what?

[arkster]

Firefighters.

Unlike police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel don't need warrants to access hundreds of thousands of homes and buildings each year, putting them in a position to spot behavior that could indicate terrorist activity or planning.

...

Even before the federal program began, New York firefighters and inspectors had been training to recognize materials and behavior the government identifies as "signs of planning and support for terrorism."

When going to private residences, for example, they are told to be alert for a person who is hostile, uncooperative or expressing hate or discontent with the United States; unusual chemicals or other materials that seem out of place; ammunition, firearms or weapons boxes; surveillance equipment; still and video cameras; night-vision goggles; maps, photos, blueprints; police manuals, training manuals, flight manuals; and little or no furniture other than a bed or mattress.

...

Cassano would not discuss specifics, but he did say that some terrorism-related information has been passed along to law enforcement since firefighters and officers began the training three years ago. "They've had some hits," Cassano said. "It's working."


Firefighters!?

jesus. jesus. This country. Our firefighters. How long has this been in place? How long has this been planned?

Comments

further quote

[(Anonymous)]

"If an ambulance team shows up at a house and sees detailed maps of the District's public transit system on the wall, that's something the EMS provider would pass along, he said."

ooops, guess all the transit maps need to go in the trash...

Re: further quote

[notsteven.livejournal.com]

Only terrorists would have maps, of course. Just like only terrorists would put blinking electronic devices around a city. Or wear turbans on a plane.

[ping-pong-cow.livejournal.com]

Probably since Cheney, Rumsfeld, et al drafted the Novus Ordo Seclorum for a persistent American hegemony into the 21st century sometime in the late 90s, early 2000. This was prior to 9/11, if I remember my reading right. Oops, sorry, my conspiracy cap is leaking.

Eh, Britain is about to genetically tag and ID every single citizen. We're nowhere near the cutting edge of pseudo-fascist oversight and control. Relax - we still have at least a decade or two of dangerous thoughts left to us!

[arks.livejournal.com]

Pre-9/11 is what I assumed.

On the optimistic side, a decade or two is a lot of time to change things.

[ping-pong-cow.livejournal.com]

Hey, lead the charge. I wouldn't know where to end, much less begin. Revolutions have a way of ending up messy, though. Maybe that's their beauty.

[arks.livejournal.com]

I think we could use some honest mess. All this structure is only tangling itself into more clusterfuck.

As for where to end, I doubt we'll require that. Just as it's difficult to believe the fascism will last for two decades, it's even harder to think that a revolution, even a good messy one, will stick for longer.