Big Brother is alive and well on CR4

Point taken, it's possible in this case that we did jump the gun, but certain posts do require that we take action. We do remove spam, threatening posts, posts with the sole purpose of supporting a political entity or religious organization, posts from companies that are only shilling a product (they often get moved to commercial space), time permitting we'll try to edit English as a second language posts into posts that make grammatical sense, and if we think a post has an illegal or ulterior motive, we'll close or remove it. We're not perfect, but our goal is to keep CR4 safe and functional for the majority of our users.

We sit here not really knowing what the information we put forth will be used for.

I don't know you, you don't know me.

So it is a judgement call that may have saved lives. Hats off to the CR4 Editor that made the call. To let it continue until you were sure what was going on may have been too late.

It is unfortunate, but with the threat levels the way they are, and with the terrorist looking for opportunity. The original poster may not be one. But.........This is an open forum which a terrorist can gather practical information from the engineers.

Pulling it can be termed prudent.

The nature of a terrorist or criminal is that they will not tell you what they intend to do with the information. If they do, they will give you a false reason.

Some of the threads I've seen are questionable in their intent (e.g., how to jam cellphones, can you give me a source of explosives, how can I fool a security camera, how do atomic bombs work, etc.). If we wait for the intent to become clear (which may or may not happen), we may be helping a terrorist perform their deadly deeds.

News anchorman: The terrorist suspect, who caused the explosion at a local chemical factory, has implicated the members of CR4, a forum for....

Sounds just like the sort of thinking that's driving down the teaching of science in schools. Fear of what might happen. In this age of meticulous concern over safety it seems most likely to have been a genuine post.

There is a line between fear and being prudent.

Also knowing where a comment is coming from helps legitimize your comment.

...and maybe a lost opportunity to gain legitimate employment by some.

As a business owner, I pause and think: Where in the world did THAT thought/idea come from?

And about the original post: IF the person were looking for "experts" in such a field then they should be "looking" by contacting the companies that do deal with such chemicals.

I think everyone (including me) get a little lax sometimes with what they/we/me key in on these forums. We HAVE to remember that the INSTANT we hit the POST key it is available to EVERYONE in the WORLD, good, bad or indifferent to see.

No forums should allow any posts that scream of possible use by terrorists, because I'm sure there are 100's if not 1,000's that LURK without us even knowing they are on the forum reading what us posters post.

Why, when I drive to the shop, do I take my keys out of the ignition and lock the pickup? Because common sense tells me the odds are great that some idiot will come alone and steal it if I don't.

Same on here. If we let the wrong things/posts be posted, and someone uses that information to cause damage or deaths, then we were foolish, weren't we?

Why make it easier for them? The Editors done the correct thing and has nothing to do with Big Brother, it has to do with common sense.

And using common sense, the Editors are doing what the poster(s) should have figured out: that it was/is NOT a good subject to talk about on an open forum like this.

It is real easy. Think of it this way: If I post something, and someone missuses that information and it causes deaths, do I want to be responsible for the deaths. I would like to think none of would like to be. I used to use explosives, but I will NOT talk about how they were used or how to use them on an open forum like this. That would be a STUPID thing to do and if I were to do it, HOPEFULLY, the Editors would jerk it really quick!

Rant off.

Ken

I was watching the news last night and learned about the bombing in a shopping mall in Manila. Looking at the videos, I recognized the restaurant where the bomb exploded as one where my wife and I ate just before we moved to Mindanao (another island).

I've got two brothers and one sister still living in Manila as well as several relatives. I went and called everyone (as well as several friends) just to find out if they were all right or if anyone we knew were injured. Thank God, no one I knew was hurt but just the same, seeing the videos of the people in hospitals was distressing. My brother happened to be delivering something to one of those hospitals and he described the screams he heard.

For sure this will cause heightened security in the malls and other public places, including the airports. With due respect to PlbMak, acts of terrorism will change people even if we wish to think differently. Being fatalistic (i.e., what will happen will happen) will not prevent these people from stopping what they're doing. I think someone said, "vigilance is the price we pay for peace".

"vigilance is the price we pay for peace".

This is very true, but we won't defeat the terrorists with a 'blunt instrument'. (Such as searching or detaining everyone who looks a bit 'Arab' Not my phrase, a US reporter said that) Nor will we defeat them by the mass inconveniencing of private citizens. If you walk around London, you will see a few physical deterrents, but not that much that is overt, that doesn't mean to say it's not there, there is a lot going on behind the scenes.