Scuba Diver Terrorists?

[kodiak]

ScubyDoo
Just my opinion but I beleive that you should go on with your treasure hunt, why not. We cant go on through the rest of our lifes suspecting that there is a terrorist behind every tree or under every rock, if we do then they have won and we are no longer free.

 

[cougar]

I am horrified that the instructors out their are being quizzed about thier student. Big Brother scares me way more than the terrorist! My father was an airline pilot until his death in 1973 on board a plane with a bomb. Obviously, I have NO sympathy for terrorists! However, this thread convinces me they may have already won if their goal was to limit our freedoms.

John Ashcroft, in the guise of "protecting" us has done more to limit our freedoms than Osama ever thought of. I have friends of Middle Eastern extraction who are afraid to be seen in public in this country their grandparents came to for the tolerance it offered.

...and don't get me started on airport security. I am a 52 year old "chunky" female who has practically been strip searched 6 times this year, so far. It doesn't take a genius to look at what is being done in the way of airport security and find numerous simple ways around it. With some imagination dental floss can be a formidable weapon. ...and then there's the obsidian knives in pockets that won't show up in the metal detector. No need to give any of the many terrorists lurking on this board any new ideas...but you get my drift, I'm sure :>) I think our governemnt has leaped upon a new cash cow...with no regard to what security measures might actually be effective. Like having the INS pay a bit more attention and assuring that students are actually studying.

Are they checking martial arts schools for talented students? Will the next step be to tie my hands and feet on the airplane in case I have training?? I feel like the security is a joke to reduce the angst of people who have so little imagination that they think it takes a gun, bomb or knife to do damage. In fact, by taking away every single item that could possibly be used as a weapon of defense they limit the ability of passengers to fight back. Perhaps this is what the terrorists intended all along. That we should live in fear and look at each other with suspicion.

 

[art.chick]

There is nothing wrong with a large, powerful, well-funded government as long as it is a government of, for, & by the people. The stuff we are all worried about is NOT coming from the people. And the media has been stripped of its role to provide information to help us run our own democracy. (I have spent 13 years working for corporate-run media) Do you think a large, powerful, well-funded PRIVATE sector gives us the optimum chance for freedom & self-rule? (No, I am not referring to autocratic LDSs!)

The way to reclaim our role as self-ruling Americans is to participate in government. Do you know the name of the city council-person responsible for the bay where your boats load? Could your LDS owner join you in putting out a petiton to get the heat turned off? Perhaps a state representative could carry the message that diving is a revenue booster for a region & this paranoia is strangling local trade. If we put forth the message that we are self-policing (who wants a buddy who acts like he's carrying explosives when we dive the oil rigs?) & will speak up if we think there is a reason to worry, perhaps we can get them to move on to real terrorist hang-outs. Perhaps some certification agencies could step forward & explain why divers don't need extra scrutiny. Someone in a higher place should know that we don't like being watched this way, someone who wants to be re-elected.

 

[Hawk]

You know, I was talking to a couple of people at work yesterday about all of this. One of the guys asked me why the FBI would be checking the training agencies here in the States? I could see why they trained to fly planes here, since we have the simulators for those planes and they don't. We use the same gear for diving here that is used the world over. If you were a terrorist and did not want to raise any eyebrows, wouldn't you simply train in your own country or one nearby? Didn't anybody in the government think of this?



Later, Hawk.

 

[Waterlover]

I think one of the main focuses for the FBI is on rebreather and technical training which is not widely available outside the US. But they are trying to cover all bases and start with open water when they ask.
Ken

 

[Bob3]

Training outfits outside the US ARE being visited, especially the ones in the SE Asia area.

As far as a scuba diver blowing up a dam, it would be darn near impossible.
I've blown up several dams while subcontracting for the Department of Natural Resources, and I can attest from personal experience that it's not an easy job. Dams are built to take a lot of abuse & to last a loooong time.
Not at all like buildings.

 

[Windknot]

Admission to participation in such activities might bring unwanted attention to yourself.....

If by chance you are held without being charged for several years.....can I have all of your stuff????

 

[art.chick]

My instructor today told us that a memo had gone out form his certification agency requesting that if any member of a mosque had taken his class in the past 3 years that he submit the person's name to the FBI.

 

[Bob3]

... can I have all of your stuff????

Only if you start with my roomie first.
She's got this "thing" for organizing my stuff; can't find a thing for weeks afterwards.
I did manage to hornswaggle her into finishing up a few FredT backplates for me though.

Dams aren't the only thing I know a fair amount about, I do lighthouses too. This is a job I did for the Coast Guard: http://www.scubadiving.com/members/memberimages/5855_61_2.jpg
"Last moments of the Gull Island Light (Michigan)".
Most of that kind of work is for state & federal jobs, Greenpeace are the guys I need to watch out for.

 

[AllenG]

Warning: The following is offered solely for the purpose of levity (or educating the truly clueless). It is not the intent of the author to make light of terrorism, the fight against terrorism, the doctrines of Islam or those who hold it dear.

And now, for all of the instructors here at ScubaBoard, in the tradition of David Letterman, the "Top 10 Signs That One of Your Diving Students May Be A Terrorist"

10. The student pulls out a wet suit with a camouflage design.

9. The student has modified his compass so that it always
points to Mecca.

8. The student insists on wearing a pair of bored-out sneakers
instead of fins.

7. When advised to carry a dive knife, the student replies that
he is carrying the “Sword of Islam.” (i.e., the doctrine that
Islam was spread by the sword of Islam, i.e. the truth and
rightness of Islam, and not by the sword of steel, i.e. force).

6. The student asks if he can use a gas mask as a regulator.

5. The student’s dive plan includes 72 virgins.

4. The student asks if Atomic Aquatics makes any gear other
than regulators and fins.

3. The last entry in his log book is a cave . . . in Afghanistan.

2. The student gets nervous when, upon arriving at the dive
site, the instructor says “let’s roll.”

1. The student says he is only interested in learning how to
descend.