Seeking Alpha

James Quinn's  Instablog

James Quinn is a senior director of strategic planning for a major university. James has held financial positions with a retailer, homebuilder and university in his 22-year career. Those positions included treasurer, controller, and head of strategic planning. He is married with three boys and... More
My blog:
TheBurningPlatform.com
  • TERROR THREAT FRAUD 5 comments
    Sep 23, 2009 11:02 AM

    What a coincidence. It just so happens that Congress began debate on the Patriot Act yesterday. Unless they are re-confirmed, some of the provisions will sunset at the end of the year. Our beloved 200,000 protectors at THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY will lose some of their abilities to monitor our every movement, phone call, email, or crap we take on the toilet. How will we get through the day without these Gestapo like thugs protecting us?

    It just so happens that the FBI (not part of Homeland Security by the way) decides that after months of surveillance on a potential terror suspect to bring him in for questioning and issues a terror alert to the whole country this week. Hmm. A more skeptical person than myself might question the timing. They have not charged anyone with a crime. Why not allow the terrorist to hang himself with more rope? He evidently would like to blow someone up, but he had no explosives. He did visit Pakistan. That is certainly suspicious. Oh, his wife lives there. He did visit NYC. Must be a plot. Oh, he grew up in Queens. Sure sounds like an imminent threat to me.

    So let me get this straight. The neo-cons say we must fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here. This guy grew up in Queens NYC. Did he hate America when he was in high school in Queens? Was he plotting his evil plot then? Or did he get more and more angry as he saw our troops using drones and missiles killing innocent Pakistanis and Afghans and Iragis? Is this what Ron Paul calls blowback?

    How does having 200,000 troops in foreign muslim countries stop this from happening in our country? I'm sure the neo-cons out there have an excellent explanation.

    Everyone under your desks, the threat level has been raised. Seig Heil.

     Constitution Project Releases Statement on Reforming the Patriot ActSunsetting provisions provide opportunity to adopt safeguards for individual rights
    WASHINGTON - September 22 - As the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties meets today for a hearing on the USA PATRIOT Act, the Constitution Project's Liberty and Security Committee releases its Statement on Reforming the Patriot Act. Thomas B. Evans Jr., former member of Congress from Delaware and Co-Chairman of the Republican National Committee, and Michael German, policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union and former FBI agent, both members of the Project's Liberty and Security Committee, are scheduled to testify before the Subcommittee during today's hearing.

    "The Patriot Act was hastily passed in the wake of the September 11th attacks eight years ago without full consideration of its implications," said Thomas B. Evans Jr. "Congress missed the opportunity to correct these deficiencies four years ago when the Act was up for renewal. Now that debate has emerged around the sunsetting provisions this year, I hope Congress will use this chance to incorporate strong protections for constitutional rights and civil liberties, while, at the same time, keeping our nation safe. National security and the liberties of American citizens are not competing interests."

    The Statement, signed by a diverse group of 26 policy experts representing the full political spectrum, advocates for significant reform to the three sunsetting sections: the business/library records, lone wolf, and roving wiretaps provisions. It also states that Congress should take this opportunity to revisit and reform the National Security Letter (NSL) authority expanded by the Patriot Act, whose abuse has been documented by the Justice Department's Inspector General, as well as the Act's provision allowing deportation and denial of visas based on individuals' political views.

    A week ago today, the Department of Justice sent a letter to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, laying out the Obama administration's view on the sunsetting provisions. The administration stated its support for their renewal, but indicated it would be open to reform to enhance privacy protections. The Senate will also begin consideration of the expiring provisions in a hearing scheduled for tomorrow in the Judiciary Committee.
     
    "Although the Patriot Act was passed with the commendable goal of providing the federal government with the tools needed to prevent future terrorist attacks, the Act is overly broad and lacks the necessary safeguards to preserve individual liberties," added Sharon Bradford Franklin, Constitution Project Senior Counsel. "As Congress resumes debate on much-needed reforms to the Patriot Act, we hope Members will follow the Liberty and Security Committee's recommendations to restore the constitutional safeguards established by our nation's founders. We are encouraged by the administration's expressed willingness to consider additional privacy protections, and call on Congress and the administration to work together to ensure that we provide the government with the needed authorities to keep our nation safe, while adopting reforms to safeguard the privacy and individual rights of all Americans."

    To view the Liberty and Security Committee's Statement on Reforming the Patriot Act, go to:
    http://www.constitutionproject.org/manage/file/340.pdf
    ###
    The Constitution Project is a politically independent think tank established in 1997 to promote and defend constitutional safeguards. More information about the Constitution Project is available at http://constitutionproject.org/.

     

     
     
    Attorney: FBI Says Najibullah Zazi Not A SuspectZazi Questioned By FBI For Hours
    By Dayle Cedars, 7NEWS Reporter

     

    POSTED: 2:32 pm MDT September 16, 2009
    UPDATED: 12:55 am MDT September 17, 2009

    AURORA, Colo. -- FBI agents are not calling Najibullah Zazi a suspect, according to his attorney Art Folsom. Folsom said he and his client met with investigators for eight and a half hours at the FBI headquarters in Denver. Folsom described the questioning as cordial and very detailed. Zazi is scheduled to meet with investigators again Thursday. Late Wednesday night, Zazi returned to his apartment, but declined to comment saying he was very tired and had had a long day.

     The FBI has raided the Aurora home of the 24-year-old man allegedly at the center of a terror investigation that prompted earlier raids in New York. The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force went through the home of Najibullah Zazi, as well as the nearby residence of his aunt, Rabia Zazi, FBI special agent Kathleen Wright said Wednesday. She wouldn't comment on whether Najibullah Zazi or the aunt was detained. The raid occurred just hours after Zazi's attorney challenged the government to act or go away. More than a dozen FBI agents, some in white hazardous materials suits, swarmed in on large black sport utility vehicles and entered Zazi's apartment on the third floor. The FBI would not say what they were looking for other than to say they're "executing a search warrant." Crime scene tape surrounded the apartment building located on Smoky Hill Road, near Gun Club Road and E-470. The FBI also evacuated Zazi's entire apartment building and an adjacent building and pushed everyone back 1,000 feet as a precautionary measure. “(An FBI agent) came knocking at my door and sounded really hurried and rushed,” said Aleisa Stricharchuk, who lives in Zazi’s apartment building. “(The agent) said I need you to come outside immediately to evacuate the building.” Agents used tarps to block the public's view of the entrance to the apartment. Agents were seen leaving Zazi's apartment with at least six boxes and some luggage. One was labeled "swabs," and others were marked "fragile" and "glass." Two women in burkas and Zazi's brother were taken from the apartment, put in separate cars and driven off, 7NEWS reported. The FBI did say whether the women and brother are being detained or being questioned, or removed for their safety. By 4:15 p.m., residents in both buildings were allowed back in their apartments, but they said it was a scary and bewildering experience. They told 7NEWS FBI agents went door-to-door and told them to evacuate, but agents didn't explain why. Zazi was not inside the apartment when it was raided. He was at FBI Denver headquarters being interviewed by FBI agents, a meeting set up by his attorney, Arthur Folsom. After several hours of questioning, Zazi submitted DNA samples, fingerprints and handwriting samples. While Zazi was being questioned a second search warrant was executed on a home on Ontario Place in Aurora. Records show the home is owned by Zazi’s aunt. “It is kind of scary,” said Kristen Ivory, a neighbor. “You hear rumors and you don’t really know what is going on.” Residents in the neighborhood said they knew something was going after spotting numerous FBI agents in the area since Saturday. “We saw them doing a bunch of different maneuvers in the neighborhood with cars coming and going,” said Steve Beall, a neighbor. “One (car) would pull up and one would leave and then one would come back and that has been going on the last three or four days.”

     
    About a half dozenor so FBI ents swarmed in on large black sport utility vehicles, and entered Zazi's apartment on the third floor.

    "I am an airport driver and that's all I can say," Zazi said Tuesday. He works at ABC Shuttle with his father, and told 7NEWS that FBI investigators have the wrong guy. "I have nothing to do with al-Qaida, any link or anything with al-Qaida," Zazi said. Two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that a joint FBI-New York Police Department task force had put Zazi under surveillance because of the suspected links to al-Qaida. They had tailed him from Colorado to New York and had been tracking him for months, apparently including a recent trip to the Pakistan. The task force also feared Zazi may be involved in a potential plot involving homemade hydrogen peroxide-based explosives like those cited in an intelligence warning issued Monday, said the officials, who spoke on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the investigation. ABC News reported that in series of raids on Monday, agents seized 14 new black backpacks they suspect were to be used to carry suicide bombs and instructions on Zazi's computers on how to build a bomb with household chemicals. After Zazi traveled to New York City over the weekend, FBI agents and police officers armed with search warrants seeking bomb materials staged a surprise raid that rattled an urban, predominantly Asian neighborhood in Queens. Investigators searched three apartments and questioned residents, including Naiz Khan, who grew up with Zazi in New York City. The Afghan immigrant said the FBI questioned him for about two hours about Zazi, whom he said stayed at his apartment last week. "I can't tell. I don't know" about a connection between Zazi and terrorism, Khan said. "If there is, I'm not sure." No arrests were announced, and the FBI and NYPD have refused to discuss the case, leaving unanswered questions about the nature, scope and intent of the potential plot.

     

    Zazi Had Visited New York, PakistanZazi's attorney said Zazi contacted him immediately after hearing from friends in New York that their homes had been raided. "Given some of the course that has happened in this country in recent years, he was more worried that he would be swooped into the back of a van and that he wouldn't be able to speak to a lawyer or family," Folsom said. "I told him our government doesn't have that policy any more." The lawyer also said Zazi drove to New York in a rented car to take care of a problem with the location of a coffee cart that he co-owns with a friend, and to visit friends. Zazi said he was among several drivers stopped by police on Sept. 10 on the George Washington Bridge, which connects New Jersey to Manhattan, and that officers told the drivers they were conducting random searches for drugs. Zazi said he consented to a search of his vehicle and was allowed to leave. In New York, Folsom said, Zazi's car was towed because of a parking violation. Police searched both the car and a laptop inside, Folsom said. "They found nothing, didn't ask him any more questions and sent him on his way," Folsom said. "If they had had found anything, he would be in the company of the federal officials in New York." Zazi returned the car to an airport and flew home to Denver, Folsom added. "My client is completely innocent. If anything this is a matter of guilt by association," Folson said. Zazi's 35-year-old aunt, Rabia Zazi, said that her nephew recently visited the Peshawar region of Pakistan -- where she said his wife lives and whom he hopes to bring to the United States. She said Zazi was born in Pakistan but moved to the United States at an early age and grew up in Queens. He moved to Colorado several months ago to help his father with his shuttle business, she said. She said her nephew often travels to Pakistan to spend time with his wife. Folsom said Zazi spends three months of the year in Pakistan. No Imminent Threat

     

    New York Police Department and Commissioner Raymond Kelly and FBI Director Robert Mueller said Wednesday there are no specific terrorist threats to the city. "There are no guarantees. We live in a dangerous world," said Kelly, who called New York the world's best-protected city. "But we are doing more than anyplace else, and we're going to continue to do that." Mueller said no threat was imminent when was asked during testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee to reassure New Yorkers and Americans that the case did not pose a ready danger. Colorado elected officials who had been briefed on the probe also said there was no imminent threat. Monday's FBI and Homeland Security intelligence warning, issued to police departments nationwide, listed clues that could tip off police to peroxide-based bombs, such as people with burn marks on their hands, faces or arms; foul odors coming from a room or building; and large industrial fans or multiple window fans. The warning also said the homemade explosive materials can be hidden in backpacks, suitcases or plastic containers.

     
Back To James Quinn's Instablog HomePage »

Instablogs are blogs which are instantly set up and networked within the Seeking Alpha community. Instablog posts are not selected, edited or screened by Seeking Alpha editors, in contrast to contributors' articles.

This post has 5 comments:

  •  
    I'm no neo-con.....I'm an independent Midwest hick living in flyover country. I am, however, comforted by the activities of Homeland Security under the Patriot Act. I don't think they care much about Aunt Mabel's telephone calls to the church ladies. It seems to me they are focused on intercepting overseas communications to potential internal terrorists. None of us know the true extent to which HS has improved our safety using the PA. I'm not ready to discard either.

    You want to see hard-core internal security visit Israel. We'll be at their level after the next major terror attack.
    Sep 23 12:46 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Concrete Guy, well said. As the mother of two college students---one in Manhattan and one in Denver---I have been following this very closely and admit to being truly terrified. Our government's politically correct policies have enabled the pernicious Islamification of the United States, and I fear we are about to realize how foolish we have been. I pray we wake up before it's too late. Though definitely not a neo-con, I am very much in support of the Patriot Act and the efforts of the Department of Homeland Security, CIA, FBI and state and local police jurisdictions to try to prevent another terrorist attack on our soil.
    Mr. Quinn: I have read pretty much everything available on the net on this topic and have concluded that this blog entry is very poorly researched and written with a pervasive anti-government/security bias. In my view, our government's number one job is to protect us from those who wish to harm us; and to harm us is the number one job of all true believers of Islam. To be a devout Muslim requires strict adherence to the words of the Koran and Haddith. Since Islam is both a religion and a political/cultural system the Koran and Haddith provide the guidelines covering all aspects of Islamic life. To really appreciate the scope of our current dilemma with Islam I strongly recommend that you read the Koran, ALL of it, not just the first chapters. I have. Perhaps then you will understand why we are so afraid. Islam is most definitely NOT a religion of peace and love. If wading through the horrifyingly violent, self-contradicting gibberish in the Koran is too much for you, just read one of Robert Spencer's books, or one by Bruce Bawer. How are you going to feel after the next attack? Will you blame the US, or the victims? WAKE UP. THEY WANT TO KILL ALL THE INFIDELS---THAT'S US.
    Sep 24 12:26 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Go ahead and give up your liberty and freedom for safety. Believe in your government to be your protector and hide in your house. I'll choose another path. I find your response to my blog entry poorly researched and full of propaganda spewed by the neo-cons.


    On Sep 24 12:26 PM georgiabelle_mom wrote:

    > Concrete Guy, well said. As the mother of two college students---one
    > in Manhattan and one in Denver---I have been following this very
    > closely and admit to being truly terrified. Our government's politically
    > correct policies have enabled the pernicious Islamification of the
    > United States, and I fear we are about to realize how foolish we
    > have been. I pray we wake up before it's too late. Though definitely
    > not a neo-con, I am very much in support of the Patriot Act and the
    > efforts of the Department of Homeland Security, CIA, FBI and state
    > and local police jurisdictions to try to prevent another terrorist
    > attack on our soil.
    > Mr. Quinn: I have read pretty much everything available on the net
    > on this topic and have concluded that this blog entry is very poorly
    > researched and written with a pervasive anti-government/security
    > bias. In my view, our government's number one job is to protect us
    > from those who wish to harm us; and to harm us is the number one
    > job of all true believers of Islam. To be a devout Muslim requires
    > strict adherence to the words of the Koran and Haddith. Since Islam
    > is both a religion and a political/cultural system the Koran and
    > Haddith provide the guidelines covering all aspects of Islamic life.
    > To really appreciate the scope of our current dilemma with Islam
    > I strongly recommend that you read the Koran, ALL of it, not just
    > the first chapters. I have. Perhaps then you will understand why
    > we are so afraid. Islam is most definitely NOT a religion of peace
    > and love. If wading through the horrifyingly violent, self-contradicting
    > gibberish in the Koran is too much for you, just read one of Robert
    > Spencer's books, or one by Bruce Bawer. How are you going to feel
    > after the next attack? Will you blame the US, or the victims? WAKE
    > UP. THEY WANT TO KILL ALL THE INFIDELS---THAT'S US.
    Sep 24 04:12 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    People in America are no more "bright" than people in the former Soviet Union back in 1930s-1950s during Stalin's regime.

    Enemies of people, spies, and terrorists were all over the Soviet Union. After many millions of innocent people were tortured, sent to concentration camps, starved to death, slaughtered, Stalin admitted that "it went too far"...The reasons why Stalin initiated the "Great Terror" was simple: the economy was going to hell and Stalin was about to initiate the WWII. Does it sound familiar to Obama's regime (the US economy is about to collapse and more and more wars on a horizon).

    Did American people learned anything from Soviets? It does not appear to be a case.

    PS
    My own uncle (an university professor) was sentenced to death for "trying to blow up Moscow". Well, he was very lucky. His friend asked Stalin to help and Stalin personally ordered his release.

    The funny part of the story was that investigators and the judge responsible for my uncle interrogations and conviction were executed for being members of a terrorist group who tried to kill a friend of Stalin's friend. Nobody was safe!
    Sep 24 11:29 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Which do you fear more. Which is more likely. The scenario you outline below (Obama, through powers vested in him by the patriot act, morphs into a Stalin-like leader who suppresses dissent through mass imprisonment and murder), or, Iran provides nukes to our internal terrorist combatants who start vaporizing American cities.

    Seems like a no-brainer to me. The first responsibility of the federal government is to protect us from these folks. If we refuse to give them the tools to effectively protect us, we enter into a mutual suicide pact.


    On Sep 24 11:29 PM nova wrote:

    > People in America are no more "bright" than people in the former
    > Soviet Union back in 1930s-1950s during Stalin's regime.
    >
    > Enemies of people, spies, and terrorists were all over the Soviet
    > Union. After many millions of innocent people were tortured, sent
    > to concentration camps, starved to death, slaughtered, Stalin admitted
    > that "it went too far"...The reasons why Stalin initiated the "Great
    > Terror" was simple: the economy was going to hell and Stalin was
    > about to initiate the WWII. Does it sound familiar to Obama's regime
    > (the US economy is about to collapse and more and more wars on a
    > horizon).
    >
    > Did American people learned anything from Soviets? It does not appear
    > to be a case.
    >
    > PS
    > My own uncle (an university professor) was sentenced to death for
    > "trying to blow up Moscow". Well, he was very lucky. His friend asked
    > Stalin to help and Stalin personally ordered his release.
    >
    > The funny part of the story was that investigators and the judge
    > responsible for my uncle interrogations and conviction were executed
    > for being members of a terrorist group who tried to kill a friend
    > of Stalin's friend. Nobody was safe!
    Sep 25 04:40 PM | Link | Reply
Full index of posts »
Latest Followers

Latest Comments


Most Commented
  1. GLOBAL WARMING FRAUD (53 Comments)
  2. WHITE HOUSE OUT TO GET GLENN BECK (43 Comments)
  3. TED KENNEDY - DISTINGUISHED CAREER? - LION OF THE SENATE? (40 Comments)
  4. BARNEY FRANK & RON PAUL ALLIES? (24 Comments)
  5. AMERICAN IDIOTS (23 Comments)
Instablogs are Seeking Alpha's free blogging platform customized for finance, with instant set up and exposure to millions of readers interested in the financial markets. Publish your own instablog in minutes.