FBI Raids Dallas-Area Internet Business As Part Of Terrorism Investigation...

AP ^ | 09/07/01 | David Koenig

[coloradan]

but these guys have some sort of a connection to a terrorist organization, that a judge believed was a valid reason to issue the warrant.

Judges approve of warrants with a rubber stamp, even when the wrong address is printed on them. Just ask Ishmael Mena, who was gunned down by SWAT thugs in his own house because the nice jackbooted thugs had the wrong address on the warrant ... and signed by a judge. Oh, that's right, that didn't happen, because Mena wasn't a criminal and therefore didn't have anything to worry about, and wasn't a criminal nor acting like one. I forgot.

So, why does it cost $200 to send a form to the INS?

[Marine Inspector]

So, why does it cost $200 to send a form to the INS?

So, why does it cost hundereds of dollars to fly from the west coast to the east coast?

[Marine Inspector]

Well, hell, we might as well just fire all the cops and judges and let the criminals take over.

[Glenn]

investigation by the North Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force.

That's a joke, right?

[Robert_Paulson2]

let the criminals take over. We already have done that... its called Washington DC... and the armed robbery division called the IRS... and the armament removal operation, called the War on Drugs... and so on and so forth.

Welcome to free republic... and if you are a federal employee... I would suggest you get that information OFF of your home page... POSTE HASTE.

your comment "the innocent have nothing to fear" is the problem. In a move towards tyranny... the innocent have the most to fear... and I would rather let a criminal slide than ever impose on the freedom or rights of a innocent citizen... I would rather let a hundred suspected criminals go free, than lock one innocent citizen away by accident... that is the price we pay for freedom... and the cost of our liberty.

Welcome to freerepublic.

[Uncle Bill]

"I am never in fear of a raid on my house or bussiness, because I don't break the laws or appear to be breaking the laws.

Only criminals or those acting like criminals, draw the attention of law enforcement."

SWAT terrorizes wrong person again

[Dosa26]

From Robert_Paulson2

to Marine Inspector:I would suggest you get that information OFF of your home page... POSTE HASTE.

from Dosa, to MI: I would rather see you keep it on...get rid of the chip though..."I'm a FLEO, too bad" is looking for a fight. It says I'm here, and I am right, when in essense what you are saying is those that give me orders are right, since I assume you follow them. your comment "the innocent have nothing to fear" is troublesome to say the least. Robert_P has expounded better than I could have..

[Putnik_1915]

"The US is starting to resemble those places more every year."

Thank you sir! THAT is what I have been trying to get across to people and when I do I'm told "Well, go live somewhere better!" Yes, we have it better than most places, however, that doesn't mean that we are the America we were or that we were intended to be. Mainly because of self-important twits like MI. Tis these law enforcefarcement types who are working hard to finish the transformation from republic to police state.

[coloradan]

[Me:]So, why does it cost $200 to send a form to the INS?

[You:]So, why does it cost hundereds of dollars to fly from the west coast to the east coast?

You have just got to be kidding. A Jet airplane costs tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars to buy, and costs tens of thousands of dollars per hour in operating costs. Fill a plane with a couple hundred people, and send it across the country, and it's a few hundred bucks a head, allowing for some profit for the company to remain in business.

Paper, on the other hand, costs a few pennies a page, and government workers cost some tens of dollars an hour in salary. Yet, a form that occupies three or four pages, and requires three rubber stamps and a single explanatory paragraph to be authored (if, in fact, it isn't a form letter which it probably is) that shouldn't take more than 20 minutes to write, and copies (10 cents a page) made, and return postage to be added ... and the government doesn't have to make a profit ... and this service costs $100 or $200; what you have is extortion.

Oh, that's right, we have to pay for all the nice submachine guns and silencers and ballistic vests and goggles and jackboots that INS agents wear, as seen in Miami. (To better "serve and protect" us.) Does the INS lose them as fast as the FBI does?

[xenophiles]

[Me:]So, why does it cost $200 to send a form to the INS?

[You:]So, why does it cost hundereds of dollars to fly from the west coast to the east coast?

You have just got to be kidding. A Jet airplane costs[...]

It is possible that Marine Inspector is not an idiot, but is actually making a subtle point about competition. Not likely, but possible.

[coloradan]

I don't follow your post. The INS is a monopoly and is therefore expensive? IF that's Marine's point, it's pretty far from my question.

[xenophiles]

I don't follow your post. The INS is a monopoly and is therefore expensive? IF that's Marine's point, it's pretty far from my question.

I beg to differ. IF it's Marine's point, it's ineptly made and a rhetorical "own goal", but it answers your question squarely. Why does the INS charge so much for paperwork? Because it can; it is a monopoly, and you have no recourse.

(Just to dispel all ambiguity, I don't really think it was Marine's point-- your question drew attention to the extortive methods of the INS in order to undercut Marine's jingoistic position; my intent was to point out that Marine's random-looking riposte can be interpreted as having taken off a couple of the defender's own toes.)