In Memory of Mr. Franklin

[jarandhel]

I just had the occasion to make use of a book that the federal government has labeled dangerous. No, not the Anarchist's Cookbook. Not even a copy of 2600. Just a simple, ordinary almanac. It's a great source of information on things like the Iraqi economy, which is very useful when faced with claims that democracy alone will help grow Iraq's economy.

Using the almanac has returned my attention to our government's previous attack on almanac-owners. You might remember this announcement from around christmas last year:

In a bulletin sent Christmas Eve to about 18,000 police organizations, the FBI said terrorists may use almanacs "to assist with target selection and pre-operational planning."

It urged officers to watch during searches, traffic stops and other investigations for anyone carrying almanacs, especially if the books are annotated in suspicious ways.

"The practice of researching potential targets is consistent with known methods of al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations that seek to maximize the likelihood of operational success through careful planning," the FBI wrote.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the bulletin this week and verified its authenticity.

"For local law enforcement, it's just to help give them one more piece of information to raise their suspicions," said David Heyman, a terrorism expert for the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. "It helps make sure one more bad guy doesn't get away from a traffic stop, maybe gives police a little bit more reason to follow up on this."

The FBI noted that use of almanacs or maps may be innocent, "the product of legitimate recreational or commercial activities." But it warned that when combined with suspicious behavior -- such as apparent surveillance -- a person with an almanac "may point to possible terrorist planning." -CNN

It occurs to me now... an almanac combined with suspicious behavior such as surveillance (a nebulous term) may point to possible terrorist planning? Does that mean that any tourist with an almanac highlighting information about the empire state building who takes it with him to New York and takes photos of the building itself might be considered a potential terrorist if stopped and searched?

I think that what the government is really afraid of is people using almanacs exactly as I have... to see through the lies and propaganda associated with this war.

Keep reading.