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#1
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Don't ask questions on boats - the Feds are watching!
Coast Guard outlines river rules
Common actions may draw scrutiny By Kevin Eigelbach Post staff reporter If Bela Berty continues to pursue his love of riverboats, he's going to have to answer a lot of questions. That was Berty's conclusion Thursday evening after hearing a U.S. Coast Guard's homeland security presentation at the Mike Fink restaurant on the Covington riverfront. If he visits a riverboat, he likes to ask how it's powered, how to operate it, what makes it work. "What good is it to visit a riverboat if you just look at the tables and chairs," the Aurora, Ind. resident asked. But those kinds of questions would make him a suspicious person in the eyes of the Coast Guard, which is responsible for homeland security on America's inland waterways. Coast Guard officials spoke Thursday at a meeting of the Cincinnati Propeller Club, a group of locals who promote use and development of the Ohio River. According to the Coast Guard officials, unless you want to answer a lot of questions, you might want to avoid: Taking photographs of the underside of bridges. Mooring your boat or dropping anchor beneath a bridge. Misusing river lingo or showing an inordinate eagerness to use river lingo. Going out of your way to avoid contact with your neighbors on the river. Dropping unusual objects into the water near dams or locks. Take those old refrigerators to the landfill, all right? Appearing that you are under the control of someone else. Loitering around a waterfront facility. New Richmond resident Bill Judd said officials questioned him about a year ago because he was taking pictures of a barge. He photographs damage to barges for his business, Judd Marine. Now, if he photographs a barge at a power plant, he shoots away from the power plant. "Your first inclination is to be a little ticked off," he said of heightened security concerns. "But then you realize it's something we're going to have to live with." Cameron Cord, a volunteer with the Coast Guard Auxiliary, suggested that those who do things that might look suspicious simply let officials know ahead of time what they're doing. The Coast Guard wants regular users of the Ohio River to report suspicious activity. That will make for the equivalent of a very large neighborhood watch program, said Lt. Chris Rose, supervisor of the guard's Cincinnati detachment. In fact, the Coast Guard is depending in part on those who know the river to let the agency know what's suspicious and what's not. "You all know the norms in this area," said Darrell Eaton, a Coast Guard intelligence specialist. "If it's suspicious to you, it's suspicious to us." College Hill resident Bob Alexander wondered how quickly the Coast Guard could act if someone did report an imminent terrorist attack. After all, he said, the U.S.S. Cole was an active military vessel, with a perimeter set up around it, but that didn't prevent a terrorist boat from blasting a hole in it in 2000. Normally, the Coast Guard couldn't stop a boat from ramming the Delta Queen, for example, Rose said. But during big events such as the Tall Stacks festival, Guard boats are in place to stop such attacks, he said. In other countries, they shoot first and ask questions later, but not in America, Alexander said. "That can be a big hindrance to us." Frank Katz, of Bond Hill, a captain with the Covington-based B& B Riverboats, wondered why more law officers don't patrol the river. "I'd say 90 percent of the time, nobody's out there patrolling," he said. "Maybe 95 percent of the time." It's a manpower issue, Rose replied. Not even land-based police departments have enough officers to patrol every road in their jurisdiction, he said. The U.S. Coast Guard wants regular users of the Ohio River to call (877) 24-WATCH to report suspicious activity Publication date: 04-15-2005 http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs....WS01/504150333 |
#2
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In article .com,
wrote: Coast Guard outlines river rules Common actions may draw scrutiny Dropping unusual objects into the water near dams or locks. Take those old refrigerators to the landfill, all right? Yeah, and? |
#3
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Appearing that you are under the control of someone else.
WTF?? Like as if you're under some bizarre mind control?.. "Must kill Pap Shmear...." Loitering around a waterfront facility. So basically all the residents along the river are suspect.. |
#4
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Falky foo wrote:
Loitering around a waterfront facility. So basically all the residents along the river are suspect.. Suddenly we've become a society of paranoids - everyone is suspect and therefore guilty of everything. Just one more reason I spend as much time hunting/fishing/canoeing/photographing deep in the woods. And for reasonable fees I 'm more than willing to take small groups with me to find the wonders that are there - and the total lack of societal looniness. Pete H -- A person is free only in the freedom of other persons. W. Berry |
#6
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"HarryKrause" wrote in message ... On 15 Apr 2005 15:55:28 -0700, wrote: Coast Guard outlines river rules Common actions may draw scrutiny By Kevin Eigelbach Post staff reporter I am the lead cilvilian CG advisor on maritime security. is it time to invoke our rights under miranda v. arizona? wayne harrison, boy lawyer. |
#7
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wrote in message oups.com... Coast Guard outlines river rules Common actions may draw scrutiny By Kevin Eigelbach Post staff reporter ....stuff deleted I think Herman Goering's quote at Nuremburg best describes the situation of these times: "The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to greater danger." I'm not saying that this is what is happening, though the pattern is suspiciously similar. Rick |
#8
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Around 4/21/2005 7:19 PM, Rick Donnelly wrote:
wrote in message oups.com... Coast Guard outlines river rules Common actions may draw scrutiny By Kevin Eigelbach Post staff reporter ...stuff deleted I think Herman Goering's quote at Nuremburg best describes the situation of these times: Here's a longer version of that quote: "Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country." -- ~/Garth - 1966 Glastron V-142 Skiflite: "Blue-Boat" "There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats." -Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows |
#9
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In article . net, Rick
Donnelly wrote: wrote in message oups.com... Coast Guard outlines river rules Common actions may draw scrutiny By Kevin Eigelbach Post staff reporter ...stuff deleted I think... no you don't. |
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