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Poll: Would you be anxious about travelling to Paris or Brussels?

The Department of Foreign Affairs reminded people to ‘exercise extreme caution’ if they are planning a trip to France.

TERROR ATTACKS AT popular tourist destinations have created turmoil in the travel industry.

The president of the Irish Travel Agents Association Martin Skelly said,“What has happened so far is that the people that had bookings made are a bit anxious.

“It has had some effect on forward bookings – but short term forward bookings really. People are reluctant to travel.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs updated its travel advice for Irish citizens travelling to Belgium or France this week, reminding people to ‘exercise extreme caution’ if they are planning a trip to France.

Skelly also added that Irish holidaymakers are especially concerned about travelling to Paris and Brussels, with a number of people cancelling their trips on short notice.

So today we’re asking, Would you be anxious travelling to Paris or Brussels? 


Poll Results:

Yes  (7349)
No  (6308)
I don't know (697)

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82 Comments
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    Mute Séamus Mc Allister
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:42 PM

    Nothing says killing people is wrong like killing people.

    188
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    Mute Miss Filed
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    Jan 30th 2014, 10:19 PM

    Indeed – perhaps this is a better response:
    http://peacefultomorrows.org/about-us/

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    Mute Winston Teardrops
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    Jan 31st 2014, 9:58 AM

    I have reservations like anybody about capital punishment, but in this infamous instance, I can’t seriously equate his killing (innocent people) with the feds seeking to kill him (guilty). This guy through deliberate premeditated actions forfeited his right to life. I cannot accept this right to life is absolute. All rights can be forfeited. And if what he did isn’t grounds for forfeiting, I honestly don’t know what is. When he is dead, we will have at least some element of balance and can be satisfied that justice has been served.

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    Mute Miss Filed
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    Jan 31st 2014, 11:13 AM

    What do you think about this evidence on the lack of development of the adolescent brain into the twenties that makes them less culpable for their actions?
    http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publishing/criminal_justice_section_newsletter/crimjust_juvjus_Adolescence.authcheckdam.pdf

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    Mute Joe Bergin
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:37 PM

    My sons friends know him as he was a lifeguard, too. All think this is a little brother dragged into something he had little understanding , just a follower. But he did not stop after he saw what they did. He will die in accordance with the law and in response to the heartbreak and hatred in the community. My understanding of what the next 60 years of prison in the commonwealth or a federal place would be like leads me to think life in prison is enough. But few feel like that around here. You mostly hear what armchair executioners would like to do to get their rocks off legal, I think.

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    Mute Miss Filed
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    Jan 30th 2014, 10:21 PM

    How horribly sad. I hope they will visit him and try to give him some comfort because his life is severely fcuked whatever happens and he is really just a boy :-(
    I would like to think these wonderful people might visit him too: http://peacefultomorrows.org/about-us/

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    Mute Jill :D
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    Jan 30th 2014, 10:26 PM

    Did I just read your comment? He’s a terrorist! I’m 20 and I know that that disgusting thing of a human knew exactly what he was doing. Death is the easy way out. He should rot in prison with hopefully extremely unfriendly cell mates.

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    Mute Miss Filed
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    Jan 31st 2014, 10:11 AM

    Well Jill the word terrorist is an interesting one… my own ancestors in the ‘old IRA’ would no doubt have been called terrorists too. Young men aged 18 in a USA army uniform who killed civilians during the invasion of Iraq are likely called heroes. I have to say here that I am a pacifist and so I believe all killing is wrong – whether by individuals, armies or state executioners.

    During the time of the ‘troubles’ in this country many young men were lured into involvement with the IRA – adolescence is a good time to get that kind of misguided idealistic patriotic engagement, as illegal and legal recruiting people know only too well. Part of the reason is the lack of development of the pre-frontal cortex that allows us to control our impulses and consider the consequences of our actions.

    Now we have to understand that all of this is NOT to say that people do not have to be held to account for their actions, but there can be mitigating circumstances, and as a society if we cannot understand the factors that lead to such events we are lost… and if we only seek blood-thirsty revenge then we become a violent society, as I believe is becoming the case in the USA.

    Try to consider the circumstances of this boy – by all accounts an out of place foreigner living away from his country and his family from a young age, feeling alienated in a society that looks down on Middle Eastern people and Muslims as ‘terrorists’, hearing about the injustices committed by the USA against Muslims in different countries, and having his one true close family member – his brother – involved in fundamentalist politics – in addition living in a fairly macho country with a gun culture (the US). Then consider the idealism of youth and the lack of brain development that makes young adults literally less culpable for their actions.

    You may be thinking well I wouldn’t do that. Well Jill, nor would I, but with a bit of imagination we can all see that different people have very different life experiences and we were very lucky not to have his life experiences. I wouldn’t either put on a uniform and go to another country to kill people, but for some that is where their life experiences lead them, especially idealistic young people.

    The other thing is the if the USA keep wondering why people keep attacking them (and again this is not a justification but a reason) then they need only look to their own actions invading countries and killing civilians for basically access to resources like oil.

    So in a way those young soldiers and this young man are all a product of a macho culture that specifically makes young men patriotic and gung-ho. And then if you are on the wrong side you will get punished for it. You may have noticed that the USA have a lot of these events specifically with young men – ever wondered why that may be? Again, do we seek to understand why things happen so that we can prevent them in the future? What about mental health services for young people in the USA that can pick up on the mental distress and alienation many of them obviously feel?

    Some countries, like Denmark, have the lowest rate of offending by a huge margin and what they do with offenders like this is try to understand and rehabilitate them, get them to take responsibility for their actions, and treat them with respect while they pay their debt to society. They have a more civilised approach than the US, which has the highest rate of incarceration in the whole world – and still an increasingly fearful and violent society – so something wrong there with the vengeful approach. I guess people can choose a vengeful and brutal system that guarantees higher re-offending, or one that works to lower re-offending – every country’s choice.

    I do remember when I was your age I saw things very much in black and white too, but age teaches that you have to walk in another person’s shoes to really understand what happened. Or we could keep on not learning lessons and letting these things happen more and more.

    In any event, I constantly marvel at how the US can call itself a largely Christian country with some of those attitudes we hear about.

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    Mute Miss Filed
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    Jan 31st 2014, 11:15 AM

    And there is this too – added to mental distress, alienation from society, idealism and the need for a sense of belonging…
    http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publishing/criminal_justice_section_newsletter/crimjust_juvjus_Adolescence.authcheckdam.pdf

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    Mute Joe Bergin
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    Jan 31st 2014, 12:08 PM

    @misfiled
    All of your comment regarding alienation, not fitting in etc applies to the ollder brother not Dzhokar. Dzokar was a popular kid with a lot of friends, a lifeguard a regular weed puffer with the mainstream of kids iin one of the most tolerant cities in the world. This is not Waco, TX here hahahaha. The High School he went to has many many foreign born students and with 3000 or so kids there are students form 150 countries you are all wrong with him & that. On the other hand his brother is older and did not fold into the crowd here. No friends , a talented boxer with a lot of rage. Had some friends. Interestingly a few of his friends, who were jewish , got their throats slit almost off a while before this. The police did not clear that case. People now remember he did not attend their funeral.
    The older brother was addicted to conspiracy theories like many useless people divorced from reality and living in a terrified interior fantasy world. He led his younger brother right into this and then got himself killed. Cops say Dzhokar ran him over fleeing from the shootout.
    Smart money is saying he will get life without parole after he pleads guilty. They wont offer that without something but it is a very good bet that is how this will play out.

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    Mute Miss Filed
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    Jan 31st 2014, 1:11 PM

    Good to know Joe that he had some kind of good things in his life. I still say there must have been some kind of mental distress, alienation, something going wrong in his life in order for him to get drawn into this. And to say that public discourse is not down on Muslims in the USA is untrue and he would have been hearing that. As a Middle Eastern foreign national he may have felt out of place and because of the strong need of adolescents to belong, he may have been attracted to the Muslim fundamentalist community that his brother drew him into. He would also have been aware of the multiple atrocities and killings of Muslim civilians committed in the Middle East by US armed forces.

    Basically, although we cannot know what was going on with him in terms of emotional and mental stress, it is clear that something was very wrong for him to get involved in this – although I do agree he was probably very largely led by his brother. He likely has a lot in common with that thread of disturbed young men who go crazy and commit atrocities in the USA. Hard to tell from the outside but it seems there is a fairly macho gun culture in the USA.

    Whatever happened, I hope they do not kill him and I hope that he can have the chance to come to an understanding of what he has done and be rehabilitated to something that will be good for society.

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    Mute Miss Filed
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    Jan 31st 2014, 1:13 PM
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    Mute Joe Bergin
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    Jan 31st 2014, 3:31 PM

    I think any useful analysis of anything will consider many factors. But Cambridge, where his family lived, is atypically welcoming and ostentatiously open-minded. Bill O Reilly type morons seem very far away. In a country foreign to us here.
    Considering all of the factors, as you have, & from everything I hear, the older brother is 100% responsible for leading this kid into this. Remember after they killed a child and dismembered others they stopped and looked and carried on killing a university cop for his gun. He was NOT dissuaded by the carnage they had wrought, until they saw their faces on the news and ran they were likely planning more carnage.
    There is a great deal of suffering around with the many wounded. They chose a particular event that would be the greatest outrage to this community that welcomed them in. He must never get out until everyone has been made whole.

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    Mute JamieKay
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:28 PM

    Death isn’t good enough for this guy.he should suffer for the rest of his life

    107
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    Mute Begrudgy
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:32 PM

    With everything America has been into lately i just can’t be 100% sure this guy is guilty. Probably is, its just conspiracy and America seem to go together.

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    Mute Foxys Bicycle
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:41 PM

    Would like to see the evidence against him and how they are going to tie him to this terrorist attack

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    Mute GOLDEN ARMS
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:47 PM

    Right way of thinking my friends, I wonder if the man who is now an icon of the attack (in a wheelchair missing half a leg) will be one of the 240 wounded, even after being photographed fitting a severed prosthesis onto his already amputated leg in the immediate aftermath of the smoke bomb first blast.

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    Mute William Grogan
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:52 PM

    You’re just a looney conspiracy nut

    36
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    Mute Foxys Bicycle
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    Jan 30th 2014, 8:01 PM

    William
    Is that a salted or unsalted nut
    I like roasted honey glazed myself

    23
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    Mute Steven O Doherty
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    Jan 30th 2014, 8:13 PM

    I don’t believe any of it. The truth is out there and will be revealed. Not by controled American main stream media tho, Justin bieber is more of a priority to them.

    32
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    Mute Mick Jordan.
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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:19 PM

    This is a public trial. All the prosecutions evidence will be on display. His defence team will have every opportunity to challenge the prosecutions case. So those of you that are waffling on about conspiracies will have to judge the evidence for yourselves.
    And after the evidence has been presented by both prosecution and defence a Jury of 12 will weigh it up and give a verdict.

    25
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    Mute Malcolm
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:59 PM

    Usa class themselves as a pacifist nation who love going to war. They castigate nations for enriching uranium but have 5000 nuclear bombs themselves. They call unwanted emigrants illegal aliens yet none of them are native american themselves. All trouble against them is not justifiable but certainly understandable

    84
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    Mute stephen kavanagh
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:35 PM

    The death penalty is utterly barbaric. I hope sense prevails in this matter.

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    Mute Brian Hicks
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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:15 PM

    Right,

    Lets deport him to one of those wonderfully civil Arab nations where the penalty would only be…

    // oh right…

    never mind…

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    Mute stephen kavanagh
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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:34 PM

    US or Arab, there’s very little difference between them where this barbaric and cruel custom is concerned

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    Mute Brian Hicks
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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:38 PM

    Except that in the US you have to have committed aggravated murder, in the Arab world you need only steal a loaf of bread, or if you’re a woman, have sex outside of wedlock…

    Yup, you’re right…very little difference…

    26
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    Mute Miss Filed
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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:42 PM

    I agree the death penalty is wrong and shameful wherever it is, but the USA cannot really take any moral high ground here – they incarcerate the greatest number of citizens in the world and they also have the death penalty. It’s barbaric wherever it is – it is usually numbskulls who stand up for it.

    And of course had he killed civilians in Iraq or Afghanistan in a US uniform, he would likely have a medal now…

    All so sad, all the pain and killing – whether legally sanctioned or not – all of it is has the same source – the fearful paranoid macho culture that men are brought up in – whether they join the army or the some ‘terrorist’ cell, or the IRA or whatever – mix youthful immaturity with a macho culture that glorifies war and violence and you get this young man – then instead of compassion you get disgusting calls for him to be hurt and killed.

    For shame. Would YOU put the lethal injection in this young man’s arm? If you would I am very sorry for you. Let’s all get a grip here and soften all those hardened hearts.

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    Mute stephen kavanagh
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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:45 PM

    The principle remains the same whatever the crime. Life just shouldn’t be taken, ‘legally’ or otherwise. We none of us have the right to pronounce that sentence on another human being.

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    Mute Kerry Blake
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:33 PM

    Wonder if Attorney General Eric Holder is thinking of going into politics at some stage. Looking for the death penalty seems to be required on the CV now days in America…..

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    Mute Random_paddy
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:55 PM

    Have prosecutors in the US ever sought the death penalty against one of their own American born school nutjobs who shot dead kids at school?

    Just wondering if they would apply the law the same for their own?

    47
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    Mute Jamie McCormack
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    Jan 30th 2014, 8:47 PM

    I think they do. They love seeking death penalties where they can.

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    Mute Brian Hicks
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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:32 PM

    Yes we do…

    The Death Penalty is a possibility in many states, or if you’re prosecuted by the Feds, if the crime meets specific criterea. You don’t face death for drug crimes for example…only for aggravated murder of a heinous type. Like the animals in Texas that dragged a man to death from the back of their truck…or murdering a law enforcement officer, or fireman, or EMT in the performance of their duty…or rape ending in murder. Several states don’t allow the death penalty under any circumstances…unless the prosecution is done by the Feds. Massachusetts doesn’t have the death penalty, but this is a Federal case so it overides state law.

    So to answer the question “Just wondering if they would apply the law the same for their own?”…yes…yes we do…

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    Mute Jamie McCormack
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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:41 PM

    The death penalty is wrong. Killing people is not a good thing. The death penalty does not deter serious crime, instead it serves a sense of revenge, control and bloodlust. China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, North Korea, USA… not great company to be in.

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    Mute Shane
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:28 PM

    Make it slow and painful

    44
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    Mute Nagger
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    Jan 30th 2014, 8:28 PM

    Yes and he wrote a confession letter with pen and biro, which he happened to have on him, in the dark whilst bleeding to death on a boat in a backyard. Convenient, like the indestructible passports found in the streets hours after towers collapsed on 9/11 but not a black box in sight

    41
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    Mute Cionnadh
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    Jan 31st 2014, 3:30 AM

    Another member of the tinfoil hat club…. Idiot

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    Mute Nagger
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    Jan 31st 2014, 7:59 AM

    Yep, I wear a tinfoil hat because I firmly believe us and other govts spy on their citizens, allow bad things to happen in order to go to war and tell lies to their citizens. So yes I quess that makes me a crazy insane conspiracy nut in they eyes of those who like their news spoon fed to them and explained to them in pictures.

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    Mute Horgay H
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    Jan 30th 2014, 8:06 PM

    He used a weapon of mass destruction according to US authorities. A small pressure cooker is placed up there on the same level as a nuclear bomb. You gotta love the US justice system.

    The whole Boston bombing is not as we were told in the press. Fill of lies and inconsistencies. What are they trying to cover up…

    40
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    Mute Foxys Bicycle
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    Jan 30th 2014, 8:12 PM

    You know you’re going to upset deco noonan with posts like that Horgay
    the poor chap is going to have a heart attack on here one day with the painfull truth that’s been told by some on here

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    Mute angryzes
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    Jan 30th 2014, 8:17 PM

    An innocent pressure cooker? So, what did they cook? Maybe this pressure cooker was small but it was a killing machine. Also, people who use nuclear bombs are never prosecuted, they die peacefully in their beds at home – we know this from History.

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    Mute Horgay H
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    Jan 30th 2014, 8:25 PM

    Re angryzes

    You may be right with regards to current history but we do not know what happened the last time nuclear weapons were used in ancient India as mentioned in the purannas

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    Mute angryzes
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    Jan 30th 2014, 8:34 PM

    What? Ancient India, nuclear weapons? Ah, goodbye friend. And if you ever visit Japan – never mention this secret you know. I think they are not on the same level with you, I am afraid they will not understand.

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    Mute Mick Jordan.
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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:02 PM

    Horgay.
    It was a bomb packed with nails and ball bearings. It was designed to kill and maim. It was targeted at innocent people watching the Boston Marathon. What part of that bomb was not designed to cause mass destruction?
    He is being given a public trial with a highly qualified defence team. And if he is found guilty of this crime he may be sentenced to Death. Now what problem do you have with that?

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    Mute stephen kavanagh
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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:12 PM

    The ‘may be sentenced to death’ part is a big problem, I would say.

    19
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    Mute Mick Jordan.
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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:21 PM

    Stephen is there Any crime in your opinion worthy of a Death Sentence?

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    Mute stephen kavanagh
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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:28 PM

    No, I think it’s never justified, not so much because it’s not deserved but because I don’t think any of us have the right to kill another person, legally or otherwise. And by all accounts the prisons in the US tend to be so inhumane in how they’re run that I’d say a life sentence in one of them is punishment enough.

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    Mute Mick Jordan.
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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:42 PM

    So let me ask you a hypothetical question. You have a child say 5 – 6yrs old. Said child is taken by a pedophile. He is Rapes, tortures and murders the child for his pleasure and makes a film of it to distribute to others. The Police capture the suspect via his own video. He is tried and found guilty. The Judge gives you a chance to ask for a penalty that you think appropriate up to and including Death. What sentence would you ask for?

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    Mute stephen kavanagh
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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:51 PM

    I would ask for incarceration for life, as should always be the case when someone is subject to uncontrollable urges which endanger the public. Now of course if I was the parent of or related to that child I would want the culprit’s blood, but the law can’t operate on that personal emotive kind of basis.

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    Mute Foxys Bicycle
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    Jan 30th 2014, 10:03 PM

    Stephen
    You ask the judge if you can have the pleasure of putting the noose around said skumbags head
    We need a death penalty for certain crimes

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    Mute stephen kavanagh
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    Jan 30th 2014, 10:11 PM

    No, I’m sorry I think it’s the last thing we need!

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    Mute Declan Noonan
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    Jan 30th 2014, 10:31 PM

    Horgay, “nuclear weapons in ancient India”?! What are you talking about?
    Btw, b Lowe mentioned those as well.
    You are caught red handed.

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    Mute Mick Jordan.
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    Jan 30th 2014, 10:44 PM

    Declan. You know what he like. Sure it was probably Lord Zog. Imperial Master of the Universe that used the atomic bomb in Ancient India.

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    Mute Foxys Bicycle
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    Jan 30th 2014, 10:48 PM

    Calm down Declan
    I bet there is steam coming out your ears as you typed that comment

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    Mute Declan Noonan
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    Jan 30th 2014, 11:27 PM

    Foxy, are you trolling again?
    Who says I’m worked up? I was quite calm typing that comment. Why don’t you ask Horgay more about his belief that India had nuclear weapons hundreds of years ago. Also ask him about zero point energy.
    I’m having a laugh at him. Though you have taking his side and you mentioned to me about “weirdos”on the journal, well you have fount one.

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    Mute Stephen
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:31 PM

    Not a fan of legal murder,but I have no idea what to do with him.

    37
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    Mute OU812
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:44 PM

    Tie him to a post in Fenway park, charge $10 a hit with a baseball bat. Give proceeds to victims.

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    Mute William Grogan
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:53 PM

    OU812, I like it. Bring back the stocks.

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    Mute Miss Filed
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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:36 PM

    The people I find truly inspiring are not the blood-thirsty revenge types who want to rip apart a damaged and battered young man, but people like the families who lost loved ones in 9/11 and are working for peace and forgiveness in society, and looking at the reasons why it happened – a truly inspiring bunch of people called 9/11 families for peaceful tomorrows
    http://peacefultomorrows.org/

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    Mute Miss Filed
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    Jan 30th 2014, 10:42 PM

    Revenge, hatred, murder him v. reform, compassion, understanding. I think I know which side will win. Which makes them just as bad.

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    Mute Stephen
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    Jan 30th 2014, 10:45 PM

    You forgot justice,what he did was evil.

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    Jan 31st 2014, 10:40 AM

    Stephen, evil is for me a word I more associate with superstitious religious beliefs. The real truth as to how people get into the mental state to do such things is much less dramatic.

    I do understand that society needs people to make amends for their transgressions. I would like society also to be a bit more reflective on why things happen so that we can stop them happening more in the future – make sense?. For me this is logical as well as compassionate.

    I know in his case he will likely never be released, which is sad, but other countries like Denmark who have less brutal criminal justice systems have dramatically lower re-offending rates. They do seek to make a person do the time for their crime, but they also focus on why crime happens, on rehabilitating the offender and leading them to an understanding of why they acted as they did, and to taking responsibility for what they did. They treat offenders with compassion.

    The result is as I say that they have a dramatically lower re-offending rate than the rest of the world. So systems can choose rehabilitation and lower re-offending or vengeance and higher re-offending. If this boy is executed then the only result will be to create more fundamentalist activists among misguided idealistic young men who are vulnerable to this kind of propaganda. Way to go.

    This boy has a lot in common with the other young men living in the USA (they are always young men – ever wondered about that?) who go AWOL and do something crazy. The cause is nearly irrelevant. He is a product of a macho, gun-toting society that clearly is alienating to ‘different’ people, especially if they are Muslims. Again, ever wondered why it is usually young men who commit these atrocities? Ever wondered about the stresses on them in that society and obvious lack of positive mental health promotion in schools?

    Another factor in this US phenomenon of young men committing violent acts is that neuroscience in the last decade clearly shows us that the pre-frontal cortex is not fully developed in young adults until the early to mid twenties. This is the part of the brain that allows us to control impulses and consider the consequences of our actions. This is why, in some justice systems, young people are considered literally less culpable for their actions.

    If you combine all these factors, and add in the idealism of youth and killing of so many Muslim civilians by the USA in the Middle East, then I guess many young men with exactly the same cocktail of difficult life experiences and brain development may have come to the same place if they were not helped to deal with their mental distress. He was taken away from his family at a young age and brought to a foreign country, where he is known to have felt alienated, and he was likely struggling to find some kind of sense of belonging for himself in a society where Muslims are denigrated – psychiatrists tell us that a sense of belonging is the biggest need of adolescents. His brother would have been a big influence in his life and I believe that through mental distress, youthful idealism, alienation and the influences of a macho culture in the US he was led astray. There is no way he was not in a bad mental state to have done this thing.

    So as I say, not to excuse, but to bring our intellect and compassion to what is a tragic event.

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    Mute Miss Filed
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    Jan 31st 2014, 11:16 AM
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    Mute Tatjana Kytmannow
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:54 PM

    A pressure cooker is not a “weapon of mass destruction”. An atomic bomb is. They are stretching the law beyond believe just to kill this guy. In many countries he would be still under juvenile law. Capital Punishment is barbaric. I have no sympathy with terrorists of any ilk but a life sentence should be enough!

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    Mute Bryan Harvey
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:56 PM

    A bomb is a weapon of mass destruction

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    Mute Miss Filed
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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:32 PM

    Exactly but sure we know they have one of the most brutal criminal justice systems in the world with a higher percentage of their citizens incarcerated than any other country in the world and then the death penalty too in many states. Awful. And when it comes down to it this is a very young man who I believe got dragged into this from misguided idealism, the influence of his brother, loneliness and alienation from his circumstances – much like the IRA in this country used to get so many impressionable young men involved in terrorist activity (I use the world with regret as it is all terrorism and murder, whether by the IRA or the army in my book)…

    If he had been a soldier killing civilians in Iraq he would probably have a medal.

    Add to this the evidence from neuroscience that his pre-frontal cortex is not fully developed until age 25 or so – I thought the criminal justice system was supposed to be taking this into account these days – it’s the bit of the brain that allows you to control your impulses and consider the consequences of actions – just really not developed in young people.

    Perhaps the poor guy would be better dead, but I think not. Where is the love and compassion in that brutal country, the Christian forgiveness??? Sad, except for the most hard-hearted and blood-thirsty. :-(

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    Mute Tatjana Kytmannow
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    Jan 30th 2014, 10:13 PM

    No it’s not. ABC weapons as in atomic, biological or chemical are. They are just trying to sneak in the death penalty. Which means if he gets convicted he will have grounds for appeal for decades

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    Mute Dublinhitman
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:37 PM

    Id love to see footage of him planting the bag. Then id say go ahead kill him

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    Mute Kevin Higgins
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    Jan 30th 2014, 8:36 PM

    Footage you won’t get just like you won’t get any proof of bin ladens death

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    Mute J. Dunn
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    Jan 30th 2014, 8:40 PM

    I’d love to see footage of the Lincoln assassination too.

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    Jan 30th 2014, 8:49 PM

    Can we still call it footage?

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    Mute Kevin Higgins
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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:09 PM

    200 years off there on the technology bud

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    Mute Brian Hicks
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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:35 PM

    They have footage of him minutes before the explosion holding the bag, footage of him moments before the explosion leaving the area without the bag, eye witnesses and a full confession. This is not enough for you?

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    Mute J. Dunn
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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:47 PM

    So, you’re saying the motion picture camera will be invented in ~2065, Kevin?
    I can only hope I’ll be there to see it for myself.

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    Mute Anne O'Hara
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:34 PM

    Yes but no but. Yes, he’s involved but he’s only 20. When that age, anything my siblings asked me to do was ok because they knew more than me. No excusing him by any meams but saying he’s really young. That ‘s all.

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    Mute Mursh
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:44 PM

    So let me get this straight……. at 20yo you’d have carried a bomb into the middle of a crowd to try to kill as many people as possible….Because your sibling asked you?

    You do realize how dumb that statement makes you look?

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    Mute mart_n
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:48 PM

    Nobody knows what sort of psychological hold the older brother had over him in all fairness, Mursh. That’s not defending his actions, it’s simply something to consider. You’ve got to wonder why he’d get caught up in such a thing considering how popular and active he was in the social and academic areas of his life.

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    Mute Anne O'Hara
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:54 PM

    And I said “no excusing him by any means”.

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    Mute Miss Filed
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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:58 PM

    Anne, it does not make you look dumb at all. People who wish to carry on with an eye for an eye and cannot see why things happen are the dumb ones.

    You are absolutely right that at the time of this crime he was I think still a teen and neuroscientific discoveries of the past decade prove beyond doubt that the control centre of the brain (the neo-cortex) that allows us to control impulses and consider the consequences of our actions is not developed until the mid-twenties. That is why we instinctively know that young people are literally not as culpable for crime as older adults are. That does not mean that everybody this age will commit a crime like this (d’uh!) but if you throw in other severe mental and emotional strains, loneliness, isolation, then you may have horrible things like this happen – no coincidence that it is often young men and also that it is often in the UK – a macho culture with a fascination for violence and guns everywhere.

    So yes, knee-jerk reactions and brutal blood-thirsty vengeance are the order of the day for anybody who is unable to think, or else who is too hardened to feel anything any more. I can never understand people with the lack of imagination to imagine what things might be like for others who grow up in completely different circumstance to themselves – you have to walk in people’s shoes to understand. But I am fairly certain that any of the commentators here if they had the exact same life experiences as this young man may have done exactly the same. The way that idealistic adolescents have shot or stuck bayonets through other humans in wars from the first world war to Afghanistan. It’s all wrong but we have handed this vengeful, them and us, paranoid, macho world to our young men.

    But hey, let’s burn, shoot, poison him, put a rope around his neck… disgusting…

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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:59 PM

    Sorry, mis-type – I meant to say that it is often in the US (NOT the UK!) that these things happen…

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    Mute Richard Sweeney
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    Jan 30th 2014, 11:11 PM

    Well put miss filed. I like to think we have evolved beyond this sort of retribution after all the perpetrator is supposed to be the beast. Shylock would be proud.

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    Mute Paddy O'Duffy
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:57 PM

    I don’t agree killing this lad, some group of extremists will just use it as an excuse to launch another attack

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    Mute Buckwheat MacMillan
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    Jan 30th 2014, 10:32 PM

    Yes, let’s appease the terrorists.

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    Jan 31st 2014, 10:58 AM

    So who is a terrorist Buckwheat? I must stress that I am an absolute pacifist but I believe there is nothing to separate this young man and the young men in uniform who killed civilians in the US invasion of Iraq. One will be tried and perhaps executed; one will likely be called a hero as he was on the ‘right’ side. It is all wrong and those killings of Muslim civilians in Iraq fuel the ability of fundamentalist groups to engage misguided idealistic young men like this young man, in the same way as misguided idealistic young men join the army and go to kill people in other lands. It’s all the same thing. The them and us, the killing, the fear and mistrust – it’s as old as time and we are all sick of it.

    We used to have this situation in Ireland, where misguided idealistic young men who felt the sting of discrimination and injustice and needed a place to belong were liable to get lured into the IRA. And I am sure my ancestors who fought in the ‘old IRA’ were called terrorists too.

    This young man seems to me more part of the phenomenon of young men living in the USA who go crazy and commit atrocities. The cause or reason is nearly irrelevant. Why does this happen so much in the USA? I believe first off that these young men find themselves in a society with a macho gun culture. If you add in mental distress, alienation and some kind of idealism you have a sad and potent cocktail. Making this up into some kind of huge terrorist plot just doesn’t stack up for me. The other factor is the lack of development of the pre-frontal cortex in young adults up until about the mid-twenties. This is the bit of your brain that controls your impulses and lets you consider the consequences of your actions. In most young people this just leads to wildness and transgressive behaviour. In the more vulnerable and alienated with low self-esteem and mental distress, it can lead to something much worse.

    The simple fact in terms of the whole terrorist thing is that if a country commits such grave injustices and atrocities against people in other countries it will come back to you. This is not to excuse any act of violence or killing – whether by so-called terrorists or army personnel – they are all appalling and very sad, but perhaps if we understand that they all have their base in fear we can do something about it.

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    Mute John Deane
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:45 PM

    Execute him. It will save millions of American taxpayers money,

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    Mute Miss Filed
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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:49 PM

    Not pursuing invasions and wars and killing civilians in other countries for oil will save billions of American taxpayers money and have the bonus of not creating misguided idealistic criminals like this boy.

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    Mute Barry O Rourke
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:47 PM

    Strap a grenade to him..pull the pin..then throw him outta the plane..the birds and animals can have a feast when his bits hit the ground..a very green way to go

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    Mute QhpFny3o
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    Jan 30th 2014, 8:19 PM

    If your son was killed in the attacks, i think you may change your view on the death penalty. He deserves death.

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    Mute stephen kavanagh
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    Jan 30th 2014, 8:42 PM

    Law can’t and shouldn’t operate on that personal basis.

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    Mute Miss Filed
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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:47 PM

    I can assure you that if my son was killed in the attack I would NOT be calling for the death penalty – what is wrong with you people? Would you shoot the boy yourself? Or put a rope around his neck? I can see that this boy is young, immature, damaged. The same misguided instinct that led him to do this is the one that leads impressionable US young men to sign up to the armed forces and to to the Middle East to shoot civilians. One is considered legal. They both grow up in macho cultures that idealise violence and the them and us mentality. What about these people – families of 9/11 victims who are actively working for peace – I would prefer to think I would be in their camp rather than be an actual part of the same problem and be the same as somebody who kills… http://peacefultomorrows.org/

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    Mute Sheelagh Reid
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:44 PM

    Since when is a pressure cooker a weapon of mass destruction?

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    Mute Bryan Harvey
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:49 PM

    When there is a bomb in it .

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    Mute GOLDEN ARMS
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:50 PM

    Innocent, only thing he’s guilty of is being fooled into thinking he’s doing good work for the FBI/CIA.

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    Mute William Grogan
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:53 PM

    …another nutter

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    Mute Wes mc loughlin
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    Jan 30th 2014, 8:54 PM

    Stick a grenade up his arse and TNT down his throat the dirty pig

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    Mute sigmund
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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:24 PM

    Grief. This country has gone so left field and anti-American that their sympathy tends towards the boston bomber. No wonder Ireland is known as a welcoming “home from home” for jihadis everywhere.

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    Mute Nagger
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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:39 PM

    It’s more a case of people not liking the path America has taken. America has gone so right field it is no longer the America people once loved and admired. They imprison and torture people without trial, secret prisons, rendition, sell weapons to their ‘enemies’, instigate wars, use depleted uranium and white phosphorous on civilians, cluster bombs… The things most civilised countries have agreed not to do.

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    Mute owlyohh
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:56 PM

    A pressure cooker is not a weapon of mass destruction by any means . I think that aspect is laughable. Am against the death penalty , don’t think it sends out the right message.

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    Mute angryzes
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    Jan 30th 2014, 8:27 PM

    Why you try to make it look like these guys were making pasta or something?
    Just a pressure cooker, such a nice thing – not a weapon of mass destruction, it is just a kitchenware, made to kill from 0 to 25 people only!

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    Mute owlyohh
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    Jan 30th 2014, 10:14 PM

    They went into Iraq looking for weapons of mass destruction , so they went into Iraq looking for pressure cookers?

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    Mute Mick Jordan.
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    Jan 31st 2014, 1:29 AM

    owlyohh. A weapon of Mass Destruction. An weapon that can cause death or injury to multiple humans in one go. This can be anything from a few grams of Ebola Virus, A pint of Nerve Agent, a Kilo of explosive or a nuclear bomb.

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    Mute Miss Filed
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    Jan 31st 2014, 11:05 AM

    Or a missile. Or a drone.

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    Mute Peter McKevitt
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    Jan 30th 2014, 10:21 PM

    String him up!

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    Mute Jamie McCormack
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    Jan 30th 2014, 7:48 PM

    Even if he is convicted and given a death penalty, he’ll spend years on death row and anything could change in that time.

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    Mute Dublinhitman
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    Jan 31st 2014, 4:15 AM

    So how many weapons of mass destruction did the ira do. Any of them sentenced for a wmd.

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    Mute don mur
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    Jan 30th 2014, 9:17 PM

    Leave him alone. He didn’t mean it

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    Mute Huey Johnson
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    Jan 31st 2014, 4:34 PM

    The definition of WMD is mass casualty and damage. I’m sure killing and mutilation hundreds of people watching a sporting event qualifies and a WMD attack. This man was video taped dropping the devise before the explosion. His home had matching bomb making tools and material. Computers and the brothers wife supported intent. Then the brothers execute a police officer while making there escape. A long gun battle, car chase with the accused throwing explosives at police. The elder brother is then run over with the getaway car. Dozens of police and civilians witness this. These immigrants were welcomed to the US because their family was persecuted in Chechnya. They were giving food, housing and free university education. These are some facts.

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