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Man Charged Under Patriot Act for Laser | ||||
2005-01-05 | ||||
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Federal authorities Tuesday used the Patriot Act to charge a man with pointing a laser beam at an airplane overhead and temporarily blinding the pilot and co-pilot. The FBI acknowledged the incident had no connection to terrorism but called David Banach's actions "foolhardy and negligent."
Banach's lawyer, Gina Mendola-Longarzo, said her client was simply using the hand-held device to look at stars with his daughter on the family's deck.
Then, on Friday, a helicopter carrying Port Authority detectives was hit by a laser beam as its crew surveyed the area to try to pinpoint the origin of the original beam. According to the FBI, the Patriot Act does not describe helicopters as "mass transportation vehicles." As for why Banach was not charged with some other offense over the helicopter incident, Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, did not immediately return calls for comment. A few hours after the helicopter was hit by the laser, FBI agents canvassed Banach's neighborhood, trying to find the source of the beams. | ||||
Posted by:Steve White |
#17 Uploading the other 5 albums now - which will prolly make the D/L's run slower - done in an hour or so. The links are horrific - and Dear friends is broken up into 29 tracks - yikes! The others go to the other extreme Trk1 - Side 1, lol! Anyway, I'll post the links to the others on this thread tonight - so bookmark it for later, K? |
Posted by: .com 2005-01-05 11:37:29 PM |
#16 Dang... so many years... I'd forgotten all about Gabby the Sacred Cowboy-- and how much fun it was playing Beat The Reaper. |
Posted by: Dave D. 2005-01-05 11:32:14 PM |
#15 Some of their finest. [WC Fields] "It behooves me 'pon this 'istorical occasion to dedicate the the "Stinking Water National Indian Reservation and Cobalt Testing Range." [/WC Fields] Civilisation, ho! [nuclear explosion] NOTE: For those unfamiliar on the subject. A pair of cobalt nuclear bombs, exploded at each of the earth's poles, would sterilize all human life upon the entire planet. |
Posted by: Zenster 2005-01-05 11:28:17 PM |
#14 These are ripped, uploaded, and online for your listening pleasure, heh: Temporarily Humbolt County WC Fields Forever Le Trente-Huit Cunegonde Waiting for the Electrician |
Posted by: .com 2005-01-05 11:14:00 PM |
#13 So, kick down, .com. Exactly which Firesign routine are you listening to? |
Posted by: Zenster 2005-01-05 11:00:07 PM |
#12 ROFLMAO!!! Mixed with playing back the Firesign rips - it took me a second to realize that it wasn't in the skit I was listening to as I read your post, tu. Schizo today, lol! |
Posted by: .com 2005-01-05 7:58:25 PM |
#11 I guess since they don't have Shithead Act, they had to go with what they had... |
Posted by: tu3031 2005-01-05 7:44:46 PM |
#10 The "cops" are pissed that the fool targeted a FBI helicopter and charged him with the fastest thing they could think of: The Patriot Act. In the end, it won't stick (at least on appeal) but by then the searches will be complete and this idiot's life turned upside down (a good thing). In a perfect world we could just tie him to a post in the town square for a week with a sign on him that says "Don't let this happen to you" |
Posted by: Dave 2005-01-05 9:56:12 AM |
#9 SPoD, I completely agree with you. This is one stupid prosecuter looking for name recognition. This reminds me of the Dr. Hatfill debacle. This NOT a Patriot Act issue. There are already laws against this type of behavior. The Patriot Act is there to stop real terrorist/group activites. The Patriot Act is not there, to use as an excuse to raid strip bars looking for strippers dancing to close to the clients. This actally happened in Las Vegas about a year ago. This is just another case of political correctness run-a-muck. It's always politically safe to arrest and ridicule the white man. But we MUST treat the Muslim terrorist with dignity, with 3 Eastern meals a day, with a Koran, etc. The real danger in this whole thing is that the MSM will use this to make a public propaganda of the Patriot Act and use it to attack Bush, more than they are already doing. The dangerous MSM will use this as added ammunition to attack conservative appointments of Attorney General's or judges. THE PATRIOT ACT SHOULD ONLY BE RESERVED FOR TRUE TERRORIST ACTIVITES, NOT FOR THE PROSECUTER'S POLITICAL GAIN. Again, there are already plenty of laws in the books for this type of behavior. |
Posted by: Poison Reverse 2005-01-05 9:43:12 AM |
#8 A little fear mongering targeting the general public is not always a bad thing. Stomp on this bozo hard enough and you only have to stomp once, the rest of the clowns in the gallery will hear of it. Same thing you did with Saddam, its called deterrencre, or however you spell that word. Overkill?!? of course it is. Necessary?!?! YES. |
Posted by: Jimbo19 2005-01-05 9:20:09 AM |
#7 typical fear mongering by the MSM Indeed. Journalists who don't have a clue as to what they're talking cast around for an easy angle to peddle: Today "terrorists", tomorrow "The |
Posted by: lex 2005-01-05 8:57:00 AM |
#6 People are noticing them because the green lasers are much more visable than the red ones. People are pointing them at the sky for that very reason. Please, if you're a terrorist launching shoulder-fired missiles at planes, you hardly need to laser rangefind them first. You just need a tone and a lock-on. 25 years and a half-mil for this joker is overkill. The Sock Puppet is right. This is fear-mongering, plain and simple. We need to stop being scared of shadows. |
Posted by: Scott 2005-01-05 8:45:43 AM |
#5 Actually we only know of 3 verified incidents total. This is typical fear mongering by the MSM. It's right up there with "USS Maine sunk by mine in Havana." |
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2005-01-05 6:56:53 AM |
#4 Ok, SPoD. As long as the fools are prosecuted, I'll agree that applying the Patriot Act may well be overkill. But that there were suddenly so many incidents seems awfully suspicious to me, and I'm not sure all the incidents could be explained as nighttime stargazing. |
Posted by: trailing wife 2005-01-05 6:53:05 AM |
#3 Oh it's certainly something that needs to be prosecuted. But under the patriot act? I don't think so. There are plenty of laws on the books that cover this stupidity. It's like killing flies with a shotgun. Using the Patriot act makes the feds look stuipid. By the way these green lasers are used to point out astronomic features. I know since I just bought one for my astronomicly inclined son in law. They can also be used to "guide" a telescope on to a celestial object with mounts and switches made for the purpose. I plan on getting one of my own before some knee jerk congress critter thinks they need to be baned. I am thinking this bozo was using a laser that was much more powerful than the 5 mw that is the limit by federal regulation of any laser that can be normaly pointed into the sky. |
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2005-01-05 5:55:58 AM |
#2 I disagree SPoD. This one is like drunk driving: stupidity that endangers others is an actionable offence, and must be punished, lest others feel permitted to do the same. Also, if the stupid can be intimidated into behaving, the evil who act with malice aforethought will not be able to hide in their ranks. |
Posted by: trailing wife 2005-01-05 5:46:09 AM |
#1 The prosecuter who is making the "patriot act" charges needs to be tried for stupidity along with this bozo. So far they haven't charged one real terrorist with it as far as I can tell, just an assortment of losers. |
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2005-01-05 2:42:16 AM |