So. Who's watching Sydney?

Since it seems to be everywhere.

.....is it a TV programme?

Current siege by a "lone wolf" islamic nutcase. Holding hostages in a Lindt chocolate café, in the business centre of Sydney Australia.

Five hostages have escaped so far & no one hurt yet as far as we know.

Michael Everett wrote:.....is it a TV programme?

Presumably islamic. Apparently middle eastern but with a definite Australian accent.
Stuck a black flag with Arabic writing on it in the window of the cafe, but has asked for a real ISIL flag in his negotiations. (They aren't that hard to get in Sydney)

At about 2pm local time one of the Sydney newspapers ran a special edition. (The siege started about 10 am, so they must have done this real quick)



It's a Murdoch paper. Need I say more.

Annachie wrote:Presumably islamic. Apparently middle eastern but with a definite Australian accent.
Stuck a black flag with Arabic writing on it in the window of the cafe, but has asked for a real ISIL flag in his negotiations. (They aren't that hard to get in Sydney)

At about 2pm local time one of the Sydney newspapers ran a special edition. (The siege started about 10 am, so they must have done this real quick)

It's a Murdoch paper. Need I say more.

10:00am (DST) Monday in Sydney = 4:00pm Sunday in Arizona

Confirmed, the Hostage Taker was on Man Haron Monis, an Iranian immigrant who was definitely on the fringe. Here's a quote

Monis is well known to authorities, and is currently on bail for accessory to murder.

In November last year he was charged with being an accessory before and after the fact to the murder of his ex-wife, who was allegedly stabbed and set alight in her apartment complex. In March, he was charged with sexually and indecently assaulting a young woman in 2002.

Monis is understood to be a fringe Islamist and lives in Sydney's southwest. He arrived in Australia as a refugee in 1996.

There have been two unconfirmed deaths, he is believed to be one of them. All the rest of the hostages are now safe

Annachie wrote:Presumably islamic. Apparently middle eastern but with a definite Australian accent.
Stuck a black flag with Arabic writing on it in the window of the cafe, but has asked for a real ISIL flag in his negotiations. (They aren't that hard to get in Sydney)

At about 2pm local time one of the Sydney newspapers ran a special edition. (The siege started about 10 am, so they must have done this real quick)



It's a Murdoch paper. Need I say more.

Ugh. If one nutcase in a chocolate shop can change a people forever the people in question would have to be pretty damn insecure in their beliefs and principles... or in other words the perfect targets for terrorists who want to actually achieve the radicalization they are looking for.

Here's hoping the people of Australia don't live down to the paper's expectation.

gcomeau wrote:
Ugh. If one nutcase in a chocolate shop can change a people forever the people in question would have to be pretty damn insecure in their beliefs and principles... or in other words the perfect targets for terrorists who want to actually achieve the radicalization they are looking for.

Here's hoping the people of Australia don't live down to the paper's expectation.

Really? I took it as something akin to "It's affirmative; for those who thought it couldn't happen here. It has."
Like here in the US. Several media outlet polls would have you believe every citizen remembers where they were and what they were doing on 9/11. Not me. I remember Kennedy's assassination, landing on the moon, and a few other events.
9/11? Just another event that didn't directly affect me. Heck, if it wasn't for emergency services in the US, I wouldn't remember the day.

TN4994 wrote:

gcomeau wrote:
Ugh. If one nutcase in a chocolate shop can change a people forever the people in question would have to be pretty damn insecure in their beliefs and principles... or in other words the perfect targets for terrorists who want to actually achieve the radicalization they are looking for.

Here's hoping the people of Australia don't live down to the paper's expectation.

Really? I took it as something akin to "It's affirmative; for those who thought it couldn't happen here. It has."

I find it difficult to believe there was any great population of people in Australia who thought one religious nut with a gun going off the deep end and killing one person (two people?) before getting themselves killed by the cops couldn't happen there.

I've never been under the impression Australia was populated by oblivious idiots, but apparently whoever wrote that headline was... and hey, maybe they're right and I'm wrong.

Or maybe they just have an agenda and are deliberately trying to incite over-reaction.

TN4994 wrote:Really? I took it as something akin to "It's affirmative; for those who thought it couldn't happen here. It has."
Like here in the US. Several media outlet polls would have you believe every citizen remembers where they were and what they were doing on 9/11. Not me. I remember Kennedy's assassination, landing on the moon, and a few other events.
9/11? Just another event that didn't directly affect me. Heck, if it wasn't for emergency services in the US, I wouldn't remember the day.

I definitely remember where I was then, though it might be an artifact of some of the other things that happened around it, like a bird flying into the closed window of the classroom I was in 10 minutes or so after the principal made the announcement.