From: "Rich Gauszka" 

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/NEWS05/6081403
39/1007/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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