Posted on 10/21/2001 10:47:13 AM PDT by MHGinTN
Okay, it's time to get active, Freepers! As Lazamataz has said, 'We are 50,000 strong and a force to be reckoned with.'
He's right, ya know. We are a well connected army of eyes and ears. Here's a few things we can do in this war against terrorists in our country.
First, always take a camera with you when you leave the house to go shopping, take the kids to functions, go to work, in short, whenever you're going to be in the public sector. Why? Because a call to the FBI is one thing, but a call with photographs to document your story is far more with which the FBI or local law enforcement can work.
'Well,' you might say, 'Someone else is doing this, so I don't need to.' No, you and I are the someone else! This is our country. The FBI is under staffed, and I would prefer it stay that way. That means they can use some help in information gathering ... let them do the contact work, while we gather the data, and the better the data the better the contact potentials.
'Okay,' you might say, 'I'll take pictures if I see something my antenna says is suspicious, but what the heck do I do with that?' Well, don't just take pix, make a diary-type reference to your reason for taking the pix. Also, be mindful of things like tag numbers and any identifying characteristics you might see and/or record with the camera. It is a well know fact that witnesses don't remember as well as a 'frozen segment of time', a photograph.
You might wonder which citizens are the most likely to see suspicious things that a camera would help to nail, and I would answer everyone who goes into the public sector has the potential to see something suspicious. We Freepers could be more observant and more conscientious in our alert, and thus it might just be that we Freepers would have the camera and the foresight to record in pix and word what we and others see that is suspicious. Let's not leave it to someone else; let's take the initiative to be the ones doing the data collecting; I keep the FBI hotline number hanging from my puter desk, and I've used it once already.
Lastly, I say also go armed; if your state has a concealed carry permit, get one and learn to handle a personal defense weapon ... with the emphasis on personal defense, not law enforcement; the professionals are still our best resource when time permits; we're talking about collecting data, not killing suspects. The major emphasis ought be to collect data for the professionals who are over-worked and under-staffed for this crisis. It is our country, and we ought think enough of it to at least upgrade our alert status ... we are the eyes and ears of this nation's security on the domestic front.
If we expect our law enforcement people to be proactive instead of merely reactive, we have to give them the data to work with! Terrorist plan their strikes, sometimes for months or years. Until our national policy is wholesale deportation, we must be more alert to the planners and plotters, and we can do that without violating civil rights while asserting our responsibilities as citizens. Besides, if we expect people to be deported, it doesn't hurt to have pictures and descriptions of suspicious activity when the authorities get around to picking the deportees ... if loose lips sink ships, sharp eyes save lives.
I keep reading about how the Islamic community isn't supporting the terrorists, but until the Muslims of America begin to turn in the radicals, siditious, miscreants and criminals amongst them, we the people must get active in our own defense ... cameras with explanation of pictures is a great way to do it. I'm certain the Freeper family will now post FBI, CIA, and NSA phone numbers that can be used for contact when suspicious activity is seen and recorded. I would rather be mistaken 100 times and right one vital time than uninvolved and totally vulnerable. How about you, fellow Freeper?
By sharing your personal anecdotes regrading incidents that you may have reported, others get the idea and awaken to the possibilities for data collection. Share with the rest of us, by all means, share!
Those little disposable cameras can take quite a bit of abuse, and are easy to use. Not ideal, but a half-ass photo is still better than good memory in most cases.
Unfortunately, a concealed carry permit in my state (NY) is very tough for the average citizen to get. I'll have to make due with the camera.
Besides, good thing to have anyway in case the children do something adorable.
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