federalbureauofinvestigation

Guest: Tonda MacCharles, Ottawa Bureau Chief

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is a $4.2-billion dollar national force looking over eight provinces, three territories, 150 municipalities and 600 Indigenous communities. But now, sources say the PMO wants Mounties to be transformed into the “FBI of the North.” The idea would pull the RCMP out of the business of front-line, day-to-day contract policing and shift focus to challenges like national security and terrorism, financial crimes, cybercrime and organized crime. Such radical change will take time but, in the interim, the idea has found high-profile support in key senior RCMP and political offices.

This episode was produced by Sean Pattendon and Brian Bradley.

Today we take a fascinating look into how Whitey Bulger rose to power in Boston's underworld in the 70's and 80's, with not only the FBI's protection, but also their direct help. No one (that we're aware of publicly, at least) benefitted more from the FBI's Top Echelon Informant Program than Irish-American gangster, Whitey Bulger.  Whitey rose through the ranks of Boston's organized crime scene thanks to a combination of cunning, ruthlessness, a little help from his politically connected brother, Billy, and a LOT of help from the FBI. Whitey's top informant status, and the degree to which he corrupted his handler, Special Agent John Connolly, allowed him to get away with murder after murder, and run one criminal racket after another with impunity. For nearly two decades the FBI protected the most dangerous man in Boston in order to take down other people who were far less threatening to the general public. Why? And how did this happen? 

Bad Magic Charity of the Month: Donating a TBD amount to the Hill Country Humane Society this month. Their mission is to use their new mobile spay and neuter station to reduce a rising needs to have unwanted pets euthanized. To find out more, please visit:  https://hchstexas.com/

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Off and on from 2006 to 2012, Snowden had worked as a CIA analyst, a subcontractor for the NSA, and several other positions that gave him access to classified NSA information that enabled him to see the true scope of how the US was surveilling its own citizens. Does leaking those docs to the press in 2013 make him a traitor? Or does it make him a hero who opened the eyes of the American public to the dangerous and unconstitutional surveillance our government has been clandestinely carrying out for years? I was familiar with Edward Snowden before this week, and the gist of what he did, but I truly didn't realize the scope of the surveillance and the amount of private data gathered on US citizens who were not accused of any crimes. Are you okay with agents working on behalf of the US government going through your private text messages whenever they want for whatever reason? Emails? Looking through your photos? Combing through your internet browsing history? Monitoring your GPS positioning to determine your travel patterns? Are you okay with Big Brother watching you? If you're not, too bad, because it's already happening. It's BEEN happening for years. This is what Snowden exposed, and he exposed it because it's wildly unethical. The fight for privacy is important because it's a fight for freedom. Is possibly allowing the government to make your existence a little safer worth losing so much of your freedom? We got an interesting one today. 

Bad Magic Productions Monthly Patreon Donation:  The Bad Magic Charity for July is The National Compassion Fund. Their mission is to give funds to the victims of mass casualty crimes, such as mass shootings and terrorist attacks. We donated   $14,697 with an additional $1,632 going to our forthcoming scholarship fund. To find more or donate yourself, please visit www.nationalcompassion.org 

TICKETS FOR HOT WET BAD MAGIC SUMMER CAMP!  Go to www.badmagicmerch.com

Watch the Suck on YouTube: https://youtu.be/V0_2w5vbgpE

Merch: https://www.badmagicmerch.com

Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89v

Want to join the Cult of the Curious private Facebook Group? Go directly to Facebook and search for "Cult of the Curious" in order to locate whatever happens to be our most current page :)

For all merch related questions/problems: store@badmagicproductions.com (copy and paste)

Please rate and subscribe on iTunes and elsewhere and follow the suck on social media!! @timesuckpodcast on IG and http://www.facebook.com/timesuckpodcast

Wanna become a Space Lizard?  Click here: https://www.patreon.com/timesuckpodcast

Sign up through Patreon and for $5 a month you get to listen to the Secret Suck, which will drop Thursdays at Noon, PST. You'll also get 20% off of all regular Timesuck merch PLUS access to exclusive Space Lizard merch. You get to vote on two Monday topics each month via the app. And you get the download link for my new comedy album, Feel the Heat. Check the Patreon posts to find out how to download the new album and take advantage of other benefits.

A look into the highly controversial investigations, hearings and trials surrounding the Ruby Ridge standoff.  Why it was incredibly obvious after this event and others during the 90's that a reform within the ranks and policies of federal law enforcement was sorely needed.