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Because cell phone trafficking rings aren't as exciting as radical terrorists planning to blow up the state of Missouri. People buy cell phones in bulk all over the country to sell. I know someone who tried to make a legitimate business out of it, not even underground. What's funny is how it becomes like a game of telephone (remember that game?). Reading responses from people in the news articles, the story grew. Suddenly folks in Mid-Missouri were able to specifically identify men from Afghanistan. It's almost as if they want it to be true.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean people aren't out to get you.
Personally, I'm pretty sick of people assuming folks are "paranoid" or "wearing tin foil hats" when they point out something peculiar, or when they're being vigilant - as we should be. Let's break it down...WHY would people react strongly to this story?
1. Cell phones are used in IED and suicide bomber attacks.
2. We've had a rash of deadly terrorist attacks worldwide as well as specifically in western societies, including in the US, in recent weeks, which were tied to Islamic extremist groups directly.
3. The initial police reports from Ava, Missouri, specifically stated that the men who bought the cell phones were of Middle Eastern origin (as have been the terrorists in the recent attacks).
4. The US State Department has issued a worldwide travel alert through February 2016 due to increased terror threats. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34907009
I think it's very counter productive to label vigilant people as "paranoid." This is PRECISELY the reason why the neighbor of the radical couple who just killed over a dozen people in a terrorist attack in California was hesitant to report her suspicions to the police. If she hadn't been afraid of being accused of being racist, she would have reported them - and perhaps the lives of 13 innocent people would have been spared.
I'd rather remain vigilant and run the risk of being labeled, than be overly concerned about being PC, and have something terrible happen that I could have possibly prevented.
Correction - 14 innocent people were killed in the San Bernardino attack, not 13. And all of them might be alive today if the attackers' "PC paranoid" neighbor had reported her earlier suspicions.
The county sheriffs in the area of Missouri where the phones were bought are suddenly pushing CCW classes. Do they know something they are not telling?
The initial police reports from Ava, Missouri, specifically stated that the men who bought the cell phones were of Middle Eastern origin (as have been the terrorists in the recent attacks).
At Choose Your Own Wireless, general manger Shannon Flood says large quantity cell phone purchases are not necessarily suspect. “I see a lot of people that have a lot of fear out there, and I wanted to just try to let people know that there actually is a legitimate reason as well,†says Flood.
He believes the purchasers could be buying phones to send or sell to foreign countries, sell to stores like his, or sell online. “These people will purchase the phones while they’re on sale, and when the sale’s overwith, they’ll resell them at manufacturer’s retail cost online,†says Flood.
We don’t know what phones were purchased at the WalMarts or how much they cost. But to illustrate Shannon’s point, we found a phone on sale at Walmart.com for less than five dollars. The same phone is being sold by an E-bay seller who has more than ten of them for about 20 dollars each.
But hey, anything's possible maybe they are going to carpet bomb us with cellphones and propane tanks
At Choose Your Own Wireless, general manger Shannon Flood says large quantity cell phone purchases are not necessarily suspect. “I see a lot of people that have a lot of fear out there, and I wanted to just try to let people know that there actually is a legitimate reason as well,†says Flood.
He believes the purchasers could be buying phones to send or sell to foreign countries, sell to stores like his, or sell online. “These people will purchase the phones while they’re on sale, and when the sale’s overwith, they’ll resell them at manufacturer’s retail cost online,†says Flood.
We don’t know what phones were purchased at the WalMarts or how much they cost. But to illustrate Shannon’s point, we found a phone on sale at Walmart.com for less than five dollars. The same phone is being sold by an E-bay seller who has more than ten of them for about 20 dollars each.
But hey, anything's possible maybe they are going to carpet bomb us with cellphones and propane tanks
I didn't say anything about propane tanks, so there's no need to try to repackage what I actually DID say.
And what I actually "said" was posting sources that you asked for, noting that the men purchasing the phones were of Middle Eastern descent. You asked for those sources and I gave them to you.
Now - as for the cell phone bulk purchases, as I mentioned in a subsequent post, Americans have legitimate reasons for concerns about terrorism and we are being asked to be vigilant, by the State Department. Better safe than sorry is a common sense approach in these troubled times.
I didn't say anything about propane tanks, so there's no need to try to repackage what I actually DID say. And what I actually "said" was posting sources that you asked for, noting that the men purchasing the phones were of Middle Eastern descent. You asked for those sources and I gave them to you. Now - as for the cell phone bulk purchases, as I mentioned in a subsequent post, Americans have legitimate reasons for concerns about terrorism and we are being asked to be vigilant, by the State Department. Better safe than sorry is a common sense approach in these troubled times.
I wasn't inferring that you said anything about propane tanks, I only mentioned it because it had become part of this thread. What I am trying to say is that terrorists do not buy large numbers of phones, at least not in one store, that destroys the purpose of a 'burner phone' which is to make it hard to track. This story does not fit the narrative of a terrorist plot. It only makes sense in the context that someone was buying phones to resell them. I agree with you about being vigilant, but it also helps to use common sense.
I wasn't inferring that you said anything about propane tanks, I only mentioned it because it had become part of this thread. What I am trying to say is that terrorists do not buy large numbers of phones, at least not in one store, that destroys the purpose of a 'burner phone' which is to make it hard to track. This story does not fit the narrative of a terrorist plot. It only makes sense in the context that someone was buying phones to resell them. I agree with you about being vigilant, but it also helps to use common sense.
Sometimes it's hard to find that fine line between vigilance and paranoia, and in this state of heightened alert due to credible threats as well as bona fide terrorist attacks worldwide, I'd rather people err on the side of caution. Sorry if that offends someone. I'd rather offend someone than feel as if I had any responsibility in the death or injury of an innocent person.
Because cell phone trafficking rings aren't as exciting as radical terrorists planning to blow up the state of Missouri. People buy cell phones in bulk all over the country to sell. I know someone who tried to make a legitimate business out of it, not even underground. What's funny is how it becomes like a game of telephone (remember that game?). Reading responses from people in the news articles, the story grew. Suddenly folks in Mid-Missouri were able to specifically identify men from Afghanistan. It's almost as if they want it to be true.
If you used a car to hold the escaping gas in while something inside was used as an igniter, the car would probably be the only thing damaged as in the Times Square bombing attempt.
I get that this could be someone with a bad plan, but at the same time I'm really not interested in the government regulating more of our lives. Things like this start with good intentions but they tend to snowball. What if a would-be terrorist spreads their purchases out, or 40 of them each buy one of two phones? See the problem? To follow the logic, then the government would need to check all cell phone purchase - we'd could all have to get a permit and register them. In a free society there are some dangers - but I'd rather take my chances than have out of control regulation and government spying on citizens.
Exactly. The quotes I've seen which I like "those who would trade liberty for security deserve neither" and also "so the 'solution' is to inconvenience innocent people."
I agree wholeheartedly. To me, convenience is EVERYTHING. It is LIFE. It almost a RELIGION to me that I do not want to be inconvenienced, even if security is compromised a small negligible amount. I don't want to have to spend 2 hours boarding a plane or getting jumped by police for going to my child's school and I have a backpack that is, ahem, my child's backpack which they forgot and I'm bringing to them. I don't want cooks buying pressure cookers to arouse suspicion just because of what, a piddly 3 or so deaths in Boston a couple of years ago. I don't want child car seats to be so hard to buckle and unbuckle, find a way to make buckling and unbuckling them EASY and still be safe, both. (As in, it shouldn't take me more than 1-2 seconds to unbuckle them, TOPS.)
More than that, I fully expect the persons in charge of such things to figure out how to do BOTH. I want things to be convenient AND safe, BOTH. Don't tell me "it's not possible." Bullfeathers. I don't believe it, and no, it's not my job to offer a solution. That's the job of the people in charge of these things. Figure it out, or get another job.
Here in TX, people pushed for open carry of weapons, yet just try and take photos at the park with an SLR if you're a guy. Heck, even with me being with my wife & kids, I've been on the receiving end of glaring stares and even confrontations for using a CAMERA, in PUBLIC, which is 100% legal. Yet the same people are OK with open carry of GUNS? Are you kidding me?
But that's the thing--because of a very very few "Chester the Molester" types, people around here assume every male with a camera to be a pervert, and while the very very few "Chester the Molester" types bare a large part of the blame, I also blame people in general for going overboard. I shouldn't have to explain to every person I meet that, no, I'm not some pervert (to say nothing of the fact that in fact it is 100% legal to photograph ANYTHING in the public realm anyway). I know that I'm not a pervert and that I know (and that the activity is legal anyway) is good enough. It's an insult to my personhood to be interrogated and nagged over a legal activity just because YOU don't know that I mean no harm.
It's also an insult that someone like me who can take better photos than 95% of the people who think smartphones are cameras should have to explain myself to ANYBODY, that's beneath me, and that's especially the case when cameras have not caused any terrorist incidents in the first place. Frankly, people should be HONORED that someone who can actually take a picture that's actually WORTH something would want to take a photograph around you to start with. I know I'm not Anna Leibovitz or Ansel Adams, but I'm good enough that I shouldn't have to keep explaining myself ad nausea.
By the same token, I don't want to have to leave my backpack at home if I dare to attend a game, I don't feel the need to explain to people that those crocheted hats I wear do not label me as a Middle Eastern just because they sort of look like those things, I don't like people assuming me to be on drugs just because I am fast-paced and sometimes become anxious at being slowed down, nor should I have to explain to anybody why I was driving on a secluded road at 3 in the morning. I'm trying to live my life, and I don't want to have to be personally inconvenienced just because of a few scattered nutcases and people's paranoia.
Figure out a way to make things REASONABLY safe, and inconvenient for the innocent--BOTH, or get another job. Period.
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