[extropy-chat] Alert for Suspicious Farmers' Almanacs

[Samantha Atkins]

The FBI and much of the supposed anti-terrorism machinery of the US has lost touch with reality.  I am waiting for:

"FBI requests tracking of all individuals with IQ above 140 as possible terrorism masterminds."

What is next?  Limiting and downgrading all information sources to "combat terrorism"?   It would be better imho to increase the amount of knowledge including giving better means for self-defense and understanding one's true risk to everyone.  This terror mongering is a "the-sky-is-falling" mentaility at best and a cyncical political tool at worse.  

- s

On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 18:19:39 -0800
"Olga Bourlin" <fauxever at sprynet.com> wrote:

> 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
> 
> 
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