Your very own suspected terrorist

It has been my experience, both as a businessman, and as a credit union
board member, that banks will accept ANY signature, even ones with a
different name.

When I first got Quicken and pre-printed checks, I was so excited that
I forgot to sign the first batch.

I called the IRS to tell them of this terrible problem. They just
laughed. (First time I ever heard a laugh from the IRS.) "Let's wait
until next month and see what happens."

Right! All three checks cleared my bank without any problem.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email:

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

Very good point CJ. I bet he knew the answer to everything he asked. Think
about it. If Michael would have said absolutely anything--ANYTHING-- that
didn't match his records he would have become suspect. Of course the agent
didn't act like he knew anything--he wanted Michael to think he was clueless
about it so that he would be more comfortable in making up a story if he was
a terrorist.

The story actually makes me feel a tad better about our anti-terror efforts.

Marco

"C J Campbell" wrote in message
...


The agent did not seriously believe that Michael was a terrorist and had
reason to believe that we knew enough about him that he was not a
terrorist.

He may have told Michael that he had not looked at his INS file and may
only
have been pretending to be ignorant of its contents. He might have gotten
more serious if Michael had answered questions contrarily to what the FBI
already knew.

The FBI routinely looks at your checking accounts when they begin an
investigation and would have done this before even contacting Michael.
They
would have checked to see whether endorsements on checks deposited in his
account matched other signatures they had of his, for example. They would
also have looked for anomalous disbursements or deposits. This technique
has
been so successful at uncovering terrorists that the FBI has not really
changed its methods in 40 years. Originally they started checking bank
accounts at random just to see what would turn up. They found one bank
account that had checks bearing five different signatures all with the
same
name. They sent a rookie agent by the name of Jason Moulton out to stake
out
the house and he ended up catching Patty Hearst and several other members
of
the Symbionese Liberation Army. Not bad for a rookie. He told me that when
he went in through the back door that Patty Hearst was sitting at a
kitchen
table, cleaning a disassembled weapon. He was real glad that she was not
armed.





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"Marco Leon" mleon(at)optonline.net wrote
Very good point CJ. I bet he knew the answer to everything he asked.

Yeah, and he was having my apartment watched. And my truck was being
tailed when he called me that morning. Sure. You keep telling
yourself that.

As for me, I call bull****.

Michael

The agent did not seriously believe that Michael was a terrorist and had
reason to believe that we knew enough about him that he was not a terrorist.


and so on---Well if it were me I'd start wearing a towel on my head around the
apartment all the time. Maybe get some 12 inch PVC pipe, some Army green
paint, Cardboard nose cone and tail fins and carry that in and out of the
apartment a few times. "Lets Give Them Something To Talk About" was the title
of a song. I think it would work there as well. Mac

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:UBfQb.4483$U%5.26339@attbi_s03...

Criminy -- this "special agent" acted less covertly than I did when I was
looking for dead-beat dads in the inner city. I sure hope his actions
aren't representative of our national security efforts.

Nah. I think the agent was smart enough to know that he is not a threat.
But, he still had to do due diligence and that seems to be exactly what he
did. Yes, from a threat elimination point of view it was a waste of time -
but such is the nature of the job - you have to turn over many stones to
find a single scorpion.

Also, I think Michael did the right thing by not behaving like a jerk. This
agent now knows something about general aviation - that is good for us, and
also might give the agent some ideas on how to look for the really bad guys.

Pilot Bob (the best damn pilot in Iowa City, no question about it)

In article X4mQb.135255$xy6.571383@attbi_s02,
Pilot Bob (I am just a great guy!!) wrote:
Also, I think Michael did the right thing by not behaving like a jerk. This
agent now knows something about general aviation - that is good for us, and
also might give the agent some ideas on how to look for the really bad guys.

Speaking of the FBI and airports, when Houston Gulf used to be an
airport and not a housing estate, just after Sept. 11th, the line guy
there saw some suspicious people poking around the plane. Being a small
airport where everyone knows everyone else, he went and asked them who
they were. Well, they were FBI agents taking a look around.

A couple of weeks later when the press discovered that SPX was owned by
a relative of Osama Bin Laden, there was a minor press frenzy (locally
at least). One reporter went to the airport, and Wayne the lineman
explained how SPX had much better security than any of the big airports.
Everyone knows everyone else, he told them. If we see strangers poking
around or looking out of place we'll find out what they are up to. The
reporter asked Wayne whether he'd seen any suspicious characters. He
said "Yes".
The reporter, sensing a good story, wanted to naturally delve deeper so
asked who they were.
"The FBI", Wayne replied.
The reporter was speechless :-)

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

Just to update you, Dylan..

Wayne has been transplanted to the line over at Clover.. been there a
while.

And FINALLY.. the club has a complex in it again.. a Cardinal RG..
wonderful plane.

Havent seen many FBI types poking around "Pearland Regional" now, but..
since the Bin Ladin's dont own this one.. Grin


Ok, rest of usenet, sorry about the "personal mail"

Dave

Dylan Smith wrote:

In article X4mQb.135255$xy6.571383@attbi_s02,
Pilot Bob (I am just a great guy!!) wrote:

Also, I think Michael did the right thing by not behaving like a jerk. This
agent now knows something about general aviation - that is good for us, and
also might give the agent some ideas on how to look for the really bad guys.


Speaking of the FBI and airports, when Houston Gulf used to be an
airport and not a housing estate, just after Sept. 11th, the line guy
there saw some suspicious people poking around the plane. Being a small
airport where everyone knows everyone else, he went and asked them who
they were. Well, they were FBI agents taking a look around.

A couple of weeks later when the press discovered that SPX was owned by
a relative of Osama Bin Laden, there was a minor press frenzy (locally
at least). One reporter went to the airport, and Wayne the lineman
explained how SPX had much better security than any of the big airports.
Everyone knows everyone else, he told them. If we see strangers poking
around or looking out of place we'll find out what they are up to. The
reporter asked Wayne whether he'd seen any suspicious characters. He
said "Yes".
The reporter, sensing a good story, wanted to naturally delve deeper so
asked who they were.
"The FBI", Wayne replied.
The reporter was speechless :-)

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:UBfQb.4483$U%5.26339@attbi_s03...
Seriously, instead of doing a big background check and looking up all your
papers, sounds like the agent did the smart thing -- he just asked you. He
was able to learn a lot more about you and the issues involved that way.
They would have noticed if you had tried to flee.

Right. Had he been a real terrorist, Michael would have evaporated into thin
air when the doofus FBI agent left his card on his door.

FWIW, that could have been something they were watching for. Just
because no one is answering calls at the office, doesn't mean no
one is working.

Criminy -- this "special agent" acted less covertly than I did

But we don't know that, actually. In fact, we don't know how
much investigation he'd done before contacting Michael; if he
*had* looked in his INS file/bank account/whatever, from an
abstract POV it would seem to be a sound strategy to try to
persuade the interviewee that you have no prior info, so that
you can see how well what you're told matches up with what you
already know.

I'm not trying to suggest that's what actually happened, just
pointing out the appearance shouldn't be taken for the whole.

Cheers,
Sydney

"Jay Honeck" writes:

Seriously, instead of doing a big background check and looking up all your
papers, sounds like the agent did the smart thing -- he just asked you. He
was able to learn a lot more about you and the issues involved that way.
They would have noticed if you had tried to flee.

Right. Had he been a real terrorist, Michael would have evaporated into thin
air when the doofus FBI agent left his card on his door.

Criminy -- this "special agent" acted less covertly than I did when I was
looking for dead-beat dads in the inner city. I sure hope his actions
aren't representative of our national security efforts.

I think it's really *extremely* unlikely -- but they *could* have had
the place under surveillance, and been ready to grab him if he ran
when he got the card. I don't see how we could know they *didn't*.
--
David Dyer-Bennet, , http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/
RKBA: http://noguns-nomoney.com http://www.dd-b.net/carry/
Photos: dd-b.lighthunters.net Snapshots: www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/
Dragaera/Steven Brust: http://dragaera.info/

CJ Campbell sez...

sounds like the agent did the smart thing -- he just asked you.

And Michael did the perfect thing -- he cordially received the investigator,
answered his questions, taught him a lot more than he knew before the visit,
and sent him on his way wiser. Engineers make the world a better place :-)