freedom of information act??

What do you guys/girls think about F.o.i.a or the freedom of information act? is it working as it should, or is the documents released through there just further bs and coverups? i'd like more opinions then my own on this matter.

Whether released documents are bs or not I suppose depends on what type of information is in there. For national security reasons there are documents that doesn't have to be released even though well over 50 years have passed. At least not in a readable condition. I'm not sure that is necessarly always a bad thing. No doubt there is information that really shouldn't be released for security reasons.

My guess is that it works, at least in the majority of cases. As to the minority of cases, sure - there's probably a great deal of bs and cover-ups. And there's most definetly information being kept secret that should be made public.

well, aah. maybe i should have been more specific. i ment documents released through foia concerning ufo-crashes, conspiracy-related, all things out of the ordinary.

don't anyone have any opinion on this? OR ARE YOU JUST AFRAID????

Oh yeah, the FOIA terrifies me.

I think the idea is silly really. It doesn't make everything transparent...it only forces the government to classify things. It serves no purpose but to give lawyers a basis to bitch at the government.

so, what you mean is that foia is actually pointless in the overall sceme?

I think the F.O.I.A is a great tool for the public to access documents that would otherwise remain unpublished. I don't really know how many people out there attempt to use this Act, but it is there for those who do.

I don't think that the F.O.I.A is entirely pointless, as any type of information released by this Act is bound to become useful for further research. Any documents released will already have vital information blacked out, as is commonly noticed with these documents. Either way, the F.O.I.A gives the public some power in accessing vital information the Governmen possesses.

Here is a good example, as concerning Unusual Phenomena released through the FBI. This page has information relating to Animal/Cattle Mutilation, Majestic 12, Project Blue Book, Roswell, Unidentified Flying Objects. Remember, just because the Government says anything is "bogus", use your own judgement and sift through the data available to come up with your own intelligent conclusion.

Freedom of Information Act-Unusual Phenomena Listing

The FOIA is a very useful piece of legislation, imo. Without it, all kinds of interesting government scandals and coverups would have remained, well, covered up. The full extent of government LSD experimentation is one example I can think of, but there's lots more. I'm currently awaiting some responses from a request myself. Of course, the *really* interesting stuff can always remain classified for national security reasons.

However, it's usefulness has been downgraded somewhat. Janet Reno, the former Attorney General, instituted a policy of releasing all information in the absence of a convincing reason why it shouldn't be released. Ashcroft, the new AG, reveresed this policy- now, information/documents will not be released if there is any legal reason to withold them.

This is an article about the Ashcroft FOIA memo:

www.gwu.edu...

Here's some more info about the FOIA (a very good link!):

www.gwu.edu...

And here's the National Security Archive, the most ardent users of the FOIA- this site has 1000's of documents in different categories that they obtain via the FOIA:

www.gwu.edu...

-koji K.

thanks for the reply's, but i still think that foia is pointless due to the fact that most of the "interresting" documents released is either uncomplete or fabricated for the view of the common public. but again, thanx anyway

Let's see they give you docs/info they want and you get to read them...sounds very very useless...in theory they can make things up and give you non important things or things you can't even read......what's the point since they still control what you see..

The govt. is just going to tell you what they want you to know and will tell you what you want to know as long as it's in their best interest. If it's not in their best interest, they just don't know what you are talking about

Didn't you know, the government now classifies toilet paper and napkins. It is only declassified after close examination.

This is a joke i think. (I hope?)

huh, i didn't even remember that i had started this thread.
i now know that many of the foia-documents is actually very useful when it comes to many research-subjects. undo and zorgon should know what i am talking about. great work you "guys"

anyway, is there anything anyone want to add to this "ancient" thread? if not, just let it die peacefully, as most of my threads do anyway