Is There a Terrorist in Your Cubicle?

Every day, it seems, we are greeted by headlines that describe how government agents thwarted yet another terrorist threat, or how a new group of malcontents have transformed themselves into a terrorist unit. We are told how so many terrorists and would-be terrorists in the Western Nations are not invaders from the outside but are in fact home grown idiots who are angry over something. More than a few are well educated and from proverbial good families who find their militancy through ideology rather than social or material deprivation.

Some act independently while others are influenced by terrorist infiltrators who filter through our borders for the purposes of sabotage and creating dissension. This group of infiltrators and sleepers are usually the more dedicated, the better trained, who have devoted themselves to the destruction of Western civilization. Nevertheless, despite all their worst intentions, and whether or not they are home grown, they still have to make a living.

True, some are supported by terrorist funding, be it Al Qaeda or some other group that conveniently believes their piety supersedes any true form of civilized behavior. They are fanatics who decided it is time to rise out of the woodwork and destroy the infidel. Who is you. Just think back to the quaint times when it was only your kids who dished on your values. Now it is a significant minority in a more significant part of the world. Its a strange feeling, walking around like you have a target on your back.

But as I said earlier, even fanatical terrorists have to eat and keep a roof over their heads. Besides their need to maintain themselves in the world they seem to hate so much, they may well find strategic merit in infiltrating the work place where they can convert and convulse during lunch and the all important fifteen minute breaks. Although the odds are against it, one of our terrorist operators could have a day job. He could be working for you or your company. What a dilemma if he is your hardest worker.

All right, so we shouldnt make fun of serious matters. Why not? I dont know really, especially when nothing else seems to be effective. Who said you couldnt destroy your enemy and laugh at him all at the same time? To digress, during the halcyon days of the British Empire, where the sun never set and all that, soldiers used to wrap their religious fanatics in pigskins and drag them behind a horse. Im not saying its all that funny, but compared to most military tactics or for that matter general entertainment, it might at least be worth a brief reprise. But, as I said, I digress.

Okay, so I am getting off the track here. Back to the fanatical terrorists and their need to hold a job in the world they hate so much. While, as I previously noted, the chances are slim in finding a terrorist filling the cubicle next to you, it would always be nice to have a little hint. Even if he is not a terrorist, he may be a convicted murderer or thief, or even a pedophile who lives in the house where the rodents serve as curiosity pieces.

At any rate, to best determine if someone really is who they say they are, it is best to order a background check. You should order a pre-employment screening check for every job candidate and with it perhaps the Nationwide Criminal Data base search that includes with it the sexual offenders registry. Its always good to know that the person you just hired for the admin gig is more prone to sniff a bicycle seat rather than sit in one. Maybe Im a little crude here, but that happens when Corra is paid to monitor for catastrophe in the employment landscape.

I dont wish to frighten you. The news media does that quite well at regular intervals throughout the day. But the news media can also desensitize us and render us inured to violence. But in fact there are a lot of bad guys out there, be they infiltrators, sleepers or home grown militants. And with the exception of the ones who are paid through covert funding, they have to make a living. Sleepers, especially, have to keep up appearances for perhaps years on end, before they are awakened for some awful deed.

Then there is the possibility they have chosen your business because you have desirable databases, proprietary information of intellectual data they believe is worth stealing. More companies try to conceal the theft of sensitive information, rather than admit they have been compromised. Sometimes the stealing has been going on for months or even years, before its discovered.

So be sure to run a pre-employment background check on all your job candidates. You may consider also running periodic background checks on your present employees, just to make sure they have been well behaved.

In addition to the criminal, civil and financial background checks, you may want to consider the OFA Here is a list of items the OFAC covers--

1. OFAC Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) & Blocked Persons
2. OFAC Sanctioned Countries, including Major Cities & Ports*
3. Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories*
4. Department of State Trade Control (DTC) Debarred Parties
5. U.S. Bureau of Industry & Security (formerly BXA) -
a. Unverified Entities List
b. Denied Entities List
c. Denied Persons List
6. FBI Most Wanted Terrorists & Seeking Information
7. FBI Top Ten Most Wanted
8. INTERPOL Most Wanted List
9. Bank of England Sanctions List
10. OSFI - Canadian Sanctions List C of Global Terrorist Report

More sanction reports are being added as the United States and other governments release them.

Playing the odds is good for gambling. But it is different when you play the odds and one missed guess leads to major catastrophe. Instead, be safe, be secure, and run background checks on anyone in your work place. If one thing 9/11 has taught us, we can never be absolutely safe again.

But we can work to reduce our risks.

Gordon Basichis is the author of the best selling Beautiful Bad Girl, the Vicki Morgan Story, a non-fiction novel that helped define exotic sexuality in the late twentieth century. He is also the author of The Constant Travellers, a sci-fi fantasy Western. The first chapter of Basichis' new book Chinese Takeout, a Roman A'Clef detailing Chinese Espionage in the United States, is featured in a forthcoming anthology, Sleeping with Snakes, Notes from the Los Angeles Underbelly.

A professional marketing executive, Basichis is also co-founder of Corra, which as the Corra Group specializes in pre-employment and online dating background checks, as well as corporate research and investigation.

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