Calif. father, son held in al-Qaida investigation, MSNBC - Looks like Pakistani madrassa trained people (aka al-Qaeda sympathizers and potential terrorists) were caught in Lodi, CA. MSNBC references an FBI Agent affadavit (pdf), too. This one seems to be a cut and dry case of some people caught out in a lie. It's good the FBI keeps track of talking to these guys otherwise they may have had to wait until something actually happened. Complication: they're American citizens. How hard can the book be thrown at these two for lying?

The media's got some good ones, what with the al-Arian case (Florida CS professor accused of assisting Palestinian terrorist organizations) going on. Financial aid and comfort to terrorists? Probably, but they've got to prove it.

The USA PATRIOT Act's provisions are up for renewal soon (December 2005) and there's a bunch of debate going on in Washington as to it's extent. The Senate Intelligence Committee approved a proposal for giving "Administrative subpoena" powers to the FBI - allowing, in certain cases, requests for records from, say a hospital, without first going through a judge. (Senate Gives FBI More Patriot Act Power, ABC News)

Jack mentioned something about allowing the FBI free rein to infiltrate mosques in the US. To me, it seems like an idea that's missing the mark. The FBI, as per above, has to pretty much wait until someone's broken a law somewhere before jumping into action. Enforcement of the law isn't usually an invasive or proactive thing and long drawn out court cases show exactly how quickly justice is meted out.

From the MSBNC article: "Umer Hayat [the father] wore a concealed FBI listening device for the meetings, one source told the Bee [Sacremento news paper], an account confirmed by some of his relatives." The FBI used an informant to get more info to make their case. Much easier than a plant.