Very well stated. Scott Team Ropingthewind >From: "Brian - Team A.I." >Reply-To: listserv@azgeocaching.com >To: >Subject: Re: [Az-Geocaching] Box game brings out bomb squad >Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2004 11:40:47 -0700 > >I posted this on the gc.com forums in a thread about a similar situation in >which a Disneyland cache (micro) was discovered just before an attraction >reopened, resulting in a delay while it was investigated: > >...society has been conditioned to a state of hypervigilant paranoia, >resulting in stupid scenarios like ammo cans being blown up under a rock >pile. It wouldn't matter if the ammo can was clear plexiglass, with nothing >more than a fully translucent logbook that made it clear the object being >looked at is nothing more than an object, and not an explosive device. >Someone would still freak out over it, and thousands of dollars would be >wasted. Heck, there could be a blanket understanding/approval by law >enforcement for a specific type of cache container that we were allowed to >use, and yet someone would still call and we'd find TBs blown sky high by >disruptors. > >Maybe it's just me, but I don't take everything I see as a >surgically-altered Osama, and freak out everytime I see someone breathe. > >But following that officer's logic, hikers are candidates for the Bataan >Death March, mountain bikers are Hells Angels and rock climbers are >suicidal...well, that may actually be the case but still. ;) > >I understand that bombs and explosives are real. In seconds, I could have >a recipe for ammonia, nitrogen or hydrogen tri-iodide, by doing a simple >Google search. But the mere presence of that information doesn't mean it >exists or that authorities need to be called to investigate. That being >said, a box, ammo can or Rubbermaid container stashed under a bush isn't >always cause to just go off the deep end and call out so many resources. >In all honesty, most of them stand around waiting for something to happen >while a select few do the real grunt work. > >In my position, I have seen liberties disrupted. Whenever the Terror Alert >Wheel O' Color stops on Orange, operations at work are quite overtly >affected. Should we ever go to Red, I'll be walking into a heavily armed >prison when I get to work each day. But in everyday life, I can't say that >the changes have been so clear. It's my sheer disagreement with the >removal of our civil liberties in the name of protecting us from a faceless >enemy that is the issue. As with something such as gun control, the only >people affected are the ones with the right to have them. There are enough >enemies of the United States that we could make up quite a few people from >every conceivable nationailty, race, or color. Some would be the model of >what the Aryan Nation hope to make this world, while others would be model >Black Panther recruits. Still, we would have at least some who prefer >sushi over pizza and the Qu'ran to the KJV Bible. > >I don't think that we should just sit back, drink beer and become >complacent to the goings on in this world, but too little is being done to >protect the country from the outside, at our expense. A porous Mexican >border has been used to smuggle al Qaida members into the country (I've >read the intelligence to confirm this), and still lacking security measures >at international ports of entry have allowed even more to get through. >Just 2 nights ago, I received calls about a semi carrying UDAs. Keep in >mind that this was a double trailer semi with people stacked >shoulder-to-shoulder. Conceivably, there could have been upwards of 500 >people between them. Who is to say that 3 or 4 of them weren't radical >fundamentalists from a group who disagrees with what the US is, and want to >drive a bomb-laden car into a major metropolitan mall? > > >Not too long ago, I heard rumblings that the Joint Chiefs 10+ years ago >contemplated allowing a terrorist attack on US soil, with the hopes that it >would soften the public opinion on increased military spending. This, if I >recall correctly, wasn't too long before the first WTC bombing, which would >have been considered only marginally successful by measuring public >opinion. Oklahoma City was another significant blow, but apparently not >enough. It wasn't until the Twin Towers finally fell that everybody was >gung-ho military, chanting "kill 'em all" in response to the atrocity, and >demanding that we carpet bomb someone, something, somewhere. Since a good >conspiracy is an unprovable one...I do find it odd, however, that several >years before 9/11, a foreign leader (Pakistan, I think) offered up Osama to >the US, who flatly refused. Oops. > > >Now I don't spend every waking moment looking over my shoulder, but I'm >aware of what goes on around me. The day I start putting surveillance >cameras around my home to start watching anyone of 'arab' descent, or that >just looks mean, is the day I drive off a cliff and fuggedaboutit, because >I've already gone over the edge. There's too much paranoia, and not enough >protection in the right places. > > >Brian >Team A.I. > > > >----- Original Message ----- > From: Ken Henson > To: listserv@azgeocaching.com > Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2004 10:18 AM > Subject: Re: [Az-Geocaching] Box game brings out bomb squad > > > > On Saturday, March 27, 2004, at 09:22 AM, RopingThe Wind wrote: > > > Oh yea. Now I have heard it all! :( You have gots to be kidding >me!!?!?? > > > ... > > > Anyways, I'm not trying to be sarcastic here or anything... but, I >think it is truly rediculous that many people live their life this way. I >dont worry about the small stuff. Someday something will do me in. But, I >am not worrying about when that day will come. I am just trying to live my >life and enjoy it the best I can. > > ... What is up with the comment about the 'star trek' games anyways!? >Is he suggesting that we should not be able to go out and enjoy the >outdoors and basically live life?! > > Scott > Team Ropingthewind > > > > >========================================================================== > > One more point of view. Seems like bombs and explosives are real. > - Ken > > >http://www.asuwebdevil.com/news/2004/03/26/News/Explosive.Shakes.Asu.Facility-642444.shtml > > Explosive shakes ASU facility > > Bomb units investigate incident involving trash can > By Tim Taylor > Published: Friday, March 26, 2004 > > A device exploded in a trash can near the ASU Research Park >approximately 1:20 a.m. Thursday, sparking bomb units from the Tempe Police >Department to investigate. > > A security guard on duty at the park, located between Warner and Elliot >roads on Price Road, said he heard "a loud explosion" and went to >investigate, according to Tempe police Sgt. Dan Masters. > > The guard discovered that the cement receptacle on Price Road near a bus >stop had been damaged. There were no injuries. > > He began picking up the pieces because he thought the receptacle had >been hit by a vehicle. He then realized that an explosive was involved and >called 911, Masters said. > > Bomb technicians determined that an explosive device placed in the trash >barrel had been detonated. The technicians will be analyzing the evidence >with help from the National Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and >Explosives. > > Authorities do not know the motive of the detonation, and no threats >have been received. > > There is no evidence linking this incident with last Friday's bomb scare >on the ASU Main campus, where three residence halls were evacuated because >of a suspicious device in Parking Structure 5. > > The research park celebrated its 20th anniversary of operations on >Wednesday. > > ============================================================== > > Would have been interesting if Geocache had been in or around this >object. Just > something to think about. - Ken _________________________________________________________________ Check out MSN PC Safety & Security to help ensure your PC is protected and safe. http://specials.msn.com/msn/security.asp