back to article Terror cops swoop on couple who Googled 'backpacks' and 'pressure cooker'

Freelance writer Michele Catalano thought she might get herself a pressure cooker to prepare Quinoa, the south American wonder-grain. Her husband wanted a new backpack. Both did what you do these days: go online and search for them. Catalano's husband did so from his work computer, and later left his job. Nothing to see here …

COMMENTS

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  1. Esskay
    Black Helicopters

    Thank god for the war on Terror

    We don't have anything to fear anymore!

    Oh wait...

    1. Captain Scarlet Silver badge
      Childcatcher

      Re: Thank god for the war on Terror

      We all just viewed a post with the words backpack, pressure cooker and bomb.

      I have a feeling noone will be commenting later.

      1. Diogenes
        Black Helicopters

        Re: Thank god for the war on Terror

        I would just like to add

        There is a fire at the travel agency, John has a long moustache, and Wound my heart with monotonous langour

        1. Great Bu

          Re: Thank god for the war on Terror

          Does that mean I have to kill the president of micronesia now ?

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Thank god for the war on Terror

            @Great Bu, Relax! Don't do it...

        2. Bernard M. Orwell

          Re: Thank god for the war on Terror

          The chair is against the wall.

        3. gollux
          Happy

          Re: Thank god for the war on Terror

          Welcome over for tea, the Spandaus are warmed up, and the Jenny is dead.

          1. Danny 14
            Big Brother

            Re: Thank god for the war on Terror

            Better take off and nuke the site from orbit. Its the only way to be sure.

      2. Tom 35

        Re: Thank god for the war on Terror

        Stop saying pressure cooker. AAAArghh! ... I've said it ...

        the knights who were formally Ni

    2. Rampant Spaniel

      Re: Thank god for the war on Terror

      The attention was probably largely due to the boss. I doubt the searches alone caused any issue. Without knowing the content of the bosses call it's tough to say.

      I know I haven't recieved a visit even after some searches for alcohol stoves that use a pressured fuel supply which probably would not look great. fwiw the stove is for camping and during frequent and prolonged power cuts. Much easier to grab alcohol (heet, even isopropyl) during a pre tsunami rush than butane \ petrol etc.

      1. Nigel 11

        Re: Thank god for the war on Terror

        Without knowing the content of the bosses call it's tough to say.

        Me, I'm starting to wonder if the Laundry is just fiction?

  2. P. Lee

    >Which of course is just how the terrorists want us to feel.

    Terrorists: those who use fear for political ends.

    The ones with official power or the others? So far the ones with official power have cost more in terms of deaths of innocents, deprivation of freedom and non-required spending of cash than the others.

    Bother, it was click-bait!

    1. Frallan
      Coat

      Yupp

      Bin Laden has won hasn't he?

      Gettin my (foil lined) coat

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Unhappy

        Re: Yupp

        'Fraid so.

  3. Demosthenese

    "they do this about 100 times a week. And that 99 of those visits turn out to be nothing."

    ... and the other 1 time turns out to be nothing too.

    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

      You will probably find pot or a runaway dad. Than have the guy taken away in a black limousineblue van.

    2. Rab Sssss
      Unhappy

      The main problem being here is if 1 turns out to be something and they don't check.

      Hell even 99.9% turn out to be bugger all that 0.1% is still kinda important. They have check shit out.

      Its not like the dude had been dragged to a dark room and hit by rubber hoses. Security theather annoys teh crap out of me (3 suvs and what 6 or 8 guys? comeon thats gotta be taking the piss), but they do have to check when a mbr of the public drops a tip.

      1. TheOtherHobbes

        "The main problem being here is if 1 turns out to be something and they don't check."

        Because when you go to trrrrrism school in Central Nowhereistan, the first thing they teach you is how to make a bomb with a backpack and a pressure cooker.

        It's a sure tell. And not stupid at all, considering all the other things an informed trrrrist might use to blow shit up.

      2. Vince Lewis 1
        Stop

        Why all the down votes. It sounds like a reasonable response to a tip off. They didn't drag him off, bash down the doors or go in guns blazing.

        Yes disturbing and a little frightening, and I wouldn't like it to happen to me, but the officials involved have a duty to follow leads.

        The only unreasonable action was of the ex-employer to leap from two innocent search term to the idea of terrorist and call in the cops.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: reasonable behavior

          " It sounds like a reasonable response to a tip off. They didn't drag him off, bash down the doors or go in guns blazing."

          Guns blazing - bashing down doors, is much more UK Plod Style.

          i.e. effectively lie to the judge to get a dodgy warrant, bash down the door and shoot the naked guy in his own bedroom

          or accidentally shoot the suspect, as at Forrest Gate in 2006

        2. Danny 14
          Big Brother

          So a single tip off follows leads by blockading someones house and scaring theshit out of them? How about some detective work first such as checking the internet logs from said company?

          It was disproportionate, threatening and damn scary for the recipient.

          My god, ive looked at stuff that could be seen in logs as being suzpect. I help out at am-dram making props and have looked at how easy it is to reactivate firearms so i can purposefully do the opposite on already deactivated ones etc.

    3. Nearly Anonymous
      FAIL

      ... the other time

      "... and the other 1 time falls on our day off. It probably would have been nothing too, you know, past performance being a predictor of future behavior, so we KNOW there is a 99% chance of nothing. We are pretty confident of that. Yep, we spend our time on nothing, nothing at all!"

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: ... the other time

        The one in a hundred won't be a "terror bust" either. More likely they smell the indoor crop being grown upstairs when they pop in to check for "bombs etc".

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      > ... and the other 1 time turns out to be nothing too.

      On the other hand, given that 1 in 100 Americans are currently serving a prison sentence, I find it entirely plausible that the State could consider 1% of the population to be terrorists.

    5. James Micallef Silver badge
      Black Helicopters

      Just out of curiosity, I wonder what would have happened if the person concerned won't talk to them and won't let them in without a warrant. Black helicopters at 2am?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        We don't need no steenkin' laws

        "Just out of curiosity, I wonder what would have happened if the person concerned won't talk to them and won't let them in without a warrant".

        Hahahahaha. Very funny indeed. What do you think Homeland Security is going to do if a terrorist blockades himself in his compound and refuses to surrender? Legal rights are for decent honest upright citizens, not enemy combatants. They'd be lucky if Obama himself didn't decide to drop in with a Hellfire missile or the like.

    6. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Some presumably, that's 4 people a week getting arrested, 208 people a year.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    So don't shop while at work?

    Although I completely agree that this is a pretty good example of what can happen, even if you have "nothing to hide", it also shows another issue: be careful with the private stuff you do at work.

    Even at my last job, where the boss was even OK with me hanging around on IRC on Friday, I never ever went online shopping while at work. At the very most visiting a news website or something, but that's about it.

    Personally I think that's the main problem at hand here; don't treat your working environment as your personal living environment. It's not. You don't go shopping during lunch break, so why would you go do that stuff online?

    1. Voland's right hand Silver badge
      Devil

      Re: So don't shop while at work?

      I do not know in which wonderland you live, but around these parts of the world what I do in any of my breaks is my own bloody business. If need to buy something and if it I can do it within the allocated time to me for my break I am entitled to do so.

      In any case, the lunch breaks aside, the culture of fear and thinking of everything from the perspective of "Am I doing the right thing? will the cops come for me?" is what differentiated USSR, East Germany and Romania from the rest of the world (even from some other countries in the Eastern block for that matter). What goes around, comes around. 20 years later things have gone full circle. The noise you are hearing is Suslov, Brezhnev and Cheushesku giggling madly in whatever circle of hell is assigned to scum like them.

      1. Nigel 11
        Unhappy

        Re: So don't shop while at work?

        There are employers out there who regard using the company internet for private purposes as grounds for dismissal. I hope that they get the sort of employees they richly deserve (ones so incompetent that they can't get a job anywhere more enlightened, and "seagull" mercenaries in it just for the money).

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: So don't shop while at work?

      Wow. I IRC all the time, chat via jabber, browse random stuff online, etc... There is an expectation of privacy around here. And frankly nobody is bothered about what you do at work if you do what needs to be done.

    3. LaeMing
      Meh

      Re: So don't shop while at work?

      Um... unless you live in one of those big 'cities that never sleeps' type places, lunch time is often the only time you have to do a lot of your shopping.

    4. Steve 13
      WTF?

      Re: So don't shop while at work?

      I go shopping in my lunch break all the time! Why wouldn't I, it's my time, the shops are in town, I'm in town, it seems the sensible thing to do.

      I also clear my browser history when I leave a job (I can't clear the proxy logs of course, but it doesn't sound like they examined those)...

      Going back to the story though, the guy shopped for a backpack, why would that cause his ex employer to call the police. His wife was shopping for a pressure cooker, on a different PC, on a different network. As it's been described there is no link between the backpack and the pressure cooker. Unless she actually borrowed his work laptop whilst at home to do that shopping.

    5. Kane
      FAIL

      Re: So don't shop while at work?

      "You don't go shopping during lunch break"

      Really? How do you buy your lunch then?

    6. envmod

      Re: So don't shop while at work?

      what? yes I do go shopping on my lunch break sometimes. so do an awful lot of other people. what the hell do you do on your lunch break? sit in fear at your desk looking out for "suspicious characters"? are you this guy's boss?

    7. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: So don't shop while at work?

      Break times only?

      PAH! If you've got a laptop as shit as mine, and a bloated Eclipse workspace your internet history will suggest you spend all day titting about on the web.

      1. Joel 1
        Coat

        I'm not slacking off...

        My code's compiling!

        http://xkcd.com/303/

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        @ AC

        Good excuse..

    8. John Bailey
      Stop

      Re: So don't shop while at work?

      So.. If I bought a cooking magazine, and had it open on my desk on a page about pressure cookers when the boss walked by, would that be incriminating too? Or is it only suspicious when done on the internet, because the girl behind the counter at Argos is really a highly trained MI5 profiler, and can spot suspicious explosive kitchenware purchasers... Right?

      Do only suspicious people read up on things to find out what the best brand/specifications are?

      And for reference, yes. I used to do my grocery shopping during my lunch hour. I worked about 2 minutes from a Safeway in Lewisham at the time, so it was a handy time to do it, and they would be shut by the time I left work. Pre open til midnight days. And we had a nice roomy fridge in the staff room.

      Just out of curiosity.. If I bought a bunch of 7 segment displays, a mixed bag of coloured hookup wire, a bunch of 555 timers and some battery connectors, would I qualify for a watch list too? Because I did that a few months ago, and amazingly, the retailer I bought all this potential bomb making equipment from doesn't seem to have turned me in to the secret police. Perhaps I should report him for not reporting me, so we can all be watched in case we are tourists.

      If you alter your behaviour to avoid suspicion, then is that not also being suspicious? And if this even crosses your mind, as anything but a joke, it is already too late.. The intimidation has worked.

      Mine's the orange jump suit.

  5. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge

    Success

    “I’m scared. And not of the right things.”

    Bingo.

  6. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

    People are like golden retrievers!

    "Six gentleman in casual clothes emerged from the vehicles and spread out as they walked toward the house"

    At that moment people should engage with their AR-15s.

    Because if these guys happen to be cartel, then shit's gonna hit the fan. You better take down a few ASAP.

    Do not forget to call 911. Apparently you can have "help", it's some sort of kool-aid.

    1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
      Happy

      Re: People are like golden retrievers!

      "At that moment people should engage with their AR-15s.

      Because if these guys happen to be cartel, then shit's gonna hit the fan. You better take down a few ASAP."

      You need to have added the joke icon

      People thought you were serious

      1. wowfood

        Re: People are like golden retrievers!

        Why so serious?

        But seriously, if I saw that the first thing I'd do is call the police and hide in a closet. That would scare the shit out of me.

        1. g e
          Holmes

          Re: People are like golden retrievers!

          Hide in the closet?

          Don't you mean video it and slather it all over the interwebs? If you saw it it wasn't happening to you so you're a 'concerned citizen' or whatever the get-out is for filming the Establishment going about it's "business".

        2. JEDIDIAH
          Linux

          Re: People are like golden retrievers!

          > Why so serious?

          >

          > But seriously, if I saw that the first thing I'd do is call the police and hide in a closet. That would scare the shit out of me.

          Run in the house, arm the alarm, and load the shotgun.

      2. Nigel 11

        Re: People are like golden retrievers!

        911. He's in the USA. Some parts of the USA, he's not joking.

    2. codejunky Silver badge

      Re: People are like golden retrievers!

      To be honest if I saw 3 vehicles of uninvited unknown 'guests' spreading out and boxing me in my home I would certainly call the police and grab a selection of knives. That is because in the UK you cannot have a gun for home defence. Not 1 person would be entering without proper identification and I will demand the police authenticate the visitors or turn up.

      I can imagine it would be very unsettling for a gang of plain clothes people to trap you in your home without any reason. Surely a single vehicle would have done (visible)

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: People are like golden retrievers!

        "I would certainly call the police and grab a selection of knives"

        Isn't that what the Daily Fail are trying to ban next? pointed knives.

        1. wowfood

          Re: People are like golden retrievers!

          Well they already got swords banned (kinda) which I always found confusing. Why would I go on a rampage with a large heavy piece of steel which, in the hands of average joe with no training, isn't as dangerous as it seems, when I can go into a kitchen drawer and grab a pair of freakin huge butchers knives which can cut through most anything, as well as stab and they're perfectly easy to weild as weapons, far simpler for average joe to carry around than a katana for cods sake.

          Just a moment, there's somebody at the door.

          *doesn't come back*

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: "most anything"

            Talk sense, man!

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: engage with their AR-15s.

      They've just had a court case on this very point in the US.

      Acording to judge dredd and jury, the apparent interpretation of "stand your ground" means your legally allowed to pre-emptively open fire on "scary people", regardless of whether they are armed or not.

      So 6 heavies spreading out and heading for your property and person, probably counts.

      I do so love the "well thought through" laws passed on both sides of the pond by the elected morons trying to fill their sound byte quota with "tough sounding" measures!

      PS

      here in the UK the definition of the word "reasonable" was changed in the self-defence rules, so we have the same dumb set up (i.e. it is a defence to say I thought he was a threat to my life, regardless of any actual evidence to support that claim), thanks to section 76 of criminal justice and imigration act 2008 (sat between "offences relating to nuclear materials" and "unlawfully obtaining personal data")

      PPS

      if you're trying to figure why the long standing and working UK self defence law got changed, remember that the met had just finished dodging lots of questions about shooting unarmed tube users.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If we all do this two or three times a week....

    Can we "overload" the system and take that 99 times per week up to 999 times per week and make the whole thing even more pointless at which time they either abandon the whole PRISM tech, or...do they just buy more black SUVs and get a bigger discount at The Gap for their casual clothes?

    1. LaeMing
      Black Helicopters

      Re: If we all do this two or three times a week....

      And up everyone's taxes to pay for the massive growth of their little civil service empires. Mission accomplished (for them).

      1. g e
        Holmes

        Re: If we all do this two or three times a week....

        Not to mention your gov't will just build a new dentention centre on your tax dollah and throw you and your irksome chums in it while they 'get round to processing you' as they're always happy to go to the expense to make an example of you when the other option is not behaving like the Establishment. Plus building a new DC puts much dollah into the hands of their pals who run construction co's and detention facility contracts.

        Boof goes your job and your mortgage and the gov't says 'That's what you get, son'.

        (Yes I know how to spell 'dollar', before someone thinks they're clever/funny. Use a Vietnamese/etc accent in your head.)

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: If we all do this two or three times a week....

      ... we'll all end up in the same internment camp.

  8. John Tserkezis

    I used to download copious quantities of porn from work computers back when doing that sort of thing was fashionable.

    I never had black SUVs front up at our place though.

    Perhaps they *should* have, I wouldn't have turned into the deviant I am today.

    However, I never downloaded music or movies though - that's just plain wrong and would have the men in black on my doorstep instantly. (cough, cough).

    Thank you RIAA and MMPA, you've made porn socially acceptable - too bad for backpacks and cookers...

    1. Ragarath

      Darn you forgot to post anonymously, watch your back!

  9. Geoff Campbell Silver badge
    Black Helicopters

    [Scene: Front door, external]

    <Bing-bong>

    "Yes?"

    "Hello Sir. Are you now, or have you ever been, a tewwowist?"

    "No."

    "That's fine, Sir, thank you for your time and have a nice day".

    Admit it, you read that in a Terry Jones/John Cleese voice, didn't you?

    GJC

    1. Flocke Kroes Silver badge

      Not the first two who sprang to my mind

      Be wairwy quiet, I am hunting teworwists.

      I did! I did taw a teworwist!

      1. Geoff Campbell Silver badge
        Happy

        Re: Not the first two who sprang to my mind

        Splendid!

        GJC

    2. Anonymous Dutch Coward
      Coat

      Re: [Scene: Front door, external]

      "Welease this man"?

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: [Scene: Front door, external]

      Sorry, no.

      I got Elmer Fudd.

      PS. Does anyone know when the UK ban on pressure cookers will start??

      1. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge

        Re: [Scene: Front door, external]

        " Does anyone know when the UK ban on pressure cookers will start??"

        They'll probably ban rice cookers by accident.

    4. Rhiakath Flanders
      Happy

      Re: [Scene: Front door, external]

      I read that as Elmer Fudd. Just because of the "tewwowist".

    5. reno79

      Re: [Scene: Front door, external]

      He's not a tewwowist, he's a very naughty boy.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Siri

        Sorry, I don't understand "welease the tewwowist"

  10. Long John Brass

    If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever.

    If you want a picture of the present, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever.

    Our beloved PM (NZ) has recently tried to invoke Al-Qaeda in trying to get the latest snooping bill though

    1984 was supposed to be a warning not an instruction manual.

    I wonder how long it will be before the sheeple get pissed off & demand changes

    “WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY,IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH”

    1. Pete 2 Silver badge

      Re: If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever.

      > I wonder how long it will be before the sheeple get pissed off & demand changes

      Probably never.

      The great thing about our mass-media, always-on world is that we can be shown the "results" of terror attacks live on TV, and then over and over again. Positive reinforcement is a wonderful thing and imprints certain "facts" on the public. Like every time you see a plane fly into an office block it reinforces the view that the threat is current and as real today as it was ten or twelve years ago. After that, it's just a case of sitting back and letting public opinion paranoia do the rest.

      The worst outcome a terror attack can have (for the perpetrators) is not that it fails, it's that nobody talks about it.

      1. LaeMing
        Unhappy

        Re: If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever.

        To paraphrase:

        NEWS IS TRUTH. REALITY TV IS ENTERTAINMENT.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever.

      The sheeple will never demand changes because they don't care. That's why they're sheeple.

  11. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Unhappy

    “I’m scared. And not of the right things.”

    Because you've seen that in a climate of government induced paranoia the slightest thing would cause people to inform on you and trigger an extreme response from the same government?

    Do the math.

    Chance of being involved in a terrorist incident. Practically zero.

    Chance of being involved in a federal "questioning" where some twitchy Fed yells "gun" and it all kicks off. Quite high.

    I'd say she's just starting to realize who she should be scared of.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Pint

    Six cops in 3 SUVs?

    Well, at least with the new pressure cooker they had enough for everyone to eat when unexpected guests came over!!

    I brought some beer....

  13. RobHib
    Black Helicopters

    Reckon the terrorists haven't won - then yuh kidding yourself.

    For having read this 'subversive' article on El Reg, I'll now presume I've been flagged by PRISM as having done so.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Whats the problem.

    This happened because of the employer's report and the employer is a credible source because they are supposed to know the employee quite well.

    Even after the employer made the claim they did not just take his word for it, they used the households search history to determine the threat.

    The search history not only revealed the backpack and pressure cooker, it also revealed that the son visited bomb making sites and the husband had some dodgy (but not revealed by the wife) search history from his previous job.

    The officials didn't turn up immediately, like the article implies, it was several weeks later after investigations. They performed a cursory search and asked enough questions to satisfy themselves that no threat existed.

    Given the information they had, their actions were reasonable and proportionate (even if you do not like how they obtained the information).

    1. Steve 13

      Re: Whats the problem.

      Are you just making stuff up?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Whats the problem.

        No, I'm not making things up. In the original article she says her 20 year old son visited bomb making sites and one of the reasons for the visit also included searches her husband performed in his old job.

        1. Fink-Nottle

          Re: Whats the problem.

          In the original article the woman relates that her son read a CNN piece about how bomb making instructions are readily available on the internet , and clicked on the links provided. That hardly makes the son a hard-core bomb maker ...

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Whats the problem.

            > That hardly makes the son a hard-core bomb maker ...

            I never claimed it did. It was one more piece of information that the authorities evaluated when they decided to question them. It wasn't simply "pressure cooker" and "backpack" it was "pressure cooker", "backpack", "how to build a bomb", husband's dodgy browsing history (from ex-employer) and a report from the ex-employer.

            And you never, ever, hear about people who find themselves out of work (it is unclear whether the husband had a new job or not, the visits to China and Korea might have been his old job), who go mental and try to kill as many people as possible.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Whats the problem.

              * What's the problem?

              FTFY.

            2. Nigel 11
              Black Helicopters

              Re: Whats the problem.

              I guess they're lucky their son wasn't academically inclined and worried about future energy security. He might have wanted to find out the relative merits of conventional nuclear reactors (which create chemically separable Pu239 which can be made into A-bombs) and the mooted Thorium reactors (which breed chemically separable U233), and whether one can make an A-bomb from U233.

              I never did find a definitive answer to that last one. I wonder what lists I volunteered myself onto?

  15. PVR

    Land of the free and men in black

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Free to do anything nice, and safe, and, er, officially permitted

      Land of the free - right up until you do or say anything that the authorities deem "suspicious". That's where your freedom ends - abruptly and completely.

      Just as freedom of speech nowadays seems to mean freedom to say anything you like, just as long as nobody is offended or upset by it.

      "In our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either".

      - Mark Twain

  16. abcman

    Tell the ex-employer to mind his own goddamn business.

    (Just a suggestion.)

  17. Yag
    Facepalm

    Ah, America...

    The land where it's easier to buy guns than to buy a pressure cooker.

    We need a "I don't want to live on this planet anymore" icon :s

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Ah, America...

      +1, it could double as a boffin icon for stories!

    2. Nigel 11

      Re: Ah, America...

      Surely the authorities have their hands full with things more dangerous than pressure cookers. My list would have guns at the top, Ammonium Nitrate fertilizer second, and barbecue charcoal well above pressure cookers.

      1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
        Unhappy

        Re: Ah, America...

        "Surely the authorities have their hands full with things more dangerous than pressure cookers. "

        Of course not.

        With their newly expanded funding there is always enough staff available to send a mob round to scare the crap out of someone.

        Yay for that DHS funding.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Ah, America.../Yay for that DHS funding.

          and not enough funding for safety inspectors in texas to stop ammonia nitrate explosions in fertiliser plants.

          15 dead, 160 injured, large chunk of town literally a bomb site, but the DHS can still find the money to employ more gropers at US airports....effective use of tax payer dollars?

          1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
            Unhappy

            Re: Ah, America.../Yay for that DHS funding.

            "and not enough funding for safety inspectors in texas to stop ammonia nitrate explosions in fertiliser plants."

            No. It's a fertilizer, not an explosive.

            Now if you were to reclassify it as an explosive then the BATFE would be all over them like a rash.

            Of course the American farming system would go down the pan as every farmer had to get an explosives license and secure storage facility for this explosive.

            Funny how 15 dead and 160 injured (for an industrial "accident") is an "acceptable" loss and 3 dead in the Chicago Marathon bombing is not.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Ah, America.../Yay for that DHS funding.

              Making fertiliser is a multi-billion dollar business (and very profitable too). No way is the government going to interfere with that: remember, "the business of America is business". And the business of the president and the armed forces (and Homeland Security) is to grease the wheels of business.

              1. despairing citizen
                Big Brother

                Re: Ah, America.../Yay for that DHS funding.

                Business control of US politicians is why we have the DHS in the first place.

                The september 1996 White House Commission on Aviation Safety initially recomended europe style secuirty for airports, airline companies whinge to their paid for politicians, secuirty recomendations get dropped by VP Al Gore.

                and amlost 5 years to the day they removed the "expensive" secuirty recomendations, the consequence arrived at the World Trade Centre......thus creating the DHS.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Ah, America...

      I quite often feel that I don't want to be a member of the human race any more. But then, just as I'm reflecting how difficult it would be to to manage that, I remember that 95 percent or so of us are perfectly decent, harmless, kind, and constructive. Some of the 95 percent are also brilliant, creative, and outstandingly altruistic (usually not all at once, though).

      It's the dominant 5 percent who cause all the trouble: climbing the greasy pole, stamping on human faces, oppressing, stealing, conning, killing, cheating, lying.

      Yes there is a plausible argument that without that nasty 5 percent, the human race would have died out long ago from sheer lack of initiative.

      It's a strange universe, and it wasn't built for our comfort. Nor were we.

  18. Richard Pennington 1

    Ex-employer

    I take it he's not going to be asking his ex-employer for a job reference any time soon.

    1. S4qFBxkFFg
      Go

      Re: Ex-employer

      It would be interesting if he decides to sue his employer, with the right lawyer it might be possible to get at least a settlement.

      If it can happen anywhere it can happen in the USA.

      1. Nigel 11

        Re: Ex-employer

        Maybe easier in Europe for this one? Here in the EU one has an expectation of privacy in a lot of contexts. You employer should not be reading your e-mails without good reason.

        In the USA, as far as I can tell you have no expectation of privacy unless you are talking to your priest, your doctor, or your lawyer.

  19. DrXym

    You don't need a pressure cooker to cook quinoa

    You cook it like rice. You just rinse it, boil it for 15 minutes and drain it.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: You don't need a pressure cooker to cook quinoa

      Cook Quinoa regularly, don't own a pressure cooker. Takemoments too cook. one of the things least likely to need a pressure cooker ever.

      Could have svaed a few bucks and not had the 5-0 shuffle through their underwear drawers had they simply googled "Quinoa recipes" first.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: You don't need a pressure cooker to cook quinoa

        "Could have svaed a few bucks and not had the 5-0 shuffle through their underwear drawers had they simply googled "Quinoa recipes" first."

        quinoa recipies? that sounds suspiciously like al-qaida recipies to me...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: You don't need a pressure cooker to cook quinoa

      Well thanks for your recipe advice Martha Stewart. Obviously since someone prepares their food differently than you they must be terrorists.

    3. Nigel 11

      Re: You don't need a pressure cooker to cook quinoa

      You can cook rice in five minutes in a pressure cooker. Not sure who needs to save ten minutes of meal preparation, or why, but I guess it also works with quinoa!

  20. Crisp

    Land of the free, home of the brave

    Why do they need a shadowy secret police like some sort of communist cold war state?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Land of the free, home of the brave

      "Why do they need a shadowy secret police like some sort of communist cold war state?"

      So the terrorists don't steal their freedoms, obviously.

  21. C 18
    Mushroom

    Honey trap is da bomb!

    Okay, so "100 times a week"..."99 times...", that's a 1% hit rate for an undisclosed bounty.

    What happens, do they actually find a 'pressure cooker in a backpack'?

    Like flies around ...

    'errorists ain't as stoopid as we're led to believe...

    Soon robo-cop will be all they're prepared to send in 100 times a week...

    I bet robo-cop won't be interested in quinoa...

    Icon 'cos title

  22. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    We're missing something here

    I'm pretty convinced we've not been given the facts.

    If the black helicopter platoons are going to be activated every time someon goes online to research a pressure cooker, the only thing that is going to get cooked is the law enforcement budget.

    I'm not buying it. What I DO buy, is a dirty trick by the former employer. WHY did he start going through the search history of a former employee ? This smells of payback.

    I suspect the employer was asked why on earth he wanted to examine former employees' computer use, and being fearful there would be privacy issues, he cooked up a plot to explain his sudden interest in someone that no longer worked for him anyway.

    So he invented all manner of slip-of-the-tongue, clues and other bull. By the time he finished the poor ex employee was chairman of the worldwide Osama fanclub.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: We're missing something here

      "If the black helicopter platoons are going to be activated every time someon goes online to research a pressure cooker, the only thing that is going to get cooked is the law enforcement budget".

      With the greatest of respect, I believe that that turns out not to be the case. Given that my previous comment was presumably wrong - this incident happened in the USA, not Blighty - remember that the US federal government has shovelled literally trillions of dollars into the financial system, to replace those supposedly "lost" by curiously inept bankers. It has spent well north of $3 trillion on completely unnecessary (to say the very least) wars in Asia in the past ten years alone. It actually wants to inflate the dollar, so as to reduce the effective scale of its vast and unpayable debts.

      Homeland Security is funded on a scale considerably larger than most nations' entire armed forces. And the more "suspicious activity" they find, the more staff they can hire and the bigger their budget will become. It's all good, from their point of view - until, that is, the rest of the world suddenly grasps one day that the emperor really is naked, and that dollars aren't worth the paper they are printed on (although of course most of them exist only inside compuers anyway).

  23. abcman

    More ex-employer

    No one has a right to act like a moron. If the maroon at (possibly) Speco Technologies had a valid reason to think something was up, well, OK. Otherwise, we just wasted a bunch of time and money on nonsense. And silly stuff at that. ;-)

    1. C 18
      Meh

      Re: More ex-employer

      >No one has a right to act like a moron.

      Morons do.

  24. RainForestGuppy

    Surprising these things only happen to Freelance writers.

    Sorry but this is just a load of BS made up this so called writer to get her name spread about.

    .

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Surprising these things only happen to Freelance writers.

      >Sorry but this is just a load of BS made up this so called writer to get her name spread about.

      Funny, but I've been thinking the exact same about most of the internet for some time now...

      AC, because... irony...

  25. Richard 81

    The brute force approach

    Visit 100 people a week and ask them "Are you the enemy?". If they say yes, shoot them.

    Now, if only they could increase the number of "Are you the enemy?" checks a week, then this would be an excellent methodology.

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Here???

    I read to the end of the fine article in the belief that it must have happened in the USA. (The use of the term "SUV" rather than "Chelsea tractor" may have influenced me). Then suddenly the word "Suffolk" leaped out at me. Wha...??? Is that Suffolk Virginia, Suffolk Maine, or one of the many Suffolks in California?

    We have it from many reliable sources, from the ancient Greeks to Jorge Luis Borges and Bertrand Russell, that police states are rendered tolerable only by the extreme inefficiency of the police. Gestapo meets the Keystone Cops, sort of. But now it seems that technology has enabled the secret police (for what else are we to call those casually-clad chaps in the SUVs?) to harrass wholesale.

    Last but far from least, how the hell did they satisfy themselves that the Catalanos were not, in fact, cooking up a bomb? According to the article, they just hung out and chatted for a while. Not very rigorous. Proper security entails responding only to real - or plausible - threats, and investigating them thoroughly. Whereas these people appear to be doing the exact opposite: responding to thousands of false alarms, and getting into the habit of finding there is nothing to them.

    It's as good a way as any of keeping the otherwise unemployed in paying work. But on the whole I would prefer John Maynard Keynes' idea of having them dig holes in the ground and then fill them in again.

  27. adrian lynch

    You should check the Gawker article on this story. It is not as clear-cut as you suggest.

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Have you ever looked up how to make a pressure cooker bomb?

    Hi there, of course I did, why?

    ...

    are we sure they were not rehearsing for the Simpsons? Or maybe, some new (?) creative way to get free publicity for the company allegedly behind the disclosure?

  29. adam payne

    That must have been a scary situation.

    How long before they turn up and excuse people of looking at suspected subversive websites?

    1. Alien8n
      Alien

      That's us cooked then....

  30. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    99 of those visits turn out to be nothing

    I wonder what that 1 remaining visit turns out to be. Maybe, like, if 1% of visits produce terrorists, drug plantations, sweat shops (nah, scrap that, that's legal), etc, then maybe this is the key - and they should carry out those random searches on regular basis. And, you know, random searches in shopping malls... airports... oh, sorry, they already do that. These fine measures used to go by the popular name of "round ups" (yes, I know we're still looking for evil terrorists, not those with missing IDs). In fact, if the ratio is so low (1/100), why not streamline it and, like, lock down the whole street and search every house, and every person. I'm sure they'll uncover "something"

    1/2 off topic: as the technical terms is "roundup", I tried to see what it was in German, just to see what no-name they would come up. Shockingly, this term is totally unknown in German. I looked up wikipedia, and other reliable sources, like... wikipedia. Nothing. Nichts. Null....

    1. Alien8n
      Alien

      Re: 99 of those visits turn out to be nothing

      Just rename the east coast Mega City One while they're at it?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: 99 of those visits turn out to be nothing

        Welcome to City 17

        Our Benefactors would like to...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Alien

      Re: 99 of those visits turn out to be nothing

      99% of visits turn out to be nothing

      99% of visits that don't turn out to be nothing turn out to be insignificant.

      99% of visits that are more than insignificant turn out to be households with criminal proceedings already underway.

      The rest get fitted up because they're bored by now.

  31. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Suffolk

    Jesus Christ, I didn't realize they even have a Police Department, let alone black SUVs... my my, what has that terror done to us...

    1. Don Jefe

      Re: Suffolk

      The black SUV's are everywhere man, everywhere. You may not see them driving around but they are parked nearby somewhere. Here in the U.S. the black SUV's are often kept at the self storage facilities outside of most, even tiny, towns. They rent space for them in the same parking areas people park their RV's, campers and trailers at. Secure facilities with 24/7 access and basically hidden in plain site.

      As an aside, the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center (the jail) in Leesburg, Virginia (USA) has an entire mechanized unit in their hanger. The equipment, complete with anti-armor weapons, is there in case the Feds need them.

      1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
        Unhappy

        Re: Suffolk

        "The black SUV's are everywhere man, everywhere. You may not see them driving around but they are parked nearby somewhere."

        Now I don't want to sound like a conspiracy theorist...

        Well the the US govt has had to fail out all the big auto makers (Is Chrysler on it's 3rd)?

        What better way to kick start their next years sales than a bulk order for some American automotive icons?

        Thus the Federal departments of Treasury, Prisons and Homeland Security work together to keep employment high and the prison business filled.

        Whoopee for investing in America's future (as a police state).

        1. Don Jefe

          Re: Suffolk

          Yeah, government likes to buy vehicles. A few years ago the DOE was under some pressure to reduce the size of their fleet. They had significantly more vehicles than they had employees. Several dozen were missing entirely.

      2. Allan George Dyer
        Facepalm

        Re: Suffolk

        So Loudoun County is using their Jail as an armoury? Storing lots of weapons locked up with dangerous criminals?

        Does anyone see a problem with that?

  32. Arthur 1

    The Employer

    Just a quick question, can we name and shame the employer? I sure as hell know where I wouldn't want to work. Best case the boss is irrationally paranoid and/or brutally vindictive.

  33. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How to avoid being caught...

    "Of course I'm not building a bomb, officer!! Have a nice day, bye!"

    Well, duh! Like they'd admit to searching online for how to build a bomb. I'm guessing the 1/100 it does turn out to be "something" is when the poor sod who's door-step they've turned up on happens to be of Middle Eastern appearance so automatically gets the rubber hose treatment.

  34. Gil Grissum

    Your employer's equipment

    Using his employer's computer for personal google searches was a bad idea. Employers can, will, and do monitor your internet browsing history and e-mail. Knowing that, I personally do not use my employer's computer equipment to do any personal Google searches. Since I work in Tech Support, I only occasionally visit relevant technology sites (like this one), for which, I cannot be sanctioned. I also do not send personal e-mails from my employer's computers. I use my smart phone for personal use, for e-mail, web browsing, and internet searches, which my employer cannot monitor nor tamper with. Had her husband used his smart phone for such searches instead of his employer's computer, this episode would not have happened.

  35. Frumious Bandersnatch

    who in the hell

    has to look up the internet to find out how to make a "pressure cooker bomb"? Surely it can't be any more complicated than (a) make a big bomb, (b) put it in the pressure cooker with some bits of metal, and (c) close the pressure cooker.

    Admittedly, I've never done this or looked it up, but I fail to see how it's any different (mutatis mutandis) from a pipe bomb. Isn't the name totally suggestive of the recipe for making it to anyone with two brain cells to rub together? That being so, does knowing the name of the device then constitute an offence for "possessing knowledge likely to be of use to a terrorist"? (Yes, that's actually a real crime where I live!)

    1. Don Jefe
      Meh

      Re: who in the hell

      Well, according to Fox News & and a few Congressmen, it requires not only overseas training by an experienced bomb builder but also a sponsor with significant financial resources and a cadre of supporters at home all conspiring to design and build this 'weapon of mass destruction'.

      If nothing else I think all this reflects very poorly on the US education system. Basic primary school science teaches you (or used to anyway) everything you need to know about doing this of you wanted. The fact so many people think it takes supervillain levels of knowledge and resources means there are a lot of idiots with poor educations in charge of the news and Congress.

      1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
        Unhappy

        Re: who in the hell

        "If nothing else I think all this reflects very poorly on the US education system. Basic primary school science teaches you (or used to anyway) everything you need to know about doing this of you wanted. The fact so many people think it takes supervillain levels of knowledge and resources means there are a lot of idiots with poor educations in charge of the news and Congress."

        Indeed. The quality of the US domestic terrorist has gone through the floor since the Oklahoma City bomb and the apprehension of the unibomber.

        It's not like there aren't enough expatriot Ulsterman with the necessary skills wondering around the land of the free to improve education in the pyrotechnic field should that be necessary.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: who in the hell

          "The quality of the US domestic terrorist has gone through the floor since the Oklahoma City bomb and the apprehension of the unibomber."

          And the prize to the Weirdest Rant of the Weekend goes to...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: who in the hell

      I've always wondered why the 9/11 perpetrators had to have overseas backers funding them or planning the attack, or anything. It looks pretty simple (if terrifying): (1) Buy airline tickets; (2) board aircraft; (3) seize aircraft; (4) fly aircraft into buildings. Thus, everyone involved in the plot was probably dead by end of the attacks.

      But that would be profoundly unsatisfying. How can you get revenge on people who are already dead - and, what's more, intentionally dead?

  36. Neil Hoskins

    Closing Sentence

    Spot on.

  37. TheOldFellow

    Heartening story

    I'm pleased to read this. It shows that the authorities are, in fact, taking things seriously, as they should. The guys boss is also to be congratulated for his vigilance. OK, these two were innocent, and all they got was an interview by the Men in Black. The regular American way, if we are to believe the press, is to drag them to Guantanamo and then interrogate them for 25 years without trial with the waterboard, or ship them to Saudi and get their friendly cops to get a confession under torture. It's good to know their budget doesn't run to that for everyone.

    1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
      Unhappy

      Re: Heartening story

      "It's good to know their budget doesn't run to that for everyone."

      Yet.

  38. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Lost in translation?

    It looks like the lads in Blighty are a little cornfused on this story. There was no "swooping on this family".

    The FACTS are that the guy's former employer found unusual searchs on the guy's work computer for back packs and pressure cookers. After the Boston bombing where pressure cookers were used to build bombs and then left in back packs on the street to kill and injure people, it was very wise of the guy's former employer to alert authorities. The authorities conducted an interview at the guys residence and concluded he was not a threat. I'd say this was excellent work by the guy's former employer and authorities. They may have prevented more deaths and destruction by investigating these abnormal computer searches. that's all there is to the story despite the sensationalism by The Rag.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Lost in translation? Clearly an expert from NSA!

      Where did you get all this classified info...Ed Snowden?

      I think you work for the NSA!

  39. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    This means that the NSA actually did examine their emails.. So they do snoop on all Americans!

    Wait! Wait! They denied that, and it's probably illegal anyway!

    Wait! Wait! They paid the UK to look at the data stream. It isn't illegal for UK to examine foreign data. Then the UK fed back "a suspicious email trail" to the NSA, where using "foreign gained intelligence" on US nationals isn't illegal.

    That's what the $100M is for!

    Of course, we could make a good number of FBI agents redundant and save some cash, and maybe do the same at NSA. It appears that they can do these raids in the 100's, so clearly they have way too much time on their hands.

  40. John F***ing Stepp

    Based on a true life story. . .

    Well, not really.*

    (But, it would be so cool if this actually did happen; it would validate my massive purchase of tin foil in the last few years.)

    *Really did not happen.

  41. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Frequently bought together.

    Other shoppers who have bought "Large Pressure Cooker" also purchased "Unobtrusive Rucksack"

    5% discount if bought together.

    Free Delivery

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Frequently bought together.

      Damn you! Coffee all over my keyboard THROUGH MY NOSE.

      In future please give adequate warning.

  42. Vince Lewis 1

    Interesting....

    Anyone that has read the article and defends the actions of the authorities is getting down voted.

    It is absolutely ridiculous. The Fire Dept gets calls to House Fires that are Bonfires, Police get called to disturbances that are just loud movies and the FBI get called called to potential terrorists that were just a couple doing some personal shopping on work time.

    Unfortunately these things happen and when a lot of your leads come from public information there will be more false leads with Anti Terrorist information.

    The Agents themselves most likely thought this is going to be dead end but they have to follow up, just as the fireman heading off to a prank call would.

    This is not an "Enemy of the State" or "V for Vendetta" paranoid government action, but reasonable suspicion followed up by a non violent visit and conversation.

    I'm not saying there isn't an erosion of civil liberties or too much surveillance on law abiding citizens, because there is. But this was a simple case of something looking like something it wasn't.

  43. Vince Lewis 1

    Just realised who really doing the down voting

    Lizard agents of the shadow government are influencing this board.

    They don't want people thinking Agents are going about their jobs with out needless threats and violence, they want people to be in fear of every nature of the Government and Law enforcement.

    Any notion of Anti terrorism units calmly talking to people, respecting peoples property and quietly leaving must be quashed. People must be made to fear their government its only through fear can they have control.

    1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
      Meh

      @Vince Lewis 1

      "People must be made to fear their government its only through fear can they have control."

      No, elements of the government want to create fear so that the people will accept their control.

      Perhaps you should view " The Power of Nightmares "?

      1. Vince Lewis 1

        Re: @Vince Lewis 1

        I'm well aware of the ideas of Fear and Control. FUD has been used and continues to be used.

        The only reflection of the Effect of FUD with in this story is from the ex-employer that called the cops on a search History of "Pressure Cooker" and Backpack.

        Yes its unfortunate their son looked at a "How a Pressure Cooker Bomb Works" online. But the authorities acted with respect and due diligence.

  44. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Backpack? Pressure cooker? I own both!

    Should I turn myself in?

    1. Vince Lewis 1

      Re: Backpack? Pressure cooker? I own both!

      Only if you cook rice in your back pack

    2. Don Jefe

      Re: Backpack? Pressure cooker? I own both!

      Immediately! Compliance and confession will lighten your heart and spare you a few weeks of waterboarding in Camp Freedom, Cuba.

    3. John Smith 19 Gold badge
      Big Brother

      Re: Backpack? Pressure cooker? I own both!

      "Should I turn myself in?"

      Of course not.

      Your surveillance and interrogation have already been scheduled.

      Turning yourself in now will play havoc with the carefully planned (and costed) staffing chart.

      But your thoughtfulness has been noted and is appreciated, citizen.

      Of course, it would get you any actual leniency....

  45. jonfr

    The orange man

    The Orange man is past his deadline.

  46. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Response

    Everybody needs to respond by going to google and doing the exact same thing.

    1. Danny 14

      Re: Response

      That wil only justify their stats.

  47. Michael E. Stora, Ph.D,

    The story has been updated. It was the dad's employer who called the local police department based on his at work searches.

  48. Furbian

    Browsing is just not as safe as it used to be..

    Having close relatives geographically dispersed means that I am in effect travelling from home to home, I was searched when returning to Britain, and I was revealed to be carrying some curtains, and a bin lid (it was a pricey Brabantia one). That caused some minor amusement.

    Later I was asked to bring a pressure cooker back, as we had two, and one was redundant (technically both are, one is used for cooking without the top), I refused, as they're two a penny where I was being asked to take it, and I didn't fancy being asked why I was carrying it. Then I was told oh not to worry, they'll probably go through it anyway, and find it empty (apart from clothes stuffed in it), to which I made the point, look what happened in the US, problem is what one can do with it afterwards.

    So recently someone wishes to take an elderly relative up to some mountain range, I point out that the air is quite thin and not good for him, and the air pressure is lower than it is in an aircraft, said relative having ruled out air travel. So I'm busy googling aircraft cabin pressures to get the figures right (yes I was right), but in the back of my mind there was a worry over which spook/program would be sitting there monitoring what I was googling...

    1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
      Meh

      Re: Browsing is just not as safe as it used to be..

      "So recently someone wishes to take an elderly relative up to some mountain range, I point out that the air is quite thin and not good for him, and the air pressure is lower than it is in an aircraft, said relative having ruled out air travel. So I'm busy googling aircraft cabin pressures to get the figures right (yes I was right), but in the back of my mind there was a worry over which spook/program would be sitting there monitoring what I was googling..."

      It's called a "false positive."

      And you can bet there will be plenty of them.

      Some think that's a bug. Some think it's a feature.

      Depends what you want to do. a) Catch actual terrorists b) Scare the s**t out of the population forever.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Browsing is just not as safe as it used to be..

        "Depends what you want to do. a) Catch actual terrorists b) Scare the s**t out of the population forever."

        Or (c) Provide ongoing "work" for a large section of the populace that would otherwise remain unemployed.

  49. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    This was sad, and pointless.

    Yes, try to avoid doing anything private or seemingly dubious at work, I certainly try not to, including not making personal purchases at work, and I'm amazed the obviously private stuff people occasionally stupidly do at work using company equipment; however this was still defacto defamation by the employer, and they should be sued for this idiotic reasoning and shameful action, as should the state!

    The Wife sure has the right idea now, if rather late!

  50. dan1980

    "Be a government informant. Betray your family and friends. Fabulous prizes to be won."

    The problem this story shows is not any one specific thing but the culture that has built up that says that people are essentially untrustworthy and should be suspected by default.

    That started as a 'genuine' public reaction but has since been stoked by the government (not just in the US) and their agencies, resulting in more fear than any terrorist plot has ever achieved.

    The trick (and it's not an overly sophisticated one) is to turn any result or situation into proof that the government is doing the right thing.

    Evidence of terrorist activity? That means we need more surveillance and power to counter these threats. No evidence of terrorist activity? You'd think that would mean the opposite but you'd be wrong. What it ACTUALLY means is that the terrorists are even more nefarious than ever, which requires - shock - more surveillance and power.

    This was not an instance of government monitoring but it WAS an excellent example of the fruits of the government's unrelenting FUD policy. As such, I view it as even more worrying than said government monitoring.

    It reminded me of a poster (had to look up the exact wording) in a Red Dwarf episode where the crew find themselves in a fascist fantasy world - see the title of the post.

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