State police dispatched over software purchase

Oh great,the hysteria is spreading and getting a bit out of control.I guess we have to watch everything we buy,say and read for fear that the police are going to show up in the middle of the night to check on your usage of the products that you purchase....


"A mother's enquiry about buying Microsoft Flight Simulator for her ten-year-old son prompted a night-time visit to her home from a state trooper. Julie Olearcek, a USAF Reserve pilot made the enquiry at a Staples store in Massachusetts, home to an earlier bout of hysteria, during the Salem witch trials. So alarmed was the Staples clerk at the prospect of the ten year old learning to fly, that he informed the police... A few days later, Olearcek was alarmed to discover a state trooper flashing a torch into to her home through a sliding glass door at 8:30 pm on a rainy night. Olearcek is a regular Staples customer and schools her son at home. The Staples manager simply explained that staff were obeying advice. Shortly before Christmas, the FBI issued a terror alert to beware of drivers with maps, or reference books."


www.theregister.co.uk...




[Edited on 9-1-2004 by McGotti]

Please tell me it isn't so.

lol "Drivers with maps" This is the most retarded thing I've heard yet I think. Guess my dad is in deep trouble with the fbi then, hes a trucker with a huge setup of GPS units, ham radios, computers, and enough mapping software to probably get the attention of the FBI. I can only imagine what will be put on the list of "suspicious acts" next.

I guess the officer didnt bother to take the time to run a background check ( it shouldnt be too hard thanks to the PATRIOT ACT ) and find out she was a USAF Pilot. Or perhaps he did, but now we suspect everyone including our own troops. What a sad world this is becoming.

[Edited on 9-1-2004 by alternateheaven]

And the Terrorist win once more.

I think you missed the point to this story:

the real crime in the minds of the controllers is this innocent statement,

'and schools her son at home.'

Originally posted by THENEO
I think you missed the point to this story:

the real crime in the minds of the controllers is this innocent statement,

'and schools her son at home.'

man you confuse me neo....

I thought the point of the story was that its getting to the point were you cant wait in line to use the bath room on a plane,you cant buy video games for your children with out police harrasment,you cant even have an almanac without being labled a terrorist..was not that the point of the story?

edit: besides how would the store know that the child was being home schooled? It didnt say she mentioned that to the cashier

[Edited on 9-1-2004 by McGotti]

We don't know what she said to the cashier man.

People that are home schooled are not controlled or known to the system right?

Thus if I have fire arms or am a patriot or get my pilots license then I am perceived as a thread to the state...right?

just proving how old NEO is one if not two steps ahead of the pack ask always...

Ok.. I can see your point. But I feel that it is more plausable that the cashier was alarmed because the person bought a flight simulator game....people who might want to fly a plane into a building or drop bio weapons may want to use that program[insane yes,but i guess thats how they feel if they are worried about almanacs]

yeah, that is true but what could she have said that would cause them alarm?

maybe they asked her who it was for and she refused to tell them?

how did they track her to the purchase? did she willingly give her name and address and was known to them or did they investigate the method of payment (invasion of privacy)?

Originally posted by THENEO
yeah, that is true but what could she have said that would cause them alarm?

maybe they asked her who it was for and she refused to tell them?

how did they track her to the purchase? did she willingly give her name and address and was known to them or did they investigate the method of payment (invasion of privacy)?

True...actually I was just thinking about that..it does seem a little odd..even if she told the cashier her child was home schooled and she wanted a flight simulator game...is that really a legal reason to call the police and the police to go to her home and investigate?? maybe the FBI might check it out but a state trooper?? shouldnt he be out looking for speeders on the highway and not checking up on suspicious store purchases at the local staples...

This does seem a little wierd..





[Edited on 9-1-2004 by McGotti]

Originally posted by McGotti

Originally posted by THENEO
yeah, that is true but what could she have said that would cause them alarm?

maybe they asked her who it was for and she refused to tell them?

how did they track her to the purchase? did she willingly give her name and address and was known to them or did they investigate the method of payment (invasion of privacy)?

True...actually I was just thinking about that..it does seem a little odd..even if she told the cashier her child was home schooled and she wanted a flight simulator game...is that really a legal reason to call the police and the police to go to her home and investigate?? maybe the FBI might check it out but a state trooper?? shouldnt he be out looking for speeders on the highway and not checking up on suspicious store purchases at the local stapels...

This does seem a little wierd..



[Edited on 9-1-2004 by McGotti]

Damn McGotti,
I guess I have to agree with you on this one!
Hold on.....
It's the illegal Mexicans fault (just kidding, had to say it)
Just like all those comercials the play from time to time on Tv. The ones where the guy is at the library and asks for a certian book and some feds take him away for questioning.
Can we say Police State.

Hmmm I wonder if its legal for a trooper to goto someones home and investigate like that...well actually by now...im sure they have checked all the books she has checked out at the library,checked her bank statements and records,got hooked up on her computer so they can watch all her emails and web postings ect,tapped her phone and checked out her garbage can.....man im sure glad we have the "partriot act"...see..the patriot act is working already catching terrorists daily and protecting us from osama..

oh yeah...all without a warrant signed by a judge too

[Edited on 9-1-2004 by McGotti]

TheNeo: "just proving how old NEO is one if not two steps ahead of the pack ask always... "

Yeah, except the "pack" is actually a group of doctors and orderlies trying to get you back into your tight white jacket that ties around the back.

Paranoia....

It's sad that it's come to this. They took MS flight sim off the shelves in london immediately after 9/11.

Crud, I analyze satellite images for a living (well, as part of my job) should I worry? I've got gigs and gigs of satellite maps on my hdd.

It's starting to sound like the old commie witch hunts from the 50's.


[Edited on 9-1-2004 by Zzub]

Half-baked- Do you own the copyright to the beer label in your post? If not I think you should make the label details a bit more blurry. When I bought my video card it came with a copy of Ghost Recon (no game instructions, unfortunately.) I guess I should be investigated now. Remember if you want to avoid suspicion get your flight simulator training at naval air stations like the september 11 hijackers.
It's so hard to be above suspicion now.
Man the license agreement for the new realplayer is 20 pages long. version 10beta. Yeah right. Digital Millinium Copyright. Guess what? Screw it. I will listen to the radio. I will not mess with cd's downloading music, etc,
Matter of fact I won't ever buy a music cd or a video again. too much trouble. I am going to have to get a lawyer to feel comfortable doing anything anymore. Iit's so hard to be legal now.
I had some visitors a while back and they went and bought some aluminum foil to use for cooking. Now I must remember to throw it out. I never buy the stuff listed on Dea websites anymore. Drug manufacturing or paraphernalia stuff, I mean. I won't buy aluminum foil because methamphetamine users do their stuff with that. Foil is drug paraphernalia now. Don't tell me that's stupid because John Ashcroft says that complaining about lost liberty aids terrorists.

If anyone visits me with a baby they have to leave their pacifiers in the car. Sorry. If you don't like it stay away. Roach clips are out. No electrical clamps, vise grips nothing. I want my lawn concreted. no trees. You know you can make all kinds of stuff out of wood. Concrete home, concrete bed. Concrete pillow. I don't want anything anymore. The economy may suffer but that's the price we must pay for security.

I'll just set my liberty out on the curb on garbage pickup day. Maybe I can be compensated. Can we put a price on liberties lost and take them off our taxes?

Concrete home, concrete bed. Concrete pillow.


Ya you know what that is my friend..."prison" something america may turn into fairly soon...

Originally posted by THENEO
the real crime in the minds of the controllers is this innocent statement,

'and schools her son at home.'

excellent extrapolation, and is no different than gossip used to bias the overall appearance of the subject person.

[Edited on 9-1-2004 by smirkley]

I'll buy my new dream home-american style. I'll have to find a contractor skilled in early 21st century prison block architecture. Then no one comes into my home without going through a metal detector check and one of those new high tech scanners. Pizza man will get here in thirty minutes but security checks will cost him 40 more minutes in and out. The cops recently got approval to knock and wait... what ...10 seconds before busting your door down.? My new American house will take C-4 to get in that fast. I hope they have their address right on the warrant. Oh, I forgot they don't need a warrant under the patriot act. Oh well. I just won the lottery. I can just buy a used robot like a Mechwarrior with missiles and stuff inm case the cops bust in by mistake. You know, like when they are really after a real criminal next door, like that 10 year old playing flight simulator games.