Do you think the government is reading AA.org?

quote:

Originally posted by MBM:
The FBI's primary responsibility is to keep the pulse of potential threats within the country. Obviously a bunch of black folks talking about all sorts of stuff might be considered under that mandate. In that effort, do you think that the FBI (or whomever) is aware of our little community?

yep

quote:

Do you think that they would/might/have "infiltrated" our little corner of the internet to either influence the conversations or to obstruct what's happening here?

Wouldn't put it past them......

*cough* COINTELPRO....


Peace,
Virtue

quote:

Originally posted by MBM:
Obviously a bunch of black folks talking about all sorts of stuff might be considered under that mandate.

Especially when they bill themselves as the

INTELLIGENT.BLACK.COMMUNITY

Oh SH*T !

We're being spied on...

what difference does it make if they are????

quote:

Originally posted by MBM:
Do you think that they would/might/have "infiltrated" our little corner of the internet to either influence the conversations or to obstruct what's happening here?

I don't think the FBI has time, or would make time, for that. It wouldn't be an efficient way to spend that effort.

If the government thought that one, or a few of us, were some sort of threat, they would simply track the IP addresses and investigate the person(s) individually.

Yes, they're reading but not infiltrating at this point.

Related, but Many of the recent busts of steroid chemists and factories (Operation Gear Grinder) relied heavily on message board posts to build cases.


When a clear agenda & plans for mobilization begin to be clearly laid out, that's when the shaping & influencing will come.

I believe the government is reading and if they infiltrate I doubt they will be easy to detect.

I'm glad that you brought this point up MBM. I was going to bring it up, but wasn't quite sure how to approach the subject without coming off too strongly.
What I've noticed at times is the high number of 'guests' logged into the board. I know that not all of them are government agencies/agents who anonymously visit the board. However, I do believe that the board is being monitored and files are being created, just as sure as the sun rises in the morning.
If the past history of governmental agencies is an indicator of things to come, especially when it comes to African-Americans, we are in serious danger. I wouldn't be surprised if there are people who post on this board who are government agents seeking to distrupt the board. One of the best tactics the government has used in the past is to put out their own news feeds or propaganda. This was done as recently as two months ago in Iraq.
There is extensive documentation of this being done in an organized manner in the black community as far back as during the Roosevelt Administration. I've read some of the files for myself.
If the authorities can monitor and infiltrate a bunch of oat and bran eaters out in California who have meetings once a month and discuss peace, you know this board is being watched!
I'd also like to deliver the following warning for those who may have overlooked it. With the renewal of the Patriot Act recently, the local law enforcement does have the authority to infiltrate organizations deemed possible 'terrorist threats' and closely monitor them.

quote:

Originally posted by Black Viking:

quote:

Originally posted by MBM:
Do you think that they would/might/have "infiltrated" our little corner of the internet to either influence the conversations or to obstruct what's happening here?

I don't think the FBI has time, or would make time, for that. It wouldn't be an efficient way to spend that effort.

If the government thought that one, or a few of us, were some sort of threat, they would simply track the IP addresses and investigate the person(s) individually.

Black Viking, that's what many, many people do for a living! I used to work with some of them. They will take the time to investigate if you and your organization are even remotely suspected of being threatening or speak out against a government policy or some of the discussion we have here.
Example, when Janice Rogers Brown was nominated for a federal circuit court judge position. Somehow during the hearings, a cartoon that had appeared about her in the website Black Commentator was displayed by a senator. How did that cartoon get from the website to Washington D.C.? Now Black Commentator's hits went up within less than 24 hours and I'm sure that their content is being closely monitored now. I'm sure that many of the board members who read the Black Commentator are familiar with this story.

Uh, no. The smart thing to do would be to keep tabs on ultra-nationalistic sites like the Black Panthers and the NOI. For the most part, this community is composed on moderates who have no intention of storming the capital and taking over the country, or some such nonsense. I mean, what awful threat would the FBI see here, people discussing reparations and the war with Iraq. BFD, 90% of the country is talking about the latter. However, if there was a mole here, who better than the founder of the site himself? Create an online forum for intelligent Blacks, let them pour in, and voila, entrapment. LOL, just kidding MBM!

quote:

Originally posted by UppityNegress:

However, if there was a mole here, who better than the founder of the site himself? Create an online forum for intelligent Blacks, let them pour in, and voila, entrapment.

If the government has time to track online teen diaries and prosecute said teens for any slight against Bush, they certainly have time to actively monitor any message board that touches on politics.

IMO, there's very little that they don't monitor. Weren't the just going crazy over trying to get all of our internet search histories from Google and Yahoo? I don't think they'd infiltrate the site and try to influence people with some sort of intelligent thought. I think they're more apt to just shut it down.

quote:

Originally posted by ricardomath:

quote:

Originally posted by UppityNegress:

However, if there was a mole here, who better than the founder of the site himself? Create an online forum for intelligent Blacks, let them pour in, and voila, entrapment.

quote:

Originally posted by MBM:

quote:

Originally posted by ricardomath:

quote:

Originally posted by UppityNegress:

However, if there was a mole here, who better than the founder of the site himself? Create an online forum for intelligent Blacks, let them pour in, and voila, entrapment.

OK, mister... we're on to you now!

quote:

If the government has time to track online teen diaries and prosecute said teens for any slight against Bush, they certainly have time to actively monitor any message board that touches on politics. -Frenchy

I agree Frenchy. Also, I suspect the government has intelligence to go undetected in terms of IP address. In other words, the government can possibly tap into AA.org's host network and monitor without visibility. Therefore, I would not necessarily assume its (the government) among the guests viewing the board.

quote:

Originally posted by MBM:

quote:

Originally posted by ricardomath:

quote:

Originally posted by UppityNegress:

However, if there was a mole here, who better than the founder of the site himself? Create an online forum for intelligent Blacks, let them pour in, and voila, entrapment.

So what is a white filmmaker from Flint, Michigan doing running an African American bullitin board, anyway?

Sounds pretty suspicious if you ask me!

Okay ... [making myself a target here]

quote:

I don't think the FBI has time, or would make time, for that. It wouldn't be an efficient way to spend that effort.

If the government thought that one, or a few of us, were some sort of threat, they would simply track the IP addresses and investigate the person(s) individually.

Federal agencies do not physcially visit sites until they have a reason to do so; rather, they fish the net. [Pardon the pun] Computers sift through the traffic looking for key-words, phrase and combination. When there is a hit, they take a closer look.

But that said, we could increase the odds of our being monitored, as a board and individually, if we would establish a pattern of discussing an objective, actually working toward the objective and accomplishing the objective. Let us accomplish 3 or 4 objectives, we will appear on someone's radar.

quote:

Originally posted by Kweli4Real:

But that said, we could increase the odds of our being monitored, as a board and individually, if we would establish a pattern of discussing an objective, actually working toward the objective and accomplishing the objective. Let us accomplish 3 or 4 objectives, we will appear on someone's radar.

Cool! Let's go for it!

I would expect them to have robot scanners looking for certain words and saving the pages where those words appear so someone could look over them later.

That is what I love about the internet. It is a way to spread ideas world wide and there is very little authority can do about it. BlackNet.UK was shut down for a while because of some riots.

umbrarchist

oh I'm sure they have us bookmarked. I doubt they have the resources to analyze the forum on a regular basis.

quote:

Originally posted by umbrarchist:
I would expect them to have robot scanners looking for certain words and saving the pages where those words appear so someone could look over them later.

That is what I love about the internet. It is a way to spread ideas world wide and there is very little authority can do about it. BlackNet.UK was shut down for a while because of some riots.

umbrarchist

Basically, there is not enough manpower to monitor all the political activity on the web. There are other methods of control though ropaganda, as in, "the internet is nothing but a coalition of pedophiles" newsbreak every 15 min on CNN, The verichip, to monitor and selectively pressure and make an example of dissidents, state sponsored terrorism, as in 911.

Of course we are. The thoughts and concerns of the citizens are of paramount importance to us. Besides, it's not spying if you guys just "put it out there".


...'be seeing you."

Oh certainly. I'm sure we are at least in their database of monitered websites.

I have a feeling I'm on the list too because of all my pro-socialist and anti-Bush talk.

We all know the history of Black movements and the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover. I wouldn't be surprised if ---

*taken to Guantanamo Bay by the Feds*

quote:

Originally posted by umbrarchist: BlackNet.UK was shut down for a while because of some riots.

umbrarchist

Really? I Blacknet.UK was shut down because a young Black woman was supposedly gang-raped by another ethnic group, and people there went apeshit and said a lot of stupid things, which put the site on the government radar via laws against ethnic intmidation and hate speech.

quote:

Originally posted by tmonster:

quote:

Originally posted by umbrarchist:
I would expect them to have robot scanners looking for certain words and saving the pages where those words appear so someone could look over them later.

That is what I love about the internet. It is a way to spread ideas world wide and there is very little authority can do about it. BlackNet.UK was shut down for a while because of some riots.

umbrarchist

Basically, there is not enough manpower to monitor all the political activity on the web. There are other methods of control though ropaganda, as in, "the internet is nothing but a coalition of pedophiles" newsbreak every 15 min on CNN, The verichip, to monitor and selectively pressure and make an example of dissidents, state sponsored terrorism, as in 911.

yep. and let's not forget having someone infiltrate the forum pretending to be one of us or attempting to change the debate or directly feed us propaganda