FBI ran background checks on Muslims at community outreach events

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

FBI ran background checks on Muslims at community outreach events
Documents show the FBI recorded personal information at events designed to improve the bureau's relations with Muslims
Associated Press guardian.co.uk, Thursday 1 December 2011 15.53 EST

Heavily blacked-out internal FBI documents released Thursday indicate that the FBI, in some cases between 2007 and 2009, ran background checks on people they encountered at Muslim-related events and recorded personal information such as email addresses, phone numbers, physical descriptions and opinions in reports marked "routine."

The American Civil Liberties Union, which obtained the documents under the US Freedom of Information Act, accused the FBI of misusing its community outreach programs to collect information on people at Muslim-related events that the FBI organized or was invited to attend. Those programmes were intended to improve the relationship between Muslims and the FBI.

The bureau said some of the documents the ACLU published were not derived from outreach programs but were from actual criminal investigations in which it was appropriate to include specific details such as a driver's license number.

The blacked-out parts make it difficult to understand what the reports represent. But the disclosure comes at a time when the FBI has been criticised for some of its other programs, straining the fragile relationship between law enforcement and Muslims who widely believe they are subjected to surveillance and scrutiny because of their religion.



Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/01/fbi-ran-background-checks-community-outreach

[DeSwiss]

1. K&R

''The two greatest visions of a future dystopia were George Orwell’s “1984” and Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World.” The debate, between those who watched our descent towards corporate totalitarianism, was who was right. Would we be, as Orwell wrote, dominated by a repressive surveillance and security state that used crude and violent forms of control? Or would we be, as Huxley envisioned, entranced by entertainment and spectacle, captivated by technology and seduced by profligate consumption to embrace our own oppression? It turns out Orwell and Huxley were both right. Huxley saw the first stage of our enslavement. Orwell saw the second.'' http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/12/27-1">~Chris Hedges

[Angry Dragon]

2. Orwell and Huxley were prophets sent by god to show us the hand

of Satan. There can be no other explanation for it.
All good Christians are being called up by god to overthrow
this Satan. If these Christians sit back and say nothing
then they must really be Satan's minions and will roast
in hell's eternal fires.

[ZombieHorde]

4. In the Holy Bible, God was the authoriatarian, and Satan rebelled against against his

violent, cruel authority. So I think saying Orwell and Huxley were prophets sent by Satan to show us the hand of God would be closer to the source material.

[coalition_unwilling]

5. Satan did not 'rebel' against God's 'violent, cruel authority' (at least

not in the Holy Bible). Pride (chief of the medieval 7 Deadly Sins) causes Satan to rebel against God. Cf. Milton's Paradise Lost where Satan, newly cast down to Hell, says "Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven."

[ZombieHorde]

7. Satan may have been motivated by pride, but so was God.

They both may have suffered from the same deadly sin, but God was stronger, and God used his strength to bully the other beings, such as Satan.

[meow2u3]

9. I wouldn't be calling God a bully if I were you

You got this all wrong, Zombie. Satan was--and still is--such an arrogant prick he thought he could bully God in his own territory, but God wasn't having it, so He used his strength to stand up to Lucifer, kicked him out of heaven, and renamed him Satan (and the Devil).

If you're going to bash religion, at least get your facts straight.

[ZombieHorde]

10. I am not bashing religion. I am describing the story.

How many babies does God kill in the Holy Bible? How many puppies and kittens does he drown? How many people does he torture? Why wouldn't you want Satan to overthrow The Lord? Even if Satan is arrogant, that is just an extremely minor character flaw compared to genocide, torture, disease, etc.

I wouldn't be calling God a bully if I were you

Why not? Because "terrorist" would be more accurate?

[Blue_Tires]

3. I thought I read a variation of this story in LBN a year or two ago?

Some kind of unofficial 'spy on the muslims' program (fronted as a friendly program) in Los Angeles or something? Anyone remember?

[coalition_unwilling]

6. What will those clever crimefighters at the FBI think of next? One

shudders to think that our security rests in the hands of these laughable buffoons.

[No Elephants]

8. Shoot us now. It's far less painful than reading stuff like this every day. Thanks.