FBI Fighting the Last War Against Pressure Cookers Questions Saudi Student in Michigan Over His Rice Dish
Post-Boston bombing, you be careful what you cook, folks.
From the British Daily Mail:

A Saudi student living in Michigan was questioned in his home by FBI agents after neighbours saw him carrying a pressure cooker and called the police.
Talal al Rouki had been cooking a traditional Saudi Arabian rice dish called kabsah and was carrying it to a friend's house….
Talal al Rouki, the Saudi student who was questioned by FBI agents in his home after neighbour saw him carrying a pressure cooker to a friend's house….
While armed agents surrounded his apartment block, other agents, asked a 'nervous' Mr al Rouki if they could come in to question him….
Officers said that two days earlier that a woman had seen him walking out of his apartment carrying the pressure cooker pot, which was described as 'bullet coloured'…..
An FBI agent said: 'You need to be more careful moving around with such things, Sir'
The original source of this story was a Saudi newspaper, as the Mail explains, so discount away if you wish.
Mike Riggs on past pressure cooker panics.
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We are so screwed as a nation.
*facepalm*
I guess he should have carried it in a bag or backpack, you know, LIKE THE BOMBERS DID.
Curious, if a British tabloid reported that a Saudi newspaper said that the FBI paid a personal visit to the neighbors to lecture them on not filing frivolous reports, would this make you think we're not screwed as a nation? Or would you say it's just a rumor?
Evidentiary standards should be the same whether you want to believe the evidence or not.
Shouldn't you be manning a glory hole in a police station locker room somewhere?
Student ay Noschool in Notown, MI must be hard to trach down. Great work, UK tabloid.
Just because one armed state agent makes a statement like that with not just impunity but the force to back it up doesn't mean as a nation we're doomed to some nightmarish police state. I mean, does it? Anyone?
Tupla says it doesn't. That's good enough for me.
[/sarcasm]
neighbours saw him carrying a pressure cooker and called the police.
Goat fuckers, one and all.
IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING!
Welcome to Snitch Nation!
Your tone is very suspicious.
[calls FBI]
Oh noes, scary 'bullet' colored pressure cooker!
Which would be more scrarier, a bullet colored pressure cooker or a black pressure cooker?
Arabian rice dish called kabsah
Yeah, right, this guy is obviously a terrorist. They should have just immediately called in a drone strike on his apartment. We're letting the terrorists win!
I'm surprised they didn't, officer safety being paramount to anything else now days.
Rouki the kabsah?
Which would be more scrarier, a bullet colored pressure cooker or a black pressure cooker?
Well, at least it didn't have the scary 'shoulder thing that goes up' like those damn assault pressure cookers.
This is too stupid to be real. Unfortunately, it's probably real.
Why does anyone need a bullet colored pressure cooker?
Why does anyone need to cook kabsah?
So they can rock it?
I shoulda' scrolled down...
You have to cook it to find out what's in it?
Who needs rice when there's rice krispies? I mean, really.
Hat tip to sarcy?
No hat tip for you!
/ The Hat Tip Nazi
It's in the alt-text.
some wag should organize a pressure-cooker march.
During the 80s I knew a couple of guys who started the "Jesus Christ, Physicist" Church. They made signs and marched around during one of the large local festivals. The locals were not amused.
One of the signs: "And God said (complex physics formula) and there was light!"
Oh, yes, "And God said [Maxwell's equations], and there was light." That was a popular T-shirt where I did my undergrad.
Good thing I've already downloaded the plans to 3d print a pressure cooker.
Send in the drones!
"Good thing I've already downloaded the plans to 3d print a deadly pressure cooker."
"Talal al Rouki had been cooking a traditional Saudi Arabian rice dish called kabsah and was carrying it to a friend's house..."
My headline suggestion would have been: "FBI puts kabash on kabsah".
Kibosh?
That is not the color (colour, even) of bullets.
Certainly not the coppertops I got in .357 Mag recently.
Bullets are not even a color.
Nobody says 'bullet colored' except a pansy who's wetting themselves. Might as well say it's the color of terrorism, or the color of explosive devices, or the color of crime.
I saw my neighbor carrying a briefcase the other day... it was espionage colored. Maybe I should report him.
Now I'm going to have to go through my cabinets and make sure I get rid of any potential terror devices. I don't think I still have my pressure cooker, but it might be hiding in the back coming up with dark schemes.
I don't have a pressure cooker, but I have a professional level collection of cleavers, chef knives, and a 14" scimitar for carving sides of meat. Could they "go off"? Should I turn them in to my local Law Enforcement Heroes?
How would you like to wake up one morning with a limb chopped off and a cleaver next to your bed? Better safe than sorry.
I've heard that most knife injuries are accidents that take place in the home. More often than not, the owner of the knife or their family member is the victim.
I leave my knives lying all over the place in my house. Is that wrong? Other than my daughter occasionally wielding one to get her way it's all safe.
I don't have a pressure cooker, but I do have a rice cooker and a couple of bungee cords. Where can I legally turn in these WMDs?
The original source of this story was a Saudi newspaper, as the Mail explains, so discount away if you wish.
I will, seeing as how every link on the first two pages of a search for the alleged cookware owner's name refers to the DM as its source. It's kind of hard to believe that he wouldn't tell any US media about it, particularly local media in his home of .... "somewhere in Michigan".
Reason is repeating unsubstantiated rumours from British tabloids now.... awesome. You guys really have sunk to a new low in the quest for believing what you want to believe.
...and this is why libertarians can't have nice things.
So Brian, what are you doing to confirm the story?
I think I'll NOT get spun up over a rumor.
I heard it from a guy named Lenny, soooo...I'm goin' with it.
Fuck! I just agreed with Tulpa.
*Currently reconsidering position.*
Don't worry about it. You are right to wonder about a poorly-sourced story. But to avoid full Tulpification, you just need to understand that if everything in the story was 100% true, Tulpa would still be complaining--probably by defending warrentless searching of pressure cookers and arguing that Tupperware should be mandated by government when swarthy people leave the house with food.
Doesn't matter; this is what Reasonoids WantToBelieve?. That's all the checking this story needs.
Well, the story is all over the tubes, all sourced back to the Daily News. Some of the stories are 20 hours old, so if it is a hoax/propaganda, Reason isn't the first or only one to get taken in. Based on the unbelievable shit that happens out there all the time, I wouldn't be surprised if it is true. It's a lot more believable than balloon boy.
Daily Mail, dammit. Edit button!
Weren't you, like, not here for a while? I believe that was the case, because the level of discourse around here greatly improved during that period.
Do you think you could, like, be not here again, only longer this time? Perhaps permanently?
Seriously, Tulpa. You obviously don't like it here and no one likes you. Why do you come here?
He still holds out hope that he can turn at least some of us into war mongering statists who claim to be Libertarian?
He's too afraid to read my comments, Frank. He has to black them out because he's so fearful to read what I have to say. He shivers like he's shitting a stream of peas.
He's the last good guy, Francisco. He has to keep carrying the fire for the next generation, or else civilization will be lost forever. It's a thankless task, but humanity is lucky to have him.
Fransisco, let me explain Tulpa to you.
Tulpa wants to be like Socrates. Except he's not as clever as Socrates. So he asks questions that he purposes to get people to question their assumptions. When the people he is communicating with answer his questions, he doesn't like it, since it makes him feel stupid and he wants to make people view him as being smart. So he either moves the goal-posts, purposefully misunderstands what they have said, or when those options aren't available to him, accuses them of being unserious or simply mocks them.
Naturally, these tactics outrage people, and they eventually begin hurling abuse his way. At this point, remembering how Socrates was similarly targeted with invective, he concludes that he has 'educated them' about the failures of their philosophy/reasoning, and feels pride at his Socraticness and the fact that people are so intimidated by his intelligence and rigorous reasoning ability that they dare not cross swords with him intellectually.
If everyone would chuck him into Reasonable and not interact with him, he would be miserable and everyone else would be happy.
It is very important to understand that deep down Tulpa craves the abuse he gets.
Has Tulpa put you in the filter yet, tarran? Is he that afraid of you as well?
Don't know; don't care.
I believe that was the case, because the level of discourse around here greatly improved during that period.
I don't doubt it; the main drag on the level of discourse are my glibster pals, and the glibsters didn't have anyone to insult for a while.
Sorry if I'm ruining your echo chamber, though.
You know what's a pressure cooker? THIS JOB! WHOA! This job would KILL and ordinary man!
So, can you believe this kid, walkin' around with a bomb in plain site? No wonder all the old men were tellin' him to say off their lawns!
Try the chicken fingers! I'll be here all week!
You must be getting in terrific shape, lugging that cross around everywhere.
I have no idea whom you are replying to.
Tulpa. Tulpa is carrying the cross of the last, sane, true libertarian.
Brooksie doesn't believe in threaded comments and refuses to participate. While I disagree with him, I respect him for his nonconformity. It's an endearing bit of eccentricity.
If it's not on the front page of the NYT, it's fake!
You are right to wonder about a poorly-sourced story.
Especially one to which any sane American would immediately respond, "Preposterous! That could NEVER happen here!"
It's hard being the only sane man left, Brooks. It's like living in a pressure cooker!
Thx for demonstrating the WeWantToBelieve? reaction to skepticism. John Calvin would be proud.
It really doesn't matter if this specific story is true or not, the fact that it is so easily believable is the problem. This story is completely in the realm of possibility and likely has happened and just not been reported to any news paper.
"Fake but accurate" is still fake. Dan Rather learned as much.
If this story is true there will be a reliable report to link to. It's not like this guy was disappeared to Guantanamo.
There is a very grave danger in believing something because it matches your current beliefs. That's how all sorts of irrationality tightens its grip.
It is believable to me because...what clues would you look for to prevent the next terror bombing? Saudi Arabian, check, student, check, in the USA, check, pressure cooker, check. Only trouble is, it doesn't seem to do much good to question him at that point, because if he were a terrorist, he would give the same story that, duh, he's using it for pressure cooking, and then he'd know he was being watched. The smart thing to do would be to look for more clues without questioning him. But the good thing about this episode, if it's true, is that the authorities can now reassure some nervous Nellie, "It's OK, folks, he's not a terrorist."
Pressure cookers should obviously be illegal. I don't like them, don't have a use for them, so why should anyone be allowed to own one? I like deep fryers. So deep fryers are ok.
/ proglotard
If your not cooking anything in a pressure cooker, why should you be worried?
/progladyte
If the Daily Mail said Obama issued a statement saying, "We believe the states of Colorado and Washington have behaved legally in their reclassification of marijuana. We wish them well in their endeavors," I would immediately seek verification from other sources.
WTF is bullet colored? Wouldn't that be gray? If so, then why not just say gray? Rhetorical question, I already know the answer. Because "gray" doesn't cause anyone to shit their pants in fear. What a fucktard.
True story: I used to work at Montgomery Ward selling appliances. We weren't supposed to say anything bad about the advertised items (usually the entry level fridges, stoves and freezers) but we were supposed to try and upsell to the more expensive models. Well there was this salesman named Preston who I saw do something absolutely brilliant. A couple came in wanting to by the least expensive top-loading chest-type freezer. Preston took them over to it, and said casually, "This is the least expensive of our coffin-type freezers." The moment he said "coffin" the couple took a full step back from the freezer, and the upsell was a fait accompli.
I thought it was silver. Or is that only for Werewolves?
It's been fun watching Tulpa gradually stop trying to pretend to be anything but a troll, hasn't it?
He's went full on Tony.
Tony can't be real. I'm relatively new around here but he can't be real. I mean, he can't, right?
Please tell me he really is a sockpuppet.
....
Poor, naive Rufus.
Ir's nice to see people realizing something I've been saying for years. If you remember, he defended Mary Stack and White Indian simply because he hated us so much. He's so deliciously insecure. He'd rather have 2000 comment threads of White Indian dribble than side with me. Pathetic.
Sorry, I didn't see that comment. I'm going to loudly announce that I didn't read your comment. I'm the last sane man on earth, and life is too short to read your comments, which is why I'm telling you that I'm not reading your comments because life is too short.
I have no idea whom you are replying to.
I'm pretty sure the message was received by its intended recipient.
It's a reference to Tulpy's martyrdom at the hands of the glib and credulous. He likes to heckle us from up there on his cross.
Does that mean I get to stab him with my spear? I want to stab him. C'mon, let me stab him, goddammit.
OMG YOU NOT NAP ADHERENT! YOU FALSE LIBERTARIAN! VOTE ROMNEY!
Let's see if he whines to Reason and gets that comment taken down. What a colossal pussy.
Seriously, Tulpa. You obviously don't like it here and no one likes you. Why do you come here?
His only interest is our salvation.
let me stab him, goddammit.
I'll flip you for it, unless you've got dice on you.
When pressure cookers are outlawed, only outlaws will have pressure cookers.
Here's the Detroit Free Press's version.
That "version" is a completely different story of a guy at an airport using a passport with pages ripped out. Do you guys even read the stuff you link to?
I don't read Arabic, but here's the original source for the story.
I agree with the third comment.
Cough.