Fusion center declares nation's oldest universities possible terror threat »
Posted By jovial 7 months, 3 weeks ago in NewsA newly leaked terrorism assessment from a law enforcement fusion center in Virginia highlights US universities as potential "radicalization nodes" for terrorists.
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jovial
Grew up In Brooklyn. Joined the Navy in 1976 stayed in 10 years. Aircraft Electronics tech. Worked for Major Govt. contractor then settled in California ...
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Beau78907 months, 3 weeks ago
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I think that's actually a correct assessment--independent thought is fertile ground for extremism. Universities are often places where students are trying on new identities, which can include extremists, religious cults or any other kind of radical ideologies.
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Let me be clear, though--counterterrorism forces need not infringe upon civil liberties to check out potential threats, whether they're at universities or elsewhere.
And I also agree with Michael German, ACLU Policy Counsel and former FBI Agent, from the article:
"There is an appalling lack of oversight at these fusion centers and they are becoming – as the ACLU has repeatedly warned – a breeding ground for overzealous police intelligence activities."
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DarkWizard7 months, 3 weeks ago
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WOW! I'm glad my group didn't show up on this list - "The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks!"
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FTA - "Wired News reported that 'Internet griefers'—a makeshift term for people who cause grief—posted code and flashing computer animations with the intention of triggering migraine headaches and seizures."
I think that some of the "griefers" here have perfected this technique without flashing computer animations! Some of the idiotic things I've seen written here have surely triggering migraine headaches and seizures (most likely in the author)!
FTA - "The Virginia threat assessment isn’t just disturbing for encouraging police to treat education and religious practices with suspicion, it's bad law enforcement. Lawmakers from all levels of government need to enact legislation to protect against these spying activities that threaten our democracy while doing nothing to improve security."
In answer to this I must refer to the well worn quote from President Dwight D. Eisenhower, "If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking... is freedom."
There is a very dangerous and powerful faction of our society and our government that is truly emulating the SS of the Nazi regime. These so called patriots will break laws to protect them...at least that's the philosophy. Problem is...they buy into this garbage! -
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Spadecaller7 months, 3 weeks ago
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"Coming Soon! To a school near you."
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Sounds familiar...
Having a black liberal democrat President is bound to stimulate more hatred among the extremist right wing groups in our nation. Nonetheless, we must never legislate or enforce our laws to accommodate the criminal elements of our society at the expense of our freedom. WE have had eight years of that philosophy and it has nearly destroyed our nation. -
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hyperbola7 months, 3 weeks ago
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This type of thing is a good example of why we need to hold Obama to his election promises. The "secret rot" has to be rooted out.
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Obama, the ICRC Report and the Protection of Criminals
Candidate Obama unambiguously vowed to his supporters that he would work to ensure "full accountability" for "past offenses" in surveillance lawbreaking. President Obama, however, has now become the prime impediment to precisely that accountability, repeatedly engaging in extraordinary legal maneuvers to ensure that "past offenses" -- both in the surveillance and torture/rendition realm -- remain secret and forever immunized from judicial review. Put another way, Obama has repeatedly done the exact opposite of what he vowed he would do: rather than "seek full accountability for past offenses," he has been working feverishly to block such accountability, by embracing the same radical Bush/Cheney views and rhetoric regarding presidential secrecy powers that caused so much controversy and anger for the last several years.
And note the pure deceit on the part of Senate Democrats who justified telecom immunity by continuously assuring the public that the Bush officials who ordered the illegal surveillance (as opposed to the telecoms who broke the law by enabling it) would still be subject to legal accountability even once the Congress immunized telecoms. It was obvious at the time (as was often pointed out) that they were outright lying when they said this -- because all sorts of legal instruments had been invoked by the Bush DOJ (such as "state secrets" and "standing" arguments) to protect those government officials from that accountability (legal instruments Democrats knowingly left in place). And now it is Barack Obama, by employing those very same instruments, who is leading the way in making a mockery of the assurances given by Senate Democrats -- don't worry that we immunized the phone companies because Bush officials, who were the truly guilty parties in the illegal spying, will still be subject to legal accountability.-
hyperbolaComment removed: Spam
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hyperbola7 months, 3 weeks ago
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On a very related note: last night, The New York Review of Books published the full report of the International Committee of the Red Cross (.pdf), which documented in detail the brutal torture to which the 14 "high-value" detainees whom we disappeared into our CIA "black sites" were subjected and demanded "that the US authorities investigate all allegations of ill-treatment and take steps to punish the perpetrators, where appropriate." As Scott Horton notes, the ICRC does not call for investigations and prosecutions easily, but rather, "only where the evidence of criminal conduct is manifest." Yet Obama's handpicked CIA Director, Leon Panetta, continues to demand that there be no investigations of any kind, let alone prosecutions.
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... it is simply impossible for Obama to "turn the page" on (let alone reverse) the dark Bush/Cheney era of profound crimes while he simultaneously turns himself into the prime agent suppressing the facts surrounding those crimes and vigorously shielding the criminals from all investigation and accountability.
http://www.propeller.com/story/2009/04/07/obama-th... -
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memestryker7 months, 3 weeks ago
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Maybe once Obama became an insider and privy to "state secrets", he learned some real secrets that he thinks need to remain state secrets. It's a possibility, don't you think?
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I think it would be a mistake to tell the public (which means everyone in the world) things that would jeopardize ongoing operations and the safety of U.S. citizens and our allies.
I'll give him a bit more time before I conclude he's making a mockery of anything. -
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undrgrndgirl7 months, 3 weeks ago
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obama is doing exactly what he 'promised'...that he voted in favor of the fisa bill BEFORE becoming the anointed one should have set off all kinds of alarms in the minds of the voters...but it didn't...i'm not at all surprised by obama's behavior...he'd little more than bush lite, and all you who thought you were actually voting for change should listen more carefully to the message...he was only offering 'belief' not action...don't blame me i voted kucinich.
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CHAM7 months, 3 weeks ago
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What bothers me most about the condoning of torture is the claim that "nobody dies from it". Most people think that the "enhanced interrogation techniques" are nothing more than something to scare the "terrorists" with.
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Problem is many have been tortured to death and there is plenty of documentation of such. The undocumented number is unknown.
The number of detainees who have just "disappeared" should also be alarming to those who would claim to observe the rule of law.
No, the reason that Panetta and other of the people in Congress, etc. won't investigate to find out is because they already know, and they don't want the public to see all the sordid details.
They know murder on a large scale has been carried out but don't want to admit it to the world. If we admitted it, then what would we do with the criminals?
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