I totally lost it today and went bugshit insane.

[Cyrano]

Virtually everyone has heard the white phosphorus stories by now. The military calls it Willie Pete. It reminded me of the famous photo from Vietnam of the naked little girl who had been burned by napalm, fleeing in pain and tears.

This morning, I pulled up to a stop sign and was behind a car that had a crude, hand made sign taped in the back window. It read, "Willie Pete Cures Towel Heads." I stared at it for a few moments, but it just didn't register.

It was a few more moments before I got it. This crazy bastard had used his magic marker to promote genocide. I totally lost it.

By this time, the guy was a good distance ahead of me and I floored it. I had no idea what I planned to do if I caught up with him. The thought that he might have a gun, or be twice my size didn't enter my mind. I was in a state of total rage and filled with hatred.

(This blatant advocacy of genocide had triggered it, but that's as much as I'll say about my own personal, deeply ingrained reason for my reaction.)

Many of our traffic lights in southeast Florida are still out from the hurricane, so I guess I was lucky. I came to a major intersection through which this guy had already passed. By the time I got through, he was long gone.

I pulled into a strip mall and sat there trying to cool down. And, yes, I was crying. The thought occurred to me that before the day was out, someone might actually kill the miserable piece of human garbage I had chased.

I've been thinking about this all day and what scares the hell out of me is that none of us really knows when we might snap or what might trigger it. I think I need a valium.

[MissB]

1. A letter to the editor will reach more people

I'm too young to know that Willie Pete is another name for napalm.

[bunkerbuster1]

3. It's not another name for napalm. Willie Pete = WP = white phosphorous.

And I probably would've lost it if I'd seen such a human crap-sack in front of me, as well.

[wakeme2008]

4. Willie Pete is white phosphorus

Bad stuff...

[Carolab]

It's actually military "code" for white phosphorus.

The stuff that melts people to the bone.

[mike_c]

6. WP-- white phosphorus-- Willie Pete....

cute name for a very evil way to hurt people

[MissB]

10. ooookay.... so forgive my ignorance here.

That famous picture of the girl running down the road --- was that from a napalm attack or WP? How do the two differ?

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. that girl was napalm which sticks to you and keeps burning

WP does not stick to you, but it does burn... and if you get a cloud it will also sear lungs.

They are both technically considered incendiaries, but WP is not banned, while Napalm is... in fact WP has been used for many years and every military has it in its arsenal.

The question here is not the legality of WP use, (it is legal in its proscribed use) it is how it was used. Think as if you were a lawyer presenting the case of war crimes to a jury

[MissB]

30. Thanks for the explanation.

:hi:

[Geoff R. Casavant]

53. I think WP may stick as well

Just something I recall from a documentary I saw about Medal of Honor recipients -- one guy was on a plane full of paratroopers and a phosphorus flare or grenade somehow went off -- he picked up the flare and carried it close to his chest to the aircraft door. I seem to recall that the WP stuck to him, but it was a long time ago, and it might have been due to his flesh burning away rather than a property of the WP itself.

Still, that guy was definitely the definition of courage. I can't even pick up a hot frying pan.

[Syncronaut Seven]

27. napalm Kim Phuc was her name. I believe she's still alive.

http://www.womentodaymagazine.com/lifestories/kim_phuc.html

Edit for more suitable link

[SidDithers]

49. Alive and doing well, living in Toronto...nt

Now a UNESCO goodwill ambassador who lives in Ajax and who founded Kim Foundation International, an international charity to help child victims of war, Phuc recently received the Order of Ontario and an honorary degree from York University in October, 2004.

(taken from a Canadian Universities press release about an upcoming speaking engagement of hers)

Sid

[MADem]

7. I agree, LTTE much preferable to killing yourself in a car wreck

or getting shot by a nut. Ya can't help the cause much in a body cast...

[rsdsharp]

19. It's not

Napalm is essentially gelled gasoline, that burns when high explosive detonates. It's used for deforestation, but is also a terrible anti-personnel weapon if the naplam bomb is droppd on troops..

White phosphorus is manufactured from phosphate rocks, and catches fire when exposed to oxygen. It's often used by the military to produce smoke, or ID targets, but it also can be used in grenades or other munitions.

There was a MASH episode where a patient had WP fragments in his leg, and they did surgery under water.

[Syncronaut Seven]

23. Willy Pete is nothing like napalm, completely different animal.

Much nastier than even napalm if you can imagine. research please.

Google white phosphorous war

Phosphorus at War
White phosphorus is both a smoke producer and a particularly nasty incendiary agent, known as WP. Its white smoke has the highest total obscuring power (TOP) of any smoke. It was widely used in World War I in grenades and trench mortar rounds to screen troop movements. Most military smokes are now of other types, often colored with dyes. The 4.2-in. "Chemical" mortar of World War II was developed to throw white phosphorus shells, as well as whatever other chemical or biological agents might be required, but was later also found valuable as a general heavy mortar. This was a simple, light, portable weapon of great power, equivalent to a 105 mm howitzer, but of lesser range. It consisted of a tube about 5 ft long, a steel baseplate, and a bipod support with screws for elevation and traverse. The cylindrical round was simply dropped down the tube, and it sailed away on a high trajectory. The phosphorus sticks to whatever it hits, burns, and if what it has hit is combustible, sets it on fire. White phosphorus burns quickly and cooly and so is not a very effective incendiary agent. It is generally mixed with rubber or polystyrene to slow down the burning. Water will put out white phosphorus temporarily, but as soon as the phosphorus has access to air, it will start burning again. White phosphorus wounds are very unpleasant, since the phosphorus must be thoroughly washed out with a nonpolar solvent that is also noninflammable, for obvious reasons, before the burn can be treated. Carbon tetrachloride would be suitable, but it is dangerous because of the cancer hazard.

[MissB]

29. Thanks for the info!

I misread the OP's post. He/she connected WP and the image of the girl after a napalm attack.

Thanks again! :hi:

[Cookie wookie]

35. Randi Rhodes keeps talking about something used

in Fallujah that melted people but didn't burn their clothes. From the descriptions of WP here, it doesn't sound like it would do that. Randi just keeps asking what it was.

[Syncronaut Seven]

46. That was white phosphorous

Low enough temp to have trouble igniting some things, but melts thru flesh, fat and bones like butter.

[Cookie wookie]

54. Horrible. n/t

[Inland]

2. Yeah, you gotta chill.

Sounds like blind rage, which isn't healthy or productive. I'm glad you didn't catch the guy.

[jsamuel]

5. While I understand your rage, don't do that!

There are safe ways to stop people like this. You can't confront someone in a car. It is considered a deadly weapon.

[stop the bleeding]

15. Yeah let me at the fucker, I can butt heads with the biggest and baddest

of all them, slime like this needs to be wiped off the earth.

that is my militant hippie side taking.

God I am so fired up about this now.

[Cyrano]

16. I know. And I'm still shaking.

[sinkingfeeling]

8. I'm sure he's a wonderful Christian man...and probably has never

seen a burn victim nor been within a 1000 miles of a war zone, just like his idols.

[meganmonkey]

9. I'm so sorry, Cyrano

I am sorry that we have to share the world with people whose hearts are filled with that sort of hatred.

:hug:

Please don't let them make you filled with hatred too. Don't let the hate spread. Easier said than done, I know...

:hug:

[nickyt]

11. Cyrano, please hang in there. So much to be insane about these days.

[Angry Girl]

12. Yes, a letter is a good idea

And it will be good for you to dump it all out. I'm sorry the piece of scum ruined your day but, like you said, somebody will end up kicking his ass!

[Proud2BaLiberalMom]

13. I can relate...

This world is going insane,
And America is leading the charge!
Be careful and stay focused,
we need your energy!

[area51]

14. I hear you, Cyrano.

One of my relatives wouldn't mind if all muslims were killed. He's a Faux News watching fool. I can't stand him. The irony? He's a descendent of native Americans, another group against whom genocide was attempted.

[seriousstan]

17. Welcome to the wonderful world of freeway blogging.

It's a freedom of speech thing.

[sui generis]

18. Intellectually we know there are

heartless and insensitive people out there.

If his daughter or son was melted in their beds by a "shake and bake" wille pete attack he would be singing a different tune, but that person gets through his day by convincing himself that things that are different from him are less human.

You have a heart and a conscience and it hurts to think we could condone the same kind of evil we claim to be at war against.

We can't complain about their WMD and bio and chem weapons if we're out there deploying them ourselves. It makes this war doubly ironic.

Don't snap Cyrano - that person wasn't making a statement about killing so much as scraping for attention; at any rate, not worth getting yourself in legal trouble over. Ignoring that person is the most offensive thing you could do to him, and anyway if he really believes in melting humans then he would probably not hesitate to try to hurt you too.

What you can do is call the police on someone like that because they have a sign on their car that is advocating murder, or at the very least disruptive to traffic.

[Marnieworld]

20. Aw cyrano!

We all have these moments when we lose control. The world is maddening. I almost quit my job when I heard one of my bosses said after Katrina that NOLA was a place "that could use some cleaning up." Of course this is a weekly church-goer and Fox news is his home page.

Be proud that you calmed yourself down and came here to talk to understanding friends.

It is insane that the USA is using chemical weapons.

It is insane that currently whether to torture is debatable or defensible to some people.

It's so very wrong and we know it. I pity that driver who has been given the gift of life and this is what he has done with it.

They can't make it right and they can't make us like them. There's more of us than them and we will win. We will beat them. I truly believe it.

Until then here's a big hug from me. :hug:

[Cyrano]

50. Thanks Marnieworld. And thanks to everyone else who has posted.

It actually makes me believe there are still many sane people on this planet.

[madokie]

21. After reading DU today and the stories of WP I thought a valium might help

and by golly it did. It's not often I'm reduced to tears but this brought me to it. I can't wait for the mother of two sons, my wife gets home from work so I can give her a big ole hug. I need it.

[mestup]

22. Sarcastic LTTE does well

Biting, sarcastic humor helps project anger AND goes far in marginalizing these nutjobs. Make fun of him and let your local newspaper subscribers do the same in reading it.

Any nut who'd advocate murdering "towel heads" should be in an institution somewhere making baskets.

[Dewatson]

25. What an unholy bastard!

I would have done the same thing.

[KoKo]

24. I've decided that about 32 percent of Americans are now certifiably INSANE

It started with Limbaugh, Colter, O'Liely and the rest of the Clinton haters and the Chimp yelling "Bring it On."

What I see, I don't recognize. We've got to get these people back in their cages. Until then maybe we just have to see them as pathetic. They wear their idiotic bumperstickers with pride the way folks wore designer lables outside their clothes back in the 80's.

Not worth having an accident over a pathetic "moran" like that. Just another Freeper Bully who thinks that kind of crap makes them look like a "bad ass." :-(

[stevedeshazer]

28. His sign was meant to provoke rage, and it worked

I could see myself doing the same thing. I'm glad you backed off; I'd like to think I'd eventually have done the same there, too.

That's an incredibly incendiary phrase (Willie Pete Cures Towel Heads). :grr:

Just remember, sir, that there are many times more sensible people in the world than that idiot. And Mr. Idiot's entire world is crashing down on him, oh, right about NOW. He's the one who will have to deal with it, not you. At least in the sense that you know right from wrong.

If only stupidity were painful.

[Locrian]

33. keeps getting worse...

I used to think that people (even Repubs) would "come around" if they were presented with the truth and horrors. Its the opposite. The more it comes out, the more obvious their racism, fear, hate bubbles out.

It never went away I guess, just underground. We just are not used to the actual naked face absolute ignorance and stupidity.

[stevedeshazer]

37. Not for all, I think

There are some who are open-minded enough to change their views, they're the ones we really need in order to turn things around.

But it's definitely true that there is a hard-core cult of believers who will die ignorant no matter what truth is presented.

That's my two bits worth.

[Cleita]

31. If you really want to confront him or his type, find

a redneck bar and/or coffee shop. Even if you don't find him you will find people like him. Make up a little brochure about the horrors of this substance with graphic pictures on the inside preferably of the baby burned by this. Be sure to put a warning on the front. Human nature will make them look. Ask permission to leave literature there of the bar person or cashier. Usually, they don't object. Walk away.

Now these turkeys probably won't look at your literature, but someone will whom they know. It will be talked about eventually and even the racist SOBs will have to hear it.

Good luck!

[stop the bleeding]

44. I live in the land of Rnecks and I'll remember that - cause I just love

taking it to them.

[Danger Duck]

32. What are the hate crime laws in Fl? Did you get his plate number?

His bumper sticker is the same as saying "Let's Lynch (offensive racial slur)."

You put that on your car, and you're going to create a stir. And a creative prosecutor would find a way to prosecute. At the very least, this sticker could be considered as an instigation and/or disorderly conduct. It is speech, but you can't yell fire in a crowded theater. Advocating the murder of people based on their ethnicity would not pass the smell test in a lot of states, depending on the law. But almost anywhere, if you walk in to an area and start directing racial slurs and threats at a minority, it is considered an assault. IN fact, an assault is any action that makes someone fear for their safety, intentionally. While I support people's right to say things, even offensive, horrible ideas, putting those sentiments on a bumper sticker is a different matter. It changes the forum, and is meant to provoke people. It's one thing to post on the internet, or write some manifesto that your nut bag rednecks can read. But what if this person put a burning cross on the back of his car, and drove through a black neighborhood?

I would strongly encourage you to pursue this, get a description of the vehicle, and try and find this person, and alert the authorities.

[Cookie wookie]

34. I can sympathize.

Sometimes it feels almost unbearable to me as I'm sure it does to all who post here, that we are living in a country where our leaders are imprisoning people without due process, torturing and exterminating people while the press is helping them by doing marketing and pr to gain support for hatred. This is America? No. But here we are, living in a country from which this evil is emanating. I do often feel I can finally understand what it must have been like in Germany in the 30s and early 40s. I hang on to the fact that the polls are showing that most Americans are not supporting the administration. I just hope it's not only because they don't like high gas prices and that it's because I'm living in a country where the majority of its people are human beings, with hearts and souls.

[NightOwwl]

36. I'm sorry you had to go through that experience Cyrano.

I hope you are feeling better now. :hug:

On a lighter note (if you don't mind), my cat is named Cyrano. Maybe a pic of a pretty kitty will cheer you up a little bit.



try this link if all you see is a red x:
http://community.webshots.com/photo/329896991/329901083tqqHAZ

[otohara]

38. When I See Cars w/ W04 Stickers

I want to vandalize that car with a bat.

It's a good thing I don't have a bat in my car.

[leftofthedial]

39. Gawd Bless Murka

These colors don't run.

:patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot:
:patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot:
:patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot:
:patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot:
:patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot:
:patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot:


And I do mean the one true gawd

[serryjw]

40. Education, please..What's the difference B/T Willie Pete and

Depleted Uranium,DU??

[ocd liberal]

41. If you went bugshit insane, then I am there too

I often see cars with messages like that on them and I keep copies of Bill Maher's "Put a flag on your car, it's LITERALLY the least you can do" so I can leave it on the windshield of the offending car. I usually write a cryptic note on the back in order to cool down from the chase that got me parked behind the asshole in question.

Don't feel bad, I chase someone down at least once a week!

[AgadorSparticus]

42. It's nice to know there are still people out there that are still human.

I understand your anger. That stuff is just vile. I hope you do write to your newspaper and let them know about this. It's not just a good story, but I think exposure to something like this is good for a community. Turn that piece of trash into a scarlet letter.

[AgadorSparticus]

43. It's nice to know there are still people out there that are still human.

I understand your anger. That stuff is just vile. I hope you do write to your newspaper and let them know about this. It's not just a good story, but I think exposure to something like this is good for a community. Turn that piece of trash into a scarlet letter.

[cyberpj]

45. I've been there too. I'm glad you lost the idiot though. There's just no

telling what someone who thinks that way would do if confronted.

I agree with the LTTE. I'm having one published myself tomorrow on Bush treatment of vets. It will reach more people and it's done when I was in a very sane state of mind.

Meanwhile

B-R-E-A-T-H-E

And recite this once again:
"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall - think of it, ALWAYS." - Gandhi

ALWAYS

[Roland99]

47. I'd have gotten the license plate and reported them to the FBI

as a possible terrorist. :evilgrin:

[BlueIris]

56. Hmmmm.

I didn't know the FBI would care. But I might enjoy making them try.

[Bill Bored]

48. Be careful in FL!

They have that new law that allows you to blow each other away for no reason right?

[Cyrano]

52. Yep. Good ole' Jeb Bush couldn't wait to sign it. What a sick family.

[Jed Dilligan]

51. Sometimes assholes get their own reward

Once I was aggressively panhandled at an ATM, had to resort to shouting and profanity to get the dude off my case. One day later I see the guy with his head, arm, and leg in casts... If this fuckface is such a violent fellow and so intent on inflaming people's emotions in public, I don't doubt that someone bigger than him will soon put him in his place.

It doesn't have to be you!

[BlueIris]

55. If I were you, I'd take the valium. I'd need one, too.

Take some valium. Some days, after just that much bigotry, racism, ignorance, misogyny or misanthropy...my barries would be fried, I'm sure.

Here's a skill I've learned, though, and it really, REALLY helps me. I swear. Beneath a certain level, those people aren't worth getting upset about. It isn't worth the effort. I know it may seem like it's hard to disconnect yourself from your emotions when it's in. your. face. like that...but once I mastered that skill, everything got much better for me. Just think of it this way: you're not a bad progressive or human being for not being able to "fix" people like that, or to take all of their hatred out of the world right now. There's nothing you can do or say that can improve a person that broken. Try not to let something so base, repulsive and dirty "get" to you...that person and the sentiment he expressed are just not worth your time.

[MisterP]

57. Nazism is an attitude, much more than its trappings of red and khaki

and camps and doors smashed down--the latter are just tools.
Just look at the rightist e-mails clogging our inboxes: unadulterated Benito, Tojo, Goebbels.