Recreational Boats Considered a Homeland Security Threat

firstcoastnews.com ^ | 05/28/07 | jackelyn barnard

[TornadoAlley3]

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- The Memorial Day holiday means it's a day on the water with the family.

Chuck Singleton does what he can to makes sure his kids are safe out here. The concern is who else is out there.

"You don't know where they come from," said Singleton. "You know, they could load up with a bomb or whatever and come right out here."

With thousands of boats on the waterways, the worry is the recreational boat is now a Homeland Security threat.

"Just the sheer numbers and ability to hide among recreational traffic is something that makes it difficult for me to find the threat and address it," said Admiral Thad Allen, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard.

A simple boat could be used as a weapon.

"Just the fuel, this has 85 gallons in this boat and that's bomb itself," said Singleton.

The head of the U.S. Coast Guard is throwing around a couple of ideas on how to keep you safe.

One would require licenses for all boaters in all states.

The other would call for transponders on recreational boats so authorities can track their location.

"Anything to improve our coast and help everybody out, we need to do it. We just have to get control over this. I think it would be a good idea," said Singleton.

Those against the licensing or the use of transponders believe the Coast Guard needs to set up a small perimeter, a safety zone, in areas of concern, so small boats can't get into certain areas.

[Liberty Valance]

Deploy the SS FR^Feliner.
One eye on the fish and one eye on the foe.

[Tolsti]

Yeah, but Spain and London got hit too. And about 5000 other islamic atrocities.

Can we at least agree that they are attacking infidels?

[billbears]

Lemme tell ya, when the USS Cole was blown up I had already been watching the attacks in Israel for a few months.

News alert, that's over 5000 miles away. Of course attacks will happen on ships in calls of port. It's been happening for literally hundreds of years.

but they most assuredly have gone on all over the world and with devastating results.

Indeed they have. For quite a few decades. Your point?

Pretend that day isn’t coming. I wish it weren’t but it’s calculable and I know exactly what they’ll do if and when it every falls into their dirty little hands

Well contrary to 24 and Fox News, it's doubtful. However even if it did (and this may sound cold to you) so? We would retaliate and hopefully stay on target instead of starting a 'spread democracy' campaign. But these United States would not fall. We're not going to be 'taken over'. Geographically no armed forces exist that has the power it would take to subdue the entire nation.

If it’s any comfort, they’ll likely hit Israel first.

And hopefully the would retaliate with all force necessary to make the Islamic nuts realize it wouldn't be wise to do it again.

But I'm not going to live in fear or do a double take every time I see someone with a little bit darker skin either. That's what articles like this do. And not much more.

[JeffAtlanta]

I could even get pretty close to a nuclear power plant

Your overall point is very solid, but a passerby can't get very close to a nuclear power plant at all. There are multiple perimeters getting anywhere within 1/4 mile of an building used for operations (reactor building, turbine room, cooling towers) is not really possible for a passerby at any plants that I have seen.

[from occupied ga]

The authorities are doing their job for our safety, not just to mess with you and what you think are your rights.

LOL - good one. Let's all hear it now "If you're not doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about" It might have been a privilege to travel in Nazi Germany, and in Pol Pot's Cambodia, but the day that the government (or any of its statist apolgists) thinks its a privilege to travel in the USA is the day that we've lost.

The government won't stop 25,000,000 illegal Mexicans, but recreational boats present a danget - pull the other one.

[JeffAtlanta]

When I read the alarmist and reactionary posts here on FR that are in favor of giving up every freedom possible so we can be "safe from the terrorists" it reminds of me of a Family Guy scene where Lois wins a political debate by answering every question with the words "9-11".

This scene should be required viewing so that the alarmists can see how wacky they sound. Scene of Lois using 9/11 to win debate

In this other scene, Lois uses bizarre terrorist threats to get the voters to approve anything she proposes just so they will "fell safe again". next scene

[JeffAtlanta]

Actually I am opposed to the incremental way many of the personal freedoms we enjoy are being lost.

Good points - I certainly agree with your past and share your concerns.

Unfortuantely, many of the steps that our government has taken to "protect us" from terrorism are in reality totally ineffective against actual terrorists but very harmful toward honest, law abiding citizens.

In reality, they are just power grabs and they are relying on the naivety and emotions of the voters. Too many times here on FR, I have read "I trust my president to keep my family safe and if he says the government needs this power then that is good enough for me"

The anti-terrorism measures are just like laws that the gun grabbers come up with to protect us from "bad guys with guns". All they do is penalize law abiding citizens and do nothing to actually combat gun related crime. All the while, more and more freedoms are lost.

[from occupied ga]

When I read the alarmist and reactionary posts here on FR that are in favor of giving up every freedom possible so we can be "safe from the terrorists" it reminds of me of a Family Guy scene where Lois wins a political debate by answering every question with the words "9-11"

I'm more reminded of the quote from Sam Adams about loving servitude more than freedom

If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen

[zeugma]

The eagle on that seal needs to be a teutonic design like those used on 1930’s german currency.

[zeugma]

Anytime we are doing something that is a privilege, our rights are limited. Driving a car, operating a watercraft or aircraft, puts us in a position of scrutiny by the authorities. If you don't want your boat boarded for a life jacket check, make it obvious by wearing your life jacket at all times and making sure everyone on board is wearing theirs.

God save us from the "if it's not specifically mentioned by name in triplicate in the Constitution, it's not a right, it's a privilege" clowns. 

[383rr]

“They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security”

Benjamin Franklin

[Pilsner]

The ‘airplane into the building’ idea was first floated by Tom Clancy in his book, “Debt of Honor”

I think it was used in Stevn King's (writing as Richard Bachman) 1982 novel The Running Man. They changed it in the movie, but as I recall, the main character siezed an airplane and crashed it into the TV network's HQ.

[HangnJudge]

Nah, The very real terrorist use of an airplane against a building occurred in 1972 where a Hijacker threatened to fly a Boeing 727 into the Y-12 complex in Oak Ridge, a sufficiently sensitive area that a well placed airplane could have induced an environmental catastrophe.

He ended up in Cuba, behind bars, for a very long time, but older Oak Ridgers remember...

[capt.P]

As far as the original subject goes, think on this: every day in EVERY large coastal city, oil tankers are unloading product at that region’s receiving terminal... My own ship (a 40,000 ton tanker) passes under the major NY bridges frequently, as well as more rural places like Beaumont, TX, where 25% of the crude oil in the US is received. A load of gasoline on my (more or less) unarmed ship has more explosive potential than the hiroshima bomb. The blast radius could level Boston, or 1/2 of Manhattan, or the entire L.A. Basin. Any one of these places could also be completely shut down for a month simply by sinking a large ship such as mine in the main channel. Blocking commerce at Beaumont, NYC, or LA’s breakwater entrance would throw the entire country into a recession, and Beaumont (or Houston), could throw the nation into a depression.

I’m a libertarian myself, but I believe that it would be very wise (and fair) to put every power boat owner through the same background check as most DMV’s do now for auto drivers. Not that it would stop any determined party.

[B Knotts]

It’s funny how the solution to supposed national security threats always involves licensing or monitoring law abiding citizens, and never seems to involve inconviencing illegal aliens or international commerce.