From: "Gary Britt" 

You have a fundamental misunderstanding of the heart and soul of Bush and
his administration then.

Gary

"Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
news:44e1455e$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>I vote for opportunism. I doubt the Brits would push their luck like that
>
>
> "Gary Britt"  wrote in message
news:44e13b4a{at}w3.nls.net...
>> Safety over pushing your luck.  Those planes would have been filled with
>> mostly Americans and if the event happened it would have tanked a good
>> part of our economy as well.
>>
>> It was an opportunity to err on the side of save American lives.
>>
>> Gary
>>
>> "Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
>> news:44e13023$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>>> There is a difference in abridging one's rights and competence. There is
>>> also the problem of accumulating more data than you can process.
>>>
>>> If the Bush administration was so worried about catching the terrorists
>>> why didn't they allow the Brits the extra week that was asked for in
>>> this latest incident?  Opportunism over safety?
>>>
>>>
>>> "Mark"  wrote in message
news:44e12da7{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>> Rich, I don't necessarily disagree, but you've been in the
forefront of
>>>> stopping the Bush administration from effecting
intelligent information
>>>> gathering methods -- so at least we still have the
Wal-Mart cashiers on
>>>> our side, better than nothing 
>>>>
>>>> "Rich Gauszka"  wrote
in message
>>>> news:44e12cf9$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>>>I don't have a problem with what the Wal-Mart cashier
did. It's been
>>>>>reported that in some of these incidents the suspects
purchasing the
>>>>>cell phones were questioned by law enforcement multiple
times  over a
>>>>>week prior to the headline making arrests.  It just
seems that in this
>>>>>day and age of Bush's information gathering steamroller
that there is
>>>>>still no smooth flow of information between agencies.
This is looking
>>>>>like an incident that wasted time for those actively pursuing
>>>>>terrorists.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> "Mark"  wrote in message
>>>>> news:44e12722$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>>>> Well, however this whole brouhaha turns out, I'm
glad the Wal-Mart
>>>>>> cashier called the cops, I'm glad the cops
followed-up and detained
>>>>>> the guys. If I got pulled over with lots of cash
and 100s of pre-paid
>>>>>> cell phones bought in a variety of Wal-Marts
thousands of miles from
>>>>>> my home, I'd expect to be taken in too. >>>>> purported facts that seem to overlap a couple of
different arrests in
>>>>>> the thread>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Gary Britt" 
wrote in message
>>>>>> news:44e12329{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>>>>> Rich, the claim below they are being sold to
local gas stations,
>>>>>>> etc. seems completely insane to me.  Why buy
from gas station when
>>>>>>> you can buy the same phone for less at
Wal-Mart.  If the phones were
>>>>>>> being converted to something not sold at
Wal-Mart or being shipped
>>>>>>> overseas, then at least the "its just an
innocent business" claim
>>>>>>> might make some sense, but it makes no sense
at all that Arabs in
>>>>>>> Dearborn would rather pay higher price to gas
station than buy from
>>>>>>> the Wal-Mart next door.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Gary
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "Rich Gauszka"
 wrote in message
>>>>>>> news:44e11943{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> "Mike N."
 wrote in message
>>>>>>>> news:7452e2dfqdtfhug4v0oc9cd4hrfbapn4r5{at}4ax.com...
>>>>>>>>> On Mon, 14 Aug 2006 19:34:47 -0400,
"Gary Britt" 
>>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>Where are these cell phones sold,
USA or overseas?  Whose buying
>>>>>>>>>>them rather
>>>>>>>>>>than go to the local Wal-Mart
themselves?  Why only Arabs
>>>>>>>>>>exploiting this
>>>>>>>>>>"opportunity"?
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>  And if they are indeed reselling
them, what a bunch of dummies as
>>>>>>>>> businessmen!   Why buy in qty 1,000
retail when they could get a
>>>>>>>>> significant break on that quantity by
buying directly from
>>>>>>>>> Tracfone.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>  More likely, they are just adding a
level of obfuscation for
>>>>>>>>> purchasing
>>>>>>>>> and reselling untraceable cell phones.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> But I thought Gary Britt  loved the
entrepreneur spirit?
>>>>>>>> 'An independent entrepreneur will buy the
phones for, say, $8 each.
>>>>>>>> He will sell them to a distributor for
$12, making a $4 profit.
>>>>>>>> Multiply that by a thousand -- about the
number of phones the three
>>>>>>>> men arrested in Caro bought in total --
and you have a $4,000
>>>>>>>> profit.'
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060814/NEWS05/608140
339/1007/NEWS05
>>>>>>>> It may seem unusual for someone to buy
hundreds of cell phones at a
>>>>>>>> time, but metro Detroiters of Middle
Eastern descent say that
>>>>>>>> practice is part of a long tradition of
entrepreneurship in
>>>>>>>> Arab-American communities.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> From Dearborn to Troy to Sterling Heights,
Arab Americans are a
>>>>>>>> major part of the cell phone business in
southeastern Michigan. At
>>>>>>>> least half of the cell phone businesses in
the region are owned by
>>>>>>>> metro Detroiters of Arab or Chaldean
descent, say business owners
>>>>>>>> in the industry. Many new immigrants or
emerging businessmen earn
>>>>>>>> money by buying the cell phones and then
selling them to gas
>>>>>>>> stations, distributors or stores.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> It's called capitalism, Arab Americans say.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> In Michigan, "you can talk to almost
any family in the
>>>>>>>> Arab-American community, and they all have
some relative in the
>>>>>>>> cell phone business," said Warren
David, a Lebanese American from
>>>>>>>> Northville.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> If police knew that, perhaps five Arab
Americans would not have
>>>>>>>> been arrested last week on terrorism
charges after they bought
>>>>>>>> hundreds of cell phones, said David, who
recently sold his cell
>>>>>>>> phone business to an Iraqi American.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> "If they understood us a little more,
they might not jump the gun
>>>>>>>> so quickly," he said.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> In Ohio on Tuesday, a store employee
called police after two
>>>>>>>> 20-year-old Arab-American men from
Dearborn bought a large number
>>>>>>>> of cell phones at a Wal-Mart. The same
thing happened Friday in
>>>>>>>> Caro after three Arab-American men bought
80 phones at one store.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> In the Ohio case, Osama Abulhassan and Ali
Houssaiky were just
>>>>>>>> trying to make money by buying cell phones
so they could sell them
>>>>>>>> to a distributor for a profit, family members said.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> "The two young men were engaged in a
perfectly legal practice based
>>>>>>>> on the most fundamental principles of our
free market economy," the
>>>>>>>> Abulhassan family said in an e-mail.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Here's how the practice sometimes works,
said Nasser Beydoun, head
>>>>>>>> of the Dearborn-based American Arab
Chamber of Commerce:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> An independent entrepreneur will buy the
phones for, say, $8 each.
>>>>>>>> He will sell them to a distributor for
$12, making a $4 profit.
>>>>>>>> Multiply that by a thousand -- about the
number of phones the three
>>>>>>>> men arrested in Caro bought in total --
and you have a $4,000
>>>>>>>> profit.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> The distributor then will sell the phones
at a higher price to gas
>>>>>>>> station owners, who in turn sell them at a
marked-up price.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Many people of Arab descent "are
traders by nature," Beydoun said.
>>>>>>>> "That entrepreneurship should not be
linked to terrorism just
>>>>>>>> because they are Arab American."
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> For more than 100 years, the Arab-American
community has tried to
>>>>>>>> turn a profit on everything from trinkets
to watches to electronic
>>>>>>>> goods.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> In the 1980s, David recalled, blue jeans
were the hot item. And his
>>>>>>>> Lebanese immigrant grandfather often
bought and sold hosiery to
>>>>>>>> make a living.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> In metro Detroit, Arab Americans are
believed to dominate the cell
>>>>>>>> phone industry not only on the retail
level, but also when it comes
>>>>>>>> to wholesale dealers and accessory stores.
Two of the area's
>>>>>>>> biggest cell phone chains --  Wireless
Toyz and Wireless Giant --
>>>>>>>> are owned by Iraqi Chaldeans.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> This practice also occurs with other
goods. In Dearborn, for
>>>>>>>> example, Arab-American entrepreneurs buy
and sell incense, lighters
>>>>>>>> and flowers.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> There's a concern that what happened in
Ohio and Caro could hurt
>>>>>>>> Arab-American business owners.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Abed Ayoub, 26, a Dearborn resident who
often works on legal
>>>>>>>> issues, said he knows of at least two
cases in recent months in
>>>>>>>> which FBI agents questioned Arab Americans
after they purchased
>>>>>>>> large numbers of cell phones from stores.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> "They're just doing business, nothing
more," Ayoub said.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

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