From: "Mark" 

Oh, shit, you're expecting a conversation over overhyped media
characterizations of differences between Bush and his poodle? No thanks. If
it was opportunism, it'd have broken before "runaway bride eyes"
Lamont beat Lieberman in the primary in CT

Hmm, well maybe not, maybe Karl Rove wanted Lamont to win so as to embolden
the Dems to go even leftier than they have of late 


"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/NEWS05/60814033
9/1007/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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