Yet another vehicular attack on pedestrians, this time in Melbourne

ttaskmaster · 21 Dec 2017 at 12:46

TBH, since car-assault seems to be the in-thing this year, I expect we'll see more of it while large crowds of people are out doing Christmas and January Sales shopping...

TallPaul1878 · 21 Dec 2017 at 12:51

dowie said:
You don't actually know his religion yet so this is pure speculation.

You're absolutely right. I am casting my opinion. Let's say an educated guess. I'm perfectly willing to proven wrong if this man comes out to be a devout Catholic or is in fact a Jewish Rabbi.

But in this instance I'm going with my gut and saying he is a man of no religious beliefs at all.

Vonhelmet · 21 Dec 2017 at 12:54

robfosters said:
You say it like some of us are sitting here praying for a terrorist attack, so we can go Muslim bashing again.

No, I say it as though as soon as something happens people are itching for the perpetrator to be a Muslim.

TallPaul1878 · 21 Dec 2017 at 12:56

Vonhelmet said:
By “popular” you mean some people positively salivate at the prospect.

Absolutely. It's almost like a big game at times. Who can come and sound off first and score some internet points. It's just that I get punished when I come in and show it all up for what it really is.

There are people salivating at the prospect of another Islamic terrorist attack and their are people salivating at the prospect that someone will come and leave those kind of comments so that they can signal their virtue.

And so we go on with the carousel as the next event unfolds.

robfosters · 21 Dec 2017 at 13:04

Vonhelmet said:
No, I say it as though as soon as something happens people are itching for the perpetrator to be a Muslim.

I don’t. I feel slightly relieved when it turns out to not be an Islamic terror attack. The less there are, it shows our security services are doing an excellent job and there are less evil, brainwashed folk out there meaning us harm.

We’ve always had druggies and nutters. But they are less likely to inspire others to commit attacks. No one feels connected to their cause, whatever it may be.

Also, as we know, a lot of Islamic terror attacks require planning, so even though the main perpetrators are caught or killed, there’s always the knowledge that the guys in the background may still be out there, planning more attacks. Once a nutter has done his bit and been caught or killed, they’re off the grid and no longer a danger.

Diddums · 21 Dec 2017 at 13:07

Vonhelmet said:
My sister has just come back from Australia and said this ice stuff is an absolute blight.

I certainly is. We have loads of Aussies coming down as agency workers here who do their working tourist stuff and most of them will agree with this.

//Slightly off topic but still relevant: We were in Oz for three weeks at the beginning of the year and the lack of muslims was very obvious. Loads of Asian people though, but then Asia is only a short-ish flight away so it makes sense.

dowie · 21 Dec 2017 at 13:13

TallPaul1878 said:
You're absolutely right. I am casting my opinion. Let's say an educated guess. I'm perfectly willing to proven wrong if this man comes out to be a devout Catholic or is in fact a Jewish Rabbi.

But in this instance I'm going with my gut and saying he is a man of no religious beliefs at all.

I wouldn't be too sure, we don't really know either way at the moment. I'd suspect that he's neither Jewish or Catholic though if he's from Afghanistan.

ttaskmaster · 21 Dec 2017 at 13:25

TallPaul1878 said:
I'm perfectly willing to proven wrong if this man comes out to be a devout Catholic or is in fact a Jewish Rabbi.

A Jewish Rabbi?
Always amuses me when people say that, as if you can be a rabbi without being Jewish.

Same for when people in documentaries talk about "the male penis", as if there's any other kind... Not officially counting anyone of either gender driving a BMW or Audi, though.

The_Abyss · 21 Dec 2017 at 13:37

Vonhelmet said:
My sister has just come back from Australia and said this ice stuff is an absolute blight.

It absolutely is. My sister and her husband are both medical professionals practising in Melbourne, and the problem is rife.

Diddums · 21 Dec 2017 at 13:48

I was amazed at how Melbourne came together after the last one in January. Here when stuff like this happens we get loads of flowers and whatnot but this was on a whole different level. This photo was taken at H&M in the heart of Melbourne, and there were another 3-4 junctions in the area that were covered just like this:

Lord-Jaffa · 21 Dec 2017 at 14:25

Vonhelmet said:
No, I say it as though as soon as something happens people are itching for the perpetrator to be a Muslim.

More likely that they are not surprised when its released the motives were relgious.

VincentHanna · 21 Dec 2017 at 14:30

Which they aren't.

Muslims aren't allowed to do drugs.

Lord-Jaffa · 21 Dec 2017 at 14:44

VincentHanna said:
Which they aren't.

Muslims aren't allowed to do drugs.

So let me get this right... A man of Afghan descent targets the busy part of Melbourne, at peak time during the run up to one of the last late night shopping days before xmas and it's a drugs / mental health issue?

I guess his accomplice in the vehicle was just there to help with his mental disorder.

VincentHanna · 21 Dec 2017 at 14:47

Lord-Jaffa said:
So let me get this right... A man of Afghan descent targets the busy part of Melbourne, at peak time during the run up to one of the last late night shopping days before xmas and it's a drugs / mental health issue?

I guess his accomplice in the vehicle was just there to help with his mental disorder.

You clearly haven't even read the story, you've just bought your own bias to events and come up with some "alternate facts"

1) Police have stated it was someone with a known history of mental health who was on drugs. It was not terror related
2) There was no "accomplice", the second man who was arrested is unrelated to the driver and was filming the aftermath and was discovered to be carrying a bag of knives.

So yes, this is a drugs/mental health issue according to news reports and the authorities.

Skunkworks · 21 Dec 2017 at 14:55

Nothing to see here, just loads of coicidences. la la la

Rifte · 21 Dec 2017 at 15:08

Brown skined, Afghanistan man plows down people in a car. It's easy to assume (wrongly) that this was an Islamic terrorist attack.

Ethnic group [x]
Muslim [x] - irrelevant and not confirmed but I would bet on it.
Similar attack method [x]

VincentHanna · 21 Dec 2017 at 15:19

Yes, and It's even easier to assume wrongly when people can't even be bothered to spend 30 seconds reading factual news reports.

TallPaul1878 · 21 Dec 2017 at 15:25

The thing is, I don't see these kinds of things as terror attacks anyway. If it's just some lone wolf going on a rampage then I honestly see it as society functioning as normal.

More people will die tomorrow night at the hands of a lager lout who can't take his ale on a Mad Friday bender.

This kind of thing is no different to a US high school shooting. We've already had plenty of them, there will always be plenty more. Society at large has no will what-so-ever to make a change and do anything about it so, for me, this is completely normal.

There'll be floral tributes, there'll be Facebook flag filters and there might be a concert or something.

People will trot out the very same platitudes they always trot out "Hope Not Hate" or "Love always wins". Some such guff like that. Then something else will blow up, a wing nut with a semi automatic rifle will house down a school somewhere.

sigma · 21 Dec 2017 at 15:26

Gas all brown people etc.

Chris Wilson · 21 Dec 2017 at 15:31

I wonder why the police seized upon a second male, who, like probably countless others, was doing what seems to be the norm these days, and filming anything that moves on a camera, and happened to find he has multiple knives in his bag? I find that another hard to assimilate coincidence. Not many people can cite justification for carrying three knives in their bag, and being on the scene of a mow down vehicle attack. Something seems fishy here. They just seize on a random guy with a camera and lo and behold he's got a bag of knives...? Hmmm.