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102 Comments
- WonkoTheSane, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12"Rather than pointing the finger at the people trying to safeguard against another 7/7, why not direct your anger at those who truly deserve it: the terrorists?"
because I am not willing to sacrifice my freedoms, in order to win the war on terror. - earthtoandy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6>>This sucks, but whats the alternative? Should we just ignore the threat of bombings?
no but when things like this happen we have lost far more that we ould form an actual successful bombing. You fear is exactly thetool and means that lawmakers use to restrict and destroy your freedoms and liberty. Thats not ok by me - arcman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Those that sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.
In this case, that's exactly what they have. Neither. - The_Mule, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Shouldn't he have been released once they realized that he had no bomb or weapon on him?! Instead they chose to arrest him?! Good lord. I'm all for public safety and I certainly wouldn't object to being stopped, questioned or even having my bag looked through if they had good cause, but to arrest me just for acting suspicious? That's ridiculous.
- ethos42, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5It's actually pretty scary if you think about it. This guy was picked up off the street because of profiling. Even worse though, is that after he was declared innocent he still didn't get his stuff back, nor did they clear his records.
- tribalsun, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4On the flip side if he was an actual terrorist and did something then everyone would point to all the "signs" saying he was up to no good and say that the police failed. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
- middy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I've been questioned three separate times while crossing the US/Canada border, and I've been brought in for questioning by the police due to "suspicious" posts on my blog (which is now closed). Those of you who are saying that this is a small price to pay for "security" obviously haven't been in this situation. I can't walk or drive by a police officer now without feeling a bit uneasy. This is NOT cool.
Unfortunately, the political promises of an airtight state do put law enforcement in a bit of a difficult spot. Still, I don't like the idea of living in a police state, and the the long journey there begins with a single step. - Snuffkin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The scary thing is I feel like I could fit the 'description' of the alleged 'terrorist'.
- ManiacFive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Man, thats ridiculous, its one thing making mistakes when protecting us from terrorists, but when they realise that mistake and don't make amends, thats outrageous. dugg.
I liked the title too :-) "Arrested for being a Geek" Man thats gotta be the ULTIMATE geek badge of honour. "Yeah man, I'm THAT geeky i was arrested for it" - Bostonsox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Security has been increased around the world and terrorism is higher then ever. Terrorist know what they are doing, and know how to not look suspicious. The vast majority of people who are investigated are innocent people.
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Benjamin Franklin - Redlobo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Although this happened in the UK, this worries me about the loss of our civil liberties in general due to Terrorists attacks. If you say that oh its just a case of mistaken identity or you desire it because you fit the profile of a terrorist that is what shocks me as well. If something like this happened to me or even yourselves, you would be mad as hell. Is it justified what they did? Arresting and Detaining him for "looking suspicious" I would say yes, but for searching his home, taking a DNA sample, and not returning all his possessions is not. Sure, safe is better then sorry, but not at the expense of having your home searched, and your possessions seized, especially if you depend on it for work, such as the cell phone and computer. But, I guess it is the law the England.
- Weebj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This is proof that the terrorists are winning. They got us to do to ourselves what they could never do, by convincing our governments to take away our freedoms.
- bunni, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Guys - if it wasn't for security like this, we never would have caught Osama.
- turdferguson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's friggin' England, what do you expect? First they confiscate all legally owned handguns, now they are harassing innocent people and taking their belongings. I can't even imagine what they would do to me, as I'm part arab, AND a citizen of North Ireland. ***** fascists.
- awesinine, on 07/15/2009, -0/+1one more reason profiling works! Oh wait, he wasn't a terrorist? *****.
- Archaic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1First of all, bombs don't have to be on a person to be activated. There are ways to remotely detonate a bomb using what? A cell phone. I don't agree with profiling, nor do I agree with the authorities confiscating his belongings, though. He was arrested for not looking at the cops as he came in? And what is with this crap about the doodles "possibly being maps?"
I understand security, but this is *****. After 9/11 happened, I could have guaranteed you that no one was going to hijack a plane and crash it into sky scrapers, even if they were the original pilots of the aircraft themselves. I think they would find it a bit difficult to do so, not to mention a bit inane, considering they got their bit of terror over that incident and could get more of a reaction causing another incident completely unrelated, thus forcing people to question another facet of their lives.
Oh, and people need to use spell check -_- - ericpp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You have to remember that their terrorist attacks happened only two months ago. I would guess that people are still very paranoid of suspicious looking people.
- capajc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"when things like this happen we have lost far more that we ould form an actual successful bombing."
Sure. Try to get a single person to agree with you who had their wife or husband killed in the attacks. You think they wouldn't submit to this exact thing every single day for the rest of their lives if they could have just one more hour with their loved one?
This was an inconvenience. That's it. A large one, sure, but an inconvenience. If this guy's a reporter, how come he wasn't more aware of the fact that his actions might seem suspicious? Aren't reporters supposed to have keen eyes for detail? - Twenty, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Those who would give up liberty for temporary safety deserve neither liberty or safety" --Benjamin ***** Franklin.
- CJHtxGeek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1arcman I've never heard it put that way, lol, but yeah, pretty much.
This would be ok if
A. His record was actually exponged....
B. He got his friggin Stuff back.
But they NEVER delete old records, I was charged with a misdemenor when I was 12 because "I was standing to close to the Neighborhood Sign, and was in a conspiracy to vandalize it" After 10 years it still turns up, it gets on my nerves...
May I note the same neighbor shot my best friends dog and drug it onto his property, claiming it had attacked his wife(who is actually very sane and nice... somehow), but man there was a blood trail down the street to a .. lets just say "red spot", god damn bastard. - outerspaceapple, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1
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Well then, we all know what not to do when entering the train. Way to blab your only profile to a geek on a website you arrest-happy cops.
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- - Jammerdelray, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1he was not arrested for being a geek!, he was arrested for toying with the police trying to get arrested!
- earthtoandy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2>>And ReverendObsk...I am not sure what you question is asking, but thousands of terrorists have been caught since 9/11
HA! reeeally? I hope you dont mean the thousands of iraquis who have been wrongfully imprisoned by the US. Cause that would be the only group to make up this "thousands" claim. Dozens might be a better scale at most
muslim != terrorist. Lets not throw around that little buzzword around so carelessly. - Ermenwyr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Rather than pointing the finger at the people trying to safeguard against another 7/7, why not direct your anger at those who truly deserve it: the terrorists?"
Yeah, I've heard this argument before. The one that goes, "terrorists are bad, therefore you cannot criticize anyone who claims to be fighting terrorists." It is an argument that is utterly without merit.
To paraphrase Bruce Schneier: all security has a cost. For any particular security measure the question we should be asking is, "is the added security we get from this measure worth the cost?"
If the cost is to live in a world where, at any time, we may be arrested, our homes searched and our possessions confiscated all because some police officer thought we looked suspicious, then it seems to me that this cost is quite a high one. For myself, I'm not sure that any level of security would be worth this cost. But if we are going to pay such a high price, we better be damn sure that it's going to make us significantly more secure.
(Oh, and JimXugle - before you go on your trip, you may want to brush up on you geography. (Hint: Moscow and Paris are not countries.)) - squirt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This is exactly the sort of treatment that causes people to become so angry that they turn to terrorism. A vicious cycle.
- zediker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Oh, it should also be noted, that NO government has ever given back freedoms it has taken away through laws. Not One. All your freedoms you lost because of the 911 hysteria are gone, and will never come back unless there is a huge public turmoil.
- Norelec, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1ok...I didn't read all of the posts because there are many of them. This may have been said allready, but let me give an example.
Your walking home from work when you are mugged, everything stolen and you are beat to hell. Now, next time you walk by that area and you see people that look similar to the people who mugged you, wouldn't you be afraid/suspicious? It's almost the same thing...52 people were killed on the trains there...they are on high alert for ANYTHING that looks suspicious...
I do agree that him not having all of his items returned is a bit overboard however. - kidlinux, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1NEWS FLASH: The Terroists Have Won!
I've been saying this for a while. Does no one remember the goal of the terroists? It's to take away our freedoms in our so called free and democratic countries. It's fairly obvious that they've done that and done it well.
For all you ***** and idiots saying "better safe than sorry", go fly a friggin kite. It's not like the guy was dangerous or had anything dangerous with him. Once the police found that out they should have let him go. Furthermore, the police have absolutely no (moral) right or reason to keep any evidence collected, or keep any record of this guy at all.
This is just totally ***** up and there's no arguing against that. Certain governments are in dire need of replacement. I don't know who they think they're representing, but it sure as ***** insn't the voters. - RHamel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Welcome to "1984." A little late, but "Big brother is watching you citizen."
- giveme1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Damn, talk about being ***** out of luck. And I thought I was going to have a bad day because I had a non-stop bloody nose in the shower today, looked like someone got murdered. Seriously.
- omnithrope, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This is complete and utter *****.
- Zippo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Wow, I feel really bad for that guy. Thank god nothing like that happens in Canada... at least to my knowledge. It's definitely never happened anywhere near where I live. Sick and sad is what that is. I'd bring them to court for damages...
- teebery, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"The terrorists have already won". Please. If you think the goal of the Islamofascist terrorists is to slightly inconvenience you on a subway you are either naive or stupid. They will settle for nothing less than a worldwide Caliphate ruled under Muslim Sha'ria law. Good luck complaining about you precious "rights" while your sister is getting stoned to death because you talked to the neighbor's daughter without his permission. What a bunch of ***** babies.
- drbyatch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"This sucks, but whats the alternative? Should we just ignore the threat of bombings?"
yes and go after the people that are the real threats. george w bush, osma bin laden. - dopenose, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Next time I take the train I'm going to wear a jacket and bring my laptop with me.
- Jon2x4, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I'm a geek special G double E K. And this crap is getting too stupid...i heard in the newspaper that a geek with a Jacket with a labtop sack on the back and a key chain with a pocket knife on it.
RIDICULOUS!!!1!!11!!!! - forrest, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0w3bsmith, I did read the article.
I really love all the "those who sacrifice security for freedom blah blah blah..." comments. What you people fail to realize is that by living in a society - any society - you agree to a social contract which by definition forfeits some personal freedoms to gain other benefits. Nothing is free. If you want increased security, you are going to have incidents like this.
I don't think anyone is saying the cops responsible weren't ***** about the whole situation, but that is what that boils down to. After the fact they were probably trying to cover their asses because they knew the media would be screaming ORWELL just like many of you. The funny thing is, these very people shouting POLICE STATE are going to be the ones trying to place blame (most likely on ***** McHalliburton) when a bomb does go off.
Also, as someone else pointed out, this did come from the Guardian so it should be taken with a grain of salt. - w3bsmith, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Forrest you jerk. RTFA. Did you happen to miss this part:
"When they were through, the two explosive specialists walked out of the tube station smiling and commenting: "Nice laptop." The officers offered apologies on behalf of the Metropolitan police. Then they arrested me."
This has nothing to do with checking security. It goes well beyond that.
What this really is about is they cleared out a huge amount of people, made a big deal out of a false alarm, and now they had to cover their tails. They needed to arrest him simply because they didn't want to look as foolish as they really did. - zediker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I personaly dont want to lose ANY of my fredoms. I have a right to every one of them, and a terrorist should not be able to take them away just because some sissies are scared. In a free state, the possibility of terrorism is a risk you take, when you start protecting yourself from terroism you start loosing freedoms. I would rather be blown up by a terrorist bomb than watch my freedoms slowly being taken away.
- Pottymouth, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@everyone who accepts these freedom infringements: I didn't realize the constitution was negotiable.
- BestGreek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I think for the most part is understandable for the police. They are in a tough spot. I really think its unfair to keep his things in this case. If someone took my computer I would be really upset, they make a mistake and I'm out 1,500$. Otherwise I think I'd be pretty understanding.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The interesting thing is that the police are uncertain at first on whether to arrest him, even after they have detained him.
They free the man, but still keep some of his belongings. Another thing that shows they are uncertain on whether the man is not a terrorist.
This is an attempt to create a fully "good" environment, as our current technology does not give us the accuracy of capturing terrorists only. - maverick_swl, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Talk about Orwell... Someone above said how many terrorist have we caught since 9/11, or I guess 7/7 in the UK for their bombings... Who knows... Big Brother would tell you that we have caught this many... I would rather take my chances without security than have people get arrested for doing no harm.
Why if the cops see the guy doesn't have a bomb don't they let him go? This level of paranoid policing is extreme and unjustified. Civilians just need to open their eyes and step up. - shade73, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"A government which is best is one that governs lease." -- Henry David Thoreau
"Wake me up when September ends." -- Green Day
*sigh* look at the road we're walking down.. does no one see the huge cliff 2 miles up the road?!
Let me be the voice of sanity and say, TURN AROUND!! It may look like an easier road right now, but don't forget that huge cliff!!! - Technerd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Thats the problem, We say what is the alternative!! The alternative is for the Police to be vigilant, but use some sense when dealing with these issues. We should have oversite on these agencies, to protect the individuals form errors, and make sure the police are not being heavy handed. I felt for the Geek!!!What an invasion for being, Different
- hatt3r, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0whitesanjuro, i hope your comment was a sarcastic one.. not all democrats are against such Acts as the terrorist or patriot ones.
the only thing i have to say is who cares? the guy looked suspicious, many people look suspicious. you question the suspicious. welcome to life. for those of you who repeat over and over again, like parrots, that you'd rather be bombed again than have your freedoms taken away, good, i hope you do get bombed, and that it could have been preventable in some way. (i don't really mean that). every man gives up some natural rights in order to protect the general population. i think it was thomas hobbes or john locke or someone who beleived in that. it's true, and even more true today, as we must give up more freedoms in order to secure the general safety of people as a whole. - jumjum, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Woe is Europe.
- Archaic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I think that every state in the U.S. should make it mandatory for high school students to take government courses to graduate...
- p00p, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0pottymouth: This article is about the UK, not the US.
I agree with you but the Constitution IS negotiable. The Constitution establishes the Supreme Court which has the power to negotiate the Constitution. - Smarterdanu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"This is exactly what the extremists are hoping for and apparently we are playing right into it."
Careful with the word "extremist" don't start mixing terminology and start catagorizing protesting kids as "extremists" or "terrorists". -
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