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FBI called for taking pic's of Amtrak

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Posted by gabe on Friday, July 22, 2005 12:37 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

I'm with Gabe - what ever happened to a face-to-face with identification? I would be skeptical of anyone on a phone - with no identification.

2nd resident skeptic

Mookie


Cool, I somehow feel less alone in the world now. Maybe we can form a support group or something.

Gabe
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Posted by Paul3 on Friday, July 22, 2005 12:48 PM
artmark & dthurman,
Just because there were security concerns in WWII does not mean that we should follow the exact same path all over again.

Remember that during WWII thousands of innocent US civilians were immorally incarcerated in the middle of nowhere just because they were Asian and on the west coast. Using your logic, should we not lock up all Middle-Eastern US civilians? After all, if it worked for WWII...right?

You know what scares me more than any terrorist is my fellow citizens who see nothing wrong with trampling over hard-won rights to keep us all "safe". Bah!

Paul A. Cutler III
*****************
Weather Or No Go New Haven
*****************

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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 22, 2005 12:49 PM
Ok guys, 9/11 and starting a war is a crock of *** if ive ever seen it. roughly 2000 people died, and according to the goverment there is a death every 13 seconds, so,
in that case 4 people die each minute, and 3120 people die each hour, and in that case, 74880 people die each day. 9/11 doesnt sound so horrible now, does it? (BTW: i was roughly rounding)
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Posted by squeeze on Friday, July 22, 2005 12:54 PM
I've been taking pics of the CSX in Connellsville for a long time with no incidents so far. I'd like to see their faces when my 2 1\2 years old grandson asks what the problem is. I find it hard to believe that the FBI was calling about that. They have too many other dealings they should be with. Train watching I hope doesn't die with this terrorism thing. Maybe some train watcher will spot some terrorist trying to do something and will turn out to be a hero.
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Posted by BNSF4ever on Friday, July 22, 2005 12:57 PM
Like Gabe and Chuck I find this story suspicious too. If this "agent" was really FBI, and somehow found out your name and address, they would have come to your house not called you up. Perhaps if this agent was legitimate, he did not take the report seriously enough but wanted to cross his Ts and dot his Is before closing out the report by just calling. However, I would suggest that if you do meet, examine his/her credentials and make sure you meet at a Federal building or other official operating location. If the agent suggests meeting elsewhere, insist on meeting at the local FBI office. You can also get his/her name and call your local field office to see if such an agent exists.

There is no one more security conscious than I but we need a bit of common sense too. There is no way in an era of camera phones that the authorities can prohibit picture taking at train stations. As I've posted before, the professionals at surveillance are not as obvious as a railfan (though to be fair, posing as one would make a good cover). And as I've posted before the terrorists have already scoped our transit/rail systems. I doubt there is anything else for them to learn.

I think for the time being, we just have to compromise a bit. When I was down in Los Angeles at Union Station, the staff were shooing people off the platform once you detrained and holding passengers in the waiting area until the departing trains were nearly ready to go. So it made it hard to go out there and take photos. You just have to put up with that. I took what photos I could and didn't wander too far down the platform. If I saw the conductor or Amtrak staff give me a look, I backed off. Discretion is the better part of valor sometimes.

I do think Trains magazine had it right on. If you are a regular train fan in an area, introduce yourself to the local railroad/Amtrak/municipal police. If I were a cop, that wouldn't automatically not make me suspicious of you but over time if they get to know you they might not be so inclined to harrass you.
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Posted by gabe on Friday, July 22, 2005 1:01 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by trainman2244

Ok guys, 9/11 and starting a war is a crock of *** if ive ever seen it. roughly 2000 people died, and according to the goverment there is a death every 13 seconds, so,
in that case 4 people die each minute, and 3120 people die each hour, and in that case, 74880 people die each day. 9/11 doesnt sound so horrible now, does it? (BTW: i was roughly rounding)


So, I suppose if that next person happens to be you no biggy, right?

It has nothing to do with statistical averages of death; I don't care if the terrorists killed one person who happened to be on their death bed. If someone is attempting to kill innocent life, I have no problem with my government handing me a rifle and pointing me in the right direction--whether our government pointed us in the right direction is another matter that I wont bore you guys on with an opinion that is no more valid than anyone else's.

Nonetheless, I really don't understand how you could in a half drunken stupor after being hit in the head make the argument that 2000 deaths are not a big deal.

Gabe

P.S. As for your death every 13 seconds, how many of those deaths are from natural causes? If you don't mind dying from unnatural causes, well Darwin can explain the errors of your ways much better than I.
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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 22, 2005 2:00 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by trainman2244

Ok guys, 9/11 and starting a war is a crock of *** if ive ever seen it. roughly 2000 people died, and according to the goverment there is a death every 13 seconds, so,
in that case 4 people die each minute, and 3120 people die each hour, and in that case, 74880 people die each day. 9/11 doesnt sound so horrible now, does it? (BTW: i was roughly rounding)
Just for the sake of nitpicking, if 4 people die each minute, wouldn't that mean 240 people every hour and not 3120?
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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 22, 2005 2:16 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by Paul3

artmark & dthurman,
Just because there were security concerns in WWII does not mean that we should follow the exact same path all over again.

Remember that during WWII thousands of innocent US civilians were immorally incarcerated in the middle of nowhere just because they were Asian and on the west coast. Using your logic, should we not lock up all Middle-Eastern US civilians? After all, if it worked for WWII...right?

You know what scares me more than any terrorist is my fellow citizens who see nothing wrong with trampling over hard-won rights to keep us all "safe". Bah!

Paul A. Cutler III
*****************
Weather Or No Go New Haven
*****************


I'm looking at the post you refer to and I can't find where I said this was a correct path. I also cannot find a post under my authorship where I favor locking up innocent civilians. Can you point out where I may have said that or elude to such activities? What I am pointing out is how the outside world, unaware of fans and railroading at large, look at the photography of trains, nothing more.

I further agree with CSS's assesments that bit by bit our rights are eroding. I'm not convinced that they'll return once things quiet down.

Mitch
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Posted by gabe on Friday, July 22, 2005 2:16 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by jarubel

QUOTE: Originally posted by trainman2244

Ok guys, 9/11 and starting a war is a crock of *** if ive ever seen it. roughly 2000 people died, and according to the goverment there is a death every 13 seconds, so,
in that case 4 people die each minute, and 3120 people die each hour, and in that case, 74880 people die each day. 9/11 doesnt sound so horrible now, does it? (BTW: i was roughly rounding)
Just for the sake of nitpicking, if 4 people die each minute, wouldn't that mean 240 people every hour and not 3120?


240 or 3120, what is the difference? After all, it is only innocent human life we are talking about.
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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 22, 2005 2:25 PM
Sorry about the math, but the whole freaking goverment is acting like they killed off 2/3 of the US population. By now, almost as many soldiers overseas have been killed. It's wasting our tax money going over there and blowing small things up when we can wipe the animals off the face of earth[:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!]
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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 22, 2005 2:28 PM
Also if we let them keep blowing them selves up, there wont be any left to blow themselves up[:I]
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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 22, 2005 2:30 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by gabe

QUOTE: Originally posted by jarubel

QUOTE: Originally posted by trainman2244

Ok guys, 9/11 and starting a war is a crock of *** if ive ever seen it. roughly 2000 people died, and according to the goverment there is a death every 13 seconds, so,
in that case 4 people die each minute, and 3120 people die each hour, and in that case, 74880 people die each day. 9/11 doesnt sound so horrible now, does it? (BTW: i was roughly rounding)
Just for the sake of nitpicking, if 4 people die each minute, wouldn't that mean 240 people every hour and not 3120?


240 or 3120, what is the difference? After all, it is only innocent human life we are talking about.
I'm not trying to trivialize or make light of the loss of innocent human lives. Just trying to get the facts straight. I didn't want to get into an arugement here. Personally I think the loss of 2000 lives in an act of terrorism is a tragic event. I also think any life lost is a terrible thing wether it be through terrorism accident or natural causes
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Posted by cpbloom on Friday, July 22, 2005 2:31 PM
God forbid someone questions us when we haven't done anything wrong just because we look "suspicious".

Its funny to me everytime this comes up when some of us have been putting up with that type of stuff all along (and I'm not even talking about railfans).
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Posted by dharmon on Friday, July 22, 2005 2:31 PM
Attrition is good. However that route probably won't achieve the desired results.
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Posted by gabe on Friday, July 22, 2005 2:44 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by artmark

QUOTE: Originally posted by Paul3

artmark & dthurman,
Just because there were security concerns in WWII does not mean that we should follow the exact same path all over again.

Remember that during WWII thousands of innocent US civilians were immorally incarcerated in the middle of nowhere just because they were Asian and on the west coast. Using your logic, should we not lock up all Middle-Eastern US civilians? After all, if it worked for WWII...right?

You know what scares me more than any terrorist is my fellow citizens who see nothing wrong with trampling over hard-won rights to keep us all "safe". Bah!

Paul A. Cutler III
*****************
Weather Or No Go New Haven
*****************


I'm looking at the post you refer to and I can't find where I said this was a correct path. I also cannot find a post under my authorship where I favor locking up innocent civilians. Can you point out where I may have said that or elude to such activities? What I am pointing out is how the outside world, unaware of fans and railroading at large, look at the photography of trains, nothing more.

I further agree with CSS's assesments that bit by bit our rights are eroding. I'm not convinced that they'll return once things quiet down.

Mitch


OK, I probably shouldn't, but here is my two cents:

I am not saying this makes the erosion of civil liberties the correct or incorrect course of action. But, as to the claim that we will not get our liberties back once the danger passes, a close look at our nation's history repeatedly indicates that, during times of crisis, our civil liberties are constrained and, as soon as the crisis is over, the liberties are returned and everyone criticizes the decision to take them away.

Go back as far as 1798 with the Alien and Sedition Acts of the Adams’ Administration. During times when war with France and Napoleon seemed eminent, a variety of laws were passed that not only substantially reduced civil liberties but were actually designed to hamper the formation of Jeffersonian Republicanism (the taboo of taboos in terms of civil liberties). As soon as Napoleon was defeated (his first defeat, where he was exiled to Elbe) the Acts were revoked.

During the War of 1812, marshal law was actually declared in parts of America. After the war, things returned to normal.

In the Civil War (and more particularly during Reconstruction) habeas corpus was suspended and a Republican-dominated Congress almost wrote the Presidency and the Supreme Court out of existence. After reconstruction, things were back to normal.

Does anyone remember the first—and more severe—“Red Scare.” This was probably one of the most severe restrictions of civil liberties in our history. What exactly was Debs guilty of when he ran for the Presidency from behind bars? However, once it became clear that the Bolshevik Revolution was confined to Russia, the 1920s roared.

During WWII, there was this shameful incident of American concentration camps. Very soon after the war, Americans were ashamed of this act and vowed not to do them again. I also seem to remember a prohibition against talking pictures of trains.

Post WWII, J.E. Hoover—when he wasn't wearing women's dresses—engaged in one of the most systematic illegal government surveillance of American citizens in this country's history (maybe he just had a bee in his bonnet).

The retrenching of our civil liberties after 9/11 is far from original in our country's history. I am not saying that makes it right. Many of the aforementioned historical retrenchments of American civil liberties are an absolute opprobrium. Nonetheless, I think the contention that we wont get them back when the danger has clearly passed is a rather facile and unsupported claim.

Now, if you want to talk about the opened-ended/secretive nature of the Patriot Act, the considerable discretion given to on-the-ground officials who enforce the Act, and the potentials for abuse of this power, you might get a different tenor out of me.

Gabe
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Posted by edblysard on Friday, July 22, 2005 2:46 PM
Lets see,
2000 plus people burning to death, or being crushed in a fall of several thousand feet as tons upon tons of the World Trade Center crashes down on them, or facing certain death as they force the aircraft that they are held hostage in to crash in a field...along with the service men and woman and the civilian personnel at the Pentagon who burned to death in a spray of jet fuel....

Yup, sounds pretty horrible to me...someone said they have found the oxymoron here, but I think we all know who the plain ole moron is.

Ed
QUOTE: Originally posted by trainman2244

Ok guys, 9/11 and starting a war is a crock of *** if ive ever seen it. roughly 2000 people died, and according to the goverment there is a death every 13 seconds, so,
in that case 4 people die each minute, and 3120 people die each hour, and in that case, 74880 people die each day. 9/11 doesnt sound so horrible now, does it? (BTW: i was roughly rounding)

23 17 46 11

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Posted by gabe on Friday, July 22, 2005 2:46 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by jarubel

QUOTE: Originally posted by gabe

QUOTE: Originally posted by jarubel

QUOTE: Originally posted by trainman2244

Ok guys, 9/11 and starting a war is a crock of *** if ive ever seen it. roughly 2000 people died, and according to the goverment there is a death every 13 seconds, so,
in that case 4 people die each minute, and 3120 people die each hour, and in that case, 74880 people die each day. 9/11 doesnt sound so horrible now, does it? (BTW: i was roughly rounding)
Just for the sake of nitpicking, if 4 people die each minute, wouldn't that mean 240 people every hour and not 3120?


240 or 3120, what is the difference? After all, it is only innocent human life we are talking about.
I'm not trying to trivialize or make light of the loss of innocent human lives. Just trying to get the facts straight. I didn't want to get into an arugement here. Personally I think the loss of 2000 lives in an act of terrorism is a tragic event. I also think any life lost is a terrible thing wether it be through terrorism accident or natural causes


Sorry if you thought my sarcasm was directed at you; it wasn't. You weren't the one trivializing 2000 deaths.

Gabe
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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 22, 2005 2:46 PM
well what it all boils down to is something that's been going on since the beginning of time and/or the dawn of religion. nobody knows how to get along, they have never got along and never will.

now that politics have gotten involved, spearheaded by someone who forgot how to ride a bike (how's that for inspiration) it's only going to get worse.

point is trainman, is that it was an attack on U.S. soil by a foreigner. the only problem is that the foreigner isn't tied to one particular country, he's just of a different race/religion. it's not as cut and dry as it was in WWII....japan and germany, blow 'em out of the water.

i really wish some people would sit back and absorb some facts and THEN make a semi-clear statement based upon those facts rather than fly off the handle at the first whisper of a rumor.
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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 22, 2005 2:52 PM
Seems like to me that we have become more and more paranoid about things in the U.S. ever since 911. We have a fear of trusting anyone and don't want to trust everyone. This "homeland security" hasn't helped things any either ;although my family slept much better at night when Martha was in prison. ha ha

I think railfanning can still be accomplished just not at the same level as what we were used to. If a camera is going to questionable to use, then I would try to find somewhere else for photography work. Also if approached by someone in law enforcement, being polite and following a request to move along will be more accepted than an argument. Even though they may have a different interpretation if the law, they are still wearing the uniform.

I wouldn't want to go to DFW, LAX, or KCI with a camera to photograph airport activity and explain to someone what I was doing.
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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 22, 2005 2:57 PM
I'm still wondering though, how did the person who reported you to the FBI know who you are?
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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 22, 2005 3:24 PM
The govern8ors know all. You are obsolete and must be destroyed. hehehe sounds quite like the executoids at CN and UP[:p]
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Posted by jimrice4449 on Friday, July 22, 2005 3:24 PM
trainjunky29 has stumbled onto the point! (ouch?) I think we have a trol here. He would have us believe that he was innocently photographing Amtrak and then, after arriving home is contacted by phone by an FBI agent who magically(?) knows who he is, where he was, and what he was doing. It must be that microchip that the evil Nixon administration had implanted in all infants born in the 70s!
We are to believe that the FBI will kindly inform a suspect by phone of their interest?
Let's get real here.
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Posted by ALCOC415 on Friday, July 22, 2005 3:31 PM
Rob is a very good friend of mine. He worked part time for me when I worked for the EFRR and helped repaint the switcher there. He told me that he was taking pics when a police officer came up to him and asked for his drivers license and had to run it through homeland secruity. I am guessing that is how the FBI got involved. The FBI agent has also been out to the museum we volunteer at so he may even make a day of it.
Dave
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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 22, 2005 5:14 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by trainman2244

Ok guys, 9/11 and starting a war is a crock of *** if ive ever seen it. roughly 2000 people died, and according to the goverment there is a death every 13 seconds, so,
in that case 4 people die each minute, and 3120 people die each hour, and in that case, 74880 people die each day. 9/11 doesnt sound so horrible now, does it? (BTW: i was roughly rounding)


Hmm, sad way to write off 2000+ US citizens killed by a fanatical group bent on our erasure.
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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 22, 2005 5:19 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by gabe

QUOTE: Originally posted by artmark

QUOTE: Originally posted by Paul3

artmark & dthurman,
Just because there were security concerns in WWII does not mean that we should follow the exact same path all over again.

Remember that during WWII thousands of innocent US civilians were immorally incarcerated in the middle of nowhere just because they were Asian and on the west coast. Using your logic, should we not lock up all Middle-Eastern US civilians? After all, if it worked for WWII...right?

You know what scares me more than any terrorist is my fellow citizens who see nothing wrong with trampling over hard-won rights to keep us all "safe". Bah!

Paul A. Cutler III
*****************
Weather Or No Go New Haven
*****************


I'm looking at the post you refer to and I can't find where I said this was a correct path. I also cannot find a post under my authorship where I favor locking up innocent civilians. Can you point out where I may have said that or elude to such activities? What I am pointing out is how the outside world, unaware of fans and railroading at large, look at the photography of trains, nothing more.

I further agree with CSS's assesments that bit by bit our rights are eroding. I'm not convinced that they'll return once things quiet down.

Mitch


OK, I probably shouldn't, but here is my two cents:

I am not saying this makes the erosion of civil liberties the correct or incorrect course of action. But, as to the claim that we will not get our liberties back once the danger passes, a close look at our nation's history repeatedly indicates that, during times of crisis, our civil liberties are constrained and, as soon as the crisis is over, the liberties are returned and everyone criticizes the decision to take them away.

Go back as far as 1798 with the Alien and Sedition Acts of the Adams’ Administration. During times when war with France and Napoleon seemed eminent, a variety of laws were passed that not only substantially reduced civil liberties but were actually designed to hamper the formation of Jeffersonian Republicanism (the taboo of taboos in terms of civil liberties). As soon as Napoleon was defeated (his first defeat, where he was exiled to Elbe) the Acts were revoked.

During the War of 1812, marshal law was actually declared in parts of America. After the war, things returned to normal.

In the Civil War (and more particularly during Reconstruction) habeas corpus was suspended and a Republican-dominated Congress almost wrote the Presidency and the Supreme Court out of existence. After reconstruction, things were back to normal.

Does anyone remember the first—and more severe—“Red Scare.” This was probably one of the most severe restrictions of civil liberties in our history. What exactly was Debs guilty of when he ran for the Presidency from behind bars? However, once it became clear that the Bolshevik Revolution was confined to Russia, the 1920s roared.

During WWII, there was this shameful incident of American concentration camps. Very soon after the war, Americans were ashamed of this act and vowed not to do them again. I also seem to remember a prohibition against talking pictures of trains.

Post WWII, J.E. Hoover—when he wasn't wearing women's dresses—engaged in one of the most systematic illegal government surveillance of American citizens in this country's history (maybe he just had a bee in his bonnet).

The retrenching of our civil liberties after 9/11 is far from original in our country's history. I am not saying that makes it right. Many of the aforementioned historical retrenchments of American civil liberties are an absolute opprobrium. Nonetheless, I think the contention that we wont get them back when the danger has clearly passed is a rather facile and unsupported claim.

Now, if you want to talk about the opened-ended/secretive nature of the Patriot Act, the considerable discretion given to on-the-ground officials who enforce the Act, and the potentials for abuse of this power, you might get a different tenor out of me.

Gabe


Thank you Gabe, I could never articulate that as well as you did, and that was my point I was trying to make. I think we need a person in authority to make a lst word on if we can or can't photograph railroad related items or any image from public property.
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Posted by bobwilcox on Friday, July 22, 2005 5:24 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by gabe

OK, I probably shouldn't, but here is my two cents:

I am not saying this makes the erosion of civil liberties the correct or incorrect course of action. But, as to the claim that we will not get our liberties back once the danger passes, a close look at our nation's history repeatedly indicates that, during times of crisis, our civil liberties are constrained and, as soon as the crisis is over, the liberties are returned and everyone criticizes the decision to take them away.

Go back as far as 1798 with the Alien and Sedition Acts of the Adams’ Administration. During times when war with France and Napoleon seemed eminent, a variety of laws were passed that not only substantially reduced civil liberties but were actually designed to hamper the formation of Jeffersonian Republicanism (the taboo of taboos in terms of civil liberties). As soon as Napoleon was defeated (his first defeat, where he was exiled to Elbe) the Acts were revoked.

During the War of 1812, marshal law was actually declared in parts of America. After the war, things returned to normal.

In the Civil War (and more particularly during Reconstruction) habeas corpus was suspended and a Republican-dominated Congress almost wrote the Presidency and the Supreme Court out of existence. After reconstruction, things were back to normal.

Does anyone remember the first—and more severe—“Red Scare.” This was probably one of the most severe restrictions of civil liberties in our history. What exactly was Debs guilty of when he ran for the Presidency from behind bars? However, once it became clear that the Bolshevik Revolution was confined to Russia, the 1920s roared.

During WWII, there was this shameful incident of American concentration camps. Very soon after the war, Americans were ashamed of this act and vowed not to do them again. I also seem to remember a prohibition against talking pictures of trains.

Post WWII, J.E. Hoover—when he wasn't wearing women's dresses—engaged in one of the most systematic illegal government surveillance of American citizens in this country's history (maybe he just had a bee in his bonnet).

The retrenching of our civil liberties after 9/11 is far from original in our country's history. I am not saying that makes it right. Many of the aforementioned historical retrenchments of American civil liberties are an absolute opprobrium. Nonetheless, I think the contention that we wont get them back when the danger has clearly passed is a rather facile and unsupported claim.

Now, if you want to talk about the opened-ended/secretive nature of the Patriot Act, the considerable discretion given to on-the-ground officials who enforce the Act, and the potentials for abuse of this power, you might get a different tenor out of me.

Gabe


This is a cogent essay on one reason why wars we enter should be ended as quickly as our security allows. Then we can put the ACLU back in the closet for the next one.
Bob
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Posted by CSXrules4eva on Friday, July 22, 2005 5:30 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by trainjunky29

I'm still wondering though, how did the person who reported you to the FBI know who you are?


The government knows everything, trust me I know. My grandmom worked for the IRS for 35 years. She told me things. Like how to cheat on my taxes. J/k lol WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
LORD HELP US ALL TO BE ORIGINAL AND NOT CRISPY!!! please? Sarah J.M. Warner conductor CSX
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Posted by starwardude on Friday, July 22, 2005 6:51 PM
2-3 years ago, my dad his friend ( who works for the MTA yard/ Maint. facility in New Haven) and I went to the Metro North facility in New Haven, and as we left we were stopped by both the Amtrak police ( I know this because they had US Government licence plates[ with the first initials GG1; how ironic[B)]]) and the New Haven police. Had my Dad's friend not been there, we'd have gotten into a big pile of legal nastiness.
Long time lurker, poster of little.
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Posted by dinwitty on Friday, July 22, 2005 7:26 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by jsoderq

Actually terrorists do take pictures of their targets. There were many pictures of New York found after 9/11.


they plan their attack very carefully, they will look like your normal person,
not wearing battle fatigues.

don't blame the authorities for being extra careful.

just show them your hobby interest and why, and settle their concerns.

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Posted by robscaboose on Friday, July 22, 2005 7:30 PM
The agent was very nice, just doing his job. I asked him when & where I took those pictures, as I went to Syrcause NY for a family reunion & railfanned all the way back home. He didn't have his notes which him so he could not answer that question.

I am going to bring my Trains & Railpace mag's to show him that this is my hobby & alot of other people like to watch & take pics of trains.

Hopefully I can post something tomorrow night

I guess if Elvis can have FBI file then so can I

Rob

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