[extropy-chat] Alert for Suspicious Farmers' Almanacs

[Olga Bourlin]

I kid you not ...

http://tinyurl.com/36ye8

FBI urges police to watch for people carrying almanacs
TED BRIDIS, Associated Press Writer
Monday, December 29, 2003
©2003 Associated Press
(12-29) 16:18 PST WASHINGTON (AP) -- 

The FBI is warning police nationwide to be alert for people carrying
almanacs, cautioning that the popular reference books covering everything
from abbreviations to weather trends could be used for terrorist planning.

In a bulletin sent Christmas Eve to about 18,000 police organizations, the
FBI said terrorists may use almanacs "to assist with target selection and
pre-operational planning."

It urged officers to watch during searches, traffic stops and other
investigations for anyone carrying almanacs, especially if the books are
annotated in suspicious ways.

"The practice of researching potential targets is consistent with known
methods of al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations that seek to maximize
the likelihood of operational success through careful planning," the FBI
wrote.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the bulletin this week and verified
its authenticity.

"For local law enforcement, it's just to help give them one more piece of
information to raise their suspicions," said David Heyman, a terrorism
expert for the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International
Studies. "It helps make sure one more bad guy doesn't get away from a
traffic stop, maybe gives police a little bit more reason to follow up on
this."

The FBI noted that use of almanacs or maps may be innocent, "the product of
legitimate recreational or commercial activities." But it warned that when
combined with suspicious behavior -- such as apparent surveillance -- a
person with an almanac "may point to possible terrorist planning."

"I don't think anyone would consider us a harmful entity," said Kevin
Seabrooke, senior editor of The World Almanac. He said the reference book
includes about a dozen pages out of its 1,000 pages total listing the
world's tallest buildings and bridges but includes no diagrams or
architectural schematics. "It's stuff that's widely available on the
Internet," he said.

The publisher for The Old Farmers Almanac said Monday terrorists would
probably find statistical reference books more useful than the collections
of Americana in his famous publication of weather predictions and
witticisms.

"While we doubt that our editorial content would be of particular interest
to people who would wish to do us harm, we will certainly cooperate to the
fullest with national authorities at any level they deem appropriate,"
publisher John Pierce said.

The FBI said information typically found in almanacs that could be useful
for terrorists includes profiles of cities and states and information about
waterways, bridges, dams, reservoirs, tunnels, buildings and landmarks. It
said this information is often accompanied by photographs and maps.

The FBI urged police to report such discoveries to the local U.S. Joint
Terrorism Task Force.

©2003 Associated Press