The Professional Paranoid --Book review by Jaye C. Beldo
January 26, 2010
Feral House, known for their usually ozone perforating titles such as The Octopus and Psychic Dictatorship in the U.S.A., have come up with something a bit more down to earth for us, The Professional Paranoid by H. Michael Sweeney. This practical manual thoroughly describes proven techniques on how to safely deal with potential snoops ranging from stalkers, corporate bullies, the IRS, private dicks to CIA spooks and spookettes. How to know when your being trailed, when your mail is being tampered with and if your phone is being tapped can be found in this intriguing and important survival guide. Women will find much useful information on how to avoid date rape and other forms of assault included in this very street smart book.
Reading The Professional Paranoid has awakened this reviewer to some ultimately sobering facts:
1. FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) as enacted in 1978 and later expanded by Klinton under Executive Order #12949 as a response to the World Trade and Oklahoma City bombings, pretty much annihilates our rights to privacy, protection from unreasonable search and seizure, and a right to a fair hearing. 'Seven men can meet in a secret court, with no public record kept, to decide that, because of who you may have associated with (even accidentally or coincidentally)'
2. The NSA, the largest intelligence agency in the U.S. can pretty much intercept any phone call you make, e-mail you send or receive through technology that they themselves have developed, yet are somehow mysteriously immune to the surveillance laws that the rest of us are subject to.
3. FEMA has established a 'Financial Crimes Enforcement Network' of 'supercomputers designed to track every financial transaction of every citizen' Imagine the implications if they hook up with those literal outlaws at the IRS.
4. PROMIS is a software program that enables the CIA and other federal agencies to track you online. "If you call a police department or federal agency and they enter your name into a computer, the CIA knows about it. They can even alter the information. Who knows, you might suddenly be listed as 'armed and dangerous'."
Most impressive in this work is the abundance of information found in the appendix which spells out the staggering number of CIA and other survelliance fronts at large, ranging from the AAI Corporation to Mitre to Zenith Technical Enterprises. Also in the appendix is detailed technical information on bugs and other forms of surveillance technology often employed by the snoops at large. Updated information on the telecommunications and computer industry's collusion with the NSA to make their technology more surveillance friendly is also included such as clipper chips which enable 'secret electronic entrance into digital information systems' and the like. I found the information on pertinent web sites dedicated to exposing Big Brother also highly useful as well .
I commend Mr. Sweeney for his courage as well as impressive thoroughness of the research he put into the making of The Professional Paranoid . Anyone who scoffs at the suggestion that surveillance isn't the problem its made out to be in the world of conspiracy should read and re-read this book for a much needed change of mind.
Jaye C. Beldo is a writer, spiritual anarchist and intuitive counselor. He has been published in Dream Network, FATE, Green Egg, the Konformist, Viewzone, New Vision. He can be reached at: Netnous@aol.com
PROPARANOID? What does it mean?
1) paranoid ~ a medical term applied to someone who mistakenly fears being persecuted by others... followed, spied upon, stalked, threatened, etc.
2) opposite of paranoid ~ sorry, there is no medical term in the English language for someone properly reacting to ACTUAL persecution. Some say 'cautious' is the word, but ONLY the victim seems to use that word, usually in self defense against suggestions of being paranoid. Why? Our civilization, certainly as exemplified by professionals within law enforcement, the courts, and medical institutions, simply does not want to believe in conspiracy or bogeymen. If you ask for help, you are simply dismissed as being paranoid, even if you have proof to the contrary - they don't want to hear it, and the victim is victimized a second time in a whole new way.
On the other hand... METANOIA is an illness defined as 'the belief that everyone is good/benign and the world/universe only wants to help you' regardless of the reality. This is the TRUE opposite of paranoia but represents an inverse illness. Excuse me for saying it, but this would seem to be the state of mind of all law enforcement, media, and medical professionals who, by failing to consider that not every bump in the night is imagined and instead prefering to believe there is no such thing as a conspiracy or boogyman, are deluding themselves; thus by their behavior, it is THEY who are mentally ill!
3) proparanoid ~ someone who wishes to aid and support those accused of being paranoid, especially when help has been denied elsewhere; a concatenation of 'professional paranoid' - see next. See also HOW TO GET HELP
4) Professional Paranoid ~ title of a how-to book on personal safety and privacy by H. Michael Sweeney ~ The Professional Paranoid: How to Fight Back When Investigated, Stalked, Harassed, or Targeted by Any Agency, Organization, or Individual. Now available in Third Edition as e-book ($12)
5) Professional Paranoid NEWSLETTER ~ four issues each year (12-24 pages with color) packed with news and tips, and revelations of conspiratorial corruption in high places. Learn more - get a FREE Sample!
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