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Nuns' Bank Account Frozen: Your Patriot Act at Work

By Jeralyn, Section War on Terror
Posted on Wed Feb 08, 2006 at 12:29:46 PM EST
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The nuns of the Holy Name Monastery provide yet another reason we don't need to give the Government more power under the Patriot Act:

The sisters say the monastery's main bank account was frozen without explanation in November, creating financial headaches and making the Benedictine nuns hopping mad. They were told the Patriot Act was the cause.

"I think the Patriot Act is unwise, let's say, and that if it happened to us, it can happen to anybody," said Sister Jean Abbott, the monastery's business manager. "I think people need to know that nobody is safe from, in some cases, really ridiculous scrutiny."

Sen. Russ Feinglod provides a Patriot Act update in his Daily Kos diary.

The latest that I'm hearing regarding the reauthorization of the Patriot Act is that the `Trust Us' administration is offering to make a few minor changes, but nothing that addresses most of the major problems we've been trying to fix for the past four years. We need to make clear that's unacceptable and that the administration's efforts to intimidate those who want reasonable changes to the Act won't succeed. Backing down now would be a horrible mistake. We've come too far and fought too hard to give up.

< Report: More than Half of Gitmo Detainees Not Accused of Hostile Acts | Abramoff Documented Relationship With Bush >

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    Nuns' Bank Account Frozen: Your Patriot Act at Work | 14 comments (14 topical)
    Re: Nuns' Bank Account Frozen: Your Patriot Act at (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Feb 08, 2006 at 01:12:10 PM EST
    Didn't I say this would start happening? didn't i say this 2 "years" ago, and what will happen next to all of us who know the facts of this evil pig bush, what do you think? watch your backs bush and business are on the move for your human and civil rights.

    Re: Nuns' Bank Account Frozen: Your Patriot Act at (none / 0) (#2)
    by desertswine on Wed Feb 08, 2006 at 01:21:27 PM EST
    A nest of spies! Nuns, vegans,... you can't trust 'em. Send 'em to Gitmo!

    Re: Nuns' Bank Account Frozen: Your Patriot Act at (none / 0) (#3)
    by Edger on Wed Feb 08, 2006 at 01:32:06 PM EST
    You never know what kind of habits these religious fanatics have. And they act like they'll never want to attack anyone. They even offer at times to go to war torn countries and mingle with the populuation. Probably a sleeper cell... Ahem...

    Re: Nuns' Bank Account Frozen: Your Patriot Act at (none / 0) (#4)
    by Punchy on Wed Feb 08, 2006 at 01:44:41 PM EST
    making the Benedictine nuns hopping mad Anyone else having a problem picturing this? Nuns, pissed off about anything? Not registering... On the more serious note...we've spied/investigated the Quakers, several peaceful anti-war groups, and now our national security law has targeted NUNS. Freakin' NUNS. I'm so incensed I'm just laughing.

    Re: Nuns' Bank Account Frozen: Your Patriot Act at (none / 0) (#5)
    by Edger on Wed Feb 08, 2006 at 01:53:23 PM EST
    Are we safe yet?

    Re: Nuns' Bank Account Frozen: Your Patriot Act at (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Feb 08, 2006 at 01:58:38 PM EST
    My wife is a banker and one of her customers was Mohammed Atta - the main guy from 9/11. Come on guys, of all the reasons to be upset about the Patroit Act this shouldn't be one of them. The bank screwed up by not notifying their client that they were updating the files. Stop whining and start winning.

    Re: Nuns' Bank Account Frozen: Your Patriot Act at (none / 0) (#7)
    by kdog on Wed Feb 08, 2006 at 02:36:52 PM EST
    Coming to a banking establishment near you! Think your funds are safe from seizure or freezing...think again.
    Anyone else having a problem picturing this? Nuns, pissed off about anything? Not registering...
    I can picture it punchy..I'm a product of Catholic schools and have seen plenty of nuns hopping mad in my day. Imagine yourself going without sex for 40 years...it will make you a bit unpleasant to be around:)

    Re: Nuns' Bank Account Frozen: Your Patriot Act at (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Feb 08, 2006 at 02:44:31 PM EST
    My wife is a banker and one of her customers was Mohammed Atta - the main guy from 9/11. Come on guys, of all the reasons to be upset about the Patroit Act this shouldn't be one of them. bocajeff, what exactly is your point here? That freezing nuns' bank accounts would have helped your wife catch Mohammed Atta before he flew his plane into the World Trade Center? If complaining about incompetent and unnecessary governmental intrusion into innocent Americans' personal lives and business (and I'm not going to dump on the bank for this, let's place the blame where it properly belongs) is whining, then we should all be whining a lot louder and longer, day in and day out, until somebody starts listening.

    Re: Nuns' Bank Account Frozen: Your Patriot Act at (none / 0) (#9)
    by jimcee on Wed Feb 08, 2006 at 08:23:05 PM EST
    The article made it clear that this was not a procedure involving the federal gov't or the Patriot act but by the bank in question. Of course that isn't as exciting as falsly reporting that the Feds used the Patriot Act against nuns! Then again "Bank Makes Dumb Mistake, Blames the Patriot Act", a more truthful headline, just won't get the some folks whipped up in another of its all too frequent frenzies.

    Re: Nuns' Bank Account Frozen: Your Patriot Act at (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Feb 08, 2006 at 09:28:23 PM EST
    The Patriot Act's financial provisions are onerous. Among the worst, the definition of bank is so broad almost anyone who ever deals with money counts as one, and is expected to change an obscure watchlist of potential terrorists (which also happens to be very hard to read). Probably 95% of people required to comply will be unaware that they should or unable to do so, which creates in terrorum criminal liability. A simpler set of rules that human beings could actually follow would have been better.

    Re: Nuns' Bank Account Frozen: Your Patriot Act at (none / 0) (#11)
    by cpinva on Wed Feb 08, 2006 at 11:06:49 PM EST
    wrong again bocajeff and jimcee! so, what else is new? ultimately, the banks procedures, re: the information required on accts. was reviewed directly as a result of the implementation of the patriot act. if the name "patriot act" isn't an oxymoron, nothing is. having audited many banks, i know for a fact that, up until the patriot act, their primary concern was insider loans, and money laundering (the >10,000 cash reporting requirement), terrorists weren't on their scope. oh, sufficient capitalization was in there too. the bottom line: absent the patriot act, this wouldn't have happened.

    Re: Nuns' Bank Account Frozen: Your Patriot Act at (none / 0) (#12)
    by john horse on Thu Feb 09, 2006 at 03:49:27 AM EST
    (Sarcasm Alert!) I heard that these nuns were members of a dangerous religious cult known as Christians. They are led by a radical subversive named Jesus. I am so glad that our government is protecting us from these type of people. Even though the government has not provided any reasons for doing what they did, I am sure that they had good reasons and that is good enough for me. George Bush. Still the President!

    Re: Nuns' Bank Account Frozen: Your Patriot Act at (none / 0) (#13)
    by squeaky on Thu Feb 09, 2006 at 07:58:10 AM EST
    I heard that nuns don't wear underpants. I think that it was the anti-porn-terror aspect that got their nickers in a twist (you can't bank on that). God to see that someone is atop of all this nasty business.

    Re: Nuns' Bank Account Frozen: Your Patriot Act at (none / 0) (#14)
    by Edger on Thu Feb 09, 2006 at 09:00:33 AM EST
    Can't have the Sally Field* flying into buildings now can we? Glad somebody's protecting us from these evildoers. (*Sister Bertrille - The Flying Nun)

    Nuns' Bank Account Frozen: Your Patriot Act at Work | 14 comments (14 topical)