Slashdot Mirror
Text Message Brands Quebec Man a Terror Suspect
An anonymous reader writes "Saad Allami likely never expected that a simple text message of encouragement would have turned his life upside down. But as seen in a similar case of absurd overreaction by authorities, a simple text message is all it takes to have yourself branded as a terrorist. From the article: 'The Quebec man says he was arrested by provincial police while picking up his seven-year-old son at school. A team of police officers stormed into his home, telling his wife she was married to a terrorist. And his work colleagues were detained for hours at the U.S. border because of their connection to him.'"
What were the contents of the text message? That seems like sort of a key point.
They arrested him because of a simple text message, not because any actions that he took. Just speech. That's a lot worse, if you ask me.
He was actually charged with terrorism for not also send his message in French. This is Quebec after all.
Welcome to the 21st century witch hunt!
But I'd really like to see the exact contents of the original text, as opposed to him giving us a vague description about how it mentioned "blowing away" the competition. That is, was it
"Go to this trade show and do such a good sales job that the competition is blown away!"
or a more hyperbolic comment like
"Blow those guys away. Annihilate them. Don't stop until they're lying in a puddle of their own blood, begging for mercy."
#DeleteChrome
The US and Canada have become such cowardly nations that anything can be made into a threat.
Knowing the DHS scrapes all of the social sites and sites like Slashdot, I would like to say that the DHS can 'blow me'.
So there...
"Telecommunications sales manager Saad Allami .. sent a text message to colleagues urging them to "blow away" the competition at a trade show in New York City"
..
Well there you have it, an obvious prima facie case if there ever were one. An Arab sounding name next to the words 'blow away` and 'New York`. The computers at Fort Meade must have lit up like a Christmas tree
AccountKiller
His name is Saad Allami and he sent your daughter a text message that said "Hello?"
Book him, Danno.
http://m.yahoo.com/w/news_america/muslim-man-workplace-quip-made-terror-suspect-211334769.html?back=%2F&.ts=1328402603&.intl=ca&.lang=en-ca
Link in OP does not seem to work.
- His name sounds Arabic
- He wants his colleagues to "blow away competition"
- The supposed target is in NYC
- The supposed venue is hosting a trade show
He is a terrorist QED.
We need to be asking the right questions here:
He made the tweet on Jan 21, and he was picked up three days later. That is an incredibly fast turnaround for law enforcement, even for the US or Canada. They were throwing the T-word around like it was a known fact, all while terrorizing his wife and co-workers.
So, let's ask some useful questions.
1. How long have the authorities been monitoring this man?
2. WHY have they been monitoring him?
3. WHY did they go after his co-workers?
The answers are bound to be exceptionally interesting and frightening.
[End Of Line]
...there's no racial profiling going on here at all, no, no...
Operation Guillotine is in effect.
...is Canada intercepting every single text message sent in their country? TFA doesn't say, but frankly I'm pretty curious. The UK people banned for the Twitter comment actually makes a little sense, as Twitter is public, but AFAIK text messages aren't.
You are guilty until proven innocent. If you dare criticize or say "Fuck the government" You are now a terrorist.
i am just smashed thermodynamically to pieces by the kind overreaction here
one wonders if a complete shock wave of annihilation of common sense has occurred
what do we do as a society if we utterly and eruptive eviscerate and detonate our sense of proportion?
a violent cataclysm of frothing hysteria is bursting forth and is explosively convulsively disintegrating mental composure here in a frenzied fulminating volcano of bursting boiling meteoric rage and---
[NO CARRIER]
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
They have succeeded in turning America and it's northern neighbours (who I thought had more sense) into paranoid lunatics!
Guess it wasn't such a long life after all....
The SQ surely knew this was nonsense and harassment, so why do it? Is it because the repercussions are so limited as to be meaningless?
"I was just following orders" should not be accepted. The entire chain in the SQ should face criminal charges, not a wrist-slap and let the taxpayers pick up the tab.
The more technical terms is moral panic. It is beyond ridiculous that such a well understood phenomena is completely lost on people who are supposedly "experts" on criminal behavior.
Remember: Unpartyspeak is doubleplusungood. Freedom is slavery. We have always been at war with Eastasia.
Here's the part of TFA that gets me:
Allami says he hasn't been able to get a certificate of good conduct, which he would need in order to get a job working in finance.
His allegations have not been proven in court and the application is to be presented at the Montreal courthouse on March 5.
Provincial police spokesman Guy Lapointe says the force is aware of the case but will not comment as it is before the courts. A Justice Department spokesperson also declined to comment.
Police had in Laval, Que., where he applied for the certificate, found terrorism accusations and public mischief on his file, even though his public file shows no signs of the allegations.
"Without the certificate of good conduct, the plaintiff can no longer work in his profession," the document states.
First of all, you need a "certificate of good conduct" from the police to work in the financial industry in Canada? On Wall Street, you almost need a certificate of unscupulous conduct to work in the financial industry.
Second, Canadians have a "public file?" This sounds like something that was dreamed up to make people feel like they could access the government's information about them. But it implies that there's a private file as well that you will never see, which defeats the purpose of having a public file. In the U.S., you can request your FBI file for a fee, but they can tell you they don't have anything on you when they do. And the best part is that one of the requirements for obtaining the file is that you have local law enforcement fingerprint all ten fingers and send that along with your $18 payment. "Mr. Smith, you didn't have a criminal record before we received your request. However, thanks to your voluntary submission of your fingerprints, we discovered you match some prints found at a crime scene that had us stumped 10 years ago. We're going to have to take you in for questioning."
I was about to, but this article shows that the police can use the most absurd things to make your life a living hell. Police and other so-called public servants really should be judged the same way employees of companies are: Do something stupid, and you get fired. Lawyers only go after the money since that is after all where the money is, but the cops who did this are also responsible so I hope the victim names them on the law suit or at least lists them as co-defendants to be named after all. That way their incredible dumb is out in the open for all the world to mock and laugh at.
In case anyone doubted the use of the term, I present google translate of a financial piece; hover on the article's title for untranslated usage:
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.alternatives-economiques.fr/comment-la-finance-fait-exploser-les-inegalites_fr_art_1094_54437.html&ei=49stT6qBNtCztwey0oTzDw&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDgQ7gEwAQ
"Yeah...it was the numbers that were irrational, not the murderous cult of vegetarians...." -- Hippasus of Metapontum
Or does posting as an AnonCow count as a pinch of salt?
"Yeah...it was the numbers that were irrational, not the murderous cult of vegetarians...." -- Hippasus of Metapontum
...that is, Nazi Germany [see "Lord Haw Haw, WWII].
Defying Hitler, Sebastian Haffner
Excerpt from the memoir...
What saved me was - my nose. I have a fairly well-developed figurative sense of smell, or to put it differently, a sense of the worth (or worthlessness!) of human, moral, political views and attitudes. Most Germans unfortunately lack this sense almost completely. The cleverest of them are capable of discussing themselves stupid with their abstractions and deductions, when just using their noses would tell them that something stinks. ...
As for the Nazis, my nose left me with no doubts. It was just tiresome to talk about which of their alleged goals and intentions were still acceptable, or even "historically justified" when all of it stank. How it stank! That the Nazis were enemies, my enemies, and the enemies of all I held dear, was crystal clear to me from the outset. What was not at all clear to me, was what terrible enemies they would turn out to be. I was inclined not to take them very seriously - a common attitude among their inexperienced opponents, which helped them a lot, and still helps them.
[. . .]
The morning headline was: "Hitler called to President". That produced a certain nervous, impotent irritation. Hitler had been called to the President in August and November. He had been offered the vice-chancellorship and then the chancellorship. Both times he had set impossible conditions, and both times there had been solemn declarations: "never again..." Each time "never again" had lasted exactly three months. Hitler's opponents in Germany at that time suffered from a compulsive urge to offer him everything he wanted, indefatigably and at an ever cheaper price, indeed to press it upon him. It is the same now with his opponents outside Germany. Again and again this "appeasement" was formally renounced, and again and again it gaily reappeared at the crucial moment; just so today. Then as now, one's only hope was Hitler's own unreasonableness. Would it not sooner or later exhaust the patience of his opponents? Then as now, it became apparent that their patience knew no bounds...
At midday the headline said: "Hitler makes impossible demands". We nodded, half reassured. It was only too credible. It would have gone against his nature to ask for less than too much. Perhaps the cup had once more passed from us. Hitler - the last defence against Hitler.
At about five o'clock the evening papers arrived: "Cabinet of National Unity formed - Hitler Reichschancellor".
I do not know what the general reaction was. For about a minute, mine was completely correct: icy horror. Certainly, this had been a possibility for a long time. You had to reckon with it. Nevertheless it was so bizarre, so incredible, to read it now in black and white. Hitler Reichschancellor ... for a moment I physically sensed the man's odour of blood and filth, the nauseating approach of a man-eating animal - its foul, sharp claws in my face.
Then I shook the sensation off, tried to smile, started to consider and found many reasons for reassurance. That evening I discussed the prospects of the new Government with my father. We agreed that it had a good chance of doing a lot of damage, but not much chance of surviving very long; a deeply reactionary government, with Hitler as its mouthpiece. Apart from this, it did not really differ much from the two governments that had succeeded Bruning's. Even with the Nazis it would not have a majority in the Reichstag. Of course that could always be dissolved, but the Government had a clear majority of the population against it, in particular the working class, which would probably go Communist...
In the meantime the Government would be likely to
and I try to blow away my customers expectations with killer customer service.
I'm also say lets blow away with the Harper Government (Yes this guy calls Government of Canada the Harper Government) in the next election. Anyone calling a gov "Fill in Politicians Name Gov" in a democratic country is a trader and has ulterior motives
There I said it. Come and get me.
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
How did they know? Were they already monitoring him? Did someone turn him out for the msg, or is there some flag that pops up for certain phrases?
I'm going with he has a name that gets him put on a list which then gets his messages and phone calls monitored.
I wonder if I'm on a list...
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
I have a felony conviction for a __non-violent__ crime.
I am not "allowed" entry into Canada because I have that conviction,
despite the fact that I have paid my debt to the US for a crime that had
nothing to do with Canada or any Canadian citizen.
Crap like this report doesn't surprise me in the least, Canada is run by
a bunch of neofascist idiots.
And I am not in the least sorry that I am not allowed to visit the place any more.
There is a great big world out there, and most of it will happily accept me as a visitor
and even more happily accept my money when I am visiting as a tourist.
I feel sorry for Canadians whose hearts are in the right place, and
I encourage them to make changes in their government.
The bottom line is : fascism can happen anywhere, and it IS happening in the
US, the UK, and Canada. If you disagree, please let us all know how those boots
taste, because it's obvious you have done some boot-licking.
Only a terrorist would feel the need to deny being a terrorist. Take him away, boys!
Blank until
Barney likes to invite his fellow hobbyists to his house. They need to bring money though.
Why did they tell people he was a terrorist? Generally in terrorism you want to grab them quietly so the others don't escape.
Congrats! You are monitoring your legal legitimate harmless innocent activities out of fear of your government. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilling_effect_(law)
My name is Jack. People can get arrested just for saying "Hi" to me.
That is the key problem. US or Canadian Govt. don't CARE to look good. They don't care to even IMITATE being proactive to catering to people's needs. And one fundamental need is - Habeas corpus. I.e. authorities just can't grab people at random under some pretext (be it "war on terror", "war on drugs", but the best one is "national security").
We've been brainwashed that such an environment existed in the USSR circa 1937. I don't know - have not been there. But ruining person's life based on some random saying of him.. looks very much pop culture 1937-ish to me.
To put it simple - there is no rule of people in the US or Canada. Some call it "democracy", but hell with that abused notion, let Gov't just CARE a little about People.
For one, in Russia I can at least write a letter to Putin, and he, using his direct *authority* is able to rectify his bureaucrat's dumb and aggressive behaviour - remember Ponosov's case with Mircrosoft trying to put him in jail for 5 years for alleged "copyright" violations. We live in Internet time - and it's better for Govt's to adjust their habits, then to censor and inhibit the Internet. But will the US and Canada do that or destroy the public Internet?
Vassili Leonov
those islamist terrorists were already using messages hidden in ordinary digital images to communicate before 2001. now you are saying that in 2011, they reverted back to plain text messages.
either learn up, or shut up. stupidity of people like you is allowing those fools in administration to these stupid things to america.
Read radical news here
is the parent post modded down. because it speaks of uncomfortable truth ?
Read radical news here
Companies abandoning Dilbertesque mission statements then i think its on balance a win - not for the unfortunate Mr Allami but on balance a win
I kindda expect this overreaction from the US authorities. They have proven quite effective at that over the last 10 years.
Without really knowing how it all went down, my expectations falls really short when I see my provincial police force being tools to the US.
The patriot act is a US law this can be interpreted to permit all kind of stupid action by law enforcement IT DOES NOT automatically extend to the rest of the world and their law enforcement. Too often, other countries overstep their own boundaries under the pretense of helping the US government. I feel a little ashamed to be a french guy from Québec...
Due to the idea of showing aggressiveness, out-stripping capability/capacity or the comparative extreme, everything from computing to politics has some extreme language. Explode, nuclear, destroy, execute, shoot-down, assassinate, surgical strike and war, which have been around forever, have found new companions with jihad, terrorism, dirty bomb and shock and awe. Phrases that may eternally be in bad taste have a tendency to pop up, such as holocaust, genocide, nazi (not that the Interweb Tubes have stopped that one), crash a plane into, Hiroshima (and Nagasaki) and Windows 95.
"Yeah...it was the numbers that were irrational, not the murderous cult of vegetarians...." -- Hippasus of Metapontum
The only upsetting part of your story is how we've let the slimy lawyer politicians shift more and more crime to severe rankings and I'm not just referring to the increase in felony crimes which is bad enough given how much policy is based upon that classification alone.
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
The true north strong and... ummm
He learned a french language that's closer to France's than Quebec's.
Instead of blaming the stupidity of the police or government officials, I think we should question the very premise of gathering intelligence using data mining.
The man allegedly sent a text message in French which translates roughly as:
Salem, I will be in New York on January 25h, we will explode ACN, if you have contacts refer them to me.
Now, it may sound reasonable to investigate something that could be a simple mistake or slang term, but also could be something sinister, just to be on the safe side. But consider for a moment how many millions of text messages are sent across the globe every day, and if even a tenth of a percent of them contain slang terms, jokes or language errors that make them sound suspicious, the police will have thousands of false positives (or more) to investigate every day. If there are terrorists who are dumb enough to send text messages about "exploding" a building, they'll be drowned out by the thousands of ordinary people who are stupid enough to send text messages that make them sound like terrorists.
We should ask ourselves if it's reasonable to devote the police's limited resources to investigating all those false positives, or if it's better used on traditional investigative work, such as infiltrating terrorist organisations.
Security expert Bruce Schneier has an excellent article on this problem.
Now a days only politicians are considered as patriots.
Everybody else are potential criminals/terrorists.
Should we all start/own a political party?
Casteism