I?d say this was a Good Thing

[Daless2]

I?d say this was a Good Thing.


***Associated Press August 11, 2006***

Details continued to emerge about the alleged London plot, which officials said they had been tracking for months. A congressman briefed by intelligence officials, who did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the investigation, said "U.S. intelligence had intercepted terrorist chatter, via the emotionally charged NSA wire tap program and British intelligence helped thwart the plot through undercover work".

A very very Good Thing, so glad it happened!

Frank

[PK99TJ]

So, the program helps George Bush do more than listen to me read off movies at Blockbusters to my wife that I am thinking of renting?

Cool, what a nifty side-benefit!

[Daless2]

Originally posted by PK99TJ
So, the program helps George Bush do more than listen to me read off movies at Blockbusters to my wife that I am thinking of renting?

Cool, what a nifty side-benefit!

Hmmmm??.

I would think that if what the AP is reporting is true,

AND,

either you or your wife in out of the country while you are reading off movie titles,

Then,

What you are saying is intuitively obvious, and it?s still a Good Thing! LOL!



Too bad those who were targeted to be ?Mass Murdered on an Unbelievable Scale? where not identified directly.

I don?t know for sure, but I bet if they were, if it was so close that flight #?s and day where identified, every one of the folks on those flights would think it was a Good Thing Too!

But I?m really just speculating there.

Frank

[TObject]

We are running out of freedoms for terrorists to hate.

[Daless2]

Originally posted by TObject
We are running out of freedoms for terrorists to hate.

Hi Sergey! How are you my friend?

Which Fredoms have you run out of, I haven't run out of any.

Wait. Ok.

Yea I was right, but I figured I better double check myself.

None run out of here.

Frank

[speaceman]

I'm just ****ed that everytime the terrorists try to pull something, everyone in the country ends up being scrutinized as a terrorist.

How the freak does that make sense?

When are we going to stop being PC and start doing what makes sense?

Racial/ethnic profiling is a useful tool for law enforcement if it is properly applied and limited in its scope.

Do we go round up every person of middle easter decent to find the terrorists?

No. That would be wrong. It was tried in the past (WWII with the japanese) and it is a shameful part of our country's history.

But I think it makes perfectly fine sense that any person of middle eastern decent getting on a plane gets some extra scrutiny while the rest of us can go about our daily business with as little hassle as possible while flying.

If 80 year old chinese men all of a sudden took it upon themselves to start blowing up planes, then I'd say that 80 year old chinese men should get some extra scrutiny when flying as well.

Mothers with babies, grandmas and every other person just trying to get around the country shouldn't be treated as a terrorist. It's a waste of resources. It's a waste of time. It doesn't solve anything. It's a stupid feel good, PC driven policy.

Why does everyone STILL have to take off their shoes at an airport? It's simply retarded.

PC is going to get people in this country killed.

Our government needs to get off the PC kick or we will never be able to deal with terrorism in this country.

[PK99TJ]

Originally posted by Daless2
Hmmmm??.

I would think that if what the AP is reporting is true,

AND,

either you or your wife in out of the country while you are reading off movie titles,

Frank,

You forgot, my wife or I would also need to be suspected terrorists, or linked to them... since there was no random sampling or pattern profiling of call records, if I remember right.

Anyway, I am very happy about this outcome. For a while, I travelled quite a bit for work, pre and post 9/11. I never ever complained once about tightened security at airports, and never found it an inconvenience.

I do remember being upset when the military presence at Pittsburgh Intl was removed at baggage check. I appreciated their presence, and was just one of many who personally thanked them as I passed by.

I like my freedoms just fine, I'll have to lose many more significant ones before I feel I'd rather die or watch fellow citizens die because of the ACLU their ilk.

Patrick

[TObject]

Originally posted by Daless2

Which Fredoms have you run out of, I haven't run out of any.

Freedom to bring a bottle of water on an airplane, for example.

I would rather not give away any freedoms in response to terrorist attacks. In my opinion it shows to terrorists that whatever they are doing is working.

[PK99TJ]

Sergey,

Would it bother you if people had the freedom to smoke on planes again? If so, why?

Patrick

[TObject]

Originally posted by PK99TJ
Would it bother you if people had the freedom to smoke on planes again? If so, why?

It wouldn't bother me. But smoking was banned not because of terrorists, so it is a different subject. Though havening a similar undertone.

[PK99TJ]

People are allowed to own and carry a variety of weapons, large and small.

Would you appreciate the freedom to carry such weapons onto a plane back?

Edit: To respond, smoking was banned from plane flights because of reasonable evidence that it kills people (flight crew, most likely). Reasonable evidence suggests to me that sports drinks made from explosive material also could be used to kill people. Which is why I asked...

[TObject]

Bare hands can be used to kill people too. It doesn't matter what can or cannot be used as a weapon: I bought the ticket; I know the risks. And now I cannot do something that I like to do and that hurts nobody.

[PK99TJ]

I think they do offer a variety of beverages on most commercial flights.

In addition to certain risks you accept, there are also certain restrictions. You're not required to fly to get from point a to point b.

Neither are you required to go to a movie theater to see a film. But it sure is more convenient, unless you want to wait for the DVD, or for the boat to get you there.

I would like to bring my own food to a movie theater.

Patrick

[TObject]

Yes, I know that I am not required to participate, but I am stuck with people, and expected to behave like people for the most part - that society thing again.

But at least I still have the freedom to express dissatisfaction in loosing other freedoms.

[PK99TJ]

Agreed.

I enjoy the freedom to debate using unrelated obscure analogies.

[speaceman]

Our country is far too focused on the "items" that terrorists use to commit their acts of terrorism and far too unfocused on the people that actually commit the terrorist acts.

We can be forced to fly on planes in hospital gowns with our suitcases being shipped by ground, just to be safe and that's going to do nothing if the terrorists decide to come up with a "new or different" plan or method to attack us that Law enforcement hasn't forseen or intercepted.

All the chaos that this particular terrorist plot has cased, due to the way we are responding to it and changing proceedures to it, is almost as good a vitory for the terrorists as if they had actually suceeded.

The main difference is that there was, very thankfully, no loss of life.

But as far as changing how americans live their lives and have to deal with simple things like flying, I think it could be considered as a semi-win for the terrorists.

This country needs to start using it's LE resources as effectively as possible.

Stopping every person, man, woman, and child, from brining water on a plane or making everyone take their shoes off, with out assessing the risk they pose with regards to terrorism on an airline flight, makes no sense. I'm sorry, but it just doesn't.

It's a complete waste of resources and complete hassle and waste of time for every normal person flying.

It doesn't make me feel any safer when the 80 year old grandma from Idaho gets pulled aside for a pat down at LAX.

It just makes me think that the TSA is spinning their wheels for no reason and it makes me wonder what that screener could be better doing with their time.

[Daless2]

Patrick, thank you for the correction.

I had forgotten the part about having to be ?A suspected terrorists, or linked to them... since there was no random sampling or pattern profiling of call records.?

Maybe I didn?t remember cause the NY Times forgot to report that part!



Sergey,

The good news is you can still bring ?Breast Milk? on board the aircraft! (Now if I can find a company to invest in!) LOL



I might be an exception, but here a few thoughts.

I have an enemy; those who wish to kill ?Me? (Me, mine and all other who are innocent) in horrific sorts of ways, trying to take away my most important right, ?My RIGHT TO BREATH?. (and yours).

I feel, perhaps wrongly, that I should be looking for my enemy, actively, based on what I know of the enemy. And then I think I should make the Enemy irrelevant to the world.

Think about trouble shooting a problem with your Jeep.

If my engine would not run I don?t think I would spend much time examining the weather stripping on the tailgate. (Sorry, I felt I had to make the discussion at least somewhat Jeep related!) LOL


Just because this is a different (asymmetrical) war doesn?t mean we should pour a spoonful of sugar in a glass of water and wait for it to assemble into a sugar cube before we act.


As for my freedoms?

I haven?t run out of them, not any of them. In fact I personally have more these days!

I have far more freedoms today then I ever had most of my adult life in the Marine Corps protecting everyone else?s freedoms.

As a side note, I have never heard any outrage over the freedoms our service men and woman ?Don?t Have?. I only hear it from folks who can?t reasonably point to, or articulate a single freedom that was taken away from them. (With the exception of Sergey and the water bottle! LOL)



Ropes are useful, but you have to pull on them from time to time to gain any benefits. You can push on that same rope all day long (all night too) and you won?t accomplish a thing. Can?t fight a war pushing a rope. At least I never have.

I think if the NAS intercept was key to foiling this horrific event then we pulled on the right rope, at the right time and that is what makes me feel this was a really really good thing!

I just knew this would be a lively topic.

Frank