Rating: 
Summary: Different perspectives
Review: In considering this book, all the customer reviews should be viewed as different ways of looking at this case-speculative but raising valid questions. Recent evidence released in the case suggest informants being used against one another and FBI knowledge of alleged hits in advance. On the surface it looks as if the FBI are the bad guys but another way of looking at it is that they may not have intervened to stop aggressive action between members of the same organized crime group, an internal matter. It may be that there is a line and two worlds: one is the law and law obeying and the other is organized crime with the harsh pentalties that go along with infractions.Once one steps over that line, one might be held accountable to the side they are on. Organized crime is not known for benevolence and often times organized crime being 'nice' might simply mean they are not harming but not helping either.Just as agents in the FBI or law enforcement risk their lives,so too do individuals getting into organized crime.Law enforcement and organized crime might be viewed as the 2 sides of the same coin.Organized crime is about loyalty, greed, discipline,betrayal,daring,trust,violence.In organized crime the member holds loyalty to the organization above family members or their own children. In the FBI and any of these field-based law enforcement groups, individual agents can be taken away from their families for extended periods, have to work odd hours and such and this can tear a family apart. There have been a lot of allegations in this case,but we don't know why such harsh measures may have been required by the FBI. Was the FBI running wild or was organized crime? If it was the FBI, what does this say about internal controls to stop it? If organized crime, what does this say about it?
Rating:
Summary: Hidden agendas
Review: With all the hype in this case, policymakers may do very little to curtail similar such abuses in the future. Just as this case is gaining exposure now, what abuses are going on now that we will hear about 20 or 30 years from now?Shredding and altering incriminating documentary evidence from my own knowledge of human services and other areas is nothing new by the government. I have seen state records involving kids in state care altered or shredded or tossed out because of potential liability. In these records are reports and labels and subjective commentary that can help or hurt the child's future. If the government will do this to children, what will it not do to adults? Perhaps the FBI handlers in this case can be viewed as similar to a social worker managing a case, filing reports on the client while the client is unable to review the information or to rebut any discrepancies while strangers down the road make judgements on the child's future using information of which the child is unaware. I may have some tie to one of the parties in this case on either side and never have been told this. Shortly before Bulger disappeared, i worked for a company with government contracts and was intimidated by an agency that met with me while there. After Bulger disappeared, i was approached by individuals coming in as temps at another company who seemed nice at first and befriended me. Over the ensuing months and a couple of years, it soon became apparent these individuals were not my friends and were there to keep an eye on me, trying to compile information against me while issuing subtle and not subtle hints that they were watching me on a regular basis.These same individuals hinted that they had seen inside my home,reviewed some of my financial records, and had considerable detailed knowledge of my comings,goings and activities which i had not provided them with, even going to lengths to find out my video rentals. I had no criminal background and lived an ordinary life but with missing pieces in family background. These same individuals seemed very concerned about who i would vote for in state and federal elections. The complete lack of concern that they were following me around and harassing me seemed to be of little concern to them nor to the FBI or Justice Dept who ignored my requests for help after months and months of quiet intimidation about how one of these individuals in particular had been watching me come and go and specifically wanted to come to where i live for no good reason. If these individuals are representative of these 2 agencies, these agencies are as ruthless as claimed.
Rating: 
Summary: Govt responsibility
Review: What so few commentators point out is that government has a collective psychology which can be exploited, as Hitler found out as well as J Edgar Hoover, and Slobodan Milosevich, a trained psychiatrist. If you consider govt as a collective capable of ultimate self-protection, then anything can become possible if it is threatened by real or perceived antigens. When you consider the degree of secrecy and confidentiality required by the alleged players in this case, one cannot rule out that forces might be out to destroy them using clever and insidious means. One such way is an active discrediting campaign aimed at making the defendants appear as psychologically unstable characters whose testimony in court can be attacked for its credibility based on carefully contrived proofs of instability. If these individuals were in such high risk activities it might be reasonable to suggest that they were heavily monitored because of potential fallout by other individuals who could be used to manipulate the lives of these guys and basically playmind games. If you have a group of people aimed at creating stress in your life, how long could you last before someone could construct a case that made you appear crazy? Especially if your communications are being monitored such that your innermost thoughts, problems and plans could be known? The nature of undercover work and such is to be able to maintain a persona not yours over sometimes a very prolonged period.Deception is perfectly acceptable and manipulating people and events becomes standard. These sorts of strategies are often developed in collusion with psychological and psychiatric professionals to permit an individual to do this sort of thing naturally. What we are taught in school,church,temple as wrong becomes perfectly acceptable. In the movie "The Skulls' is a scene where an inductee becomes a threat and is thrown into a mental hospital and drugged up to protect the powerful elite who control the organization. Perhaps this is not so far-fetched.The threat the inductee posed was knowledge of the truth. This is a society which punishes honest mistakes,rewards cover-ups and discourages contrition. Someone or a group of people know what really happened here and are not talking. Is it fear? Guilt? Shame? Indifference?
Rating:
Summary: Opportunity knocks
Review: There are many many negatives to this case but one of the positives is perhaps some overhauling and reflection on the structure of the Top Echelon program is in order. This program offered financial incentives and opportunities for career advancement within the FBI and there may be similar incentives in the other branches as well. Rewarding performance is one thing but does this program by design encourage self-serving injustices? One might ask if agencies such as the FBI fit an individual to a crime as opposed to the crime to the individual. Is the FBI often pressured for results no matter what despite ambiguities? Part of the negative publicity in this case is due to the FBI's hard-nosed,bullying persona. Often times this is accompanies law enforcement in general. Another dimension to this case is how informants and witnesses seem to be viewed in general by the govt. The fact that individuals went to the FBI seeking help and wound up dead, regardless of who did it, points to serious security flaws in the handling of these people.The number of people who opt out of witness protection might also reflect on how witnesses are treated and it must not be so great if people would rather risk death than stay in the program. We are raised not to tattle-tale but also to do the right thing. In matters where serious crime is involved, if we turn the other cheek we are viewed as tacitly approving the activity yet if we try to stop it we are 'rats'. There is a dilemma here. A big question we might ask is why our agencies keep letting us down? They protection us a lot but they hurt us a lot as well. One only has to look at the Hoover FBI, recent revelations of advanced technologies that suggest our computers might be weapons against us, Cointelpro, and this case to be concerned. Do these agencies set their own agendas or does it come from the top? Or how much input and discretion does a field agent really have? Aren't they only as empowered as upper management allows?
Rating:
Summary: Who do you trust?
Review: This story focuses on a small group and a local area but does not really delve into the backgrounds of the people involved much.We don't know how these informants and their associated handlers came to be involved nor whether greed or revenge were the primary motivators. There have been many cases in the media over the years of govt employees exposing waste,corruption and things like that and who have been blackballed or set up because of it to put this in the realm of possibility.
Rating:
Summary: Who do you believe?
Review: It is easy to focus on Bulger,Flemmi & Connolly in this case and all the allegations might be true...we just don't know until all the facts are out. There is something disturbing though about how Flemmi has been held in prison for years without a trial and before being convicted. This should send chills up anyone's spine and it is disturbing that no one seems bothered by this. The govt has made a reasonable argument he might be a flight risk but how can it justify holding the man in solitary confinement for so long and in prison for years awaiting trial? Isn't this sort of hedging where the govt gets the prison time up front even though a conviction has not been had? Others in this case went through the same thing and finally plea bargained and are doing time. Some of the tactics being used in this case may very well support the defendant's assertions. These points are not about exonerating Bulger,Flemmi and Connolly this is about basic justice for anyone,Say a mistake was made and you were arrested on serious charges and you were held in prison for years without a trial-- how would you feel? Also some of the individuals brought in during the hearings testified about the probability of corruption in the FBI going back 2-3 decades but these individuals were speaking about it sometimes years after leaving the FBI or Justice Dept and might suggest these people knew what was going on at the time it was going on.Does this add legitimacy to Connolly and Flemmi's arguments? Only a very few know for certain whether Flemmi,Connolly and Bulger are guilty of all alleged. A question that emerges in this is will ALL the facts come out and is the justice dept and fbi committed to the truth? The truth might be all that is alleged but as recent presidential election and supreme court concerns have developed, faith and trust in the integrity of our govt institutions is as much on trial as these guys are. As american citizens we want to trust our govt but so many times in the past the govt has let us down. The responsibility of people in the FBI,Justice Dept and any such agency is awesome and those employed are held to a higher standard. It must not be easy but the cost is so very high if they do not.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing new under the sun
Review: Black Mass is basically a story about allegations of abuse of law enforcement authority. This is as ancient as law itself. In Eusebius' 'History of the Church', he details how Roman soldiers would go disguised as a member of the crowd to hear early Christians preach.Once at the rally, these soldiers fomented a riot then brutally beat and imprisoned supporters. many people were killed in brutal ways simply because they wanted to embrace this new religion. Law enforcement is necessary but where do we draw the line? Even someone such as Jesus could not escape the laws of the day and we know what happened there.There are monsters out in the world but not everyone is one. Governments around the world create agencies and bodies designed to protect their own and destroy the 'enemy'but once creating these agencies how can they prevent them from running rampant against their own? Governments around the world throw people in prison to punish and then wonder why they are not 'better' when they get out. It seems that much of the crime that happens might well be preventable if we look at root socioeconomic causes that often can be traced back to policy and legislation changes. Perhaps if we worked at taking care of people using private and public resources aimed at developing self-sufficiency and job skills and provision of basic needs(food,shelter,safety) the percentage of crime might go way down.
Rating:
Summary: New member benefits
Review: This book discusses the Bulger case as if the alleged activities within are new. They are not new..in fact, it seems that the government and the mafia are direct competitors for the same markets with former govt employees joining ranks with organized crime to help protect these ventures. Former Agent Yacobucci was listed in the Boston Herald as helping finance strip joints up and down the east coast. If one could go into state records and see the demographics of kids in state care, this might also point to a system in place which promotes some of these ventures by creating a captive population to exploit by the sex and sex fantasy trades and much more. If former govt agents are permitted to delve into such businesses, knowing that many of the individuals who get into these activities are victims of dysfunctional families,broken homes and a variety of abuse, then this shows a tacit approval on the part of govt officials to perpetuate a system which preys on the innocent. The difference here in the US is how much window dressing conceals the harsh reality. There are many things going on which suggest that one must enter into govt in some form to have broad freedoms unavailable to the ordinary working man. Former President George Bush was Director of the CIA before his presidency, Yacobucci was a former FBI agent before entering the strip club business, Flemmi and Bulger had military backgrounds. Could it perhaps be that there is a tier system in America based on security clearances and once one has attained a certain level one becomes immune to normal laws and standards? By reaching a certain clearance this puts one into a pool where all sorts of things, legal and illegal, become possible? Is this system outside the scope of the law,even the US Supreme Court?
Rating: 
Summary: Scary Stuff
Review: In reading this book one has to take into account hat there is a history of the Justice Dept not being able to control the FBI. Look at what Hoover was able to do while the Justice Dept was powerless against him. The FBI and similar agencies are so dangerous because their mission is to gather dirt on people. By doing this and keeping the files 'confidential', one might ask why someone would gather huge amounts of information on people and keep them from seeing what has been compiled unless it is for future retaliatory purposes or for intimidation? These questions are unknowns but serious because how many people have been convicted on the word of an FBI agent? Because of this power agents need to be of the highest caliber and integrity. It must not be an easy job to be such an agent. Perhaps the empowerment of individual agents is grossly exaggerated in this case. It seems that FBI management is much more in control than the agent in the field.If FBI management has targeted someone and an investigating agent in the field finds extenuating circumstances or information that reflects positively on the target, does FBI management stifle those reports to get the target anyway? Does FBI management manage investigations just like a business does, in terms of profits and loss? This book focuses on the FBI but these same questions can apply across the board to other law enforcement and allied bodies as well.
Rating:
Summary: Nature of the Beast
Review: It may be possible that leaks in many govt agencies are commonplace and not linked to a given political administration but more linked to the structure of this country as a mosaic of conflicting groups all striving for ascendancy and with the scales in one direction then another as the power keeps shifting. I have seen leaks in many agencies of which i have some experience, including agencies listed in this book and more.If you look at these competing groups as carving territories for themselves, then an individual outside of the group most dominant in the agency might be pushed away, as perhaps the victims were who approached the FBI as alleged. Also, when you have an agency and employees in it dealing with classified information, that information is usually heavily controlled and individuals only given bits & pieces with precious few having the big picture. Where they may be many security ramifications involving Bulger and Flemmi and their activities, it may be safe to say that the full truth cannot be disclosed because of security considerations which may be held over their heads.
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