HI DAn,

On Tue 2037-May-26 03:54, Dan Ceppa (1:138/666) wrote to Richard Webb:

 RW> what they really got, and not some platitudes about "we
 RW> stopped another attack" because that's not a provable.  What did you

 DC> No one seems to understand the efficacy of polar bear charms
 DC> employed  in the Fiji Islands.  They are definitely working quite
 DC> well...   

 RW> MIssed the reference on that one, maybe I"m dense .
DC>  
DC> It's an old camping joke, along the lines of snipe hunting.  You
DC> scare  a neophyte into believing a dangerous, but impossible to be
DC> there  creature can be kept away by performinmg a silly ritual. 

DC> The joke was once used in a Rocky & Bullwinkle show.  "But,
DC> Bullwinkle,  there aren't any polar bears around here for a 1000
DC> miles."   "Yeah,  see how good it works!"  

 Ah, snipe hunts.  GEt it now, missed the reference to that
one as I noted.  Must not have seen that ROcky and
Bullwinkle.


 RW> THat's for sure.  BUt yet, here again consider the example I used of
 RW> the illegal bug.  ASk those folks who do that bugging and they'll tell
 RW> you they kept major amounts of that bad dope stuff off the streets of
 RW> American cities by taking out a major distributor.  SO the method to
 RW> get the goodies to do the deed was illegally obtained.  "Can't make an
 RW> omelet without breakin' a few eggs ya know ... "wink wink
 RW> nudge nudge.  Nobody at the courthouse knows it happened,
 RW> wink wink nudge nudge.  "I didn't see anything like that did you?"

DC> It's a slippery slope, for sure.  Newer technology makes it even
DC> scarier  as it's becomin feasible to record everything almost
DC> everywhere.  The  joke in Get Smart about the need for a Cone of
DC> Silence is becoming a  reality.  

IT is.  Almost makes a guy want to do the electronmagnetic
pulse device.

sOme folks tried combating what they knew they'd be coming
with cell phone ajmmers, but you can't deploy 'em here in
the United STates, they're quite illegal.

 RW> Be real men, quit with the plattitudes about unprovable
 RW> future attacks and tell us how many qaedas you really took
 RW> out of action with the information you illegally obtained.

DC> Based on former operatives, the intel they got from "enhanced
DC> interrogation"  was next to worthless.  In fact, it was worse than
DC> that in that many man  hours were lost chasing down false leads.  

I can believe this one.  THat's why they can only keep
saying, "we prevented future attacks."  Many things could
prevent proposed future attacks, resources not properly
positioned; moon not in the right phase, who knows.

 RW> OToh if you ordered it MR. CHeney and you didn't get lots of provable
 RW> goodies for your trouble then you're an international criminal.  IN

DC> We need to send him on an all-expenses paid visit to Spain.  

PRobably so, I want to see the truth brought out here first. THe American
people have a right to know what was done in
their name, and what was truly gained.

DC> The Constitution needs to mean something again.  Many US citizens, 
DC> when questioned on particular points of it, state that the rights 
DC> provided by it aren't legal.  


YEs, I know, and that scares me a bit.  My dad may have been just another
blue collar working stiff, but he impressed
upon me from the time I was old enough to understand that
the history of our people and how we came to be the United
STates was one of the most important things I should get a
grasp of.  IN fact, reading an interesting text right now by a fellow named
Andro Linklater on how borders boundaries and property rights shaped the
U.S.  Just received it from the
library in the mail today.

 RW> happens all the time in war.  WIthout modern methods of
 RW> communication though we don't hear about it.  In bygone days these

DC> That's why the loss of news papers is so critical.  TV news rarely 
DC> provides anything more than a snippet of what is going on.  It's
DC> also  why a free internet is so critical.  Coupled with that is the
DC> loss of  investigative reporters.  People need to be asking the hard
DC> questions  instead of parroting gvt or business hand outs.  

yEs, but real journalism is a thing of the past, and the
internet with all its apparent free flow of information is
easily stifled and censored.  Look at what they're doing in
CHina.

 RW> Abu Ghraib would have never come to the world's attention if not for
 RW> some soldier with a camera. 

DC> It would not have been as graphic, that's for sure.  

Yah, and without that "as graphic" the outrage would not
have been so great.  EAsily to spin it away, explain it away however you
like.  But, the photos were there for the world
to see.

MOre later, off to bed.  Been a long day.

Regards,
           Richard
--- timEd 1.10.y2k+