We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

With CIA help, NYPD moves covertly in Muslim areas

Click here to access article by Adam Goldman, Associated Press. 

A building superintendent stumbled onto a secret intelligence unit of New York City police department. He discovered all kinds of paraphernalia of terrorist material which is likely used as bait to setup "terrorists". One might easily infer that they are promoting terrorist activity in order to keep citizens terrorized, accepting the ongoing invasions across the globe, and police state measures at home. 

But, it's okay folks, this secret unit, unaccountable to any kind of public political process, are just protecting us from those bad terrorists. After all, it was set up by members of the CIA and surely they are accountable to the President. (sarcasm)

Just so you don't get the wrong idea about this operation, sprinkled throughout the article are statements like this:
One of the enduring questions of the past decade is whether being safe requires giving up some liberty and privacy. The focus of that debate has primarily been federal programs like wiretapping and indefinite detention. The question has received less attention in New York, where residents do not know for sure what, if anything, they have given up.

In a city that has repeatedly been targeted by terrorists, police make no apologies for pushing the envelope. NYPD intelligence operations have disrupted terrorist plots and put several would-be killers in prison.

Though most said the tactics were appropriate and made the city safer, many insisted on anonymity, because they were not authorized to speak with reporters about security matters.

"It should not be a surprise to anyone that, after 9/11, the Central Intelligence Agency stepped up its cooperation with law enforcement on counterterrorism issues or that some of that increased cooperation was in New York, the site of ground zero," CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Youngblood said.