FBI Goes Too Far!

As of June 13, 2011, the FBI has rewritten its own rulebook, granting itself higher powers for investigative and intelligence gathering purposes. Many privacy activists insist the agency has gone way too far in its quest to deter and/or catch terrorists and criminals.

Some of the new guidelines include:

Undocumented database searches – Agents no longer need to officially open “assessment inquiries.” They can just search any and all databases and collect personal information without discretion. Issues with this include using this information for personal use as well as misconstruing the data collected to fit a criminal profile.

Lie-detector tests – no longer just used on suspects under an open "preliminary investigation assessment" for those suspected of wrongdoing. It is now open to potential FBI informants in an investigation that is considered an assessment, regardless of suspected wrongdoing.

Trash searches – Agents are now authorized, like police officers, to search trash cans in front of a suspect’s (or anyone’s) residence provided it is on public property for assessment and because agents want the ability to use the information collected to put pressure on the person to assist the government in the investigation of others. An issue with this is collecting information from one neighbor to spy on another neighbor.

Surveillance squads – Agents are now authorized to use multiple squads in an assessment of a suspect, but places limits on time on physical surveillance.

"Undisclosed participation" in organizations – Special rules governing agents' and informants' attendance of meetings and secret involvement in organizations in which they are collecting information haven't been made public as of yet, though the new rules do state that agents or informants can unreservedly attend five meetings of an organization in question before the undisclosed rules apply. Meaning, the new person you see at church could be an FBI agent.

Authorizing informants at religious ceremonies – "Currently, a special agent in charge of a field office can delegate the authority to approve sending an informant to a religious service. The new manual will require such officials to handle those decisions personally." This, to many, is an infringement on the separation of church and state and a violation of the Establishment clause of the First Amendment.

Investigating public officials – Now, agents can perform investigations into public officials, if the official in question is a victim or a witness as opposed to a target of an investigation, the additional oversight won't be called for. "Also excluded from extra supervision will be investigations of low- and midlevel officials for activities unrelated to their position — like drug cases as opposed to corruption, for example."

Investigating scholars and members of the news media – Agents are now authorized to make a distinction between bloggers as members of the press: "Prominent bloggers would count, but not people who have low-profile blogs," but the details of the distinctions are unknown. Also a newly-allowed guideline is to "limit academic protections only to scholars who work for institutions based in the United States." The issue here is that those American institutions out of the U.S. are without this limitation and are subject to federal investigation. This monitoring of the media can also be construed as an infringement on the First Amendment’s freedom of press.

            The government is becoming too big. We are too secure for our own good. The power needs to be given back to individual states. One agency, like the FBI, should not have omnipotent power to do whatever IT deems necessary to put an end to anything. Those persons and institutions that disregard the Constitution and the rights and protections it instills and shields should be removed from government function!

Wave Energy

Key facts
Client:
South East Regional Development Agency
Country:
United Kingdom
Date:
2009
Wave Hub could generate enough electricity for 7,500 homes, directly saving 300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over 25 years.

The sea is among clean renewable energy sources now being tested in anger since the Kyoto agreement came into force in 2005.
Waves generate more energy than wind but the problem is that it currently costs more to capture it – partly because it is a newer technology.
Machines capable of harnessing wave energy need to be connected to an electricity grid, with the associated costs and technical challenges of both offshore cables and onshore capacity for this high voltage infrastructure.

Not all coastal areas have sufficient wave power, nor sufficient access to the onshore grid to make them viable. However, just as the cost of wind power has fallen dramatically over the last 20 years so wave energy costs are expected to fall over time. Australia, Hawaii, Portugal, the UK and the US are among countries trying it out.
The UK's South West Regional Development Agency has been working with Halcrow since 2003 to develop a scheme to provide an underwater offshore connection to the National Grid at Hayle near St Ives in Cornwall.
The connection is 16km offshore, in 50m depth of water. It will allow floating arrays of up to 4 different types of wave energy converter devices to be connected at any one time. This is a demonstration project, providing the vital link between prototype development and full commercial viability.
The infrastructure involves the sub-station building at Hayle adjacent to a connection point to the distribution network. From there, a cable will be taken through a duct beneath the sand dunes and then across the sea bed to an eight square kilometre area within which the devices will be moored.
Consent for the scheme was announced by Dti and Defra in September 2007, following an application made in June 2006. The supporting environmental statement is available from the wave hub website (see link provided). The current programme shows the appointment of a contractor in Spring 2008, followed by detailed design, materials pre-order and off-site fabrication. On-site works are scheduled for the summer 2009, with planned commissioning in late 2009.
Benefits
Wave Hub could generate enough electricity for 7,500 homes, directly saving 300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over 25 years. This would support South West England's target for generating 15% of the region's power from renewable sources by 2010.
Innovations
This is a groundbreaking renewable energy project in the South West of England that aims to create the UK's first offshore facility for the demonstration and proving of the operation of arrays of wave energy generation devices. As well as the conceptual design, Halcrow selected a suitable location and is assessing the scheme's financial and technical feasibility.

The Religion of Peace

Quran

2:190: "Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress. Indeed. Allah does not like transgressors."
2:191: "And kill them wherever you overtake them and expel them from wherever they have expelled you, and fitnah is worse than killing. And do not fight them at al-Masjid al- Haram until they fight you there. But if they fight you, then kill them. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers."
2:192: "And if they cease, then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."
2:193: "Fight them until there is no [more] fitnah and [until] worship is [acknowledged to be] for Allah . But if they cease, then there is to be no aggression except against the oppressors."


5:51: "You who believe, do not take the Jews and Christians as allies:they are allies only to each other. Anyone who takes them as an ally becomes one of them - God does not guide such wrongdoers."


Quran 2:244 - "Then fight in the cause of Allah, and know that Allah Heareth and knoweth all things."

Quran 2:216 - "Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know
not."

Quran 3:56 - "As to those who reject faith, I will punish them with terrible agony in this world and in the Hereafter, nor will they have anyone to help."

Quran 3:151 - "Soon shall We cast terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers, for that they joined companions with Allah, for which He had sent no authority".

Quran 4:74 - "Let those fight in the way of Allah who sell the life of this world for the other. Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he slain or be he victorious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward."

Quran 4:76 - "Those who believe fight in the cause of Allah…"

Quran 4:89 - "They but wish that ye should reject Faith, as they do, and thus be on the same footing: But take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of Allah. But if they turn renegades, seize
them and slay them wherever ye find them; and take no friends or helpers from their ranks."

Quran 4:95 - "Not equal are those believers who sit and receive no hurt, and those who strive and fight in the cause of Allah with their goods and their persons. Allah hath granted a grade higher to those who strive and fight with their goods and persons than to those who sit. Unto all Hath Allah promised good: But those who strive and fight Hath He distinguished above those who sit by a special reward,"

Quran 4:104 - "And be not weak hearted in pursuit of the enemy; if you suffer pain, then surely they (too) suffer pain as you suffer pain..."

Quran 5:33 - "The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement."

Quran 5:51 "You who believe, do not take the Jews and Christians as allies:they are allies only to each other. Anyone who takes them as an ally becomes one of them- God does not guide such wrongdoers."

Quran 8:12 - "I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them"  No reasonable person would interpret this to mean a spiritual struggle.

Quran 8:15 - "O ye who believe! When ye meet those who disbelieve in battle, turn not your backs to them. Whoso on that day turneth his back to them, unless maneuvering for battle or intent to join a company, he truly hath incurred wrath from Allah, and his habitation will be hell, a hapless journey's end."

Quran 8:39 - "And fight with them until there is no more persecution and religion should be only for Allah"

Quran 8:57 - "If thou comest on them in the war, deal with them so as to strike fear in those who are behind them, that haply they may remember."

Quran 8:59-60 - "And let not those who disbelieve suppose that they can outstrip (Allah's Purpose). Lo! they cannot escape.  Make ready for them all thou canst of force and of horses tethered, that thereby
ye may dismay the enemy of Allah and your enemy."

Quran 8:65 - "O Prophet! Exhort the believers to fight. If there be of you twenty steadfast they shall overcome two hundred, and if there be of you a hundred steadfast they shall overcome a thousand of those who disbelieve, because they the disbelievers are a folk without intelligence."

Quran 9:5 - "So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and
keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them."

Quran 9:14 - "You shall fight them, for Allah will punish them at your hands, humiliate them, grant you victory over them, and cool the chests of the believers.

Quran 9:20 - "Those who believe, and have left their homes and striven with their wealth and their lives in Allah's way are of much greater worth in Allah's sight. These are they who are triumphant."

Quran 9:29 - "Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are)
of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued."

Quran 9:30 - "And the Jews say: Ezra is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!"

Quran 9:38-39 - "O ye who believe! what is the matter with you, that, when ye are asked to go forth in the cause of Allah, ye cling heavily to the earth? Do ye prefer the life of this world to the Hereafter? But little is the comfort of this life, as compared with the Hereafter. Unless ye go forth, He will punish you with a grievous penalty, and put others in your place."

Quran 9:41 - "Go forth, light-armed and heavy-armed, and strive with your wealth and your lives in the way of Allah! That is best for you if ye but knew."

Quran 9:42 - "If there had been immediate gain (in sight), and the journey easy, they would (all) without doubt have followed thee, but the distance was long, (and weighed) on them"

Quran 9:73 - "O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the destination."

Quran 9:88 - "But the Messenger, and those who believe with him, strive and fight with their wealth and their persons: for them are good things: and it is they who will prosper."

Quran 9:111 - "Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise): they fight in His cause, and slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in truth, through the Law, the Gospel, and the Quran: and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah? then rejoice in the bargain which ye have concluded: that is the achievement supreme."

Quran 9:123 - "O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness."

Quran 21:44 - "We gave the good things of this life to these men and their fathers until the period grew long for them; See they not that We gradually reduce the land (in their control) from its outlying borders? Is it then they who will win?"

Quran 25:52 - "So do not obey the disbelievers, and strive against them with the Qur'an a great striving."

Quran 33:60-62 - "If the hypocrites, and those in whose hearts is a disease, and the alarmists in the city do not cease, We verily shall urge thee on against them, then they will be your neighbors in it but a little while.  Accursed, they will be seized wherever found and slain with a (fierce) slaughter."

Quran 47:3-4 - "Those who reject Allah follow vanities, while those who believe follow the truth from their lord.  Thus does Allah set forth form men their lessons by similtudes.  Therefore when you meet
in battle those who disbelieve, then smite the necks until when you have overcome them, then make (them) prisoners... But if it had been Allah's Will, He could certainly have exacted retribution from them (Himself); but in order to test you, some with others. But those who are slain in the Way of Allah,- He
will never let their deeds be lost."

Quran 47:35 - "Be not weary and faint-hearted, crying for peace, when ye should be uppermost for Allah is
with you,"

Quran 48:17 - "There is no blame for the blind, nor is there blame for the lame, nor is there blame for the sick. And whoso obeyeth Allah and His messenger, He will make him enter Gardens underneath which rivers flow; and whoso turneth back, him will He punish with a painful doom."

Quran 48:29 - "Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. And those with him are hard (ruthless) against the disbelievers and merciful among themselves"  Islam is not about treating everyone equally.  There are
two very distinct standards that are applied based on religious status.

Quran 61:4 - "Surely Allah loves those who fight in His way"

Quran 61:10-12 - "O ye who believe! Shall I lead you to a bargain that will save you from a grievous Penalty?- That ye believe in Allah and His Messenger, and that ye strive (your utmost) in the Cause of Allah, with your property and your persons: That will be best for you, if ye but knew! He will forgive you your sins, and admit you to Gardens beneath which Rivers flow, and to beautiful mansions in Gardens of
Eternity."

Quran 66:9 - "O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be stern with them. Hell will be their home, a hapless journey's end."

From the Hadith:

Bukhari 52:177 - Allah's Apostle said, "The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. "O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him."

Bukhari 52:220 - Allah's Apostle said... 'I have been made victorious with terror.'

Abu Dawud 14:2526 - The Prophet said: Three things are the roots of faith: to refrain from (killing) a person who utters, "There is no god but Allah" and not to declare him unbeliever whatever sin he commits,
and not to excommunicate him from Islam for his any action; and jihad will be performed continuously since the day Allah sent me as a prophet until the day the last member of my community will fight with
the Dajjal (Antichrist).

Abu Dawud 14:2527 - The Prophet said: Striving in the path of Allah is incumbent on you along with every ruler, whether he is pious or impious.

Muslim 1:33 - the Messenger of Allah said: I have been commanded to fight against people till they testify that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.

Bukhari 8:387 - Allah's Apostle said, "I have been ordered to fight the people till they say: 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah.

Muslim 1:149 - "Abu Dharr reported: I said: Messenger of Allah, which of the deeds is the best? He (the Holy Prophet) replied: Belief in Allah and Jihad in His cause..."

Muslim 20:4645 - "...He (the Messenger of Allah) did that and said: There is another act which elevates the position of a man in Paradise to a grade one hundred , and the elevation between one grade and the
other is equal to the height of the heaven from the earth. He (Abu Sa'id) said: What is that act? He replied: Jihad in the way of Allah! Jihad in the way of Allah!"

Muslim 20:4696 - "the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: 'One who died but did not fight in the way of Allah nor did he express any desire (or determination) for Jihid died the death of a hypocrite.'"

Muslim 19:4321-4323 - Three separate hadith in which Muhammad shrugs over the news that innocent children were killed in a raid by his men against unbelievers.  His response: "They are of them (meaning the enemy)."

Muslim 7:97  The morning after the murder of Ashraf, the Prophet declared, "Kill any Jew who falls under your power."  Ashraf was a poet, killed by Muhammad's men because he insulted Islam.  Here, Muhammad widens the scope of his orders to kill.  An innocent Jewish businessman was then slain by his Muslim partner, merely for being non-Muslim.

Tabari 9:69  "Killing Unbelievers is a small matter to us."

Ibn Ishaq: 327 - “Allah said, ‘A prophet must slaughter before collecting captives. A slaughtered enemy is driven from the land. Muhammad, you craved the desires of this world, its goods and the ransom captives would bring. But Allah desires killing them to manifest the religion.’”

Ibn Ishaq: 992 - "Fight everyone in the way of Allah and kill those who disbelieve in Allah."

On Women...

Quran- 4:15 “If any of your women are guilty of lewdness, take the evidence of four (reliable) witness from amongst you against them; if they testify, confine them to houses until death do claim them. Or God
ordain for them some (other) way.”

Quran-24:2 “The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication—flog each of them with hundred stripes: Let no compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by God, if ye believe in God and
the last day.”

Quran-17:32 “ Nor come nigh to adultery: for it is a shameful (deed) and an evil, opening the road (to other evils).

Quran-33:33 “stay quietly in your houses, and make not a dazzling display.”

Hmmm....

But remember it is the religion of peace.