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Tennessee Official: Water Complaints Could be "Act of Terrorism"
An anonymous reader writes "A Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation deputy director is threatening citizens with being listed as terrorists for giving official complaints. Sherwin Smith, deputy director of TDEC’s Division of Water Resources said: 'But you need to make sure that when you make water quality complaints you have a basis, because federally, if there's no water quality issues, that can be considered under Homeland Security an act of terrorism.' 'In terms of the comments made by a member of the Water Resources Division at the meeting, we are just receiving the information and looking into this on our end,' spokeswoman Meg Lockhart said. 'The department would like to fully assess what was said in the meeting. I am told that the meeting was far longer than the audio clip provided by SOCM and that Mr. Smith actually clarified his remarks. But again, we are looking into it.'"
The government's number one tool in the fight against terrorism.
"To stop the terrorists."
They should make hiring assholes an act of terrorism.
Welcome to the new McCarthyism. Any time you do anything "they" don't like, you're a ter'ist...
-- You are in a maze of little, twisty passages, all different... --
Citizen complaints sometimes terrify people!
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
Land of the fr... forget that.
Welcome to the american gulag.
Why don't they just kill everyone and call it a day?
It's definitely where we're headed to and as nobody seems to care very much, there should be no problem with a referendum for nation-wide suicide going through. That'll show the terrorists, can't scare a dead man. Hah!
Terrorism is determined by its target, not its methods..
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
As well as "They drew a nasty picture" they will be able to say "Why do you make such a fuss about the Boston Bomber, 9/11, the Fort hood massacre when there are dozens of non-Muslim terrorists who blatantly complain about the water quality"
Now, don't these people look like some of them terrorists to you?
Let me get my rifle.
yet every time I think officialdom can't get any more stupid, they go and prove me wrong... again!
Sherwin Smith should be fired immediately. If I threatened my customers, my boss would rightfully fire me on the spot.
This is no doubt the sort of horrifying terrorist plot the NSA telephone surveillance program has been so successful foiling. Thank good we has such dedicated protectors to save us from the terrorists.
Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
If the citizen was making false complaints to Homeland Security, that would be actionable, but this is TDEC complaining to HS that the citizen is a terrorist. IMHO, this would render the TDEC official the person wasting Staatssicherheit's time with a false complaint. If that's terrorism, then Mr. Smith is encouraging and/or procuring terrorism by having his staff make the reports.
davecb@spamcop.net
Everyone is suspect of being a terrorist these days. Let's make some terrrorist cake to identify them.
Do you think that maybe he was referring to the equivalent of yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theatre? (Poison in the water supply.) Making threats to attack should be taken seriously, whether the method be bombs, guns or poisons.
As usual the summary is worded to create the most sensational story.
listed as terrorists for giving official complaints
The more accurate version would vave been as follows;
listed as terrorists for giving unfounded official complaints
Basically the complainants are aledgeing that the water is making them sick with no evidence what so ever as to the link between the water and the sickness. There was an offer to test the water that was declined therefore no evidence could be gathered.
People abusing "terrorism" for bullshitting society are a terrorist threat to society themselves.
Cars kill more people, smoking kills more people, alcohol kills more people.
Educate the sheep. Stop this bullshit.
Privacy is terrorism.
This government official needs to be brought up on charges of making verbal threats and abuse of power.
BAD TENNESSEE! bad! we don't do that! no! no!
don't make me put you on the leash again.
Any civil servant threatening terrorism charges for complaints from the public should be immediately fired. He/she does not have the public interest at heart.
Are you a terrorist when driving if you come to a stop just beyond the white line at a stop sign or traffic signal? If we allow water board employees to decide who's a terrorist think what traffic cops can do to you for the most minor infraction.
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
"Rest Area" has nothing to do with rest. it's short for "Arrest Area" everybody knows that!
Threatening people, terrorizing them with these threats is the definition of terrorism.
Personally, I'd like to see some true justice on this asshat, as well as others who threaten to call others terrorists or enemies of the state just because they call into question the acts or quality of service of their product.
Obama should be impeached for allowing and supporting illegal acts of the government.
The entire Attorney General's office should be thrown into gitmo for doing and supporting illegal acts, including murder.
The CIA and FBI should be given receive the death sentence for illegal and treasonous (against the constitution) actions.
The IRS should be shot on general principle (as well as for millions of acts against the H.I.P.A. act)
Judges who support their political party than the laws should be de-benched and made to wear low rise pants in prison.
In short, our entire current government are a bunch of treasonous thugs hellbent on ruining the lives of anyone who doesn't make a million or more a year.
Yer supposed to chew before you swallow. Din't yo' mama teach yo' nuthin'?
Have gnu, will travel.
This water quality official is projecting his frustration onto the people he is supposed to serve. If he can't do his job, he should resign. Instead, he's trying to play the terrorist card. Embarrassed by this outrage, his superiors have gone into damage control mode saying his remarks were taken out of context and that he later clarified his position.
Wow. Is this what we have to look forward to?
Wansu, th' chinese sailor
And this is why we should fear how much the government should be allowed to intrude into our lives. Because who knows what sort of low-level bitter bureaucrat may just take a disliking to you, and end up abusing government powers.
Higher Logics: where programming meets science.
sherwin.smith@tn.gov
Go on. You know you want to. I did.
America is becoming a strange place.
(when I previewed this post I saw I had accidentally type strangle instead of strange - Freudian slip?)
We warned that this would happen. Now it is happening.
Just like with Stalin's regime (the actual inspiration for "1984"), every time the gulags / work prisons used their inmates up (that's meant literally), Stalin declared a new group to be the designated enemy, and incarcerated them.
Girl... America... what happened to you? :/
... would be to fire Sherwin Smith immediately. There is no context for this kind of outrageous behavior. Then hire someone who will be more positive about making the water better.
now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
Everyone will have their daily forced medication of sodium fluoride. No complaints are allowed!
Signature intentionally left blank.
Talk about a massive abuse of authority, it's getting ridiculous how anything that the government doesn't agree with or makes them look bad and they'll use terrorism as excuse to indefinitely detain, control, and slander you.
http://theworkaround.com/
If there's several simultaneous valid complaints alleging something like a serious illness, the water system may have to be shut down while it's tested or risk spread of a contamination. We've had that happen several times where I live (and I live in a major metropolitan area) when initial tests have shown a possible bacterial problem and they've needed several days for comprehensive tests to tell whether there really is a problem or not. I'd be outraged if a single complaint would have them labeling the complainant a terrorist, but I suspect the missing context is that they're discussing concerted multiple reports filed with the intent of forcing a shutdown and possibly where the complainants are aware they don't have a reasonable basis for the complaints (think anti-fluoridation kooks wanting to "send a message").
If a certain place in Tennessee wants to outlaw such behavior then so be it. That part of the country has alwayas been associated with conservative politics so if it's a problem just ignore it. Noone ever said that the residents have to live there, and who is going to constantly complaining about the water anyway? This whole issues is moot.
Yes, and if a certain place in Alabama wants to bring back slavery, so be it. That part of the country has alwayas been associated with conservative politics so if it's a problem just ignore it. Noone ever said that the residents have to live there.
Idiot.
I was looking for a good examplar for the term "scuttlefish", for those here who were unfamiliar with the term. Archie Bunker couldn't have said it better than you did. Actually, though, you're more a self-important buffoon trying to intimidate scuttlefish, but close enough I guess.
By, the way, Mr. Smith, did you know that if you step on a crack, you'll break your mother's back?! What a fucking maroon! I see people like you every time I go into City Hall around here, though.
I see the deputy director is an amateur lawyer. I too dabble at interpreting complex laws.
It seems to me that by (with force of office) threatening to prevent US laws from being carried out he and is coworkers could be guilty of seditious conspircacy (18 USC 2384). This has a penalty of 20 years in prison.
I haven't looked much, so there could be other laws with harsher penalties that might also fit.
Terrorrism implies the use of violence. ... and the rest of the populist right's usual operating lexicon are not terrorrism. Technically. The authorities offering that memorable, sorry, lamentable declaration might as well have been wearing pointed hoods while doing so.
Alarmism, rumor-mongering, scare-mongering, mythomania, lying, delusion,
The word "terrorism" seems to me more and more like the yellow star of WWII.
[/GodwinPoint]
Totof
Isn't supplying dangerous fluids to a large population and pretending it to be water more an act of terrorism? It tends to affect a lot of people, instead of some petty official..
Everything is scare tactics and threats...
This is just the next step. Burn a constitution in the name of fighting terrorism and the people agree. Change what is means to be considered a terrorist and you neutralise anyone that doesn't agree. The US is heading along a path where anyone not in government is a terrorist... About time. Now Obama might actually be able to get the guns out of the hands of all those NRA terrorists...
The State of Tennessee has no authority to enforce Federal Law, and the Federal Government will laugh at any TN official who tries to have a complaintant charged under Homeland Security as a terrorist for complaining about TDEC's miserable fucking water management skills.
Isn't Sherwin Smith's threat against the citizens in itself an act of terror? Complaining about the water might upset one government official. But Sherwin's comments have upset and terrorized everybody.
"You must have browser cookies enabled to view our site."
Does anyone have a copy of the article?
So if you complain that some corporation drilling in your neighborhood will turn your groundwated into shit, you'll be labeled terrorist, stripped of your rights and sent right to the nearest supermax prison. Welcome to the United Fascist States of America. Your corporate overlords don't like you compaining about shit they bring upon you to improve their profits.
should be considered an act of terrorism.
Sounds like repression of free speech using saying act of terrorism as an excuse. I'd get the ACLU involved and sue them for repression of free speech. Ironically isn't threatening these people like this an act of terror in itself.
The government has the sole right to define terrorism, not the people. It's one of the checks and balances we have, so the people can't overpower the government at every turn by voting our elected officials out of office, protesting, or expressing dissent.
Even a single person's act could snowball into something which could throw a monkey wrench in the government's long term plans for shaping society. If someone does something that the severely upsets the government, but is technically within a constitutional right, what other recourse does the government have? Forming new laws takes time and a lot of arm wrenching of politicians to enact it. No politician wants to be directly identified with suppressing the people. And even if laws were formed, government does not have a crystal ball. It can't know what and how something that someone outside of it may turn out. No, for things that might actually affect the government, it must be able to act fast and decisively.
So, a broad interpretation of terrorism gives the government a way of dealing with this, by grabbing hold of people from its icy depths of bureaucracy, and no one knows who did it or why. In this way, the people have a right to make changes in the little things, but it keeps our government at the helm of the ship.
Laws should be annotated with their spirit, i.e. the reason why they were signed into being. Anti terrorist laws are intended to deter terrorists, not as a mechanism shut up citizens about water complaints. Any lawyer abusing a law beyond its spirit should lose their job.
I heard almost that exact story from a friend of my dad's years ago in regards to how his family moved to California.
I almost think he'd said his dad was a cop at the time too. Wasn't corrupt and stepped on the toes of a local sheriff leading to a rather hasty departure from whichever state it was (Didn't turn violent, but it was heading that way.)
of power that will run off at the mouth using such tactics. I am increasingly frustrated with this "post-9/11 world" where any dissent can be met with threats of reprisal from anyone from the dog catcher to the President. Seriously, I pay my taxes, do my job, educated my kids, drive safely and love my fellow man. Enough is enough, however!
Where everyone is a terrorist.
Terrorism is a high chrime, the usage of the term should not be taken lightly. It should not be allowed to persist unchecked. False accusations and threats of persecution to the populace (and his constituency!)) cannot stand. It is criminal. Not only should officials be socially denounced, but in severe cases, it warrants prosecution.
Who else do you think is behind all this bullshit, the denial of your free speech, the elevation of Jews to 'untouchables', while they are destroying your country all around you... Sickening.
Welcome to Obamanist russ.sorry...America comarades. in my country we used to call them political prisoners but i like your pronounciation better. Terrorist. the sheer unknown of what or who they terrorise alows for more freedom of abuse of human right. Love it. Shuld be more of it. Stalin would be proud of what the USA has become. lol
For a country hell bent on individual rights protected under the constitution America is doing sweet fk all to protect itself from the terrorist within its government. Even the 2nd amendment doesnt seem to be working as intended since it seems most of recent troubles and anti people agendas can be leviated by a simple revolution but no one is willing to go to gitmo for standing up and being counted :) :)
lucky we have avganistan to vent our anger on them 'real' terrorists ah?
First they say a city water system is a good idea. Then they make it illegal for you to drill your own well. Then they increase the rates (over and over and over and...). All the while making the water taste like crap. And then they give you static for complaining. (And for those of you who aren't familiar with regional water rights disputes, it gets much worse.)
Aren't you glad you turned over healthcare to the gumint?
First they came for the tobacco smokers and I said nothing because I don't smoke.
Then they came for the huge soda drinkers and I said nothing because I don't drink soda.
Then they came for the foie gras eaters and I said nothing because I don't eat goose liver.
If they ever come for the bacon, THAT will result in an ginormous asskicking.
Well, is it?
the best way to fight an invisible enemy of a few misguded religous zelots is to create a totalitaran dictator to root them out and stand guard so they can't scare anyone ever again.
Let me guess, Tennessee does a lot of fracking.
Here we discover the hidden part of 1st amendment. You have free speech, but using it will put you on a terror list.
That's extreme right wing crazy talk!
Of course, since the NSA is spying on almost everybody, almost everybody are terrorists. These water police just make sure that the rest of the populace don't fall through the cracks.
Now stay in line citizen and don't spill that cup of water...
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
There is nothing wrong with democracy and having the people govern themselves as they see fit. If the people are fools, they will have a useless government that fails to serve them which will ultimately fall into despotism and shall no longer be a democracy. That is the cycle is the history and future of all democratic governments (to paraphrase Ben Franklin.)
Healthcare wasn't turned over to the "gumint" you ignoramus! I would be glad it if was actually turned over to the government; any failures of an actual healthcare system (what existed was nearly anarchy and is not that much further from it after The Heritage Foundation's "Obamacare" begins in 2014) -- i repeat: any failures of a government system, would be the responsibility of the citizens and they would deserve whatever they managed it to become.
The limitations imposed on the people's will (such as liberties that are out of reach of government) always end up failing eventually to the majority which again leads to despotism imposed upon minority groups (smokers for example) which undermines ideals -- the importance of which is really just an indicator of the lack of wisdom of the public. It's not long until they begin relinquish their powers as well.
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
...and so the gradual, inexorable march to a totalitarian state continues...
i've been saying it since 9/11. there's literally no such thing. It's a red herring, always has been. A way of conveniently labeling people to brand them as enemies. This is just one example in a long line of examples.
In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
If you report or publicly mention a bug in my software, then you are trying to scare people into not using my software. Thus, you are a terrorist.
If you give a movie or product a bad review, you might scare them into not seeing said movie or buying said product. Thus, you are a terrorist.
If you ever complain about anything, your negativity might badly affect other people. Thus, you are a terrorist.
Everyone, just walk around with a smile at all times and keep saying that everything is fine. The first person who grumbles gets sent off to Gitmo. (And the second... and the third...)
I don't know about you, but I feel happier already. See? *extremely big (slightly nervous looking) smile*
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
Welcome to American People, the land of the corporate freedom, where people get screw up and big corporations don't. This is what you get for letting politicians win elections based on how much money they can collect from individuals and big corporations during their campaigns and not because of the ideas and good intentions those politicians bring to the table to help their people and get justice for them. The system is just rotten and corrupt.
This is just ridiculous. Every time a pipe breaks and contaminates local water supplies, the local authorities come back and say everything is fine and the water is ok just because some big corporation paid for the research to cover their asses. This law is basically making everything worse because now people cannot try to speak up when big corporations screw up, but now they will become terrorists because of that??????. How can you prove the water is contaminated, when the corporations that owns the pipes pay for the research to prove if the water is really contaminated. Common people can never win against that.
We're gonna get those terrorists.
motto: "with drones we love"
state flower: Zeiss Ikon 85mm f2.1
state bird: "yeah, well THIS says you're number ONE!"
state pen: border to border
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
Sherwin Smith should be fired immediately. If I threatened my customers, my boss would rightfully fire me on the spot.
In the mindset of many regulatory agencies -- especially as you get further down and closer to the local level -- the people they regulate and thus have regular contact with and who pay license fees to them are their customers. Citizens are a just nuisance that need to be managed for the people they really serve.
People who shoot undercover videos of animal cruelty in stockyards are terrorists also, in many states, not just one. Can't you just smell the freedom?
What's this? The government's new powers to define, locate, and stop both existing and potential future terrorists are being used to threaten innocent but potentially inconvenient behavior from normal citizens? This is shocking and unexpected!
Apparently the terror of terrorism scared many Americans to death.
Sounds like Mr. Smith either needs to review the U.S. Constitution or transfer to another field of endeavor.
Ha ha ha ha! God, I so hate the ignoramuses who run states like Tennessee.
Another way of stating it is better to die on your feet, than live on your knees.
According to a reliable rumor that I just started, Erin Brockovich is being held in Guantanamo Bay prison. A government spokesperson, who shall remain nameless, would neither confirm nor deny the rumor.