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Have a Political Bumper Sticker? The FBI Might Be Snapping Photos of You (muckrock.com)

v3rgEz writes: Tomorrow marks the 35th anniversary of Food Not Bombs, the peace organization that seeks to democratically divert military spending into free food for the needy. But as documents recently obtained by MuckRock show, even such tepid support as a bumper sticker for the outspoken anti-violence organization could land you in FBI files. Read on for yet another example of how the FBI puts war protesters, Juggalos, and animal rights activists in the same category as organized crime and terrorist groups.

192 comments

  1. The FBI will also track you... by saloomy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    if you read the story or comment on it!

    1. Re:The FBI will also track you... by fredrated · · Score: 1

      Damn! Too late!

    2. Re:The FBI will also track you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      if you read the story or comment on it!

      And we watch the FBI... Pretty sure everyone is watching everyone else. Oh and porn.

      By the way, those conspiracy theories... pretty much all of them: real. Or pretty close. Be seeing you.

    3. Re:The FBI will also track you... by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      No, that is the NSA. The FBI is only hooked into the phone system, and email.

      I just assume we're on the same list here as we're already on for having visited the Linux Journal website.

    4. Re: The FBI will also track you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Does Mulder/Scully smut fanfic count as FBI porn?

    5. Re:The FBI will also track you... by s.petry · · Score: 2

      if you read the story or comment on it!

      Warning people that actions get them tracked, will get you tracked.

      --

      -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    6. Re:The FBI will also track you... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 0

      There are other reasons not to be too overt with your political opinions. I have a sister, living in Texas, who has at least a dozen lefty stickers on her car, and it has been vandalized multiple times.

    7. Re:The FBI will also track you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Really, at this point, who ISN'T in a file at the F.B.I.? The warped mission, or mission creep, that now tries to document everything and police everyone is making it that anything will earn you a folder in a filing cabinet somewhere. I have constantly spoken out against abuse of power and don't condone any of the unjustified, unnecessary surveillance and this little bit of news is no surprise given the "law enforcement" landscape.

      But it's the F.B.I.'s or other agencies' problem if they want to waste time tallying bumpah stickah supporters. It's not like tracking bumper stickers is going to nail a terrorist. For Bob's sakes, they can't nail the real terrorists, why are they wasting time with someone with just enough gumption to put minimal effort to put an opinion somewhere IN THE OPEN... unlike a terrorist. IDIOTS.

    8. Re:The FBI will also track you... by chihowa · · Score: 0

      In my experience, people who have at least a dozen bumper stickers of any kind tend to be loud self-righteous assholes who tend to bring a lot flak on themselves through their own actions (super aggressive or passive-agressive driving, illegal or inconsiderate parking habits, etc). I think it's something about being strongly opinionated and needing validation through persecution, or something..

      I'm not saying that your sister necessarily fits into that category, but I wouldn't be surprised.

      --
      If you want a vision of the future, imagine a youtube comments section scrolling - forever.
    9. Re:The FBI will also track you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are other reasons not to be too overt with your political opinions. I have a sister, living in Texas, who has at least a dozen lefty stickers on her car, and it has been vandalized multiple times.

      If you have a dozen stickers on your car, the number one message it sends is "I really don't give a fuck about my car".
      The number two message it sends is: "I have something to say and I demand that you hear it, without having the ability to respond to it directly or call me out on my bullshit."
      Which leads some people to not feel bad about leaving a 'reply' in the form of vandalism to the vehicle, and/or the stickers.

      And for the record no, I'm not justifying vandalism. But it does kind of bother me when I see people do things which amount to standing in a Black neighborhood with a sign reading "I Hate Niggers" and then complain about being Victimized.

    10. Re:The FBI will also track you... by slashdot_commentator · · Score: 4, Insightful

      COINTELPRO, look it up.

      Just realize that the managers at all these agencies don't work for the American people. The American people didn't give their okay to be spied upon. Cabinet members and agency directors answer to the people who handle their next lucrative assignment.

      --
      There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon
    11. Re:The FBI will also track you... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

      ... loud self-righteous assholes .. . I'm not saying that your sister necessarily fits into that category ...

      She fits.

    12. Re:The FBI will also track you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just think about it...

      Most vandals of this sort are trying to call attention to the message. That is, vandals of leftist messages are more likely to be leftists than rightists. Just look at the studies and their data.

      If multiple (a dozen) lefty stickers result in vandalism, do you want to take some or all off? You don't have to take any off. It's your sister's choice but I think that following paraphrase might be applicable: Vandalize my car once, shame on you. Vandalize my car twice or multiple time, shame on me.

      Please with excessive bumper sticker may be Nutters. (Or, can't afford a paint job.)

      YMMV

    13. Re:The FBI will also track you... by macs4all · · Score: 1

      There are other reasons not to be too overt with your political opinions. I have a sister, living in Texas, who has at least a dozen lefty stickers on her car, and it has been vandalized multiple times.

      Whaddya expect? We're talking about Texas, afterall.

    14. Re:The FBI will also track you... by macs4all · · Score: 2

      COINTELPRO, look it up.

      Just realize that the managers at all these agencies don't work for the American people. The American people didn't give their okay to be spied upon. Cabinet members and agency directors answer to the people who handle their next lucrative assignment.

      And of course, The damned USAPATRIOTACT (look it up) undid all the privacy protections that were instituted following the COINTELPRO blowup.

    15. Re:The FBI will also track you... by bugs2squash · · Score: 1

      Most of us are safe then. Hardly anyone reads the stories and most only comment on guns or religion regardless of what the story is about.

      --
      Nullius in verba
    16. Re:The FBI will also track you... by lgw · · Score: 1

      One more successful data point for the "infallible crazy test":
      * For every sticker on a car (that's not a parking sticker), add 1 point
      * For every place the words "Ron" or "Paul" appear, add 2 points (each)

      Results:
      0 - So sane you're boring
      1 - Normal colorful individual
      2 - Borderline nuts, probably safe but keep away from sharp objects just in case
      3+ Should be institutionalized for the safety of themselves and others

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    17. Re: The FBI will also track you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Joke's on you, they were already snapping pics of you.

      Having a political bumper sticker, or tattoos or having a subscription to almost any publication dedicated to anything other than Mom, hotdogs, and apple pie doesn't cause them to track or monitor you or your activities, social circles, networks of people with whom you associate, only what color folder your files are kept in, and which stack on which desk they inhabit.

      When your job is to be your nation's sense of paranoia, everyone looks like a suspect... Everyone's a perp who hasn't been identified yet.

      If you still live in a fantasy-world where you conjure that America is any species of democracy, that our government governs with the consent of the governed, (rather than specifying which term it uses to call itself,) and that the various subdivisions of the Gestapo aren't sharing EVERY shred of information ANY one or more of them has on you, then I envy you, and I pity you.

      You can always use a FOI request for all the information they have on you, but if you aren't already a big, fat blip on somebody's radar, you will be the instant they get that request.

      We return you to your regularly-scheduled nightmare.

    18. Re: The FBI will also track you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've got a GNU fish on my Subaru along with a Heckler and Koch decal. I'm probably being tracked as a commie subversive.

    19. Re:The FBI will also track you... by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      Well, that's the rub isn't it, you can only be a virgin once, so once they have tracked you, they will track you forever. So why worry, you have just joined the gang, one of countless millions being tracked, monitored, secret warrants ready to execute at the first excuse. When silly shit like this becomes normal, it ceases to be a threat, in fact not being tracked tends to make you look suspicious now ;D.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    20. Re:The FBI will also track you... by slashdot_commentator · · Score: 2

      Americans are so clueless, they don't even realize that any political "protest" movement has the FBI putting in CIs & undercovers to research the protest organizers as if they were terrorists. Its de riguer, and its been going on before 9/11. (Why the fuck would FBI need to send undercovers to monitor Quaker meetings to protest the Iraq invasion???)

      As for the PATRIOT act, the gov't was breaking the laws the PATRIOT act suspended before the act was drafted.

      --
      There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon
    21. Re:The FBI will also track you... by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      Make that Main Core database with just the right style of creative art work :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    22. Re:The FBI will also track you... by macs4all · · Score: 1

      As for the PATRIOT act, the gov't was breaking the laws the PATRIOT act suspended before the act was drafted.

      You are correct. I just didn't have the time/energy to type a real history lesson.

    23. Re:The FBI will also track you... by penguinoid · · Score: 0

      To be fair, they're talking about a bomb-related bumper sticker by an organization that opposes the US military. Food for thought, not logic bombs.

      --
      Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
    24. Re: The FBI will also track you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thats okay, we put the FBI in the same category as the CIA, KGB, Stazi, and Gestapo. All of them are rotten criminal state organizations engaged in assasinations and morally bankrupt operations.

    25. Re:The FBI will also track you... by Boronx · · Score: 1

      The names of these government organizations are infuriating. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is really about the disruption of political opposition. The Central Intelligence Agency is really about secret, dirty wars.

    26. Re:The FBI will also track you... by davester666 · · Score: 1

      It ALREADY is "normal" for the FBI. Protesting anything means you are against the gov't and need to be watched.

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    27. Re:The FBI will also track you... by Parafilmus · · Score: 1

      What actually happens is that Samuel L Jackson shows up to defuse the situation and nobody gets hurt.

    28. Re:The FBI will also track you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's OK.

      But beware false positives. I got a whole lot of vote 1 TRUMP stickers and find plenty of cars and real estate signs to stick them on.
      NRA stickers on cars parked outside the kindergarten also raise eyebrows.

    29. Re:The FBI will also track you... by beastofburdon · · Score: 1

      most only comment on guns or religion regardless of what the story is about.

      Both of those will get you on a watch-list too.

  2. Misleading Summary headline by Etherwalk · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The car photo in the story has dozens of bumper stickers plastered over the back; it's hardly a single political bumper sticker. The person wanted to get noticed and should not be surprised to have someone take a pic of his car--or, if the FBI is there, to have them grab a picture for file art. If you're out investigating and see something that sticks out that much, wouldn't you take a picture of it?

    1. Re:Misleading Summary headline by Aighearach · · Score: 2

      I don't think I've ever seen a "Food not Bombs" bumper sticker on a car with less than 5 stickers.

      But I'm not ready to just wave my hands and discount the idea that the FBI considers having lots of bumper stickers to be suspicious, even if the 1st Amendment says they're not supposed to even go there.

    2. Re:Misleading Summary headline by alvinrod · · Score: 4, Insightful

      On one hand, it's a vehicle in public. Anyone can take a picture of it as there's no guarantee of privacy so pinning this up as some kind of government overreach is inane when there are so many better examples of the government infringing on the rights of the country's citizens.

      On the other hand, why the hell is the FBI bothering with these people. Unless their slogan is the world's biggest misnomer, they're not going to be blowing anything up. The worst they'll do is be annoying and passive aggressive in public, which hardly warrants a single letter in the local paper let alone three in the form of some government agency.

      Anyone stupid enough to ruin a perfectly good bumper with a sticker isn't worth wasting time or resources on. I'd be far more suspicious of the individuals with truck nuts. There's someone with enough screws loose to do something dangerous.

    3. Re:Misleading Summary headline by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Insightful

      On the other hand, why the hell is the FBI bothering with these people?

      Because they have nothing better to do. In the last 20 years, crime rates in America have dropped dramatically, yet the FBI budget has doubled. They are over funded and over staffed, and they don't have enough real work to do.

      There are two alternative solutions:
      1. Criminalize more activities
      2. Cut their budget
      So far we have been opting for #1.

    4. Re:Misleading Summary headline by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 1

      I'd be far more suspicious of the individuals with truck nuts.

      Well we have been known to do that at deer camp of course it is usually to screw with someone and what the hell else are you going to do with deer testicles and dick. Even my car ended up with them once hanging from the hitch.

      --
      Time to offend someone
    5. Re:Misleading Summary headline by GLMDesigns · · Score: 1, Insightful

      There are two alternative solutions:

      1. Criminalize more activities
      2. Cut their budget
      So far we have been opting for #1.

      Welcome to the nanny state. I, for one, detest my SJW overlords.

      Wahh! People disagree with me. Where's my safe space?

      --
      If you're scared of your govt then you need to further restrict its powers
      Vote 3rd Party in 2016 and beyond
    6. Re:Misleading Summary headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What if crime rates have dropped dramatically because the FBI budget has doubled? More money means more resources available allowing the organization to be less reactive and more proactive and so reducing the overall crime rate.

      Not saying that's what happened I'm just saying your conclusion is not as definitive as you obviously feel it is.

    7. Re:Misleading Summary headline by Quirkz · · Score: 1

      In the last 20 years, crime rates in America have dropped dramatically, yet the FBI budget has doubled.

      Does that include inflation? You'd expect a budget to double in 20 years, from inflation alone.

      I realize you also said crime rates were dropping, which would suggest it ought to shrink instead of stay steady. Just musing out loud, mostly.

    8. Re:Misleading Summary headline by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What if crime rates have dropped dramatically because the FBI budget has doubled?

      That is unlikely. On a state-by-state basis, spending on law enforcement has been negatively correlated with crime reduction. More cops and more prisons leads to more crime (or at least less of a decline). The effect is especially perverse for teenagers. Once a kid is sucked into the juvenile justice system, they are on the fast-track to a life of crime. If a teenager commits a minor crime, and gets away with it, or is let off with a warning, they are less likely to commit future crimes than if they are arrested and their life is turned upside down.

      The solution to over-policing is fewer police and less spending on law enforcement. When you see an ad for a politician bragging about endorsements from the police union and the prison guard union, you should vote for someone else.

    9. Re:Misleading Summary headline by russotto · · Score: 2

      Perhaps they are recording them to see if any bumper stickers are, indeed, correlated with some sort of wrongdoing.

    10. Re:Misleading Summary headline by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      There are all sorts of things that private citizens can do because it is in public, but the government is forbidden to do because it is based on speech.

      Putting people in a suspect list with no connection to a crime, based entirely on their speech, that is clearly forbidden to them. Taking the picture isn't. I have no problem with the picture. I'm only talking about where they wrote down stuff about people, implying suspicion where everything they actually pointed to was protected speech, including simply that members of Food Not Bombs was seen at anti-war rallies where they also saw members of other groups such as Earth First!.

      In the photo on the website, I also see a "regime change" sticker, and other stickers that could be either pure political speech, or threats. But those aren't the ones they wrote down in these files.

      I didn't wave my hands and discount that the FBI might consider political speech to be suspicious; I said that the 1st Amendment says they're not supposed to.

    11. Re: Misleading Summary headline by hey! · · Score: 1

      It's actually something of a mystery, but crime rates have dropped in pretty much all first world countries despite their having wildly disparate crime policies.

      As for the FBI budget, some no doubt is caused by the emergence of novel crime forms like cybercrime, but you have to count a lot of new money spent against terrorism. That may be justifiable, but not on a cost benefit basis. Even in a major terror year like 2001, terrorist victims are a small fraction of the murder total, much less of preventable deaths.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    12. Re:Misleading Summary headline by Aighearach · · Score: 3

      Because they have nothing better to do.

      In a city near mine, about 10 years ago, an old cop died. When they were cleaning his basement, they found decades of illegal files documenting surveillance of totally innocuous local groups like liberal weekly newspapers, mainstream charity groups with a liberal ideology, social advocacy groups.

      It was really weird, I mean, even conservative citizens didn't understand why they would spend time investigating these groups. But the reason is obvious. Hippies. There are lots of old cops who still believe that hippies were the "death of America" and they're still trying to fight some sort of guerrilla culture war. I have no problem at all thinking that these guys get most of their life entertainment out of stalking hippies, blaming the worlds problems on them, and ticketing them for j-walking.

      Everything has a reason. A lot of those reasons are lame.

      And cutting their budgets? That might just mean they buy less toys they don't need, or do less lab testing of evidence. Reducing their budget does not in any way imply that you're going to improve what they spend money on, or curtail excessive interest in hippies.

    13. Re:Misleading Summary headline by Aighearach · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Law enforcement is supposed to be reactive. They can't be proactive without interfering with legal freedom, because it isn't a crime to not break the law; it isn't a crime to think about breaking the law; it isn't a crime to almost break the law, but then not do it. And they don't even have a pre-crime unit anyways.

      Actual "proactive" law enforcement means things like, instead of harassing the hippies that want to have a march, you work with them to plan the route and get the cops ahead of them diverting traffic and offering a polite escort. It is only for small stuff, because big stuff that didn't happen there is nothing to do yet except training. But the training should be in methods of reaction to actual crime that actually happened. In the past, not in the future.

      Sometimes slashdot makes me wish the world was as smart as President W Bush, then we could at least agree that the past already happened. Hopefully we could even extend that to the future having not happened yet!

    14. Re: Misleading Summary headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, there is no mystery. Crime rates have matched the introduction and penetration of two things almost point-for-point; Television and video game consoles. You might call it bread and circuses - I call it fewer teenage males on the streets.

    15. Re:Misleading Summary headline by Tharkkun · · Score: 1

      I don't think I've ever seen a "Food not Bombs" bumper sticker on a car with less than 5 stickers.

      But I'm not ready to just wave my hands and discount the idea that the FBI considers having lots of bumper stickers to be suspicious, even if the 1st Amendment says they're not supposed to even go there.

      How would the 1st amendment have anything to do with the FBI tracking you? Freedom of speech doesn't equal freedom from being monitored. Or Freedom to whatever you please with no one noticing...

    16. Re:Misleading Summary headline by Tharkkun · · Score: 1

      On the other hand, why the hell is the FBI bothering with these people?

      Because they have nothing better to do. In the last 20 years, crime rates in America have dropped dramatically, yet the FBI budget has doubled. They are over funded and over staffed, and they don't have enough real work to do.

      There are two alternative solutions: 1. Criminalize more activities 2. Cut their budget So far we have been opting for #1.

      I'll bet the population has doubled or tripled in 20 years so even if the crime per person has dropped there's just as many criminals out there.

    17. Re:Misleading Summary headline by macs4all · · Score: 2

      On the other hand, why the hell is the FBI bothering with these people.

      Because they are sick, power-hungry, paranoid motherfuckers with nothing better to do with our tax money, that's why.

      Next question?

    18. Re:Misleading Summary headline by macs4all · · Score: 1

      And cutting their budgets? That might just mean they buy less toys they don't need, or do less lab testing of evidence. Reducing their budget does not in any way imply that you're going to improve what they spend money on, or curtail excessive interest in hippies.

      And you forget that they really don't care what the legislators does with their budgets; because they just make it up with bogus civil forfeiture, not to mention all the drugs and guns they have been selling for decades.

    19. Re:Misleading Summary headline by macs4all · · Score: 1

      There are all sorts of things that private citizens can do because it is in public, but the government is forbidden to do because it is based on speech.

      Putting people in a suspect list with no connection to a crime, based entirely on their speech, that is clearly forbidden to them. Taking the picture isn't. I have no problem with the picture. I'm only talking about where they wrote down stuff about people, implying suspicion where everything they actually pointed to was protected speech, including simply that members of Food Not Bombs was seen at anti-war rallies where they also saw members of other groups such as Earth First!.

      In the photo on the website, I also see a "regime change" sticker, and other stickers that could be either pure political speech, or threats. But those aren't the ones they wrote down in these files.

      I didn't wave my hands and discount that the FBI might consider political speech to be suspicious; I said that the 1st Amendment says they're not supposed to.

      As another Poster said: COINTELPRO. Look it up.

    20. Re:Misleading Summary headline by macs4all · · Score: 1

      How would the 1st amendment have anything to do with the FBI tracking you? Freedom of speech doesn't equal freedom from being monitored. Or Freedom to whatever you please with no one noticing...

      Actually, to a very large extent, yes. Yes it does.

      Or at least it did until the frickin' USAPATRIOTACT.

    21. Re: Misleading Summary headline by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 2

      It's actually something of a mystery, but crime rates have dropped in pretty much all first world countries despite their having wildly disparate crime policies.

      Not really much of a mystery. Read up on lead (the metal), reduction of same and correlations with crime rates....

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    22. Re: Misleading Summary headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Attica.

    23. Re:Misleading Summary headline by lgw · · Score: 2

      Putting people in a suspect list with no connection to a crime, based entirely on their speech, that is clearly forbidden to them.

      Nope, it's not. Acting on that information, e.g. to search that person, or put them on a no-fly list, that's where they cross the line. But keeping track of public speech is legit.

      (Meta-data tracking is a whole different discussion, omitted here.)

      Heck, just think in terms of basic police work (rare as that may be): cop sees something in public that seems suspicious, but doesn't rise to probable cause. He's certainly allowed to react to that by looking harder for signs of illegal activity, as long as he doesn't cross the line into an actual search. Often the response is simply to walk up and chat with someone suspicious, just say hello and whatnot. That turns out to be a surprisingly effective crime prevention technique.

      We should be outraged at the NSA record every telephone call anyone ever makes, not taking photos of bumper stickers.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    24. Re:Misleading Summary headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Law enforcement is supposed to be reactive. They can't be proactive without interfering with legal freedom

      Proactive 'law enforcement' can be done in ways that are quite legal. For example, the police department for the city I live in received a federal grant that allowed them to hire additional officers for community outreach. These were full on officers that were assigned as additional help to areas that were struggling. While they could respond to calls if backup was needed their primary responsibility was getting to know and building relationships with the people in their area. As a result of these efforts crime rates fell in these "areas of focus"

      That is an example of the kind of proactive policing that you can do when the funding is available.

    25. Re:Misleading Summary headline by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      The FBI is restricted in the crimes they can have anything to do with. A lot of crime cannot legally be dealt with by the Federal government, and that's gone down too.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    26. Re: Misleading Summary headline by hey! · · Score: 1

      Yes, I'm aware of the lead-crime hypothesis. It's an interesting one, and I wouldn't at all be surprised if lead is a contributor; but I haven't seen anything like proof.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    27. Re: Misleading Summary headline by hey! · · Score: 1

      Well, there's no shortage of plausible-seeming explanations. Which, if I know my mystery stories as well as I think I do, is an essential element in a good one.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    28. Re:Misleading Summary headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some Americans really have no clue how the whole "freedom of expression" works. Doubt some of you will miss it when it's gone, you may cheer the process even...

    29. Re:Misleading Summary headline by dryeo · · Score: 1

      Around here, what seemed to help was simply putting the cops back on the beat, so they're interacting with the people instead of sitting in their cars in an alley eating donuts.
      Up the page someone made the point that how beginning criminals are dealt with makes quite a difference as well as most kids experiment with things like shoplifting and need a little maturity to learn not to, rather then heavy punishment.
      Then there's the advert that was just on the radio, where someone dies from using their GPS while driving. Distracted driving causes a lot of accidents and is illegal.

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    30. Re:Misleading Summary headline by dryeo · · Score: 1

      Having the government stalk you for speech puts a chill on speech. Actually it isn't just the government stalking you as your boss can have a lot of power over you as well and more people are probably scared to express themselves due to the possibility of losing their livelihood then are worried about the FBI.
      That's the beauty of the fascist system, just outsource the prosecution of dissidence.

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    31. Re:Misleading Summary headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nah, it's just that the FBI files revealed that the USA's Democratic Party was working with the Communist Party USA and while the latter claimed to be an independent political party advocating socialism the

      You fools know nothing of 4th generation warfare. Look up the term, that's the war we've been fighting and are still fighting since the Cold War.

      There's a nifty show called "The Americans" which is basically pro-commie propaganda (the soviet spies never really do anything really bad that's directly their fault so you sympathize with them, but the FBI is always depicted oafish, vengeful and corrupt brutes). Despite this, it is indicative of the kind of things the soviets have been doing: Hijacking "Civil Rights" groups, putting plants in "Ecological Advocacy" groups (hence, eco-terrorists), etc.

      It's a real shame you silly sods are so stupid you can't smell the shit brewing all around.

    32. Re:Misleading Summary headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      and while the latter [Communist Party USA] claimed to be an independent political party advocating socialism

      ...they were subservient to Soviet Russia.

      Hence the democratic party was working with soviets to subvert America.

    33. Re:Misleading Summary headline by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Around here, putting cops out on the beat increases the abuse that minorities, the poor, and those with the wrong hairstyle receive.

      One thing that helped a little bit was a citizen review panel that looks at complaints. Unfortunately, the local righties insist on keeping the police union involved, even though it isn't a contract negotiation.

    34. Re:Misleading Summary headline by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      In my community when they do that, the crime rate does decrease in that neighborhood, but the overall crime rate in the city doesn't change at those same times. So they can certainly shift a "problem corner" to a different corner by having cops "hanging out" and trying to act friendly in the neighborhood.

      Compare that to poverty reductions, which instantly translate into reduced crime city-wide. If the rate of poverty went down, the crime rate went down at the same time.

    35. Re: Misleading Summary headline by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Yes, I'm aware of the lead-crime hypothesis. It's an interesting one, and I wouldn't at all be surprised if lead is a contributor; but I haven't seen anything like proof.

      Demonstrating only that you were aware of the hypothesis, and didn't read up on the theory after the evidence was assembled.

      The neighborhood-by-neighborhood air monitoring and crime rates create really detailed proof of the effect. Not seeing it is not the same as having checked it out and not found any. ;)

    36. Re:Misleading Summary headline by dryeo · · Score: 1

      Probably a culture thing, something that can vary a lot even just in different parts of town. Here the cops aren't unionized but where they are they seem to be crappier, though that may just be the cities hiring the dregs.
      We also recently got a civilian oversite group, mostly dealing with excessive force and cops have actually been charged with assault and murder.

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    37. Re:Misleading Summary headline by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Generally no, they already max out the civil forfeiture they can find excuses for. Just look at the cases and the fact that they already seize a lot they have to pay back later. If they had a surplus they could dip into, they wouldn't be grabbing at the iffy stuff.

  3. I don't know about FNB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    I don't know about FNB, but if they're anything like ANSWER, then go ahead and track them. ANSWER is a communist front. Code Pink? It's really just anti-Israel and almost certainly has some jihadists in it. Google it. Yes, the FBI can go off the rails just like anybody else; but they can also know their shit. You think a front group is going to call itself "Front group that wants to destabilize shit, engage in criminal activity, and cause problems?". No. It's going to put "peace", "justice", or whatever in the name. It's going to fleece college kids out of their time and money.

    1. Re:I don't know about FNB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      And did you know Abraham Lincoln was a communist? That Karl Marx himself wrote approvingly of the yankee aggression in Horace Greeley's newspaper.

      The FBI certainly should track anti-slavery groups as well. Keep those agitators from destroying the southern way of life.

    2. Re:I don't know about FNB by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 2

      ...Karl Marx himself wrote approvingly of the yankee aggression in Horace Greeley's newspaper.

      It appears that the AC is correct:

      Karl Marx ... took Alexander Stephens, the vice president of the Confederacy, at his word when Stephens proclaimed what Southern secession was really all about. Wrote Marx:
             

      The question of the principle of the American Civil War is answered by the battle slogan with which the South broke the peace. Stephens ... declared in the secession Congress, that what essentially distinguished the Constitution hatched at Montgomery from the Constitution of the Washingtons and Jeffersons was that for now for the first time slavery was recognized as institution for good in itself, and as the foundation of the whole state edifice, whereas the revolutionary fathers, men steeped in the prejudices of the eighteenth century, had treated slavery as an evil imported from England and to be eliminated in the course of time.

      Marx continued:
             

      The cultivation of the Southern export articles, cotton, tobacco, sugar, etc., carried on by slaves, is only renumerative as long as it is conducted with large gangs of slaves, on a mass scale and on wide expanses of a naturally fertile soil, which requires only simple labor. Intensive cultivation, which depends less on fertility of the soil than on investment of capital, intelligence and energy of labor, is contrary to the nature of slavery.

      Please mod the AC's post Informative. Thanks.

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
  4. AWESOME! by Lumpy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Time to slap stickers on random people's cars in parking lots.

    Enjoy the increased signal to noise ratio mister FBI man!

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    1. Re:AWESOME! by Dogtanian · · Score: 1

      Time to slap stickers on random people's cars in parking lots.

      s/cops/fbi agents/.

      --
      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
    2. Re:AWESOME! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Posting anonymously because, errr...

      Years ago I had a friend, yeah, that's it, a friend...and he made up some bumper stickers that said things like "KILL COPS", and "DEATH TO ALL COPS", and "FUCK YOU, PIG", and "TICKET ME AND I'LL SHOOT YOU" and other memorable phrases...and he used to put them on the bumpers of cars of people he really hated.

      And yeah, some of those people got pulled over for various reasons, that is, basically any excuse the cop could come up with to ticket them.

    3. Re:AWESOME! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Better make that "Bombs Not Food" sticker for the maximum confusion.

    4. Re:AWESOME! by volpe · · Score: 1

      You mean "decreased", right?

  5. Congratulations Way Too Many Bumperstickers Guy by Gojira+Shipi-Taro · · Score: 1

    You wanted to get noticed, and you did.

    This isn't exactly a news story. If you're that public about your beliefs, you should expect that people know about it.

    --
    "Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
    1. Re:Congratulations Way Too Many Bumperstickers Guy by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 0

      If you're that public about your beliefs, you should expect that people know about it.

      The people who scream the loudest about "political correctness" are the same people who want to say something socially unacceptable — "The president is a [church bells]!" to paraphrase Mel Brooks in Blazing Saddles — without suffering the consequences.

    2. Re:Congratulations Way Too Many Bumperstickers Guy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Absolutely right. The First Amendment protects the right to free speech. That includes politically incorrect speech, socially unacceptable speech, racist speech, hate speech, offensive speech, bad speech, doubleungood speech, yes, ALL speech. Your ilk who want to shut everyone up who disagrees with your progressive, anti-human agenda by branding them as racists? Yes you need to shut the fuck up. Free speech shouldn't have "consequences", that's authoritarian speak for not having the right to free speech.

      I don't agree with foaming-at-the-mouth racists, but I'll die for their right to have whatever opinions they want and for their rights to speak their opinions in public because I understand that's what it means to live free and have rights. It means having to sometimes hear things that cut you to the core, but knowing that it's a small price to pay to not live under an oppressive tyranny. You'd rather have the latter, and I'm glad I still have the right to say Fuck You!

    3. Re:Congratulations Way Too Many Bumperstickers Guy by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2

      Your ilk who want to shut everyone up who disagrees with your progressive, anti-human agenda by branding them as racists?

      I'm not trying to shut you up. I have no problem with you going up to a group of young black men and calling them {church bells]. If they beat your sorry ass to a pulp, don't come crying to me about how your First Amendment right got infringed. You started a fight by opening your mouth, pay the price for your freedom.

      Free speech shouldn't have "consequences", that's authoritarian speak for not having the right to free speech.

      Free speech has consequences. If it didn't, no one would die to protect it.

  6. The counter strategy... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    A while back I saw a study about bumper stickers and traffic tickets. You're more likely to get a traffic ticket if you have an anti-police ("I shot the pig!") or pro-crime ("Legalized pot forever!") on the rear bumper. You're less likely to get a traffic ticket for having bumper stickers on the front bumper. Go figure.

    1. Re:The counter strategy... by Sowelu · · Score: 2

      Just remember, in some areas pro-police bumper stickers can get you more scrutiny by the police as well.

    2. Re:The counter strategy... by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Funny

      That's because the only time anyone will notice the bumper sticker on your front bumper is when you're about to mow them down.

      "Ah, he's against fossil fuels. That's kind of.... Aggghhhhh!"

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    3. Re:The counter strategy... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      Just remember, in some areas pro-police bumper stickers can get you more scrutiny by the police as well.

      My father and I drove up from California to Idaho to bury my mother's ashes with her parents in 2004. He did a California rolling stop through a four-way intersection and we got jeered from all sides because we had California license plates. Californians got blamed for real estate prices, drive by shootings and drug activity by people in Idaho. Never mind that my extended family has been involved with the drug trade for decades. My father and his brothers bought tax-free cigarettes in Oregon and sold them out of the trunk of their cars in Southern California. A cousin is in the Florida state pen for running coke from Cuba. I followed Nancy Reagan's advice and said no to that nonsense.

    4. Re:The counter strategy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      do you know the difference between cause and correlation?
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlation_does_not_imply_causation

    5. Re:The counter strategy... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      do you know the difference between cause and correlation?

      If you got a point, make it. Otherwise, don't waste my time on a Wikipedia article and wondering what your point was.

    6. Re:The counter strategy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I modded you up because you make less sense than APK.

    7. Re:The counter strategy... by david_thornley · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What's pro-crime about wanting to legalize pot? Legalizing the stuff would give us a significant drop in the crime rate.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    8. Re:The counter strategy... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2

      Legalizing the stuff would give us a significant drop in the crime rate.

      And put quite a few cops out of business.

    9. Re:The counter strategy... by AdamThor · · Score: 1

      Gosh, the police will call your home phone to ask for donations to the policeman's whatever, and if you contribute they'll give you a sticker to put in the rear window of your car. I always figured that to be a legal way to put your thumb on the scale for "just a warning."

      --
      -- "Oh. This guy again."
    10. Re:The counter strategy... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      Gosh, the police will call your home phone to ask for donations to the policeman's whatever, and if you contribute they'll give you a sticker to put in the rear window of your car.

      The punchline for the old joke is: "Police don't have balls."

  7. I'll put these bumper stickers on my car then by MiniMike · · Score: 2

    I'll put this bumper sticker on the left side of my car:
    "Attention FBI: This car best photographed from the right side."
    and on the right side of my car:
    "Attention FBI: This car best photographed from the left side."

    Then put some other nutty bumper stickers in between, and wait for the fun to start!

  8. Guns vs. Butter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Would have been easier if they just used the standard economist line instead of "food not bombs".

  9. IRS & Taxes by TylerJWhit · · Score: 1

    So this is how the IRS is really targeting specific groups of people for auditing!

  10. Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    To be honest, i think Vegans, PETA, and Juggalos, should all indeed be put on terrorist organization lists.
    Especially Vegans. Their urge to invade everyone's hearing space like cockroaches invade houses is a terror to the ears and mental stability of people who only want to go with their lives without some foodie equivalent of ISIS/ISIL following them and screaming that eating meat is HARAM.
    Frankly, even cockroaches are more tolerable.

    1. Re:Well... by Salgak1 · · Score: 4, Funny

      I've found, purely by instinct, a way to deal with passive-aggressive Vegans. I threw a party several years ago, and had no idea that the date of a guy I had known from a previous job, was a hard-core vegan. Things had already gone wrong (kitchen set off the smoke alarm, and a neighbor's dog had gotten into the yard. . .), when she loudly complained that there were no Vegan Entrees. I opened the back door, pointed to the lawn, and told her to graze to her heart's content. . . When she stomped out, I got a small ovation from the other attendees. . . (grin)

    2. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I find it difficult to not agree, and therefore must agree. The denial about being an omnivore, complete with the necessary dentition and nutritional needs of one, and the forward facing eyes of a predator leads to a profound cognitive dissonance and clear fanatical behavior by most who practice veganism. I'll admit this is my anecdotal experience with such people, and should be taken as such, but I've encountered so many I'm forced to consider it a fair guide for predicting the behavior of a new one.

      And like all afflicted with such conditions, the vegans tend to seek out a sounding chamber then radicalize. I for one don't mind being around someone who "doesn't eat meat" or "doesn't eat animal products", although I consider them out of touch with their evolutionary background. It's they that mind me.

      It's they that would deem me evil, and somehow I'm the one at fault for being offended?

    3. Re:Well... by HiThere · · Score: 1

      Sorry, be we don't have the dietary needs of an omnivore, though the part about dentition is accurate. Most of our body is mainly adapted to eating fruit and bugs...and occasional meat, as in very rarely.

      Even dogs aren't truly adapted as carnivores, for that look at the cats. And people are still largely adapted to a vegetarian diet. OTOH, our jaw muscles have shrunk, our tooth enamel has thinned, and various other changes have meant that we can only live on a small group of vegetables. The reduced gut means that we can no longer live on tree leaves, but instead must eat things like lettuce.

      What really makes meat eating dominant in humans is a combination of improved weaponry and cooking. Neither of those directly show up in our bodies. And, in fact, our gall bile isn't that appropriate for a largely carnivorous diet, though our shrunken appendix is. It's a mix, but not a smooth one. In some ways we are adapted to be vegetarians (and note that even a horse likes a bite of meat now and then), in others as carnivores, in others as frutivores (or whatever the word should be). And just about everything has omnivorous tendencies. Even rabbits. But outside or our dentition you can't really say that people have omnivorous needs. Traditionally Eskimos lived a large part of the year on a purely carnivorous diet, and lower class Old Kingdom Egyptians just about never ate meat. Also many people in India. We've got many omnivorous tendencies, but that's a lot different.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    4. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That girls name? Albert Einstein.

      Wait.

    5. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please provide, if you will, the dietary needs of a human being and the dietary needs of your archetype omnivore. Please highlight the differences between them, and explain who said differences are important. I agree, it's well established herbivores will enjoy a bite every now and then; there's a reason for rabbits to stay away from deer. I agree, carnivores will enjoy something like berries every now and then. But if you're not going to classify humans as omnivores, what are you going to classify them as? Are you going to tell me that Old Kingdom Egyptians were known to be nutritionally balanced?

      Further, will you at least admit humans are not herbivores? Which is, really, the only part relevant to determining whether the vegan argument is valid or not.

    6. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you must be one of those people who jumps to the conclusion i'm a vegan when i say i like garden burgers.

      you're just as fucking annoying as a vegan.

    7. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The only one jumping to conclusions here is you. A guide for predicting future behavior isn't assuming it'll 100% happen, and I specifically said I don't mind people who avoid meat or animal products, which by natural extension means your love of garden burgers, it's those who identify as vegans that I am immediately wary of, and begin mentally preparing myself for the worst from, and have seen the worst from.

      How the hell could you consider being wary of vegans, or recognizing their radical tendencies to be annoying? You want to come across as reasonable to trash me, but I'm sorry my friend, you're wrong about what you say and it should be clear to anyone who read what I wrote without tinted lenses.

    8. Re:Well... by butchersong · · Score: 1

      Personally I'd rather have the build of a plains indian that lived their lives chasing buffalo herds than one of those stunted Egyptian peasants. To be fair though the historically small stature of those following vegetarian diets is probably due to being generally nutrient defficient since not eating meat correlated to poverty. I don't really understand how we can seriously say we're adapted to be vegetarians though. It has been a realtively short period of time in which we've had access to dairy, eggs and such. Cut those sources of nutrition out of a vegetarian culture's diet and I don't think they'd stay healthy for long.

    9. Re:Well... by david_thornley · · Score: 2

      Even dogs aren't truly adapted as carnivores, for that look at the cats.

      Trying to keep cats on a diet without meat is abuse, potentially fatal. The only way to have a cat thrive on a vegan diet is to use all parts of the vegan, for different nutritional values.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    10. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      awesome good on you for being an asshole; the only thing we truly lack in this world!!

    11. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In the world where even Air Conditioning units are sexist assholes against feminists,
      and being an asshole towards someone on this planet is a state of fact just by doing whatever you are doing at the moment,
      down to being an asshole by being accepted by a job interview while your acceptance means another one's rejection,
      one might as well go with being an asshole.
      You created the situation by demanding safe-spaces and hugboxes for your narcissistic infantilization and unwarranted sense of self-importance.
      Now suffer the shit that's flying your way from all those assholes.
      Calling people assholes won't make them go away, it will only make them be more proactive just to spite quasi-religious thought-policing nuts.

    12. Re:Well... by HiThere · · Score: 1

      Sorry, shouldn't have left out eggs. All our ancestors have eaten eggs whenever they could get them. And whether the Egyptian lower classes were stunted depends on what century you look at. OTOH, the ones who weren't stunted may well have eaten fish.

      Still, for a large number of centuries the majority of humanity lived on a mainly vegetarian diet. It may not have been optimal, but they generally survived it in sufficient health to reproduce. And the carnivorous Eskimo that I mentioned survived by eating uncooked fish guts...otherwise they would have gotten a vitamin C deficiency, something much worse then the dietary deficiencies of the Egyptian peasants.. (And of course they were only strictly carnivorous for part of the year. Late fall, winter, and early spring IIUC.)

      The plains Indians had a mixed diet, with a large number of vegetables as well as meat, so they aren't a good contrasting example.

      It's quite appropriate to characterize humans as omnivores, but it's not appropriate to talk about them as having omnivorous needs, unless you want to note that unlike most animals they can't synthesize vitamin C. So you could reasonably talk about their vegetarian needs. That said, being a healthy vegetarian takes a lot of thought and planning. It's much more natural for us to be omnivores. But some traditional societies have put that kind of thought and experimentation into their diet, and have healthy vegetarian diets. I'm not aware of any group besides the Eskimos that developed a healthy purely carnivorous diet. (And I'm saying Eskimo, because that's how I heard it put when I learned it. I don't know whether the group was Inuit or what, but they lived in northern Alaska.)

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    13. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sounds to me more like you were the aggressive rude one.

  11. The Canadian strategy... by Freshly+Exhumed · · Score: 1

    Canadians, by and large, do not use bumper stickers (its some sort of deeply ingrained politeness thing) so CSIS and the other five-eyes organizations have to work much harder than bumper scanning. For those of you thinking of moving north in the event of a Trump presidential win, peel off all those stickers first so that you blend in much easier out on the road.

    --
    I deny that I have not avoided attaining the opposite of that which I do not want.
    1. Re:The Canadian strategy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And given our license plate numbering systems, I think vanity plates are also exceedingly rare up here.

    2. Re:The Canadian strategy... by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

      Please, the real reason is that 10 months out of the year the sticker would be covered in salt that gets put down on the roads to keep them ice-free and so nobody could read the stickers anyway.

    3. Re:The Canadian strategy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're not from the West (Wet) Coast, are you?

  12. But Special Agent Sir! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But Special Agent, I really can't afford a new paint job on this old VW Van I bought at that Buy Here - Pay Here lot down the street! I've been sanding out the rust and covering it over with all them free stickers people like to hand out! I'm not really in to "Wicca" what ever that is, or John Burch who ever he is. And that really nice lady from the PTA gave me all those mis-printed stickers that say PITA, wasn't that nice of her? Oh not sure what NIN is. What speak up just a little, hearing aid is on the fritz... Commie? ME??? Hell no I'm was in Viet Nam!

  13. Overstated hype by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    You can ask for a copy of your FBI file and any information the FBI has about you any time you want- and I do this regularly. In spite of tons of activities that tinfoil-hatters would swear would get me noticed, there is not a shred of information about me maintained by the FBI.

    Of course, if you're a true conspiracist, you think the FBI is routinely (and, in my case, annually for the last 20 years) lying to people like me.

    1. Re:Overstated hype by HiThere · · Score: 1

      You can ask, but it can be surprising the things that will be deleted (blacked out) in the report you get. Lots of things that are or were public knowledge. A friend of mine got back his file with the title of a book he had written blacked out.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  14. "I hate your guts"... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Figure indeed. You're saying, "I hate your guts" is a terrible way to begin a conversation and tends to lead to an angry response from the other party?

    Incredible.

    People with such bumper stickers really need to stop giggling and think about how they're presenting themselves. "Hello officer" isn't the start of the conversation if you have a bumper sticker like that.

  15. Because they are by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    People whose stance on something is strong enough to make them announce it to every stranger on the road are more likely than most to go as far as to attack someone over it. It *has* happened before.

    1. Re:Because they are by Locke2005 · · Score: 2

      I know, those people with the "Coexist" and "Bark less, wag more" bumper stickers are SUCH aggressive assholes, am I right?

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    2. Re:Because they are by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      From what I've seen, yes.

      I often wonder if the message is intended as a reminder to themselves to be less of an asshole. It's a failed form of communication if so.

    3. Re:Because they are by wyHunter · · Score: 1

      hear, hear.

  16. Linux users are budding terrorists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's a well known fact.

    Signed, a Mac user.

  17. Lies, damn lies by s.petry · · Score: 4, Insightful

    People who had Ron Paul bumper stickers were placed on DHS watch lists, which we all know gets shared with everyone else _including_ the FBI (Remember fusion centers right?). It only takes 1 of something to get you on a list, and like TFA demonstrates simply following a particular band like ICP will get you labelled and placed on a list.

    Oh, and to be perfectly clear, we _KNOW_ that people were put on lists for being Ron Paul supporters. It took years for people to get removed and of course the Government "claims" that they don't do that any more. If you believe the Government.. well, you are beyond help.

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    1. Re:Lies, damn lies by khasim · · Score: 1

      If you are not on at least ONE government "watch" list then you're doing something wrong.

    2. Re:Lies, damn lies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you are not on at least ONE government "watch" list then you're doing something wrong.

      So the answer is obviously to maintain a list of people who are not on any list.

      Russell would be appalled, nevertheless, by police state usa.

    3. Re:Lies, damn lies by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      What were the effects of being on the watch lists?

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    4. Re:Lies, damn lies by The-Ixian · · Score: 1

      It seems so silly to add someone to a watch list because of a bumper sticker.

      It's the people who are quiet and evasive that they should be interested in, not the blowhards who are probably all bark and no bite.

      I mean, if you are a terrorist, are you going to advertise your intentions to the world with a bumper sticker?

      I break for jihad...

      --
      My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    5. Re:Lies, damn lies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People who had Ron Paul bumper stickers were placed on DHS watch lists

      I had a Ron Paul bumper sticker, but I board planes without extra special groping.

      Clearly the FBI heard me bitching about Ron "Imma sell your e-mail address to zany conservative spammers, fucktart!" Paul and figures I'm disillusioned.

    6. Re:Lies, damn lies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The wider the net, the bigger the masks. Bulk listing, despite clever algorithms, makes surveillance less effective. The more people on different lists the less useful information the FBI and other agencies will have. Every single terrorist in the US and Europe has been on a list. Nonetheless they can freely carry out their evil plans, as they in the databases just look like 200.000 or more other possible terrorists. This approach is useless. These lists are useful reactively. Law enforcement know who to round up after an attack, but they don't protect anyone. The good news is that we can feel pretty safe regardless of our behaviour or political affiliation as no one have time to come kicking in your door.

    7. Re:Lies, damn lies by ShaunC · · Score: 1

      What were the effects of being on the watch lists?

      In general we can't even know, because we don't know whether or not we're on one. Maybe the reason Joe got pulled over 3 times last year for "reckless driving" but was never issued a ticket isn't because he can't drive well, but because he's on a list. Is he? Which one(s)? How is he to know?

      What we do know is that searching Google for terms like "Linux" or "Tor" gets us put on a list. What we do know is that people like Senator Ted Kennedy have been added to the no-fly list, for god knows what reason. It took him a very public fight to get himself removed from the no-fly list, and that was as a sitting Senator, with a direct line to the head of Homeland Security. Makes the rest of us feel kinda hopeless.

      --
      Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!
  18. This is why... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I NEVER put ANYTHING on my car! I don't want ANYONE to know my politics, my habits, or anything about who I am when I am on the road or in a parking lot. I want to be just another anonymous driver!

    1. Re:This is why... by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      I drive an older, silver mid-size sedan with no decals or stickers. I frequently remove some of the factory-installed badges from my cars. I've gotten used to anonymity, and I'd rather not attract attention.

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  19. Be a good American by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and sit down and comply, don't rock the boat, don't ask questions, and don't spread ideas and opinions that diverge from the status quo. Or you'll get your name on a list. Welcome to the 21st century in the U.S.

  20. Of course not by argee · · Score: 1

    Of course they do not have a file on you. You are an unimportant person, of little interest to anyone except your parents.

  21. Re: Congratulations Way Too Many Bumperstickers Gu by jsh1972 · · Score: 2

    The president is near?

  22. DON'T have a political bumper sticker? ... by davidwr · · Score: 1

    ... The FBI might be snapping photos of you anyways.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  23. War protesters invite terrorist groups by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > FBI puts war protesters, Juggalos, and animal rights activists in the same category as organized crime and terrorist groups.
    Good. Just look at Belgium, where there is nobody strong enough to fight terrorists left. It's a country full of wimps.

  24. Irony by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

    Person with leftist bumper stickers thinks ANYONE taking pictures of their car is doing so to add them to an FBI tracking list, and yet the people posting violent anti-government rhetoric on the Internet in support of the unlawful actions of the Malheur Wildlife Reserve occupiers somehow don't think they are making the FBI pay any attention to them at all... after all, they have a _right_ to protest against the government, right?

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  25. Re:Worth it by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

    Exactly my reaction: "What?!? You mean juggalos AREN'T a criminal organization?!?" If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  26. Try writing "[Candidate 2016]" on a sidewalk... by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 0

    Worse, try writing "[Candidate 2016]" with sidewalk chalk on a sidewalk in a public place (that normally encourages free expression) and the local authorities may check surveillance camera footage so they can harass you.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/03/24/someone-wrote-trump-2016-on-emorys-campus-in-chalk-some-students-said-they-no-longer-feel-safe/

    1. Re:Try writing "[Candidate 2016]" on a sidewalk... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      to be fair, emory university is a PRIVATE institution; constitutionally protected freedom of speech does not apply.

    2. Re:Try writing "[Candidate 2016]" on a sidewalk... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I didn't read the article, which is a sin I must beg your forgiveness for as I have to get going here, but the idea that some students would no longer feel safe when a Trump supporter reveals themselves seems valid to me. Yeah, every campus is bound to have at least a few if not a great many more, but the reveal is more powerful than the concept. Trump supporters haven't exactly been doing the friendliest things in the world, and Trump hasn't been supporting the friendliest things either. He genuinely frightens a great many people.

      Is that a reason to go after a supporter for writing with chalk a simple "Trump 2016"? Nah. I'd think ill of any organization, public or private, who did that; while recognizing the latter's right to of course. I just *get* why it would be a big deal to some, and why there may be some pressures in a private organization to suppress it.

  27. His parents are on file by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And notes about him are kept there. :P

    1. Re:His parents are on file by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nah, I print copies for them to send in every once in a while, too. Nothing in either except my dad's draft status stuff and his criminal conviction.

  28. RNC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For sure the republicans are collecting data on it, I had a guy visit to talk to me about candidate and on his way out he seemed check my cars out and mark shit down in his iDevice.

  29. People are stupid by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

    One of the people I went to college with had modified his van with a custom wooden bumper that had an apparently real marijuana leaf laminated in the center. I often wondered how often he got pulled over...

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  30. Re: Congratulations Way Too Many Bumperstickers Gu by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I am proud to offer this laurel, and hardy handshake to our new...nigger.

  31. These guys are paranoid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Are the FBI hoarding all the tinfoil hats? The things these guys believe are a little out there...

  32. A Honda without the H by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You don't see that as attracting at least some attention?

    1. Re:A Honda without the H by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      You don't see that as attracting at least some attention?

      It depends on what the badges are. If your badge says "hot-shit edition" then you may be reducing your level of notice. I took the badges off my 1997 A8 Quattro because without them, to the untrained eye, it could be any model — and let's face it, cops are not expected to be Audi spotters. It too is a nondescript silver sedan; in fact, if I black out the Audi logo and the mirrors it will look just like an undercover cop car. I just haven't got around to degreasing, I already have the plasti-dip. I kept the Quattro badge on the front grill, though, because it is tiny and will help prove my eligibility to drive in crap conditions with snow tires should I ever choose to do that.

      Cops don't even really look at my car, so mission accomplished, I guess. My '82 300SD is in that age bracket where it just looks old, although frankly it gets a whole lot less cop attention than the 2000 Astro. My 1992 F250 is a whole other thing; if I'm stopped on the side of the road the cops stop too, so they can check out my truck. Sadly, being a Ford, it's been stopped for quite some time now. I'm about to go on a mission to the local yards to find a new block...

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  33. Impossible by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You reveal yourself as someone who doesn't put bumper stickers on your car. It's very little information, and likely pretty useless, but it's something about you nevertheless.

  34. A lot does happen in the open by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    People who become terrorists tend to make some noise while radicalizing, before they go quiet. A bumper sticker is potential noise. Although, admittedly, probably not where they should be looking.

  35. Bob's Nukes by Hasaf · · Score: 1

    Before 9-11 I was required to drive my own van for work stuff and I was not being paid enough for milage. So, seeing as it was my own van I had a couple of magnet signs made up for the doors.

    Imaging a circle logo with the top half in big letters, "Bob's Nukes." On the bottom half, in smaller letters, it said, "on time & on target," under that, "guaranteed yield."

    Not surprisingly, my manager and I had a discussion, the signs came off and my mileage got increased. . . but I loved those signs.

  36. "Boring Watch List" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Two names:
    Al Gore
    [myself]

  37. Here's a study that proves you right by spun · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I remember reading about this study this years ago, it shows that people with more bumper stickers are more likely to be involved in road rage incidents. The theory is, people who personalize their vehicle tend to view the vehicle as their own private space, even when on the public roads. Because they are in their own private space, they literally do feel that they own the road.
    http://www.nature.com/news/200...

    --
    - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
    1. Re:Here's a study that proves you right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thank you for the link. I'm going to have fun with it.

  38. They need a file by AndyKron · · Score: 1

    Anyone with a car plastered with bumper stickers like that needs to have a mental health file on them.

  39. All fun and games... by clonehappy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We can sit around and poke fun at vegans, Juggalos, PETA, and all the other groups that are super easy to/we love to hate. That's precisely why this article is propaganda, as you shouldn't think for a second that "political statements" like being pro-encryption, rooting for Apple, anti-authoritarian, or against a police state doesn't also land you on the same lists.

    It's fun to joke around and all, but allowing any ridiculous-yet-innocuous activities be branded as terrorism just opens the door for the totalitarians to brand any common sense political leanings the same way. You know, I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Juggalo...or whatever.

  40. Just stuck on ... by PPH · · Score: 2

    ... my 'Cthulhu in 2016' sticker.

    I suppose I could get on the FBI's good side by adding a 'Lavrentiy Beria for US Attorney General' sticker.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
    1. Re:Just stuck on ... by swb · · Score: 1

      I made "Charles Palentine for President" bumper stickers (magnets), complete with the "_We_ are the people".

      Some people asked me who he was. I told them he was a senator running for President, but that he was a long shot not many people had heard of, but if elected he would clean up the city.

      A much smaller number of people realized it was the "candidate" shown in the the movie Taxi Driver and an even smaller number got the fact that I used the mis-emphasized slogan that Albert Brooks complains about earlier in the film.

      What's creepy is that the "candidate" running against Palentine in the movie has a slogan of "Make America Great" (you can see it in the background in one of the early cafeteria scenes where Travis Bickle meets up with the other cab drivers).

  41. Drive safely and don't wear a turban by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you are a terrorist or have a dark compection, make copies of these and cover your car.

    Bumper Sticker #1

    Bumper Sticker #2

    Bumper Sticker #4

    Bumper Sticker #5

  42. yeah sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    that's exactly how it went down...

  43. Good. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Good ! because we're right and "the Man" is wrong.

    I hope everyone who reads my file sees the stickers, understands the point it makes, and joins us.

    No such thing as bad publicity.

  44. Re: Congratulations Way Too Many Bumperstickers Gu by OutOnARock · · Score: 1

    ...excuse me while I whip this out.....

  45. I made up one by p51d007 · · Score: 0

    I made up one, yellow background...since the libs were calling any shooter a "right wing extremist" I made on that says POTENTIAL Right Wing Extremist On Board. Since I love firearms, and I'm conservative.

  46. Are we not doing related stories any more? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1
    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  47. Re: Congratulations Way Too Many Bumperstickers Gu by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Agreed. Either we are all rational adults that can calmly ignore the speech we do not like or we are all sheep that need to be sheltered from the bad, emotionally stingy words.

  48. When it crashes no one who was ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A Republican or a Democrat can work in the new government.

  49. Political Bumper Stickers are an invitation for... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Political Bumper Stickers are an invitation for getting your car keyed/vandalized in this polarized election cycle.
    There are a lot of crazies out there getting violent when they someone supporting a candidate that they don't like.

  50. Re:Here's a study that proves .... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    BZZZT
    "The researchers recorded whether people had added seat covers, bumper stickers, special paint jobs, stereos and even plastic dashboard toys....."

    It's not political opinions, it's how much bling crap you've added to your car.

    Beware people with fuzzy dice ...

  51. FBI raided LRN.FM studio over criticism Sunday too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    One of the few non-technical outlets that publicized and criticized the FBI for distributing child pornography got raided this past Sunday. There goal was clearly to discredit their biggest critic Ian. The FBI, local, and probably state government, and political enemies in general have had it out for Ian for a long time and were merely waiting on something they could use to take him down/discredit him. Ian is a big political activist in the libertarian community and they're trying to tear it apart from within.

    While it's highly unlikely that they will actually find real child pornography (unless its planted or similar... maybe.. not sure if they are going to go that far... more likely they'll find something else to charge him with when nothing turns up) on any of the dozens of seized computers including those of his house mates and the studio's work-machines it has still ruined his reputation.

    This is Julian Assange all over again. Ian already had a dim view of the government, rallied against it, and in in Ian's case the government's and general populations perspective on the topic of sex, children, and pornography. The media and Ian's critics have turned some of his opinions on there head, twisting, and slandered him. They have gone so far as to accuse him of being a paedophile, and even supporting child molestation. Now the FBI has raided his studio and home on the highly suspicious and unlikely accusation that someone accessed a Tor hidden site of which the FBI itself distributed child pornography.

    Sadly even if Ian was speaking directly to the people most can't comprehend logic, reason, or see past there own prejudices. The masses would murder all black children if they were told black children somehow hurt white children even if all the evidence was contrary and then they'd burn down the homes of those presenting said evidence (that black children don't harm white children). People prefer a preconceived emotionally f'd up reality. They want to have someone to attack. If they can't attack homosexuals, blacks, mexicans, socialists, or some other group they just find some new group to attack. And for the time being that's paedophiles.

    So how did they do it? They took Ian's own child molestation story and turned it around. They took it and accused him of being a child molester. His opinion on consent differers from what is politically acceptable and for that it's quite easy to attack him (especially when you lie about what he has said).

    The FBI has now come in and raided his studio. Ian has not been arrested nor has anybody been arrested. The FBI has zero actual evidence. What they have is a fishing expedition and are searching Ian's computers and every computer of those around him. Computers he and his house mates will never get back. A little background on Ian. Ian is a radio host with a show airing on thousands of stations across the US. He advocates less government. He is not a conservative. He is not a liberal. He is a libertarian. He is against violence and the use of force against others. This includes children. The entire idea that he would be OK with child molestation (or at least non-consensual sex) is nonsense.

  52. Re:Vegan diets and cats by HiThere · · Score: 1

    Where does the Taurine come from? Just looking at it's name I expect it's from beef. And while that might work, I believe that cats will do quite well with the appropriate amino acid supplement. (They'll hate it, of course.) So with the correct synthetic supplements you could raise a cat on a vegan diet. If you could get them to eat it.

    But needing that kind of supplement is what is meant by saying they are an obligate carnivore.

    --

    I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  53. vandalism? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think the chances are higher for a window being broken, or a tire punctured, costing a couple hundred dollars to fix, than some FBI list.

  54. Re:Vegan diets and cats by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The cat food I get is like doritos for the cat. She loves that crunchy stuff like I love nachos. Seems vegetarian enough to me for my little carnivore.

  55. And also if you don't have bumper stickers by Tony+Isaac · · Score: 1

    Police and FBI are routinely taking photos of your car every day, regardless of what stickers might or might not be on your car.

  56. Re:Worth it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Criminally stupid? Guilty on all counts. But actual criminals? Probably few and far between and I'd guess it's limited to vandalism.

  57. THE REAL THREAT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...is not the Russkies. It is the lefties of Europe and America who have been bought by the Wahabists of Riad. Their ideology is much more dangerous than communism, because they have produced hundreds of millions of young men.

    YOU should better headwash YOUR corrupt, whahbist-corrupted elite instead of pontificating about the Russkies.

  58. Bingo ! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    NSA's so-called "Lockbox" of billions of people's email, sms, communication patterns and probably transcribed telephone calls is IN EFFECT a File On Everybody.

    If you will ever be suspected of something, they can pull all your emails from 1995 to 2016. They will find out your preferences, your agonies, your ex girlfriends and lots of other stuff.

    But NSA insists "we do not have a file on everybody". I guess they have hired Bill Clinton for an advanced (re)definition of "file".

  59. Some REAL Terrorists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...have been in major offices in pax Americana land: E.g. Joschka Fischer and Manuel Barroso. They were either carrying weapons while fighting the state themselves or they were aiding and abetting murderers.

    Look up their careers. Being a real terrorist is not a reason you cannot get into highest offices.

  60. That is the PLAN by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...of the Lefties and Mohammedists:

    " or we are all sheep that need to be sheltered from the bad, emotionally stingy words."

  61. Indeed Mr Communist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Trump supporters are dangerous"

    typical communist agit-prop, change-the-truth-by-180-degrees tactics by you bastards.

    AS A FACT, it has been leftist-mohammedist agents (most of them Useful Idiots) who violently disrupted Mr Trump's rallies in the first place.

  62. Bingo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "lying to people like me"

    They will come up with some bullshit national security reason why they will give you only the watered-down version of their files. Do you seriously think an internal security+intelligence organization will hand you all their files ?

    What if you are really a terrorist or a foreign agent or something like that ? They would massively help you by handing out their files.

    That is their paranoia and that is why they will routinely hand you only the irrelevant file, which would only contain things like police-recorded crimes and so on.

    If you dig a bit deeper you will find out that a large number of agencies have files, often several types at a single agency. And they know lots of stuff about you, even if you are a completely harmless person.

    They think they need this in case you should ever apply for political office or for a top secret job or something like that.

    And surely they have dozens of megabytes of emails, sms and all that at NSA. Dating back to the 1990s or earlier, if you ever used telegrams and so on.

    Of, and if you ever sent a letter to foreign countries or to 'dangerous people', they have a copy of them, too.

    I do not want to scare you, I just like to deconstruct you rosy message.

  63. Countermeasure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    read RT.com.

    (yeah, I know, bad, bad russkies. Here is the protip: The mohammedists are much more dangerous and have already bought our elite.)

  64. MORE DEAD COPS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    MORE DEAD COPS

  65. FBI attention fully warranted ... by golodh · · Score: 1
    Sorry, but the FBI's attention is fully warranted, and I'll tell you why.

    "Us is terrorist squad, see?.An them is Terrorists! They wouldn't 'ave called Us in if they weren't terrorists, right? So there!"

  66. FSM car emblems? by kmoser · · Score: 1

    I wonder what watchlist my FSM car emblem has gotten me on. Probably some Vatican cabal.

  67. Anyone surprised by anti-disney · · Score: 1

    It shouldn't come as any surprise. The government has been known to keep a list of people who want the TSA abolished, people who are members of organizations such as the ACLU, EFF (Electronic Frontiers Foundation), EPIC and other groups. They have been known to keep tabs on people who want the Patriot Act or the Department of Homeland Security abolished. Shortly after the Edward Snowden revelations, there were politicians asking how Snowden was able to receive a security clearance when he was seen with EFF stickers and was a donor to EFF. They advocated for government officials conducting security clearance investigations to check into records the FBI has to see if they are members of an organization such as EFF since they are concerned that someone who is a member and opposed to domestic surveillance would be a threat to handling classified information. It shouldn't come as a surprise that they are looking at bumper stickers and with license plate readers deployed almost everywhere they most likely not only get a photo of your license plate but also bumper stickers as you drive past these readers.

  68. Yes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The answer is Yes. The FBI have you on file for having a political bumper sticker.

    Also for those with non-political bumper stickers. And for those without political bumper stickers. Basically if you have a pulse and are not comatose, you have an FBI file (thought the coma team made a strong case last week that the comatose are a hotbed of political rebels, punks and reds. Awakenings sounded the alarm!!).