# Warning, the terrorists could be using information! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 30, 2003, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-the-terrorists-could-be-using-information/221666 "2003-12-30T01:13:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-the-terrorists-could-be-using-information/221666/41 "2003-12-30T17:47:50Z")
Won’t somebody think about chillin’? ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-the-terrorists-could-be-using-information/221666/42 "2003-12-30T20:59:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Skillet38 \* > \*\*Of course, it’s more clever to make fun of the people whose job it is to be on the lookout for terrorist. I guess it would take us losing a few more skyscrapers for the smartasses around here to stop mocking our attempts to defend ourselves. > > Or not. \*\* Ever hear of McCarthy? Better keep an eye on your neighbor, they might be Bolsheviks plotting to overthrow the US. This is the same kind of bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-the-terrorists-could-be-using-information/221666/43 "2003-12-30T21:27:23Z")
Won`t somebody think about _the children._:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-the-terrorists-could-be-using-information/221666/44 "2003-12-30T21:36:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TwistofFate \* > \*\*they’d have to arrest the winning table for knowing too much. \*\* Ummm, that’s the real reason my table lost at LonDope. We knew this was coming. Ummm, yeah. Really we did…it had nothing whatsoever to do with beer, cleavage, or jet lag. 😉 (Actually, I wasn’t supposed to mention my insider knowedge of Homeland Security…I guess they’ll have to arrest me now.) ---
**Author:** ![BadBaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71c47a/32.png) [@BadBaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BadBaby)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-the-terrorists-could-be-using-information/221666/45 "2003-12-30T21:42:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DeadlyAccurate \* > \*\*I really hope the terrorists are as stupid as the people who are supposedly protecting us. > > I honestly think the majority of the solutions they come up with are wasted resources. The terrorists have proven they’re patient, rather thorough and aren’t afraid to die. If they want to attack again, they will, and they’ll succeed. I wouldn’t be surprised if someday we hear about a few sleeper cells waking and strapping bombs to their chests and start heading to the malls. It’s relatively easy to do, causes quite a bit of destruction physically and to the economy, and is very damaging to morale (think how the DC snipers affected people). \*\* My, that’s quite a well-thought-out post! Where did you say you lived again, Deadly? Is that your doorbell? You might want to go answer it-- careful not to trip over all your almanacs…😉 ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-the-terrorists-could-be-using-information/221666/46 "2003-12-30T21:44:33Z")
Well that’s it, the terrorists _have_ won. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-the-terrorists-could-be-using-information/221666/47 "2003-12-30T21:59:13Z")
Anyone else think that Ashcroft might be the Anti-Cecil? **skillet** , if you really think that cops are so stupid that they wouldn’t put 2 & 2 together in your example, you’ve got the lowest opinion of cops of anyone I’ve ever met. Including many anarchists, punks, and general teen rebels. Sure, cops aren’t stupid. But somebody issuing memos is. Else they’re desperate to keep a sinecure job, and they’re issuing warnings right and left to make themselves seem necessary and useful. I can’t figure it out. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![laigle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@laigle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/laigle)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-the-terrorists-could-be-using-information/221666/48 "2003-12-30T22:13:38Z")
Ya know, if I was the President, and I read something like that, the entire intelligence community would be out on their collective ass by the end of the day. Well, maybe not the entire intelligence community. I’d probably keep a few CIA cyber-ninjas around to pick off all the people I’d fired. Maybe just put a terminus on their gene pools to be safe. ---
**Author:** ![jeevmon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@jeevmon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeevmon)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-the-terrorists-could-be-using-information/221666/49 "2003-12-30T22:19:51Z")
My brother-in-law got two almanacs as Christmas presents. Does that make him a terrorist, or are his parents (who gave him the gift) the ones who hate America so much? ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-the-terrorists-could-be-using-information/221666/50 "2003-12-30T22:23:58Z")
What if someone is caught with an old almanac? I think this would be a good indication that they were planning on going back in time via time machine to disrupt our timeline. The temporal ramifications are enormous!! What if they give AK-47s to Australopithecusesis?! ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-the-terrorists-could-be-using-information/221666/51 "2003-12-30T23:01:34Z")
On the other hand, what if someone is caught with an almanac from the future? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-the-terrorists-could-be-using-information/221666/52 "2003-12-30T23:29:10Z")
Maybe this is a complicated double-secret triple-reverse bluff whereby they make a high-profile public press announcement about something completely irrelevant so the terrorists will say “huh?” and go ahead with the plan the authorities know all about but don’t want the terrorists to know the authorities know all about in order that said authorities can apprehend said terrorists in the act of perpetrating said plan. Or maybe they’re just making noise to justify the budget. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-the-terrorists-could-be-using-information/221666/53 "2003-12-30T23:33:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vibrotronica \* > \*\*On the other hand, what if someone is caught with an almanac from the future? \*\* My God! Michael J. Fox is a _terrorist_! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-the-terrorists-could-be-using-information/221666/54 "2003-12-30T23:36:21Z")
He’s Canadian as well. Perhaps a pattern is emerging here… ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-the-terrorists-could-be-using-information/221666/55 "2003-12-30T23:45:06Z")
> [@](#): > > I suddenly have the urge to go out and buy almanacs by the stack. Be sure to do it at Borders, Barnes & Noble, CostCo, or some other shop that tracks all your purchases. Did somebody say “I did not have sex with that woman?” Or that terrorist? But what concerns me is that _I had_ an almanac in 2001. Sure it was _The People’s Almanac_ from 1975, and all those annotations in the back are from when I tried to figure out my IQ (before I had an opportunity to read it upside down in a guidance counselor’s file)–but perhaps I should be more circumspect (12th grade vocabulary word). ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-the-terrorists-could-be-using-information/221666/56 "2003-12-31T02:05:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Left Hand of Dorkness \* > Anyone else think that Ashcroft might be the Anti-Cecil? Why limit it to John Ashcroft? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-the-terrorists-could-be-using-information/221666/57 "2003-12-31T02:56:00Z")
Al-Queda might run into problems using the long-range weather forecasts in the Farmers’ Almanac. They could plan an operation months in advance, expecting good weather, and get buried under two feet of snow. Isn’t it O.K. to carry jugs of napalm in your car, as long as they’re Approved Safety-Sealed Containers? ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-the-terrorists-could-be-using-information/221666/58 "2003-12-31T02:56:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > \*\*Why limit it to John Ashcroft? \*\* Maybe because he’s got [something to hide](http://www.rantsinyourpants.com/specials/cover_up.htm) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-the-terrorists-could-be-using-information/221666/59 "2003-12-31T14:26:01Z")
Awww, shit. Just the other day I was browsing through my 1975 Guiness Book of World Records…I hope none of the men in grey suits were watching! :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-the-terrorists-could-be-using-information/221666.md?page=2)