A Nation of Informers

New York Times ^ | 9/23/02 | ADAM LIPTAK

[Dialup Llama]

I'm with Eunice.

[Dialup Llama]

>Last week, after the arrests of six Arab-American men from Lackawanna, N.Y., who are accused of being members of a Qaeda cell, New York state established a toll-free hotline for reporting suspicious activity. Information from within the Yemeni community in Lackawanna seems to have played a role in the arrests.

Perhaps getting invited to an Al-Queda training camp, attending speeches by bin Laden and then laundering $87K in a casino also played a role?

[MHGinTN]

Be vigilant! Profile! [And that doesn't mean slink around watching any turbined man you see. The community you save may be your own!]

[kattracks]

What should Eunice Stone have done?

Exactly what she did.

[bjcintennessee]

"We will find ourselves falling into anarchy if we ask ordinary people to play the role that only law enforcement officials can play properly."

This woman didn't act as a law enforcement official. She simply reported what she had heard and let the officials take charge.

Ibrahim Hoppin, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said untrained civilians are more likely to engage in racial stereotyping.

Well, duhhh... Somebody needs to engage in a little racial stereotyping -- including our law officials!!

[DentsRun]

Exactly what she did.

I dont' know. It seems to me her son had a lot more sense than she did. It was obvious to him they were trying to get a rise out of her. Why couldn't see she it? She probably did. It just pissed her off.

[crazykatz]

BTT

[Texasforever]

It just pissed her off.

But the 3 stooges are not going to do it again huh? Try "joking" about a bomb in an airport.

[DentsRun]

But the 3 stooges are not going to do it again huh? Try "joking" about a bomb in an airport.

I wouldn't joke about a bomb in an airport (where there are armed guards around) but until the day I die I reserve the right to joke about anything in a hamburger joint over a cup of coffee and piece of pie.

[nopardons]

Fine, then NO ONE, who ever hears anything even the slightest bit suspicious, should tell the police. FINE ! I hope that you won't complain any, should any of your friends / loved ones gets killed by a terrorist attack.

What would you have to say, IF Eunice had kept her mouth shut and those jerks did do something ? Yes, you would have heard about it. Others knew that she had heard them and the media would have been all over her, had something blown up, in Miami on the 13th.

[Texasforever]

I die I reserve the right to joke about anything in a hamburger joint over a cup of coffee and piece of pie.

Absolutely but be prepared to spend 12 hours on the side of the road. The woman did the right thing and the stooges are lucky that it was a woman instead of a table full of truckers that heard the "joke".

[nopardons]

Good, act like a jerk. I just hope that you pull a similar stunt and get ratted out. Then, maybe, just maybe, you'll grow up.

Yes, the First Ammendment garunteens us free speech. That freedom stops, when one decides to yell " FIRE " in a crowded threatre , for a " joke ".

[nopardons]

You are , of course, correct. Unfortunately, there are kids, here, who don't understand or care about what post 9/11/01 means.

[CWOJackson]

Lot of military bases around there. Too bad these three didn't do the USO thing and entertain the troops.

[DentsRun]

What would you have to say, IF Eunice had kept her mouth shut and those jerks did do something ? Yes, you would have heard about it. Others knew that she had heard them and the media would have been all over her, had something blown up, in Miami on the 13th.

Her son could see those Muslims were jerking her around. Why couldn't she see it? I suspect she probably could. She just decided to report them anyway because they pissed her off. That's what happens when you give inordinate power to small minded people. Same thing with the airport inspects and air marshals--their power has gone to their heads. They pull guns on airplanes full of people, strip medal of honor winners of their prizes and humiliate young women by pawing through their underwear. Is this why we fought the American Revolution?

[DentsRun]

Absolutely but be prepared to spend 12 hours on the side of the road. The woman did the right thing and the stooges are lucky that it was a woman instead of a table full of truckers that heard the "joke".

If truckers want to listen in on my private conversations they're welcome to follow me home and voice their complaints to my 12 gauge.

[DentsRun]

You are , of course, correct. Unfortunately, there are kids, here, who don't understand or care about what post 9/11/01 means.

I guarantee that 9-11 doesn't mean we give up all our freedoms to busybodies.

[nopardons]

It's a damned good thing, that you weren't an adult, during WW I or WW II !

She said that they " might " have been playing a hoax. She felt that it was better to be safe, than sorry. You call that being " small minded " ? She had " power " ? Are yoy really this stupid, after being on FR, for such a long time ?

No, she did NOT report them, because , as you so ineligantly claim, she was pissed off. She reported their remarks, because she didn't KNOW if it was a hoax or for real. What part of " just in case ", are you having abject difficulty in comprehending ?

[DentsRun]

Yes, the First Ammendment garunteens us free speech. That freedom stops, when one decides to yell " FIRE " in a crowded threatre , for a " joke ".

If her son knew it was a joke, why didn't she know it was a joke? In fact, she did know. She also knew, given the public's mood, that she could teach those Muslims a lesson they'd never forget. If she'd done it to blacks or jews we'd call it racism. Because she did it to Muslims here on Free Republic we celebrate it.