Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOfficial: Water complaints could be 'act of terrorism'
A Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation deputy director warned a group of Maury County residents that unfounded complaints about water quality could be considered an act of terrorism.
We take water quality very seriously. Very, very seriously, said Sherwin Smith, deputy director of TDECs Division of Water Resources, according to audio recorded by attendees. But you need to make sure that when you make water quality complaints you have a basis, because federally, if theres no water quality issues, that can be considered under Homeland Security an act of terrorism.
Can you say that again, please? an audience member can be heard asking on the audio.
Smith went on in the recording to repeat the claim almost verbatim.
The audio was recorded May 29 by Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment, a Knoxville-based civic action group that had been working with Maury County residents to tackle water quality complaints in Mount Pleasant. Residents there have complained to the state for months, saying some children had become ill drinking the water. The meeting was organized by State Rep. Sheila Butt, R-Columbia, and attended by residents, TDEC and local officials.
We take water quality very seriously. Very, very seriously, said Sherwin Smith, deputy director of TDECs Division of Water Resources, according to audio recorded by attendees. But you need to make sure that when you make water quality complaints you have a basis, because federally, if theres no water quality issues, that can be considered under Homeland Security an act of terrorism.
Can you say that again, please? an audience member can be heard asking on the audio.
Smith went on in the recording to repeat the claim almost verbatim.
The audio was recorded May 29 by Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment, a Knoxville-based civic action group that had been working with Maury County residents to tackle water quality complaints in Mount Pleasant. Residents there have complained to the state for months, saying some children had become ill drinking the water. The meeting was organized by State Rep. Sheila Butt, R-Columbia, and attended by residents, TDEC and local officials.
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20130621/NEWS02/306210110/Official-Water-complaints-could-act-terrorism-?gcheck=1
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
5 replies, 932 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (17)
ReplyReply to this post
5 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Official: Water complaints could be 'act of terrorism' (Original Post)
FarCenter
Jun 2013
OP
How about the polluters, when a complaint isn't unfounded? Isn't that the bigger crime? nt
Electric Monk
Jun 2013
#1
Electric Monk
(13,869 posts)1. How about the polluters, when a complaint isn't unfounded? Isn't that the bigger crime? nt
Autumn
(45,120 posts)3. You are so silly. The bigger crime is complaining about the polluters.
We are all terrorists now.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)4. You clearly are against capitalism
and that's your crime. How dare you get in the middle of people and profit. Criminal!
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,345 posts)2. That's a fair cop.
snot
(10,538 posts)5. These people evidently weren't aware
that we all, already commit three felonies a day {from http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022987642 }:
"In a book called Three Felonies A Day, Boston civil rights lawyer Harvey Silverglate says that everyone in the US commits felonies everyday and if the government takes a dislike to you for any reason, they'll dig in and find a felony you're guilty of.
"The average professional in this country wakes up in the morning, goes to work, comes home, eats dinner, and then goes to sleep, unaware that he or she has likely committed several federal crimes that day. Why? The answer lies in the very nature of modern federal criminal laws, which have exploded in number but also become impossibly broad and vague. In Three Felonies a Day, Harvey A. Silverglate reveals how federal criminal laws have become dangerously disconnected from the English common law tradition and how prosecutors can pin arguable federal crimes on any one of us, for even the most seemingly innocuous behavior. The volume of federal crimes in recent decades has increased well beyond the statute books and into the morass of the Code of Federal Regulations, handing federal prosecutors an additional trove of vague and exceedingly complex and technical prohibitions to stick on their hapless targets. The dangers spelled out in Three Felonies a Day do not apply solely to "white collar criminals," state and local politicians, and professionals. No social class or profession is safe from this troubling form of social control by the executive branch, and nothing less than the integrity of our constitutional democracy hangs in the balance.
* * * * *
"We know what happened in the case of QWest before 9/11. They contacted the CEO/Chairman asking to wiretap all the customers. After he consulted with Legal, he refused. As a result, NSA canceled a bunch of unrelated billion dollar contracts that QWest was the top bidder for. And then the DoJ targeted him and prosecuted him and put him in prison for insider trading -- on the theory that he knew of anticipated income from secret programs that QWest was planning for the government, while the public didn't because it was classified and he couldn't legally tell them, and then he bought or sold QWest stock knowing those things.
"This CEO's name is Joseph P. Nacchio and TODAY he's still serving a trumped-up 6-year federal prison sentence today for quietly refusing an NSA demand to massively wiretap his customers."