Do you dare to search for pressure cooker now?

Bullshit yet again.The investigation was to determine if there might be an intent, capability and likelihood of a terrorist act. The tip simply pointed to the possibility. It was necessary to investigate to determine if there was the intent, capability and likelihood.

The investigation was initiated and supported only by the fear that the guy was possibly researching how to make a bomb.In a free society, is the fact that someone knows how to make a bomb sufficient grounds to investigate them?

Yes, of course.

Another clear sign of hysteria.- Oni

Yes, but there's also real fears such as global warming or america turning into the equivalent of 1930s germany . . .But either way, I think the best cure for fear is knowledge. Unfortunately, the only problem with knowledge is that some (most?) people prefer to live with their delusions. Anyone who has spent anytime on this forum knows the futility of enlightening the faithful to scientific enlightenment.A while back Straggler made a semi-serious request for a limited set of needful books in a post-apocalyptic world. I just started reading "Howard Zinn on History." With that, I would like to make an addendum to my previous list and include these titles:* A People's History of the United States by American historian and political scientist Howard Zinn* Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media Paperback, by Edward S. Herman, Noam Chomsky* What's the Matter with Kansas? by American journalist and historian Thomas Frank* The Prince (Italian: Il Principe, by the Italian diplomat, historian and political theorist Niccol MachiavelliTo return this post to the topic, if more people read and understood 'What's the Matter with Kansas?' I think there would be less cowardly and more empowered americans. They would be less likely to blindly follow the governments fear tactics.

quote:

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According to the book, the political discourse of recent decades has dramatically shifted from social and economic equality to the use of "explosive" cultural issues, such as abortion and gay marriage, which are used to redirect anger toward "liberal elites."

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What's the Matter with Kansas? - Wikipedia

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(Some of these books are already reading material for high schoolers. If I could, I would make them mandatory for grammar school kids. I think people should be indoctrinated early with the mindset that they should ALWAYS question the elites, people in charge, government, the 1%ers.)

I don't think "indoctrinating" is the best plan there, since then we'd become the "people in charge" that we are telling them to question.I think making the literature available and teaching them critical thinking, allowing them to form their own opinion, is best.But I agree with the spirit of what you're saying.- Oni

Hey Oni,Thanks for the reply, we are probably nit-picking . . . Hmmm. Yeah, the word "indoctrinating" does sound sort of menacing (not to mention the catch-22 aspect).However, I meant the word only as school-administrators might use it on students: "the indoctrination of young students into mathematics or reading/writing." I think if some great literature (Huckleberry Finn, Shakespeare, Grapes of Wrath, etc. ) could me made MANDATORY reading, then why not my list? If their opinions are based on knowledge and critical thinking, yes, great! If based on fearful, superstitious, bronze-age mindsets, no.Edited by dronester, : added catch-22

Walking like a duck and talking like a duck may be an indication of being a duck. Forcing them to use force is the basis for any fascist state. Being a good citizen for the sake of being a good citizen is the best defense against oppression. Asking politely is not an "intrusion". When somebody asks you if you mind them sitting beside you on the bus, that isn't an intrusion. It just makes everybody's ride a little more pleasant. Exactly. The police have more important things to do than look at my little secrets. If I waste less of their time, they can make better use of it elsewhere.

That is retarded.If you are not being sarcastic then you are being ignorant.

That's the answer right there.

Indeed and apparently being a duck is cause for concern. Wrong. The use of force is the basis for any fascist state. What about reviewing your search history or you email without asking at all? Is it an intrusion if you never know that it happened?The state has the authority to breach civil rights in order to investigate a potential crime. There is a procedure for that to happen. If their concerns were valid then the process would allow for it. When the state circumvents that process it is definitely a problem. Again if the police need to search then they should search. If they are fiddling around on events that wont garner a warrant then it is they who are wasting their time and our tax dollars.

You are of course, welcome to your opinion. It is certainly worthy of a chuckle.However in a free society the fact that someone has the knowledge to make a bomb is sufficient reason to investigate.Since i would assume anyone with an moderate education and over the age of 12 or so would know how to make a bomb, the reality is most simply don't get investigated.But that has nothing to do with the situation outlined in the OP. In fact there is no evidence in the example in the OP that either the husband or the wife's bubbe maiseh that either were bright enough to know how to make a bomb so again, the knowledge to make a bomb is pretty much irrelevant to what happened in the example in the OP.

Wow!!
This is simply an advocation of a police state. Knowledge is grounds for being investigated? It boggles the mind someone can write this.Since I have knowledge to build a bomb, the police should come knocking on my door?

I don't know. Did you bother reading all of the post you quote mined?

quote mined? That is all you have. You have become a bad caricature of yourself. You have become a troll, but then again maybe you always were. There is your whole post. How does the rest of it change what the two lines I guoted say?How about answering now?Knowledge is grounds for being investigated?
Since I have knowledge to build a bomb, the police should come knocking on my door?