December 29, 2003

Looks Like We Got Ourselves A Reader. The FBI is warning police nationwide to be alert for people carrying almanacs (especially if they are annotated in "suspicious ways") because the reference books could be used for terrorist planning. ... This is stupid -- will travel guides and maps be banned? -- but perhaps not as loopy as the warning in May 2002 to be on the lookout for terrorist scuba divers. ... IWI: "In 1942 a German spy was apprehended by the FBI after being landed on Long Island, New York, by a U-boat the night before. The impact of this event was felt all the way to Dublin, New Hampshire, because The Old Farmer's Almanac was found in his coat pocket. The US government speculated that the Germans were using the Almanac for weather forecasts, which meant that the book was indirectly supplying information to the enemy."

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