses as they will help you become more prepared should you find yourself in a real 'life or death' survival situation. Rod http://www.freesoapbox.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=68&Itemid=40 In a survival situation, once you have found shelter, built a fire and collected water, your next task will be to find food resources. And whilst it is perfectly possible to exist without food for a few weeks and live off edible wild plants and berries, you’ll no doubt be glad of a hearty meal. Therefore, it’s very useful to learn some fishing skills and here are some tips; assuming that you have no fishing gear with you. Fishing for Survival If you’re near water, the first thing you must do if you’re looking to catch fish is to spend a bit of time observing how the fish behave each day. Like you, they’ll also be looking for their next meal, so you’ll need to establish their habits – when they’re active, where in the water they head for etc. An additional tip, however, is to consider the temperature if you’re not sure where to look. In hot weather where the water is low, you’ll probably find them in deeper shaded water and when it’s cooler, you’ll find them in shallower areas where the sun warms the water up. Using a Line and Hook Some type of cord should always form part of your survival kit anyway and if you haven’t included a proper fishing hook too, you can always improvise and craft one out of a piece of bone, thorn, wood or a safety pin works just as well. For bait, it’s useful to try to gain an idea of what the fish in the area are eating. Insects, a piece of bread, some raw meat, if you can find any, or worms are all good sources of bait. Survival fishing isn’t an exact science though. The more hooks you have in the water and your willingness to be patient and to experiment are going to be your biggest allies. Bad weather approaching is always a good time to go fishing as well as just after dawn and just before dusk. Spear Fishing If you are handy using your knife to carve out a piece of wood, making a spear to fish with in shallow water is another alternative but if you see fish swimming around in shallow water, it’s a useful skill to learn even though it takes an extreme amount of skill, quick reactions and patience. A forked spear which can trap the fish between its prongs works best. As for a net, you can fashion one out of using some kind of shirt or T-shirt tied onto a Y shaped branch. Fish Traps Only your imagination can limit you to the kinds of fish traps you can engineer. One of the simplest methods is to use the effects of the tide. On a beach or area with tidal waters, build a circle of rocks and use small pebbles to plug any gaps. When the tide comes in, it will bring small fish in with it. Simply return to the rock circle later and see what you’ve caught. Most fish found in freshwater is edible although some will taste better than others. However, it’s important to remember that it’s not a matter of taste but a matter of survival. Once caught, cut the throat and gut it by slitting it from its anal passage to its throat removing the offal as you go. Remove the head, tail and fins then smoke, grill or boil it. Rod http://www.freesoapbox.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=67&Itemid=40 Although some insects can be a source of food in a survival situation, they can also be extremely hazardous. Their stings and bites can cause skin irritations and allergic reactions and can carry diseases which, in some areas of the world, can be fatal. Therefore, if you’re a regular outdoor adventurer, you should always make sure you are fully immunised against insect diseases in the area in which you’re travelling before setting off. In terms of a survival situation, however, the main 2 issues of concern when it comes to dealing with insects are avoidance, i.e. keeping insects at bay and treatment for any bites or stings. Keeping Insects at Bay The most effective insect repellents usually contain a DEET-based solution which is safe to spray or rub onto your skin and on your clothes. If you don’t have this but can find a citrus based fruit to rub its juices onto your skin, which can work too. Clothing should cover your arms and legs and the darker coloured and thicker the clothing the better. However, you should always check your clothes and footwear and shake them out before putting them on, especially if you’ve been airing or drying clothes outdoors. Likewise, with any sleeping bags or blankets you may have – give them a thorough shake and inspection before using them. In a survival situation, you’ll need to forage for wood to build a fire and look for food to eat and you should always be careful before picking up logs and stones where insects might be lurking underneath. You’re also more likely to have problems with flying insects such as mosquitoes if you build your shelter near still water such as a lake. Smoke from a fire is a good way of keeping insects at bay as well. And, if you have a mosquito net or can craft some other kind of cover which can protect you whilst you sleep, do so. Just because you may want to sleep, doesn’t mean the insects do too! Dealing with Common Bites and Stings Insect bites and stings in the majority of cases only really cause minor discomfort and pain and are more of an irritation than anything else. However, depending on the person and the particular insect, bites and stings can cause a range of problems which can include an allergic reaction, abdominal cramps, hives, difficulty swallowing and, in extreme cases, anaphylaxis and even death. To treat an insect bite or sting, you should have the patient lying down and keep them warm, calm and still. Keep the wound immobilised and positioned on the same level to, or slightly lower than, the heart. Remove any restrictive clothing or jewellery around the wound. If it’s a sting, you should scrape any stingers away using a safe-edged implement. Don’t try to remove it with tweezers as you’ll end up leaving part of the stinger still beneath the skin. Clean the wound with water and any soap or antiseptic which should always be in your first-aid kit. Then try to use some kind of cold compress to reduce the swelling. If the bite or sting is severe, make sure you keep checking the casualty to ensure that their airway is clear and that their breathing and circulation are in order and, if necessary, treat them for shock. Also ensure that, once they recover from the initial sting or bite, they do not scratch the affected area no matter how irritating it might be as this can cause infection. To minimise discomfort and irritation, you can cover the area with sap from dandelions or make a cool paste from mud and ashes. Ticks are usually more of an annoyance than anything else but they can sometimes transmit disease. Get into the habit of checking your body parts at least once a day, as well as your clothes to make sure no ticks or other unpleasant critters such as leeches have attached themselves to you. If you have any oil or Vaseline in your first-aid kit, by smothering the ticks with it, it will cut off their air supply and they’ll then release their hold and you can remove them. If you don’t, you must remove them with tweezers, grasping them where their mouth has come into contact with your skin. If you try to pull them off, you’ll probably find their mouth is still embedded in your skin. Leeches should be removed in a similar fashion with tweezers. They can be highly dangerous and suck your blood and cause wounds and infection. Dirty water can contain leeches and if they get in your nose and throat it can present a major problem. Sniffing very salty water or the heat from a cigarette can help to get rid of them from your nose and throat. In survival mode, it’s unlikely you’ll have easy access to expert medical help in the event of a major bite or sting from creatures such as black widow spiders and scorpions, for example. The best thing to do in this instance is simply to read up on the area you’re travelling to, find out what dangerous insects you might encounter there and what to do if you’re bitten or stung by something more dangerous. Rod http://www.freesoapbox.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=66&Itemid=40 Survival can be difficult even at the best of times and can be both psychologically and physically intense; testing you to the limits. This is likely to be magnified even further if you are accompanied by children, as you’ll feel the added responsibility and pressure to get everybody to safety on an even greater level. There are some things you should do, however and some other useful tips that can help to make the situation more bearable. Explain the Survival Situation Fully to ChildrenThere is little point in trying to conceal the gravity of finding yourselves in an emergency situation when accompanied by children. They will soon pick up on what’s going on. Therefore, you need to be honest about what’s happening, yet try to remain calm at the same time. Offer reassurance that the situation is not impossible to get out of, that together you can work things out and that help or rescue is not going to be too far away. Whilst you may feel like panicking inside yourself, it’s important to maintain an ‘adult’ impression at the same time as children naturally and often subconsciously, think of adults as people who they can rely on to provide shelter, warmth, food and safety. Get the Children to Help You SurviveBy coming up with an action plan and enlisting the help of the children, not only will you be able to complete your survival priorities more quickly, but by being occupied, it will take the children’s minds off the worry element of survival. Take an inventory of all your collective belongings and discuss with the children what each item might be used for. Because children have such fertile imaginations, they may even come up with creative ideas that you might not even have thought of yourself. Make sure that they know what each item does and how you are going to use it. Get them to help you erect or find a shelter and get them to gather suitable material for a fire. Food and Water for Survival Tell them about the importance of food and water in a survival situation and what the priorities are. Explain the dangers of eating poisonous foods and drinking dirty water and what they should and shouldn’t do with regard to both issues. Then, adults and children should all work as a team in your collection of both food and water provisions and preparing it for consumption. Keeping Morale Up With ChildrenEncourage a camaraderie and build some time into your survival regime in order to take the children’s minds off the situation by telling funny stories, sharing jokes, having a sing-song and any other general ‘campfire’ games you can come up with. Listen to What the Children Say Just because you are the adult, you must consider the children as equals when it comes to being ‘team members’. They will want to help and will often come up with ingenious ideas. Encourage them to be open with you and with each other. Discuss their fears and try to allay them but show warmth, empathy and be honest and realistic with them above all else. Most survival situations do not last too long, perhaps a day or two is a fair average estimate. Therefore, whilst it might be a scary time for all, with determination and a will to work together to succeed, both you and the children should return to safety before too long and will be able to look back on the situation as an incredible adventure that has only made everybody stronger as a result. Rod http://www.freesoapbox.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=64&Itemid=40 If you’re faced with a survival situation one of the things you’re going to have to do is to find water. Your body loses around 2 to 3 litres of water every day through sweating and urination and this can be even greater if the weather’s hot and/or you’re using a lot of physical energy. Therefore, in order to prevent dehydration, it’s important to find water to replace these lost fluids quickly. Observing Nature If you’re fortunate, you may be near a lake, river, stream or pond where you’re only concern will then be purifying the water but if you’re in arid terrain where there is no immediate evidence that flowing water is nearby, there are a number of resources that you can still tap into – it’s just a case of knowing where to look. Low areas and valleys are natural places into which water will drain. Therefore, if you’re situated in an elevated area, you need to descend to have the best chance of finding water. Look out for rock crevices as you go as rain will often collect in them. Muddy or damp ground is also a good indicator as are any areas of noticeably different green vegetation or a group of trees that seem ‘out of place’ with the rest of the landscape. Have you seen any animals in the area? If not, what about animal tracks? If you’re able to spot some tracks which all tend to travel in the same direction, this could be a sign that the animal has headed for a place to drink. Flocks of birds gathering in the same place and even a swarm of insects often means that there is water close by. Rainwater, Dew and Condensation Even if you’ve followed the observations above and still haven’t come across water, there are other things you can do to collect it. If it rains, many people have been able to survive simply by harvesting rainwater. You can collect it from your tent by lowering the tent and having some kind of container in which to catch the raindrops which have landed on it - even a plastic bag will do. Even if it’s sunny, there will still be dew to collect first thing in the morning. The easiest way to harvest dew is to get a cloth or an old T-shirt and simply drag it through the grass until the cloth is soaked with dew. Then, simply wring it out either directly into your mouth or into a container. You can even use condensation as a useful source of drinkable water. Both trees and plants draw moisture from the ground and the best way of utilising this is to tie a plastic bag to a branch which is facing the sun and tie a knot in the bag at the top over the branch. Evaporation from the leaves will then result in condensation forming in the bag which you can then use to drink. Solar Still Building a solar still harnesses the sun’s energy to provide water and is still a device that is used by many tribes’ people today. Basically, they can be built using a sheet of strong plastic, a cup or some other kind of container and a piece of plastic tubing. You should set up your still in the lowest, dampest area you can find then beginning digging a hole until you hit damp soil. Then, place your cup in the middle of the hole and place one end of the plastic tubing in the cup. Next you need to cover the hole with the plastic sheet ensuring that you have access to the other end of the tube outside the confines of your still and you can use the earth you have dug up to act as weight on top of the plastic sheet so that no air can escape. As the soil is heated by the sun, the moisture evaporates and condenses on the plastic which then drips down to the lowest portion of the plastic then into your cup. You can then drink from the cup by sucking on the tube which means you don’t have to disassemble your still first which can then be used again. The Importance of Water Purification Wherever possible, opt for flowing water as opposed to using water collected from stagnant pools as it’s less likely to contain as many impurities. However, it’s important that you purify ALL water that’s been collected. Even if you come across a stream that looks crystal clear, you can’t be sure that a dead animal isn't lying further upstream, so you should purify all water that you take from the environment. However, don’t collect water that has scum floating on it or where it’s surrounded by dead vegetation. Clear, fast flowing water should always be your chosen option where possible and if the water bubbles or seems to be a strange colour or gives off an unpleasant odour, only use it as a last resort. Remember that, in a survival situation, water takes on far more importance than food and until you’re sure you have enough water resources available, you should try to conserve as much energy as you can. So, when out searching for water, try to do it early in the morning or late in the day when it will be cooler and you’re less likely to lose as much fluid through perspiring. Rod http://www.freesoapbox.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=60&Itemid=40 A U.S. solider surveys a German concentration camp (Please Note that this is a copy of an email that is currently going round and is not written by this website! the views on this email are not necessarily shared by this website it is only show here in order to start further discussion)... any comment you have please register and contribute to this article and others) Rod http://www.freesoapbox.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=59&Itemid=40 Christianity: 2.1 billionIslam: 1.5 billionSecular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist: 1.1 billionHinduism: 900 millionChinese traditional religion: 394 millionBuddhism: 376 millionprimal-indigenous: 300 millionAfrican Traditional Diasporic: 100 millionSikhism: 23 millionJuche: 19 millionSpiritism: 15 millionJudaism: 14 millionBaha'i: 7 millionJainism: 4.2 millionShinto: 4 millionCao Dai: 4 millionZoroastrianism: 2.6 millionTenrikyo: 2 millionNeo-Paganism: 1 millionUnitarian-Universalism: 800 thousandRastafarianism: 600 thousandScientology: 500 thousand Rod http://www.freesoapbox.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=57&Itemid=40 Elizabeth Barrett BrowningElizabeth Barrett, an English poet of the Romantic Movement, was born in 1806 at Coxhoe Hall, Durham, England. The oldest of twelve children, Elizabeth was the first in her family born in England in over two hundred years. For centuries, the Barrett family, who were part Creole, had lived in Jamaica, where they owned sugar plantations and relied on slave labor. Elizabeth's father, Edward Barrett Moulton Barrett, chose to raise his family in England, while his fortune grew in Jamaica. Educated at home, Elizabeth apparently had read passages from Paradise Lost and a number of Shakespearean plays, among other great works, before the age of ten. Rod http://www.freesoapbox.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55&Itemid=40 The word terrorism is politically and emotionally charged,[1] and this greatly compounds the difficulty of providing a precise definition. A 2003 study by Jeffrey Record for the US Army quoted a source (Schmid and Jongman 1988) that counted 109 definitions of terrorism that covered a total of 22 different definitional elements.[2] Record continues Terrorism expert Walter Laqueur also has counted over 100 definitions and concludes that the 'only general characteristic generally agreed upon is that terrorism involves violence and the threat of violence.' Yet terrorism is hardly the only enterprise involving violence and the threat of violence. So does war, coercive diplomacy, and barroom brawls. [3] Angus Martyn in a briefing paper for the Australian Parliament states that The international community has never succeeded in developing an accepted comprehensive definition of terrorism. During the 1970s and 1980s, the United Nations attempts to define the term foundered mainly due to differences of opinion between various members about the use of violence in the context of conflicts over national liberation and self-determination. [4] For this and for political reasons, many news sources (such as Reuters) avoid using this term, opting instead for less accusatory words like bombers, militants, etc.In many countries, acts of terrorism are legally distinguished from criminal acts done for other purposes (see below for particular definitions). Common principles amongst legal definitions of terrorism provide an emerging consensus as to meaning and also foster cooperation between law enforcement personnel in different countries.Among these definitions, some recognize a right to resist occupation by civilians against an invader in an occupied country, and would thus not label all resistance movements as terrorist groups. Others make a distinction between lawful and unlawful use of violence.[5] Ultimately, the distinction is a political judgment.It has also been argued that the political use of violent force and weapons that deliberately target or involve civilians, and do not focus mainly on military or government targets, is a common tactic, and a main defining feature of most conflicts. The criminal act is clear when babies, children, mothers, and the elderly are put in harms way. All nations have distinct criminal laws that prohibit the predictable murder or severe injury of civilians.As terrorism ultimately involves the use or threat of violence with the aim of creating fear not only to the victims but among a wide audience, it is fear which distinguishes terrorism from both conventional and guerrilla warfare. While both conventional military forces and guerrilla forces may engage in psychological warfare, acts of terror and other forms of propaganda, they both aim at military victory. Terrorism on the other hand aims to achieve limited political or other goals, when outright military domination is not possible. This has resulted in some social scientists referring to guerrilla warfare as the weapon of the weak and terrorism as the weapon of the weakest [6], although a stronger force may use it when outright military domination is not desirable.EtymologyThe term terrorism comes from Latin terrere, to frighten via the French word terrorisme,[7] which is often associated with the regime de la terreur, the Reign of Terror of the revolutionary government in France from 1793 to 1794. A leader in the French revolution, Maximilien Robespierre, proclaimed in 1794, “Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible; it is therefore an emanation of virtue; it is not so much a special principle as it is a consequence of the general principle of democracy applied to our country's most urgent needs.”[8] The Committee of Public Safety agents that enforced the policies of The Terror were referred to as Terrorists. [9] The English word terrorism was first recorded in English dictionaries in 1798 as meaning systematic use of terror as a policy. [7] The term appeared earlier in English in newspapers, such as a 1795 use of the term in The Times. The Oxford English Dictionary still records a definition of terrorism as Government by intimidation carried out by the party in power in France between 1789-1794. Generally, a policy intended to cause terror in those against whom it is adopted. [edit] Reasons for controversyThe modern definition of terrorism is inherently controversial. The use of violence for the achievement of political ends is common to state and non-state groups. The difficulty is in agreeing on a basis for determining when the use of violence (directed at whom, by whom, for what ends) is legitimate. The majority of definitions in use have been written by agencies directly associated with a government, and are systematically biased to exclude governments from the definition. Some such definitions are so broad, like the Terrorism Act 2000, as to include the disruption of a computer system wherein no violence is intended or results.The contemporary label of terrorist is highly pejorative; it is a badge which denotes a lack of legitimacy and morality. The application terrorist is therefore always deliberately disputed. Attempts at defining the concept invariably arouse debate because rival definitions may be employed with a view to including the actions of certain parties, and excluding others. Thus, each party might still subjectively claim a legitimate basis for employing violence in pursuit of their own political cause or aim.[edit] Definitions[edit] United NationsSee also: International conventions on terrorism The United Nations states that The question of a definition of terrorism has haunted the debate among states for decades. A first attempt to arrive at an internationally acceptable definition was made under the League of Nations, but the convention drafted in 1937 never came into existence. The UN Member States still have no agreed-upon definition. Terminology consensus would, however, be necessary for a single comprehensive convention on terrorism, which some countries favour in place of the present 12 piecemeal conventions and protocols. The lack of agreement on a definition of terrorism has been a major obstacle to meaningful international countermeasures. Cynics have often commented that one state's terrorist is another state's freedom fighter . Proposed definitions include:1. League of Nations Convention (1937): All criminal acts directed against a State and intended or calculated to create a state of terror in the minds of particular persons or a group of persons or the general public . 2. UN Resolution language (1999): 1. Strongly condemns all acts, methods and practices of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable, wherever and by whomsoever committed; 2. Reiterates that criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public, a group of persons or particular persons for political purposes are in any circumstance unjustifiable, whatever the considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or other nature that may be invoked to justify them . (GA Res. 51/210 Measures to eliminate international terrorism) 3. Short legal definition proposed by Alex P. Schmid to United Nations Crime Branch (1992): Act of Terrorism = Peacetime Equivalent of War Crime 4. Academic Consensus Definition: Terrorism is an anxiety-inspiring method of repeated violent action, employed by (semi-) clandestine individual, group or state actors, for idiosyncratic, criminal or political reasons, whereby - in contrast to assassination - the direct targets of violence are not the main targets. The immediate human victims of violence are generally chosen randomly (targets of opportunity) or selectively (representative or symbolic targets) from a target population, and serve as message generators. Threat- and violence-based communication processes between terrorist (organization), (imperilled) victims, and main targets are used to manipulate the main target (audience(s)), turning it into a target of terror, a target of demands, or a target of attention, depending on whether intimidation, coercion, or propaganda is primarily sought (Schmid, 1988).[11] United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 discusses terrorism and is a primary UN authority for terrorism because it was issued under Chapter VII UN authority.Resolution 1566 gives a definition:criminal acts, including against civilians, committed with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages, with the purpose to provoke a state of terror in the general public or in a group of persons or particular persons, intimidate a population or compel a government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act.—UN Security Council Resolution 1566On March 17, 2005, a UN panel described terrorism as any act intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a government or an international organization to do or abstain from doing any act. [12]The General Assembly resolution 49/60,[13], titled Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism, adopted on December 9, 1994, contains a provision describing terrorism:“ Criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public, a group of persons or particular persons for political purposes are in any circumstance unjustifiable, whatever the considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or any other nature that may be invoked to justify them.[14] ” According to Antonio Cassese, that provision sets out an acceptable definition of terrorism. [15]Former Secretary-General Kofi Annan has stated that there are several Conventions on Terrorism by non-state actors. They a) define a particular type of terrorist violence as an offence under the convention, such as bombing, financing, etc...; b) require State Parties to penalise that activity in their domestic law; c) identify certain bases upon which the parties responsible are required to establish jurisdiction over the defined offence; d) create an obligation on the State in which a suspect is found to establish jurisdiction over the convention offence and to prosecute if the Party does not extradite pursuant to other provisions of the convention. [16]Andrew Byrnes suggested in 2002 that:These conventions – all of which are described by the United Nations as part of its panoply of anti-terrorist measures[17] – share three principal characteristics:(a) they all adopted an operational definition of a specific type of terrorist act that was defined without reference to the underlying political or ideological purpose or motivation of the perpetrator of the act - this reflected a consensus that there were some acts that were such a serious threat to the interests of all that they could not be justified by reference to such motives; (b) they all focused on actions by non-State actors (individuals and organisations) and the State was seen as an active ally in the struggle against terrorism - the question of the State itself as terrorist actor was left largely to one side; and (c) they all adopted a criminal law enforcement model to address the problem, under which States would cooperate in the apprehension and prosecution of those alleged to have committed these crimes. This act-specific approach to addressing problems of terrorism in binding international treaties has continued up until relatively recently. Although political denunciation of terrorism in all its forms had continued apace, there had been no successful attempt to define terrorism as such in a broad sense that was satisfactory for legal purposes. There was also some scepticism as to the necessity, desirability and feasibility of producing an agreed and workable general definition.That situation appears to have changed with the events of September 11. This is not only because States wish for political reasons to be seen to be taking action on a broad front against terrorism by adding to international and national prohibitions on terrorism. It has also become a matter of some legal importance. Following the events of September 11, the UN Security Council, in a binding resolution (Resolution 1373), obliged Member States of the UN to take a wide range of actions to prevent and punish terrorist acts and to attack the support structures of terrorism.—Andrew Byrnes 30 May 2002[18]Two and a half years after Byrnes pointed out a political desire for an international definition, The UN Security Council passed Resolution 1566 went some way to addressing this issue, but it was there is still no multilateral treaty on terrorism.[19][edit] European UnionThe European Union employs a definition of terrorism for legal/official purposes which is set out in Art. 1 of the Framework Decision on Combating Terrorism (2002).[20] This provides that terrorist offences are certain criminal offences set out in a list comprised largely of serious offences against persons and property which; given their nature or context, may seriously damage a country or an international organisation where committed with the aim of: seriously intimidating a population; or unduly compelling a Government or international organisation to perform or abstain from performing any act; or seriously destabilising or destroying the fundamental political, constitutional, economic or social structures of a country or an international organisation. [edit] United StatesThe United States has defined terrorism under the Federal Criminal Code. Chapter 113B of Part I of Title 18 of the United States Code defines terrorism and lists the crimes associated with terrorism.[21] In Section 2331 of Chapter 113b, terrorism is defined as:…activities that involve violent… or life-threatening acts… that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State and… appear to be intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and… (C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States… [or]… (C) occur primarily outside the territorial jurisdiction of the United States… Edward Peck, former U.S. Chief of Mission in Iraq (under Jimmy Carter) and ambassador to Mauritania:In 1985, when I was the Deputy Director of the Reagan White House Task Force on Terrorism, they asked us — this is a Cabinet Task Force on Terrorism; I was the Deputy Director of the working group — they asked us to come up with a definition of terrorism that could be used throughout the government. We produced about six, and each and every case, they were rejected, because careful reading would indicate that our own country had been involved in some of those activities. […] After the task force concluded its work, Congress got into it, and you can google into U.S. Code Title 18, Section 2331, and read the US definition of terrorism. And one of them in here says — one of the terms, “international terrorism,” means “activities that,” I quote, “appear to be intended to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping.” […] Yes, well, certainly, you can think of a number of countries that have been involved in such activities. Ours is one of them. Israel is another. And so, the terrorist, of course, is in the eye of the beholder.[22][edit] United KingdomThe United Kingdom defined acts of terrorism in the Terrorism Act 2000 as the use or threat of action where:(a) the action falls within subsection (2),(b) the use or threat is designed to influence the government or to intimidate the public or a section of the public and(c) the use or threat is made for the purpose of advancing a political, religious or ideological cause.(2) Action falls within this subsection if it(a) involves serious violence against a person,(b) involves serious damage to property,(c) endangers a person’s life, other than that of the person committing the action,(d) creates a serious risk to the health or safety of the public or a section of the public or(e) is designed seriously to interfere with or seriously to disrupt an electronic system.Section 34 of the Terrorism Act 2006 amended sections 1(1)(b) and 113(1)(c) of Terrorism Act 2000 to include international governmental organisations in addition to government .[citation needed] All or part of this article may be confusing or unclear.Please help clarify the article. Suggestions may be on the talk page. (May 2008) [edit] Laws and government agenciesU.S. Code of Federal Regulations: ...the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives (28 C.F.R. Section 0.85). Current U.S. national security strategy: premeditated, politically motivated violence against innocents. United States Department of Defense: the calculated use of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or intimidate governments or societies in pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological. [23] USA PATRIOT Act: activities that (A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the U.S. or of any state, that (B) appear to be intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion, or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping, and (C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S. The U.S. National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) described a terrorist act as one which was: premeditated; perpetrated by a subnational or clandestine agent; politically motivated, potentially including religious, philosophical, or culturally symbolic motivations; violent; and perpetrated against a noncombatant target. [1] The British Terrorism Act 2000 defines terrorism so as to include not only violent offences against persons and physical damage to property, but also acts designed seriously to interfere with or seriously to disrupt an electronic system .[2] This latter consideration would include shutting down a website whose views one dislikes. However, this, and any of the other acts covered by the definition would also need to be (a) designed to influence the government or to intimidate the public or a section of the public, AND (b)be done for the purpose of advancing a political, religious or ideological cause.[the latter three terms are not defined in the Act]. [3] The Supreme Court of India adopted Alex P. Schmid's definition of terrorism in a 2003 ruling (Madan Singh vs. State of Bihar), defin[ing] acts of terrorism veritably as 'peacetime equivalents of war crimes.' [4] [edit] IndividualsSchmid and Jongman (1988): Terrorism is an anxiety-inspiring method of repeated violent action, employed by (semi-)clandestine individual, group, or state actors, for idiosyncratic, criminal, or political reasons, whereby—in contrast to assassination—the direct targets of violence are not the main targets. The immediate human victims of violence are generally chosen randomly (targets of opportunity) or selectively (representative or symbolic targets) from a target population, and serve as message generators. Threat- and violence-based communication processes between terrorist (organization), (imperiled) victims, and main targets are use to manipulate the main target (audience(s), turning it into a target of terror, a target of demands, or a target of attention, depending on whether intimidation, coercion, or propaganda is primarily sought .[24] L. Ali Khan: Terrorism sprouts from the existence of aggrieved groups. [25] Jack Gibbs (1989): Terrorism is illegal violence or threatened violence directed against human or nonhuman objects, provided that it: (1) was undertaken or ordered with a view to altering or maintaining at least one putative norm in at least one particular territorial unit or population: (2) had secretive, furtive, and/or clandestine features that were expected by the participants to conceal their personal identity and/or their future location; (3) was not undertaken or ordered to further the permanent defense of some area; (4) was not conventional warfare and because of their concealed personal identity, concealment of their future location, their threats, and/or their spatial mobility, the participants perceived themselves as less vulnerable to conventional military action; and (5) was perceived by the participants as contributing to the normative goal previously described (supra) by inculcating fear of violence in persons (perhaps an indefinite category of them) other than the immediate target of the actual or threatened violence and/or by publicizing some cause. [citation needed] David Rodin (Oxford Philosopher): Terrorism is the deliberate, negligent, or reckless use of force against noncombatants, by state or nonstate actors for ideological ends and in the absence of a substantively just legal process. [5] Walter Laqueur: Terrorism constitutes the illegitimate use of force to achieve a political objective when innocent people are targeted. [citation needed] Boaz Ganor: Terrorism is the deliberate use of violence aimed against civilians in order to achieve political ends [26][citation needed][6] James M. Poland: Terrorism is the premeditated, deliberate, systematic murder, mayhem, and threatening of the innocent to create fear and intimidation in order to gain a political or tactical advantage, usually to influence an audience. [citation needed] M. Cherif Bassiouni: 'Terrorism' has never been defined... [27] Robespierre (17 pluviôse an II = 5/2/1794): Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible; it is therefore an emanation of virtue; it is not so much a special principle as it is a consequence of the general principle of democracy applied to our country's most urgent needs. Original: La terreur n'est autre chose que la justice prompte, sévère, inflexible; elle est donc une émanation de la vertu; elle est moins un principe particulier, qu’une conséquence du principe général de la démocratie, appliqué aux plus pressants besoins de la patrie. [citation needed] [edit] OtherLeague of Nations Convention (1937): all criminal acts directed against a State and intended or calculated to create a state of terror in the minds of particular persons or a group of persons or the general public. Darul Uloom Deoband Anti-Terrorism Conference (2008): Any action that targets innocents, whether by an individual or by any government and its agencies or by a private organisation anywhere in the world constitutes, according to Islam, an act of terrorism. ref [edit] Criticisms of the termJason Burke, an expert in radical Islamist activity, has this to say on the word terrorism : There are multiple ways of defining terrorism, and all are subjective. Most define terrorism as 'the use or threat of serious violence' to advance some kind of 'cause'. Some state clearly the kinds of group ('sub-national', 'non-state') or cause (political, ideological, religious) to which they refer. Others merely rely on the instinct of most people when confronted with innocent civilians being killed or maimed by men armed with explosives, firearms or other weapons. None is satisfactory, and grave problems with the use of the term persist. Terrorism is after all, a tactic. The term 'war on terrorism' is thus effectively nonsensical. As there is no space here to explore this involved and difficult debate, my preference is, on the whole, for the less loaded term 'militancy'. This is not an attempt to condone such actions, merely to analyse them in a clearer way. ( Al Qaeda , ch.2, p.22) Other arguments include that:There is no strict worldwide commonly accepted definition. Any definition that could be agreed upon in, say, English-speaking countries would be biased towards those countries. Almost every serious attempt to define the term have been sponsored by governments who instinctively attempt to draw a definition which excludes bodies like themselves. Nowadays, most groups called terrorist deny such accusations. Virtually no organisation openly calls itself terrorist. Many groups referred to as terrorist also call their enemies terrorist . The word is very loosely applied and very difficult to challenge when it is being used inappropriately, for example in war situations or against non-violent persons. It allows governments to apply a different standard of law to that of ordinary criminal law on the basis of a unilateral decision. There is no hope that people will ever all agree who is terrorist and who is not. The term as widely used in the western world reflects a bias towards the status quo. Violence by established governments is sold as defence , even when that claim is considered dubious by some; any attempt to oppose the established order through military means, however, is often labelled terrorism . If we labelled groups terrorist on the basis of how their opponents perceive them, such labels would be very controversial, for example: State of Israel, USA, but also the states of Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan under the rule of the Taliban The contemporary Palestine Liberation Organization Groups conducting revolution, such as the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), are routinely denigrated as terrorist Almost all guerrilla groups (like Tamil Tigers or Chechen rebels) are accused of being terrorist , but almost all guerrilla groups accuse countries they fight against of likewise being terrorist . Resistance movements during World War II. For instance, French Resistance against the Nazi occupation of France and the Nazis' collaborators (see also Vichy Government). Rod