Thu
Aug 10 2006
09:49:am

Threat level orange on aisle seven:

Investigators going through the car after the pair were pulled over in Marietta, about 90 miles southeast of Columbus, also found a map that showed locations of Wal-Mart stores from Ohio through Kentucky, Tennessee and into North and South Carolina, Vessels said.

And one of them is named Osama!

(But seriously, these guys do sound pretty hinky.)

18
vote
SayUncle's picture

Obviously, it's premature to

Obviously, it's premature to determine exactly what they were doing. But i've mentioned something like this about 3 years ago.

---
SayUncle
Can't we all just get a long gun?

R. Neal's picture

Yikes! I'm wondering,

Yikes! I'm wondering, though, if they were mapping out their resupply points. Or maybe Wal*Mart carries large volumes of the types of cell phones they were trading in. Or maybe they were buying up ammo or something, and spreading it around to not draw attention. No telling.

tennesseevaluesauthority's picture

Wal-Mart

I would point out that I also own a map showing Wal-Mart locations. I bought it, of course, at Wal-Mart. I think they have some sort of publishing deal with Rand McNally and road atlases sold at Wal-Mart (at least the large bound ones I like to keep in the car) all come with Wal-Mart locations highlighted. I didn't particularly care where the Wal-Marts were. I just needed to know how to navigate the interstates and backroads en route to my destination.

So, while I would also suspect it is useful as a directory for locating resupply locations, I'm not sure I'm particularly ready to read anything in to it, yet.

SayUncle's picture

TVA, good to

TVA, good to know.

---
SayUncle
Can't we all just get a long gun?

R. Neal's picture

Yeah, that is interesting.

Yeah, that is interesting. You'd think the cops would have noticed the locations were printed v. marked with a Sharpie or something. Who knows?

Number9's picture

Or maybe Wal*Mart carries

Or maybe Wal*Mart carries large volumes of the types of cell phones they were trading in. Or maybe they were buying up ammo or something, and spreading it around to not draw attention. No telling.

Isn't it curious how the Patriot Act forgot about disposable cell phones?

The .gov requires citizens to sacrifice their constitutional rights buts allows terrorists and crazies to purchase disposable cell phones at Wal*Mart.

Typical.

But who knows, maybe each of those phones are bugged and have Lo-Jack on them. That would be clever.

tennesseevaluesauthority's picture

Map Quest

Well, the article only says the officers "found a map that showed locations of Wal-Mart stores from Ohio through Kentucky, Tennessee, and into North and South Carolina."

I suppose it would make a bit of a difference if the map was homemade or simply pages ripped from the Wal-Mart edition of the Rand McNally Road Atlas. Given the large amount of purchases of pre-paid phones, etc., I would guess the map (whether homemade or real) would provide handy information on places to stock up on supplies.

If I were ever pulled over as a terror suspect, the AP wire story could indicate that I had maps in my car showing the locations of Wal-Mart stores, Cracker Barrel restaurants, and Holiday Inns across the country.

R. Neal's picture

Indeed, the Uncle Herschle's

Indeed, the Uncle Herschle's Loosen Your Belt Breakfast is a weapon of mass destruction!

Les Jones's picture

If they were going to blow up stores

Wouldn't they have been going after Targets?

Ba bump CHING!


Hey, Les, why don't we just call each other assholes and get it over with. - Somebody on the old Southknoxbubba.net (if that was you, claim your quote and win net.fame!)

SayUncle's picture

Well, R. Neal's mention of

Well, R. Neal's mention of Cracker Barrel made me hungry.

Les' lame joke made me not so much ;)

---
SayUncle
Can't we all just get a long gun?

metulj's picture

MY EYES! THE GOGGLES DON'T

MY EYES! THE GOGGLES DON'T WORK!!!! 

 

True happiness is knowing you are a hypocrite. -- Ivor Cutler

bizgrrl's picture

I guess there won't be a

I guess there won't be a problem if I keep a list of all the Starbucks in my car. They don't really have the supplies.

Factchecker's picture

Repugs wouldn't care if

Repugs wouldn't care if Starbucks gets taken out.  Except for "Pink Sugar" Harris.

Number9's picture

You might remember my post

You might remember my post about disposable cell phones and national security. Apparently somebody at Wal*Mart had enough sense to call the cops when they saw the same "Middle Eastern" guys buying disposable phones every day. A lawsuit for profiling will be soon to come.

Let's review, every phone on the planet is tapped and you cannot fly on a plane with a bottled water, but you can buy over a thousand disposable phones without having to give your name?

metulj's picture

That's not profiling on

That's not profiling on ethnicity. That's profiling a behavior. Now would they have pricked their ears at me, average white guy, as quickly? Maybe not. But buying inordinant numbers of cell phones is alone enough to raise suspicion in my book. It'll never get to witness testimony that "I figgered they was turrizts cuz they looked like ragheads." They'll beg for a plea bargain.

 

True happiness is knowing you are a hypocrite. -- Ivor Cutler

Stick Thrower's picture

Charges dropped

Looks like they were just three guys trying to buy and resell some phones.

 
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060815/ap_on_re_us/phones_terror_charges
 
I'm curious if it would have raised any suspicion if they were trying to buy and resell 1,000 guns instead. 
 
metulj's picture

BUT THAT"S THEIR

BUT THAT"S THEIR RIGHTS!!!!!!! 

 

True happiness is knowing you are a hypocrite. -- Ivor Cutler

Stick Thrower's picture

No right to bear phones?

 
But phones don't blow up bridges.... blah blah. 
 

BTW, why can't I seem to make a web link in a post? When I add an "<a= href..." it adds an "x" in front of the href.  And by IT, I mean whatever magic transpires between the me writing/editing a post and me clicking the "post comment" button.

 
Using the limited and experimental browser Safari on a Mac.

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