IS ATS in the sights of Homeland Security?

Some interesting articles on the FBI etc make we wonder if we are next ....

www.washingtonpost.com...

The FBI, for example, has issued scores of "national security letters" that require businesses to turn over electronic records about finances, telephone calls, e-mail and other personal information, according to officials and documents. The letters, a type of administrative subpoena, may be issued independently by FBI field offices and are not subject to judicial review unless a case comes to court, officials said.

Attorney General John D. Ashcroft has also personally signed more than 170 "emergency foreign intelligence warrants," three times the number authorized in the preceding 23 years, according to recent congressional testimony.

www.washingtonpost.com...

"We hear you've been asking curious questions," U.S. Park Police officer Michael Ramirez said as he and fellow officer Karl Spilde approached me from behind a blossomless cherry tree. "Why are you doing that?"

Both officers carried 9mm semiautomatic pistols, Mace and batons. Perhaps because I had just left the Jefferson Memorial, where I'd read a few lines about "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" and "all men are created equal," I felt bold enough to pose a question of my own: "Why are you asking me that?"

What I really wanted to know was why my questions about the box had made me suspect. Or was it that an African American -- whom someone may have mistaken for a Middle Easterner -- was asking them?

The only way to get to the bottom of this, I thought, was to ask more questions.

"Let me see your ID," Spilde said.

"Why?" I asked.

Wrong response.

"Call for backup," Spilde eventually told Ramirez as he seized my notebook and pen and began to search me. Was I being arrested, I asked before turning over my driver's license.

Eight officers responded to the call for backup. One told me that, legally, I was not being arrested, just subject to "investigative detention."

Said Sgt. R.J. Steinheimer, "There have been reports of suspicious activity regarding you."

"By whom?" I asked.

"Can't tell you that," he replied.

"What kind of suspicious activity?" I asked.

"Apparently you have been showing interest in equipment on the grounds, making notes, that sort of thing," he said. "Are you interested in talking to us about what you're doing?"

I could have told him right then that I was a journalist. But I figured that any citizen should be able to ask a couple of questions without being detained as a suspicious person. I told him that I simply wanted to know what kind of machine it was.

"Are you aware of the current threat level?" Officer J. Keyser asked.

I told him I was. The United States had, after all, just launched an attack on Iraq knowing that it would increase the chances of terrorist attacks at home. But that didn't explain why I was being associated with Code Orange.

Hmmm...could be...I read recently where "Rumor Mill News," as well as other conspiracy-related sites were being, I guess one might say, "monitored."

I'm quite concerned to be honest.
i think websites like rumormill, blackvaut and ATS will sooner or later be taken down or something like that...

I guess only time will tell...

interesting point. The site could be taken down. I wonder if the Simon has considered off-site hosting, or for that matter, out of country hosting. Or perhaps only mirrors in other country's in case this one goes down. only suggestions. As to the monitoring, I'm sure they've been here. My guess is that they use keywords. When certain keywords are typed it sets off bells and whistles and alerts them to what was typed, etc etc.

Don't worry. This site like others are good for security. At least people can go some where to talk politics and be watched. You See?

I just did a check of the past 200 users on the website. None of them had an IP that traced back to any government source.

Looking over the past few dozen new members (anyone can do it by looking at the "Member List" link in the header above), I don't see anything that looks like a G-man with no immagination... but lots of crazies with imaginative names.

While there is certainly a lot to cause stress in the news, I don't think this is something to allow yourself to get stressed over. Granted, ATS has grown considerably since the 9-11 attacks, and we're a likely consideration now more than then. But it's hard enough for a dozen moderators to keep tabs on every post on ATS (even when Google spiders ATS it takes hours and requires 24 GoogleBot clients), how could one or two G-men try to keep up? They would have to assign full-time observers to this site, it just doesn't add up.

[Edited on 25-3-2003 by Abraham Virtue]

I don't know. This would be a good place to look for anti-Americans from Southern California slamming our national interests, A-V.

Could you explain?

has anybody been talked to online about this site by somebody they didn't know, who said they were on the site but didn't post, or were new, or something similar?

a couple weeks ago some guy who claimed he was new on the site IMed me and asked me a #load of questions about the site, mostly revolving around if i believed in the site, i was able to answer vaguely but in such a way that the questioning would continue

I wish i remember what their name was

Originally posted by Abraham Virtue


[Edited on 25-3-2003 by Abraham Virtue]

Sure you do. You're a pretty smart guy.

It might be very helpful, KKing, if you could remember this person's name. At present, Mod's/Admin's are short on facts other than those they can glean themselves.

to view the past u2u messages, are they stored in a cache or deleted as they are by the user, or is it possible to see who has u2u'ed someone, like his history of it. or it merely bs to garner attn and heighten position in all of this, the latter i doubt, but i gotta stay skeptical

go to your u2u box and you can view both old u2u's received by you as well as ones you've sent.

While you're viewing them, it is a good idea to delete the ones you don't absolutely need as there is a limit on how many you can have. Once you exceed thelimit, your u2u will not allow you to send anymore.

This sure takes the anonimity from the posting process with the DoHSD present at any time and the Seal of death plastered across the pages!!!

Nice talking to all of you, time for me to find a new sandbox to vent in!!

[Edited on 31-3-2003 by USMC Harrier]