Slashdot Mirror
Florida Activates System For Citizens To Call Each Other Terrorists
An anonymous reader writes "Sheriffs in 13 Northeast Florida counties announced an online system Thursday for residents to report suspicious activity they think may be terrorism-related. The site provides examples of red flags to watch for, such as people with an unusual interest in building plans or who are purchasing materials useful in bomb making. Important places to watch include hobby stores and dive shops."
Because the best way to find a needle in a haystack is to dump increasing amounts of hay on top.
I have here in my hand a list of all the people I suspect of terrorism. It includes many of my business competitors and personal acquaintances I find annoying or otherwise repulsive. For example, you'll see on page 5 I've included Ms. Johnson from down the street who lets her dog shit in my yard and never cleans up after it. I've noticed her making furtive glances at my front window while the dog is dumping and I'm pretty sure she's making notes of when I'm not home so she can steal the propane tank from my Grillmaster and use it in her reign of terror.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
No, you use 9-1-1 for real threats involving actual terrorists.
This is for increasing the level of fear in citizens in order to make privacy invasion more acceptable.
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
...right down the drain.
I genuinely don't know what to say to Americans now. It's not like they can just pack up and move to the next country over. But I sure as hell wouldn't be staying another week if I was there... what a sad ending to a country with great promise.
[SHOW SOME LENIENCY TOWARDS
...Otherwise, I'd be spending all my time talking to the cops. I'd probably set off every single alarm that's on their "suspicious activity" list. I'm active in hobby rocketry, and sometimes transport my engines in surplus bazooka shell cases. Plus, the girlfriend is a dive instructor.
Hey, anyone remember the 50's and 60's? One the AWFUL things were were told about the Soviet system was the constant suspicion - people encouraged to turn in their neighbors, children encouraged to turn in their parents... (SIGH)
Wow, if you replace the word 'terrorism' with 'witchcraft' - it sort of reads like a document from Salem, MA circa 1692.
The same way it happened during the Red Scare?
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
For one, they'll probably report some statistics for "dozens of reports of possible terrorist threats each day".
Secondly, the mere existence of the reporting tool means people get reminded of terrorism more often.
Finally, "Where there's smoke, there's fire"; this is the smokescreen (bad pun, sorry).
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
1) The fact this program ('report suspected terrorists') exists must mean that there are terrorists out there. I'm afraid.
2) I need to buy a new pressure cooker for the big meal I'm cooking... what if I get reported as a possible terrorist?? I'm afraid.
This is for increasing the level of fear in citizens in order to make privacy invasion more acceptable.
And since it will be the police getting the reports, how do you figure it will increase the level of fear in citizens?
The first time local law enforcement says, "Reports of terrorism are up 900% this year; we need an increased budget to deal with the increased threat."
911 is for emergencies. They are looking for tips.
Here is tip, comrade, everyone is a terrorist, but me!
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Perhaps we could call the terrorist hotline and report a black car with tinted windows. I just saw the driver looking around suspiciously as he sat in the car and just before he closed the door, I noticed he was carrying a pistol out in the open and had what seemed to be a sawed off shotgun in the front seat. He spoke using a lot of codes, as if they were second nature to him. I strongly suspect this individual to be involved in a rather large, well organized group who seems to want to harass and harm people. I think he's either a terrorist or a government agent in an unmarked car.... it is so hard to tell the difference these days.
"The Stasi was primarily an organ of political control"
Do you think for one second that Stasi did not use the exact same rhetoric as NSA, Homeland Security etc? What they did and what people in east germany thought they did are not at all the same.
HTTP/1.1 400
State Police say there were no warrants or advisories on any of the individuals and "there was no evidence that the seven were committing any crime beyond the trespassing."
How does that justify a tip line for people to report suspected terrorist activity?
Even if those people were trying to poison the water, that reservoir holds 412 billion gallons of water. You would have to dump tanker truck loads of poison it before you'd have any chance of making anyone sick.
There's simply no way that seven people trespassing can carry enough of anything to have any real effect, yet that's exactly the sort of thing that would get reported to the tip line (along with crazy people reporting their neighbors and all the people reporting Florida Man).
This is exactly the methods used in Soviet Russia and other countries with similar political system.
For years various such countries lived under communism, and they finally got rid of it 25 years ago. For years USA was hailed as the "country of freedom", and it recently adopts communist-like methods.
In California if you want to purchase medicaments, they check your ID and input your date of birth to the cash register, because law prohibits sale of medicaments (known to Americans as "drugs") to minors.
You also need to provide your ID and date of birth if you purchase a knife sharpener (made in China, of course). Sales of knives to minors is prohibited, and knife sharpeners are put under the same "knife" type of merchandise.
Heck, you cannot even buy something as simple as contact lenses without a prescription! Apparently it is too dangerous for people to buy without doctor approval. Must be true, so many people in Europe die because they bought wrong lenses, right?
Combine this all with extensive spying on their own citizens, security theatre (most visibly by TSA) and now encouraging citizens to spy on the others... Stalin would have been proud!
What next? USA remake of Pavlik Morozov?
Wait, they already have people sue their parents... some will surely chose to denounce instead.
(note: this is slightly on pessimist side to compensate for the optimists out there who will surely reply "nah, it's not an issue, we don't have a problem")
Here's your lesson, kids: caring about the thing you got your degree in should stop the minute you graduate, because any learning not done between 9 and 5 and in a school building by a tenured professor will get you arrested.
wtf is wrong with you?
Looks like they haven't learnt from the Korean debacle.
Korean govt started this thing for traffic offenses (South Korea).
There was a monetary benefit too attached. Soon there were people, who deliberately slowed down while crossing on green, so their hiding snapper friend would click pictures of motorists caught unawares. Soon this developed to a stage that motorists beat up a few people., and it also resulted in streetfights. Needless to say, it was abandoned.
Now of course, there is no monetary benefit here, but you will have a small percentage who would be misguided into thinking that its their patriotic duty. There will also be a small percentage of malicious people who want to get even with their "weird" neighbor. Then there would be some douchebags who will think its a nice prank to have a swat team in their neighborhood.
So its going to be a party now
My Aurora : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o91ZsGwJYyg
FB : https://www.facebook.com/TanveersPhotography
Well, that should work out well for them; I mean, it's not like Florida is filled with geriatrics who find everyone under the age of 50 to be suspect, right?
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Pretty soon it will be illegal to have a hobby. Just consume your goods and go to work like a good little citizen. I'd rather be a victim of a terrorist than live in that society.
...so they'll just be repeatedly calling their grandchildren and asking how to do it. THIS IS A TOOL OF THE DEVIL.
The Stasi was primarily an organ of political control, not an anti-terrorism or ordinary local law enforcement.
Trying to draw a parallel is nonsense.
Contrary to popular perception, the DHS can also be used for political control. Remember when the Occupy Wall Street movement was considered a terrorist threat? Remember when students staging a sit-in were pepper sprayed by the police? That's political control right there.
"What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
My neighbor in the city I used to live in was a gardener. Dude was like 70. Anyway, had a nice greenhouse, would make some cash on the side selling flowers and tomatoes and such every spring/summer. Anyway, one day the feds kicked his door in, tore up his house, wrecked his greenhouse, etc, because someone reported they saw pot there. Feeling they got fucked with, the feds dragged in the person that made a tip to point out the pot. They pointed to a plant with similar leaves that looked nothing like it, that he had openly on sale.
Whatdya know? Turns out the person that called in the tip was also a gardener that now had a much better chance to sell their wares now that his competition was basically ruined. Neighbor gets out of it with a sprained wrist, bruises, a bunch of broken flower pots, ripped bags, busted lights, etc. Looked like a damn hurricane hit the place.
We wrecked an old dude's life on an anonymous tip that he was growing pot there, in the open, in front of tons of straight edged old geezers that would freak out if they so much as saw a real pot leaf.