It is exactly as I stated during earlier coverage of this event on this blog.

There was no emergency and the library was correct to protect the privacy of ALL the users of that facility, not just the bomb-emailer.

I am also amused to see how quickly all the hawks were so quick to condemn the librarian and the mayor who stood up to the jack-booting FBI.

These rights are hard to come by and so easily lost. Many of you probably don't know that the USSR had a bill of civil rights every bit as noble as the United States. It was just temporarily not being enforced because of exigent circumstances (the Cold War).

I am also certain that the alleged bomb threat did not originate from any Islamic jihadist, but nobody here thought to give that possibility any thought.

Make absolutely certain you know who your enemy truly is.

CD 'Bar' Baric

Posted by: blazar-jet at February 1, 2006 9:13 AM

Right on blazar-jet...Power to the people...F the Pigs.. F the Pigs. Like that is one righteous book lady. We need to stand up for our rights and stop the fascists that run our govt and enforce unjust laws. They are nothing but "jack-booted" fascist tools of the military industrial state.
I hope you will join us when we fire up our grease powered bus and chicken doo powered cars down to the Bush Ranch in Crawford. Dont worry about a thing..I'll drive. We plan on having a read in, to protest domestic spying on behalf of all library users everywhere. We have to stop these people before they get our video store records. We really dont want to cross that bridge. We will meet up tomorrow at the family complex at Hayannisport. Dont bring your stash cause our convoy is going thru the south. You know what theyall do when grease powered buses go thru a small town. Glick-Weil will be the next Susan Sheehan. Our library rights are important, remember if a bomber does strike, they probably won't target bike stores, co-ops, or vegan bakeries.
Power to the People,
Your favorite senator.

PS. $5 to anybody who knows the name of my dog.

Posted by: GrimReaperxxx at February 1, 2006 11:09 AM

If the FBI determined that the need was urgent than I would surely hope that they would act immediatley to find the source, "PC be Dammed" and use the powers that are vested to them in the interest of national security.

They did not come to the library to arbitrarily spy on the American people, but they came to do the job that we ask of them and nothing more.

Get over your ridiculous paranoia, they are on your side my friends.

Posted by: Mackie at February 1, 2006 11:29 AM

One of those "non dire" bomb threats?

And exactly how do they determine that?

Every school I ever went to was immediately evacuated if such a stupid threat came in - even if obviously in the voice of a teenaged doofus trying to get the day off for a friend.

They then determined it wasn't "dire" after the fact, once the building(s) was (were) searched.

How could these Nostradamuses decide it beforehand I'd like to know?

Sounds like 'clean up' to cover up the deserved embarassment of all, after the fact.

Your rights are determined by the level of threat.

You can't say: "Oh, it's probably not serious, I'll stay at my desk..." as happened to many in the WTC second tower, who then died because of the apparently "non dire" nature of the first airliner crashing into the first tower. (As building security initially told them.)

Something stinks here.

Both librarians and police.

To the latter: do your job in protecting the public, no matter what the nasty library lady says to intimidate you.

Lives may have been at stake.

(Back to your bomb-building after the little pseudo-"defend-your-rights!" disinformation blurb, eh, "blazar jet"?)

Posted by: profitsbeard at February 1, 2006 11:49 AM

Hey Blazar Jet, I've got to disagree with you. The FBI should've done all that it could to retrieve the computers. This was not an invasion of privacy. There was a possible threat to the population on the campus. Whether it was a terrorist or a prankster. I'd rather that they grab the computers and be sure than let it go and an incident happens.
Your comment,

"I'm certain that the alledged bomb threat did not originate from any jihadist Islamic, but nobody here thought to give that possiblity any thought."

This was an asinine statement. How could you be so certain? Unless you have some inside track to information the the FBI dosen't, you couldn't know. Mohamed Atta made numerous phone calls and e-mails to the Middle East in the years, weeks and days leading to and before September 11th 2001. Our government had enough to move on but opt not to because of the lack of a time table of enactment of the plot. The President said it best during his State of the Union Address, "We will not wait to be hit!!!"
The libarary was wrong to protect anything that would/could cause hurt, harm or danger to this country, let alone the campus students and property.
If there had been an incident, would you be saying this? No! You'd be too busy blaming the "jack-booting" FBI for not moving on the matter. For not doing all that they could to prevent the incident. Blaming America!!!
What you fail to understand is that the Bill of Rights does not guarantee anyones privacy. There is no admendment to the fact. But we do have the 5th Amendment that guarantees the Right to Remain Silient. In other words, defense against self incrimination. The Miranda Act. There is also the Right to the Pursuit of Happiness under the law. We, as citizens, have many rights, but the right to privacy isn't one of them. You can check the Bill of Rights for yourself.
Libararies are publicly funded anyway. There was nothing to stop the FBI from taking the computers. Especially in this case. They were being nice this time. But believe me, people are on notice. Whether you want it or not, the FBI is obligated to protect the national security of this country. It's what they are ordered to do by the President as "Comander in Chief" of this great country who is under Consitutional order to protect this country by any means nessasary.
Anyone threatening this country or working with bodies not condusive to the well being of this country should be survailled, and if need be, detained and/or arrested and charged. A student here on a visa is not a U.S. citizen. Thus the Constitution does not apply to them.
We know who the enemy is, it's just that the leftist in the democratic party won't let the "good guys," that's us, get them! Thus leaving us open to attack. I don't trust the government. Never have and never will, but it's what we've got until November of this year.

Posted by: Ironman Hondo at February 1, 2006 12:19 PM

The entire premise of fire alarms, tornado sirens, airport security, and the Secret Service's protection of the President is this:

Profitsbeard said it very well: It's only possible to know a threat "wasn't dire" in hindsight.

That's why making a false threat is a crime: One has to operate under the assumption of "clear and present danger," as the collective human experience presents a corollary to Murphy's Law in that the one threat you brush off will be the one to come back and bite you.

Since nothing happened, will the parties concerned stop congratulating themselves on "preserving the right to privacy" long enough to pursue the computer user who wasted taxpayer money on a bogus threat, and abused library property?

Posted by: Shinoliite at February 1, 2006 2:04 PM

I knew nobody read the kid's book that I wrote about my dog. You missed your chance at $5. My dog is appropriately named SPLASH. If you dont believe me google Ted Kennedy and Dog.
Love and kisses
Your favorite Senator.

Posted by: GrimReaperxxx at February 1, 2006 11:07 PM