Hostage threat
… warning by the US State Department on Friday that Islamic extremists may be planning to kill or kidnap American and British civilians in the event of American retaliatory action.[…]
US press reports have indicated that the most serious reported threat is in Indonesia, where radical Muslim groups reportedly plan to invade the wealthy neighbourhoods of Jakarta and seize large numbers of potential hostages should strikes against Afghanistan be carried out.http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1572000/1572572.stmI hope things do not feel too threatening where you are, Bingley? or for any other members of our community; do whatever you can to keep safe.
[personal-concern-only]
Bingley, please do keep in touch so that we know you are safe.
cuidado, Consuelo
I am gratified at everybody's concern, but I don't feel in any immediate danger. I quote from the latest email release from the British Embassy here:
GENERAL ADVICE: Indonesia
Outside the areas of instability mentioned below, most visits to Indonesia are for the moment trouble-free, and most of the main tourist destinations are unaffected. Daily life and business continue as normal for the present. This advice will be changed at short notice if necessary.
After the terrorist attacks in the US, there is a heightened terrorist threat to US interests worldwide. The US Government has authorised the voluntary departure of non-essential government personnel and their dependants from Indonesia. We are monitoring the situation closely, but we are not planning to take a similar step with regard to British personnel at the moment. British citizens are, however, advised to remain vigilant, to exercise caution, and to report any suspicious activities to the authorities.
There was a similar flap before the Gulf War but I can't say I suffered any particular inconvenience then (apart from getting my pocket picked but that's a whole 'nother story). Of course things were a lot more controlled then (efficient brutal dictators do provide a certain amount of security for those not on the receiving end of the brutality [tongue very much in cheek emoticon]).
I was also here during the May 1998 riots and just stayed indoors, and then when it was over went down to a beach resort and stayed there for a week (an impromptu holiday can't be bad, can it?).
The church I go to was one of those bombed last Christmas Eve, but the bomb was found in time, thanks to our Muslim security staff, and defused by the mostly Muslim bomb squad.
After all the discussion on this board, nobody should be surprised to hear that an American invasion of Afghanistan (if it happens)will not be received with universal gladness. There are certainly groups here who do see it, whatever Bush may say, as an attack on Islam. Also, the US Ambassador here is not a popular figure. He has a tendency to throw his weight around in a way that may influence people but certainly does not win friends. I would not put spreading such stories past him as way of putting pressure on the govt. Political posturing is more extreme here than it is back home, but my rule of thumb has always been that the more fuss there is in advance the less that actually happens.
There is a lot of talk about sweeps from certain quarters, which basically means a large group go from hotel to hotel to search out US'ns to try and intimidate them into leaving but if anyone has threatened to take hostages, I haven't noticed it in the Jakarta Post, the main English-language paper here.
Yes, there is cause for concern, but I'm coping (and one way is a certain amount of flippancy). I'm not particularly brave so I'm not going to do anything silly, just keep the late Mr. Adams's excellent advice in mind.
Bingley
.....just keep the late Mr. Adams's excellent advice in mind.
and what would that be Mr. Bingley, sir?
(a query from someone who has purchased Mr. Adams books just very recently and has not had the time to peruse them yet)
thanks and please hurry up, I might need that advice sooner than you think.
and what would that be Mr. Bingley, sir?
I would think that would be to make sure you that know where your towel is. Very important that.
http://uberpest.50megs.com/towel.html
While I would agree knowledge of one's towel's whereabouts is not to be undervalued, what I was thinking of was:
DON'T PANIC
Bingley
Be careful, keep a bag packed, and take care of yourself.
All the best of Irish luck sent your way.
wow
From yesterday's (Thursday's) email from the British Embassy:
>> The United States' decision to authorise the voluntary departure of their non-essential staff reflects the particular circumstances of the U.S. Embassy and American citizens who have been subject to threats and harassment recently. The British Embassy has been subject to one peaceful demonstration but we have received no reports of harassment of British citizens in Indonesia.That said, we are watching the situation carefully and updated advice to the British community is faxed or e-mailed regularly. It would be prudent to take certain precautions, described below.
>>
>> ----
You are advised to stay away from crowds. If there is an outbreak of harassment against foreign nationals then you should stay at home and go out as little as possible, especially after dark. Ensure you know the name, address and telephone number of your area Warden and make contact with him/her.
So, somebody's keeping an eye on things. Try not to worry about me.
Bingley
Clearly just another day in jolly Jakarta, eh, Bingley? Well, keep your pecker up. The next
distraction-du-jour can't be that far away for the typical Jakartan man-about-riot, now, can it?
Well, keep your p****r up. Ee-yow---watch it, willya? I've already blushed enough for one day!
(keep your chin up, j)
MUCH better, m.
And yes, I remembered those posts, all too well...I can't help it, there are just certain words that to me are not used in polite company, and some words that I never use at all, period.
Oh, I'd have to agree with Jackie.
I wasn't there for those threads so it seemed like a bit of an intimate comment to be making
though Bingley does seem young enough, and, well, a man virile enough to have an active libido during a crisis can't be all that badly off.
Bingley, do check in though 'cause you know you have a slew of people around the world all thinking about you.
And getting out of harm's way is not panic - just smart. So the minute you hear about actual harassment or kidnappings I would hope you would skeedaddle out of there.
Re;
though Bingley does seem young enough, and, well, a man virile enough to have an active libido good grief!
if my dear Mr. Bingley blushed about our comments on chocolate.. he will be total incapacited by that comment!
all the blood will be located in the head on top of his shoulders! 
.. really if we keep at it this way, Anu is going to have put a warning up that this is an adult site.
please forgive my possesive comment-my dear Mr.Bingleydear Mr.Bingley is mine the way sunshine is mine too, when ever i stand it.. he is mine, just like the moon.. how i love coming home from far away trips, late at night, and the moon stayed with me all the way home. i make no claims on him, that i do not make to the moon.
Whaddid I say? Whaddid I do wrong? Which planet am I on, or, more to the point perhaps, which planet are
you lot on?
Thanks to our tame Minnesotan for leaping to my defence ...
My $0.02 worth is that I agree with Jackie's conclusion, though for another reason. We purport to be linguaphiles. I'd think we'd be creative enough to be able to make our points (including innuendos, if desired) without needing the (ahem) direct anglo-saxonism.
For example, compare the "Re" of this note with that of the one preceeding.
and IMHO, that indirection makes the innuendo all the more (ahem) stimulating.
I'll get you for that, Sweetie, right after I fix
breakfast. And if you think the Minnesotan who leapt to my defense is tame, you've got another think coming...
Speaking of Minnesotans, where's Fiberbabe? I'm not recalling any notice in the Away for a While thread.
I see absolutely no reason to change my usage of the English language merely because a bunch of johnny-come-lately Yanks have suborned some of it for their own prurient purposes. [NOSE in air -e]
Thanks for the concern, Jackie... I'm still lurking about. Just caught up with 400-some-odd posts that had collected in Q&A alone while I was otherwise occupied.
For the love of criminy, will you people slow down??? Just haven't had much to say, that's all.
And as for this "pecker" fracas, I'll just remind y'all that it's entered the lexicon of (mostly) polite company when a movie came out a couple years back by the name of
John Waters' Pecker...
(Yes, I realize we could go around all day about the use of "polite company" in the same breath with "John Waters". Let's just say it's out there, so the cultural taboo has been nicked.)
Unfortunately, given the state of Jakarta's pavements, keeping my chin up could lead to disaster so I'll carry on keeping my pecker up, thank you.
I have never been to NY, so it wasn't me mooning at helen
.
but thanks for the thought, my dear. It's a great comfort to know people are taking such a warm interest in my well-being Bingley
Tame...?... say it ain't so!
Pruient...? now you've hurt me feelings (wahhhh)
"...without needing the (ahem) direct anglo-saxonism." - Needs schmeeds. Saxon schmaxon...
... make up my mind, will ya?
"What I really need is less people telling me what I need" - Bill Cosby
"What I really need is less people telling me what I need" or even fewer.
http://wordsmith.org/board/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=words&Number=30679&page=5&view=collapsed&sb=5&vc=1#Post30679
You'll have to cut and paste this one, Keiva, as making it a "hotlink" would drive us beyond the limits of certain *resolutions....
...and I'm vehemently opposed to "self-yarting"
I "have to say" that, in this case of the usage of "less", the function is clearly quantity and not quality, and that its wide spread use and understanding superceeds it's *correctness.
ps. - I know you won't take that as a personal attack, but I'm sure someone else will...
In this case of the usage of "less", the function is clearly quantity and not quality, and that its wide spread use and understanding superceeds it's *correctness."superceeds"? As I understand it,
less may properly be used as a synonym for
fewer, despite the slight distinction. The distinction does not pertain to quantity-vs-quality: each word pertains to quantity, depending on whether the quantity is measured as discrete countable units (digitally;
fewer) or is viewed as a single mass (analog;
less). (E.g,
fewer pounds mean
less weight; "less sand" but "fewer grains of sand".) However, since
less can also refer to quality, it can sometimes create a slight ambiguity.
but speaking of woodpeckers: Kev, how about joining me at the John Barleycorn Pub on Lincoln Ave, where the menu offers a drink that's a mix of Moosehead Ale and Woodpecker Cider? I'll buy the first round of what they call the Moosepecker.
Darn-it! That's what I get for the "hit-and run" approach to posting... and I truly wanted to make it "superseed" (keeping somehow "in line" with *pecker).
[self-yart-alert]
...its wide spread use and understanding superceeds it's *correctness. Oh yes, and that goes for spelling, as well.
There is widespread use of the word "peckerhead" in the midwest US that is not at all associated with "that other context". Generally degrading in nature (ie. dumb-dumb or dufus(sp?) however, usually used in a playful ribbing manner and not at all *vulgar...
... sorry dude, I'll take a rain check, I got a gig tonight...
The notion that there was anything remotely risible about the phrase It's not risible, it's embarrassing! There is not a single person on the face of this earth that I could POSSIBLY say that to.
CK, I am VERY glad you said it was your
nose you had in the air!
Jo, this is all your fault!
Less - indefinable (bulk) amount
Fewer - amount associated with plural nouns
e.g.
I have less hair than I had yesterday because I'm going bald.
I have fewer hairs than I had yesterday because I'm going bald.
Hmmm?
Jackie, you have something that will fix baldness?
Have you not heard of Rogaine? Made by Pharma(cia-Up)John?
Jackie, you have something that will fix baldness?Well, come back to Kentucky, and maybe we can find some blue grass. At least then you wouldn't care any more...
until our USn's leapt to that conclusion.
This USn uses "keep your pecker up" in the british sense. That's what comes of reading the encyclopedia like other people read magazines.
But, JtD, you'd better be careful about whom you say it to; few other USns use this expression or know what it means, and you're liable to get your face slapped. We here on AWAD are a peculiar group, not at all like the general population, as you probably already know.
Well, the big pray in and demo outside the US Embassy on Friday didn't happen or at least not in the numbers expected. The permit for the demo was for 4500 people but only about 500 turned up.
The FPI (The Defenders of Islam Front (bin Laden is being sought by the FBI, Bush by the FPI, as one news website put it)) tried to have a demo yesterday outside parliament but it was broken up by the police because it's illegal to hold a demo on a public holiday.
The situation is quite tense, with lots of rumours flying about. One said there was a foiled attempt to sweep (raid looking for foreigners) Jakarta International School on Sunday night. Who they expected to find at the school at9:00 on a Sunday evening I don't know. Perhaps they think Americans are exceptionally studious. There was a rumour of some Germans having been beaten up in Lombok, but it turns out to have been the stuff of urban legend. Neither the German embassy nor the tourist authorities have been able to find any basis to it.
Much amusement was caused by a demo in Surabaya urging a boycott of US goods.When the demonstrators stopped for a drink they were caught drinking Fanta.
Bingley
Glad to hear these stories. Sounds like business as usual.