Government Watch List

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blackbrandt

That Darn College Student
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Will the hobby of rocketry (and the interesting browser history I create) put me on a government watch list? Just wondering.
 
I noticed one less black helicopter this morning. They may have added you.
 
Just because you're on a "List", does'nt mean that the Government is going to come harrass you.
As long as you're not doing anything wrong, they have better things to do with their Time.
 
Nope, you were already on the list for other reasons. Rocketry just made you a little more interesting.
 
I'd be shocked if I wasn't on some list (minor level) given all the chems I bought from fireworks companies for research motors. Add in owning several guns and ordering ammo online. Credit card statements, etc. Probably in a database somewhere. Doubt anything was actually looked at by a human.
 
I know for a fact that I've been on "a government watch list" since the mid 1980's, due to some........errrr..."activities" that I may or may not have engaged in at the time. Even had neighbors from next door to my old childhood home (which I hadn't lived in for decades) tell me that "agents" stopped by and asked them questions about me as a kid.
It's all terribly fascinating (and fairly boring at the same time).

s6
 
I'd be shocked if I wasn't on some list (minor level) given all the chems I bought from fireworks companies for research motors. Add in owning several guns and ordering ammo online. Credit card statements, etc. Probably in a database somewhere. Doubt anything was actually looked at by a human.

That's why I'm likely on "Some List". I used to order stuff from Pyrotec.
I did get a Visit, but everything was stored separately and safely, and I was about to leave for Basic Training, so they did'nt give me a hard time.
 
That's why I'm likely on "Some List". I used to order stuff from Pyrotec.
And you're a veteran. You own firearms. You build rockets. You live in Vermont which is right next to the "Live Free Or Die" state. You own an automobile. You have a driver's license. You vote in elections. The list goes on...for all of us.
 
Point being, as long as you're doing nothing wrong, go ahead and be on as many Lists as you can be.:)
 
You should be more concerned about how you are constantly and relentlessly surveilled by companies who trade on your personal and confidential information than the government poking its nose into your activities. Our society is not as much at the mercy of one all-knowing Big Brother as it is plagued by countless Little Broither, prying into our lives where they have no business looking.
 
I'm an organic chemist and I build rockets. Given my professional and personal purchasing history, if I'm not on multiple "lists" then someone isn't doing their job.

I'm with Thirsty, the companies scare me more than the government. Many of them know how to actually use the info they gather.
 
crap. Guess that barrel of AP made me part of a watch list or two.
 
I received a letter from the ATF over a decade ago. I had purchased some magnesium powder for some AN composite fuel from a company called Pyrotek. They've since gone out of business. But I guess Pyrotek had gotten raided by the feds and they got information regarding Pyrotek's customers. So because I had purchased chemicals known for making 'explosives', they kindly sent me a warning. I ripped it up at the time because it made me mad, but looking back, I wish I had framed it because now it makes me laugh. I'm sure I got put on some kind of list after that! :)
 
If you have made one nasty post about the government on any social media website you are on the list.


TA
 
This is old hat from an internet standpoint. How many remember the Carnivore program in the nineties? The programs that parsed every email against a list of keywords?

I not saying I am for it- quite the opposite. It is essentially impossible to be invisible and live in society now.
Ask a simple question I.E. what organization in the world has the most computing power? The answer, far and away, is the NSA. They make NASA's computing structure look like an TRS-80. Why- so they can keep tabs on everything.

Knowledge is power, and Orwell was right.


Mark Koelsch
Sent from my iPhone using Rocketry Forum
 
I had a top secret/crypto clearance. From that point on, the idea of NOT being on a list was laughable.

Although I do find the number of people who think that they rise to the level of the "government" caring enough about them to be on "a list" (at least one that anyone gives a rat's hindquarters about), regardless of how much propellant they buy, rather amusing.
 
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You should be more concerned about how you are constantly and relentlessly surveilled by companies who trade on your personal and confidential information than the government poking its nose into your activities. Our society is not as much at the mercy of one all-knowing Big Brother as it is plagued by countless Little Broither, prying into our lives where they have no business looking.

Great minds think alike.
 
if we aren’t on a list, I question our governments thoroughness.
 
I received a letter from the ATF over a decade ago. I had purchased some magnesium powder for some AN composite fuel from a company called Pyrotek. They've since gone out of business. But I guess Pyrotek had gotten raided by the feds and they got information regarding Pyrotek's customers. So because I had purchased chemicals known for making 'explosives', they kindly sent me a warning. I ripped it up at the time because it made me mad, but looking back, I wish I had framed it because now it makes me laugh. I'm sure I got put on some kind of list after that! :)

That's the same Pyrotek I was referring to earlier. It was right after 9-11 that they turned over their Shipping Records to BATF, and shortly after that BATF added an E for Explosives. I had been using my Bosses Credit Card with his Permission at my Place of Business to order my Chemicals, so they went to visit him first, as he was a Licensed Firearms Dealer. They asked him why he needed 10lbs. of Potassium Perchlorate and he had no Idea what they were talking about. He also realized they must be there for me.
Everything was in order at my Home, so they just reminded me of the laws about what not to do, and left me alone.
The whole situation scared me pretty good, and I don't like coming under scrutiny for doing nothing wrong, so ever since then I've never ordered any Chemicals.

Only reason I had ordered 10lbs is because it was actually cheaper then ordering just a few.
 
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I am military and into rockets. Their are lost of folks that view us as a risk.
 
That's the same Pyrotek I was referring to earlier. It was right after 9-11 that they turned over their Shipping Records to BATF, and shortly after that BATF added an E for Explosives. I had been using my Bosses Credit Card with his Permission at my Place of Business to order my Chemicals, so they went to visit him first, as he was a Licensed Firearms Dealer. They asked him why he needed 10lbs. of Potassium Perchlorate and he had no Idea what they were talking about. He also realized they must be there for me.
Everything was in order at my Home, so they just reminded me of the laws about what not to do, and left me alone.
The whole situation scared me pretty good, and I don't like coming under scrutiny for doing nothing wrong, so ever since then I've never ordered any Chemicals.

Only reason I had ordered 10lbs is because it was actually cheaper then ordering just a few.

Hmmmm? I'm thinking this https://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=3927 is the letter you got. I wrote my congressman about this and never received an answer. I wonder how many people received this blatant attempt at intimidation and how much it cost the taxpayers to poison the well?

Meanwhile, our borders are wide open for anything, including but not limited to Ebola attacks.
 
Hmmmm? I'm thinking this https://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=3927 is the letter you got. I wrote my congressman about this and never received an answer. I wonder how many people received this blatant attempt at intimidation and how much it cost the taxpayers to poison the well?

Meanwhile, our borders are wide open for anything, including but not limited to Ebola attacks.

I never got a letter. They just showed up at my Work.
I think this actually worked to my advantage, since they took me from my work to my House, they knew that I would have no time to "Hide anything", and as I said, everything was up to snuff, and there were no Pyrotechnics made, so there was nothing to worry about.
It was'nt like they arrested me or anything, they just wanted to see what I was up to.
 
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I've been told by government officials that I'm on one very specific list: The list of super-uber-awesome-nice-happy-fantastic people.

But I'm not completely sure this list actually exists. But if it does, I can see how I'd be on it. :grin:
 
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