Rating: 
Summary: Down and Out
Review: I know of someone who had the misfortune of working as a contractor for a company in the region of the Merrimack Valley FBI office when this case broke out. The person was harassed under suspicious circumstances and afterthat person left was blackballed on references by many of these coworkers there with strong political feelings during a period of gubernatorial and presidential elections. After this person left, this small group of workers was relocated ostensibly to another a building in another county. This person had all sorts of strange things happen when this case first exploded.One can only wonder what the family members of victims, informants, and fbi agents under suspicion are going through. Peter Limone was just released after 35 years in prison through the efforts of an unnamed informant.. but a question emerges as to why the informant's report only now became known?
Rating: 
Summary: "A Brave New World"
Review: Imagine J.Edgar Hoover with the technological capabilities of today.. cameras concealed in a Casio watch, wiretap-ready phones, remote room monitoring capability answering machines, morphing technology where an individual can be video-edited committing crimes,etc.. the danger is here and ominous. What may be even worse is this technology is available in the private sector so now anyone who wants to hurt you is becoming further enabled to do that. In this case, the practice of shredding damning documents has been raised and cuts across government strata. The crux of this case seems to center around events of the mid 1960s in Massachusetts and New England at the height of Kennedy power and where a minimum of 24+ organized crime factions are said to have existed.It seems plausible Massachusetts was the center of an economic civil war between the space and military camps for federal funds.The whole Mass/New England area was flooded with space programs and military bases and JFK was pro-space while Tip O'Neill and the Boston region favored the military bases or related sectors. As the space program gained favor, the military was seeing base and other cuts from Robert McNamara. what we see going on now seems to be a reverse of the struggle going on in the 1960s, a shift from military-based projects to high tech nonmilitary projects.Hypothesis: were the Mclean-Mclaughlin wars precipitated by the regional battle for funding between factions on the space side and those on the military side? A breakdown of the respective committees supporting each may shed some light on this question. Boston Edison approved land in Woburn for further development around the time NASA was to locate a site there and a Radiology lab was also established in the region. JFK was a proponent of the NASA site in Woburn and John Connolly later procured a job with Edison. Barry Mawn was brought into the Boston FBI office after Whitey fled, Mawn being a Woburn native. Whitey disappeared prior to the release of "A Civil Action" by Jonathan Harr,about Woburn and the aftermath of early leukemia epidemic signs emerging in the 1960s. Whitey is said to have had a girlfriend in Woburn. NASA did not come and this left an economic void in the region. Could all of this tie together? Was Barry Mawn to Woburn what Teddy Roosevelt may have been to Cuba in the Cuban missile crisis?
Rating:
Summary: New standards
Review: The Justice Dept has just unveiled new criteria for dealing with informants. But some serious questions remain. If one views informants as a partnership between an agency,its agents and the informant, long term close work can forge a camaraderie as informant and official teamup to fight crime. If the informant is not committing crimes, then what is wrong with socializing with agents or even exchanging gifts? Are the informants not de facto independent contractors of the agency? The way informants seem portrayed in the media is in an inferior position with respect to the agent but isn't it more of a partnering? Where the potential danger comes in is if either agent or informant commits crimes with the aid of the other. Because Bulger and Flemmi are not available for comment, we don't have the full picture. The bond that can be formed between agent and informant is increased because of the inherent dangers to each involved in pursuing crimes. The informant needs the protection offered by the agent and agents in the field surely need protection offered by informants. In this case we don't know if gifts were exchanged between agents and informants as bribes or as gestures of friendship and kinship developed over the years in a shared mission.It might be an issue of gratitude on both sides and not payback at all. What you've got in this case is a whole lot of angry,hurt people looking to pin responsibility. You have testimonials from parties who have cut deals with the Justice Dept who have in turn now earned the label 'informant', becoming that which they say they felt so betrayed by.These newly made informants might now have a glimpse of what could have caused Flemmi and Bulger to turn informant.So easy to judge?
Rating:
Summary: A theory of Whitey
Review: It may be possible Bulger and Flemmi were selected as young children to be future informants because of a combination of street smarts and intellect. If this is the case,the future of these guys may have been mapped out for them by Intelligence and Law Enforcement officials without their ever knowing at a federal level. As an example, i know of one man who grew up in state child care abandoned by his family, abused and neglected. This man tested high on academic achievement despite this history using conventional measures. As a child the boy was shuffled about in a seeming random fashion until junior high and high school.At the beginning of high school the boy was tested and deemed college ready immediately at any college in the US. A large number of state and state-funded private workers,some with government service backgrounds, handled the child and there was considerable sanitization of his records as time went on. At key points if the boy competed in contests where intelligence was in some way measured, unusual outcomes resulted in his "underachievement", as if to keep the boy from generating attention or interference from individuals who might have an educational interest in the boy's future. In high school a man going by the same name as this boy appeared in the same town he lived in.This man had a military service record and used this boy's address sometimes to mislead. On several occasions the identity of the other man was confused with this boy,inviting local police scrutiny. Eventually the boy (now a man) 'ended up' at a defense contractor and was subject to intimidation and numerous personal intrusions. Nearly 20 years later the man joined a prominent local church and this man who had been using his address and name was still following him around! How many career prospects were destroyed for the boy now a man? Does he even know? If Bulger and Flemmi had this sort of thing going on, they were set up as young children and steered into a future they had zero control over.This may have involved agencies far beyond the FBI or the Justice Dept, but the FBI is left holding the bag for it. The nature of classified work is such that a handful of people know the truth and even if information is shared, it is selective and can be misleading in the way it is given. if our government is hypothetically capable of molding children 'La Femme Nikita' style, how much blame goes to the kid and to the government officials that permit this to happen?
Rating:
Summary: "It wasn't me"
Review: When this case broke in 1995, i worked for a company with many government contracts and heavy political ties and affiliations with government agencies. Not long before it broke, I was pulled into an office and threatened that i was going to be 'monitored' by an agency with ominous overtones. Over the next few months my apartment was entered twice while i was away on vacation after the security rep at work seemed to make friendly and innocent inquiries as to how long i would be away etc. I began getting strange calls to old friends by 'official sounding' unidentified individuals. Shortly after Bulger disappeared, i was suddenly fired from my job and maneuvered into a position in which several individuals suggested they had ties to law enforcement and government agencies. While i was at work, i later found evidence of individuals entering my home while i was at work and phone calls to my apartment while i was at work emanating from the building i worked in at an unidentified extension. If i left work for lunch, local police would tail me. I began receiving threatening phone calls, anonymous calls warning me i was in great danger, and that "powerful people in Massachusetts" were out to get me.My bank accounts were levied by the IRS without notice and several of my coworkers suggested they knew my every move. I had no criminal background, led a boring life, and volunteered as much as i could. My medical records began disappearing and i became suddenly chronically unemployable. Recruiters and companies would call me for interviews then cancel or 100% of the time i would not get the job. Worried that in the wake of this case perhaps rogue elements were at work, my state reps and senators would not so much as return my phone calls. Every state,local and federal law enforcement branch ignored my pleas for help. I discovered no one cared. Friends thought i was losing it until they heard the threatening phone calls and saw me being followed around by men in suits.Then they too suspected something was wrong.
Rating:
Summary: In God we Trust
Review: This book and the whole case has done little to fully examine how Bulger and Flemmi were made to work as informants.If you hypothesize that they were selected and trained adhering to security agreements, then the supervising agency could have used the collective might of the govt to come down on these guys and prevent them from NOT working as informants. Other agencies and contacts in the private sector could have cooperated in blackballing these guys and controlling their activities by giving only selective information to the agency or party to be used against Bulger and Flemmi.Here the other branches of govt involved or contacts in private industry could have helped blackball these guys thinking they were serving national interests. Example: agency A approaches company B that Bulger applies to for work alleging Bulger under investigation, drug trafficker,etc, thus preventing Bulger from getting work. company B knows only what agency A tells them. And if these guys phones were tapped, any agencies monitoring knew their every move as discussed on phone. This book and the case in general treats Bulger and Flemmi as very willing participants but until Flemmi and Bulger can speak freely we don't know if this is true. We also don't know if a third party committed much of the violence in this case and blamed it on Flemmi and Bulger. If you also hypothesize that no one acquires any position of power or wealth in this country without the approval of the govt, then those so in power become potential tools to use against detractors or fall guys.How free could these guys have been if the IRS, FBI,Justice Dept,Customs,CIA,NSA,DIS,DEA,US Marshalls,Secret Service,etc were mobilized against them? Or the possibility that organized crime had this control over them?
Rating:
Summary: Do the ends justify the means?
Review: That is a key question in this scenario. The recent release from prison after 30 years of Peter Limone is a case FOR the use of informants such as used in this case. If not for a report from an unidentified informant exonerating him from murder, Limone would still be in prison. On the flip side, we do not know how credible this unnamed informant was. If the integrity of the informant is high, Limone truly got screwed and some recompense is surely in order. Another disturbing tactic is how the DEA allegedly entered the vehicles of Bulger and Flemmi and planted various bugs in their vehicles. It is alleged that the FBI planted a fake bomb on a car of one man to make him think the Mafia was trying to kill him in order to make him an informant. So we have 2 agencies that will not hesitate to tamper with someone's car.. how far will they go? Held wholly unaccountable in this case is the CIA,which is alleged to have contributed to Bulger's maturing use as a government asset. Some time ago there was a newspaper release that the CIA approached the Mafia about subcontracting an assassination. Prior to the public release, anyone who promulgated that view may have been labeled "conspiracy theorist". What should terrify any ordinary citizen is the prospect of these all-powerful agencies running amok and without external oversight. It is unlikely that low level employees are ultimately responsible for straying from the noble mandate but the mangement of these agencies ,which decides the use of resources,targets, and long term agenda for the agency. It is unlikely that Flemmi will be able to offer insightful testimony as he is progressively being worn down and broken down by seclusion, fear, and being a 'patsy'. Individuals are all but having murders and other serious crimes forgiven all for the sake of getting Flemmi, Bulger, Connolly,Rico.
Rating:
Summary: Story needed to be told
Review: This is a surface tale of alleged mafia rivalries and the confluence of organized crime and government. One of the dangers in this case is to paint either the FBI or Mafia as victims. Neither group has a reputation as such..each is viewed more as predator than prey. This case also makes it easy to single out the FBI but what about the IRS, ATF,Treasury Dept, Corrections Dept and so on? In all these agencies you have good people and not so good people. If even half the allegations against the major players in this case are true, not only is lack of internal discipline and external oversight evident, but also the the extent,pervasiveness and real danger of organized crime. Organized crime in general is far greater than just the Mafia and cuts across all ethnic groups. Organized crime figures are often seen as flashy, intriguing, and the underdog, but how often do you hear of an organized crime member serving the community, say as a legitimate volunteer for a charity? The majority of images conjured by organized crime are of terror,intimidation, violence, and intrusion into all key areas of government. Sometimes organized crime does good but its basic purpose is not to help people but to further its own power and money base. This case is about a major event(s) that precipitated violence and other ends between rival but peer groups. The FBI's mandate appears to be to help and protect but many of its decisions may be simple business decisions. As long as the FBI withholds information on the rationale behind its actions the ends and means in this case will be suspect. Many other government agencies have been quick to target the FBI but how often has the public heard of abuses in other agencies? The problem is not one agency but the capacity for infiltration or exploitation of government power for a special interest group, in this case organized crime in general. In many ways it is the people that are responsible for the flourishing of organized crime for without a market, these groups would not survive. And not everyone linked with organized crime groups became so voluntarily, some were born into it,others married into it, others flock to it because they lack real family structures in their own lives and this may be a group who does accept them. And some aspects of organized crime involve things which are more of moral nature than legal ones, such as gambling.
Rating:
Summary: Cat & Mouse
Review: A major question unanswered in this case is how the informants were selected.. what was the criteria? How many people were involved in the choice? Do informants go through normal security clearance oversight? It has become apparent that informants were used against each other and that many have gone to jail rather than reveal their informant status. This case might make one reconsider becoming an informant or working for the FBI or Justice Dept. During the Vietnam protests, it has been said that some police officers dressed up in riot gear using the badge of an officer who called in sick and then proceeded to dole out harsh punishments for protesters.This is the sort of thing we dread and must be vigilant in monitoring. Perhaps this case was a reaction to escalating violence that precipitated harsher and harsher responses from law enforcement. Is it possible many people were in danger and these guys were called in as the heavies? Where did Bulger and Flemmi learn such alleged brutality? Have their families been punished simply for being their family? Were Flemmi and Bulger and Mercurio preselected from early on in their lives? Have their successors been selected,perhaps without even their knowledge? The concentration here is just with the FBI..but what of other branches of the Justice Dept? Or government in general? What does the handling of informants in the case tell us about how the Justice Dept and the general public view them? It seems that the roles Flemmi and Bulger and Mercurio played were extremely risky and without the backup of normal law enforcement support. It may also be that these guys were processed in security clearances areas and that once this happened their prospects of legitimate work in industry were jeopardized. One coworker said that a govt agency(not FBI) targeted him for recruitment so aggressively that they allegedly sent agents to his workplace,neighbors and such and spread rumors such that he got a bad reputation and could not find work. Maybe the same thing happened to Bulger and Flemmi?
Rating:
Summary: " Don't ask any questions"
Review: Someone i know worked for a company with many government contracts and approached a local paper about help in finding out who their father is just before Whitey fled. After the paper did a story, this individual was transferred to another division of the company then not long after "laid off".After that, the individual began getting approached by individuals who began collecting information on him/her and used whatever they got to hurt this person. Wherever the person did business, rented videos,did banking,etc, that person had nothing but problems. The person began having all sorts of problems at the college they attended and any Massachusetts state programs the person applied for ,such as retraining for those laid off from work, were quickly denied.In addition, these individuals alternately implied changing political affiliations between the Democratic and Republican parties. All of this seemed to stem from simply asking who their father was ,as this person had been abandoned into state care very young and was told little of their family history. This person worked for a company with government contracts and the question has been raised as to whether government agencies were offensively attacking the person. If Bulger,Flemmi,Rico,Connolly and others fell under the agencies that oversee security cleared employees, one might find that these guys were heavily controlled and prone to inordinate personal problems if they failed to comply. Their financial status may have been monitored and messed with as a behavioral modification gesture if they acted in a way contrary to organization goals. This person i mentioned had vehicles tampered with, financial and phone records monitored, individuals they associated with approached by govt officials and much more. Most of this was difficult to prove and this is how these agencies get away with it is by having several individuals mess with the target individual from different angles, as these guys may have experienced. Local politicians seemed to care less.
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