Terrorist Watch List Approaches 1 Million Names

[ttnuagadam]

Originally posted by: ahurtt

Originally posted by: ttnuagadam
i think the best way to laugh in the face of DHS and the current administration would be to have everyone possible start making international phone calls and discussing blowing stuff up. wiretapping would become pointless. we the people need to show the government that they cant do anything without us if we dont let them.

I hope the send a stealth bomber over your house to deliver a special package for you as you are making your little prank calls. Who's fucking side are you on anyway? Sure maybe the government isn't perfect. And maybe the system isn't perfect. But it's all we've got. And make no mistake, there ARE legitimately dangerous people out there plotting ways to kill as many Americans as they can and who will make those plots reality if given the chance. You don't like how the government is trying to protect us? Then get involved and change it. But don't intentionally try and fuck things up worse than they already are. Get involved and work for positive change or step aside and stfu. This isn't an US vs. THEM thing. The government is not some mystical man behind the curtain. . .it's people. American citizens. You think your so damn smart and witty, then you step up and do a better job.

im sorry but as terrible as our current administration has been, i cant help but think that the phone calls they're listening in on might not even have ANYTHING to do with terrorism and more to do about personal (financial) gain.

one things for sure, its not helping a goddamned thing at the expense of american privacy.

how much more control are you willing to give our government? keep giving them what they want and eventually our government WONT be the people. the way our elections have been in recent years make me wonder if things arent already headed that direction.

just sit back while our freedoms and privacy are slowly taken from us, by the time you finally accept that its happening you wont be able to do anything about it

 

[wetech]

Originally posted by: Rainsford
Oh, OK, because there probably really are 500,000 terrorists running around we need to keep an eye on :roll:

Well, like I said, the number is probably a good deal smaller then that due to multiple identities / aliases, etc.

So how many people do you think should be on this list? What's a "believable" number?

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: wetech
So how many people do you think should be on this list? What's a "believable" number?

How about we whittle down that list a little?

And give people like Senators and children a chance to remove their names from it?

What good is a list full of babies and college co-eds?

The larger the list, the less resources can be allocated to any specific target.

 

[wetech]

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: wetech
So how many people do you think should be on this list? What's a "believable" number?

How about we whittle down that list a little?

And give people like Senators and children a chance to remove their names from it?

What good is a list full of babies and college co-eds?

The larger the list, the less resources can be allocated to any specific target.

agreed.

 

[1EZduzit]

Originally posted by: Foxery
It's Dept. of Homeland Security's backwards way of trying to justify its own existence. I'm sure most of those names have never even been reviewed by a real human worker, and were just placed there due to some obscure automated alert.

Security is job one...... job security that is.

 

[OrByte]

This is just a shining example of how those people who think since they have nothing to hide then everything is A-OK are flat out wrong.

and I don't see this list shrinking anytime soon.

 

[Uhtrinity]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: Nebor
Do you want to feel safe or not?

I felt pretty safe before 911 and have felt safe after because I have a basic understanding of statistics.

:thumbsup:

 

[marincounty]

I know a guy with the name D. Cooper, as in DB Cooper the hijacker, and he still gets hassled every time he flies. As if the real DB Cooper would use his real name to fly ?
Do we only hire idiots to do aviation security? Don't answer.
Yeah, we need to strip search that grandma over there, oh wait, there's Al Gore...

 

[Obsoleet]

Originally posted by: Rainsford
It's NOT all we've got. We live in a democracy, comrade, which means if we don't like the way something is working...WE CAN CHANGE IT. Trying to change what's wrong with our side doesn't mean we're taking the other side. This seems like a pretty basic concept to me...

Wrong, we live in a Constitutional Republic. The difference is very distinct if you do your reading.

 

[compuwiz1]

Do you guys know what OFAC is?

It stands for Office of Foreign Assets Control

Everytime I do business with someone where large amounts of money change hands, I am required to run an OFAC report. If their name comes up on it, I am required to cease business activity and notify OFAC.

More on OFAC

 

[Genx87]

Heh typicaly govt. Eventually they will have 300 million names in there and they will declare war on us.

 

[Rainsford]

Originally posted by: Obsoleet

Originally posted by: Rainsford
It's NOT all we've got. We live in a democracy, comrade, which means if we don't like the way something is working...WE CAN CHANGE IT. Trying to change what's wrong with our side doesn't mean we're taking the other side. This seems like a pretty basic concept to me...

Wrong, we live in a Constitutional Republic. The difference is very distinct if you do your reading.

Yeah, OK, conversational anal retentiveness aside, that doesn't really have anything to do with anything. Whether you're content to use a broad term like "democracy" (a constitutional republic is a democratic form of government, professor) or insist on using the most specific phrasing possible, a fundamental concept of our system is that the people basically get to decide the direction our country is taking. If they don't like what's going on, they have the ability to change it.

The exact mechanism for this change can vary, but the point is that ahurtt's viewpoint is silly. That the government is "all we've got" and that trying to improve on it's flaws amounts to treason is ridiculous whether you live in a democracy or a "Constitutional Republic".

 

[Rainsford]

Originally posted by: wetech

Originally posted by: Rainsford
Oh, OK, because there probably really are 500,000 terrorists running around we need to keep an eye on :roll:

Well, like I said, the number is probably a good deal smaller then that due to multiple identities / aliases, etc.

So how many people do you think should be on this list? What's a "believable" number?

There is no magic number, the point is that there probably aren't 500,000 terrorists, so ANY number arrived at by the current methods is probably not real accurate.

 

[SirStev0]

The terrorists are winning... I mean.........

 

[jackschmittusa]

While "multiple identities" may reduce the actual number of people, "name variation" will add to it.

Regardless, it is a completely BS system. The end point of such a system is actually a new system that does not list exclusions, but requires permissions, whereby you will be required to be vetted by the government to be allowed to fly. It will become an "allowed to fly list". The government will argue that flying is a privilege, not a right, and will issue licenses that permit you to be an airline passenger.

 

[blackangst1]

Originally posted by: wetech

Originally posted by: Rainsford
Oh, OK, because there probably really are 500,000 terrorists running around we need to keep an eye on :roll:

Well, like I said, the number is probably a good deal smaller then that due to multiple identities / aliases, etc.

So how many people do you think should be on this list? What's a "believable" number?

IMHO? A million is very believable given how many people people are on the planet. And to add to that I have to say the cliche "most muslims are not terrorists but most terrorists are muslim", and theres a shitload of muslims on this planet.

Start with the racist hatred now mmmkay?

 

[Obsoleet]

Originally posted by: Rainsford

Originally posted by: Obsoleet

Originally posted by: Rainsford
It's NOT all we've got. We live in a democracy, comrade, which means if we don't like the way something is working...WE CAN CHANGE IT. Trying to change what's wrong with our side doesn't mean we're taking the other side. This seems like a pretty basic concept to me...

Wrong, we live in a Constitutional Republic. The difference is very distinct if you do your reading.

Yeah, OK, conversational anal retentiveness aside, that doesn't really have anything to do with anything. Whether you're content to use a broad term like "democracy" (a constitutional republic is a democratic form of government, professor) or insist on using the most specific phrasing possible, a fundamental concept of our system is that the people basically get to decide the direction our country is taking. If they don't like what's going on, they have the ability to change it.

The exact mechanism for this change can vary, but the point is that ahurtt's viewpoint is silly. That the government is "all we've got" and that trying to improve on it's flaws amounts to treason is ridiculous whether you live in a democracy or a "Constitutional Republic".

I wouldn't have done that to you but the distinction is very important for many reasons. It could be said that imprecise use of language is why we're in Iraq.

Ponder that.

 

[palehorse]

Originally posted by: BassBomb
I went to pakistan with family at 9. I'm probably on that, and I am Canadian!

You wouldnt be the first terrorist from Canada...

 

[palehorse]

Originally posted by: Foxery
It's Dept. of Homeland Security's backwards way of trying to justify its own existence.

Hey genius, the TSC is a joint effort primarily run by the FBI.

 

[fskimospy]

Originally posted by: blackangst1

Originally posted by: wetech

Originally posted by: Rainsford
Oh, OK, because there probably really are 500,000 terrorists running around we need to keep an eye on :roll:

Well, like I said, the number is probably a good deal smaller then that due to multiple identities / aliases, etc.

So how many people do you think should be on this list? What's a "believable" number?

IMHO? A million is very believable given how many people people are on the planet. And to add to that I have to say the cliche "most muslims are not terrorists but most terrorists are muslim", and theres a shitload of muslims on this planet.

Start with the racist hatred now mmmkay?

What a list that size really tells us is that either the criteria we're using for putting people on it is so broad that it becomes almost useless, or that the 'watching' we do on the terrorist watch list is so small that being on the list doesn't really mean much. Either way isn't good.

 

[vhx]

Originally posted by: MadRat
McCarthyism.

This. It is sad to see us going back to those retarded days. I can't wait for everyone to be slinging the word terrorist around to ruin lives. This paranoia has got WAY out of hand. This administration blows.

EDIT: This post probably got me on the watch list. Lol.

 

[theeedude]

I am probably on that list. I always get extra TLC from the screeners.