"America is not like America before. They can arrest you."
the title quote comes from a meeting of muslims in brooklyn where grievances over perceived unnecessary harsh treatment at the hands of authorities pursuing terrorism suspects were aired in front of, among others, fbi special agent charles e. frahm... as you might suspect, the meeting was loaded with tension but i think frahm's closing remark pretty well sums it up...
"I hear you, and I will continue to hear you," he said. "I can also say we make no apologies for actions we must take to protect Americans."
the point that the people at the meeting made over and over again is that they ARE americans TOO... yes, i can just hear the greek chorus in the background, wailing that all muslims are the enemy but it ain't just the muslims at risk, my friends...
on sunday, a 57 year-old des moines grandmother and middle school principal, cecilia beaman, was arrested at lax for possession of a knife she had used to make sandwiches for the kids she had been escorting to a band festival with a side trip to disneyland... she had packed the other knives in her checked baggage but couldn't find one of them and thought it had been lost... it surfaced in her carry-on items at security screening...
"You've committed a felony," Beaman says a security screener announced. "And you're considered a terrorist." Beaman says she was told her name would go on a terrorist watch-list and that she would have to pay a $500 fine. She says screeners refused to give her paperwork or documentation of her violation, documentation of the pending fine, or a copy of the photograph of the knife. "They said 'no' and they said it's a national security issue. And I said what about my constitutional rights? And they said 'not at this point ... you don't have any'."
after confirming her story, they could have simply confiscated the knife... the screener obviously had a cob up his butt but, the point is, this is where we're ALL headed, folks... Submit To Propeller
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"I hear you, and I will continue to hear you," he said. "I can also say we make no apologies for actions we must take to protect Americans."
the point that the people at the meeting made over and over again is that they ARE americans TOO... yes, i can just hear the greek chorus in the background, wailing that all muslims are the enemy but it ain't just the muslims at risk, my friends...
on sunday, a 57 year-old des moines grandmother and middle school principal, cecilia beaman, was arrested at lax for possession of a knife she had used to make sandwiches for the kids she had been escorting to a band festival with a side trip to disneyland... she had packed the other knives in her checked baggage but couldn't find one of them and thought it had been lost... it surfaced in her carry-on items at security screening...
"You've committed a felony," Beaman says a security screener announced. "And you're considered a terrorist." Beaman says she was told her name would go on a terrorist watch-list and that she would have to pay a $500 fine. She says screeners refused to give her paperwork or documentation of her violation, documentation of the pending fine, or a copy of the photograph of the knife. "They said 'no' and they said it's a national security issue. And I said what about my constitutional rights? And they said 'not at this point ... you don't have any'."
after confirming her story, they could have simply confiscated the knife... the screener obviously had a cob up his butt but, the point is, this is where we're ALL headed, folks... Submit To Propeller
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posted by profmarcus at
6/04/2005
