Dear Forum Members

You know, if the CIA can be fooled by a con artist, who is a compulsive liar, then what hope the rest of us have in resisting Internet scammers.

CIA conned by software fraudster



UK Bob

PS. You really have to laugh at this story because it's those mythical WMDs all over again.

Not the first time my government bought nothing more than a bill of goods. We've spent billions on hardware that no one wanted.

I've known people who grew up in the film industry (i.e., had a parent who worked on sets, make-up, etc). These are people who do not believe something just because they saw a photo or video; they aren't overly suspicious, but they know how lighting, camera angle, etc., can impact one's perception.

As a behaviorist I have wondered how the internet will impact children, who learn that just because someone wrote or filmed something, doesn't make it truthful. Will that instill in them a healthy system of disbelief? Will they more likely ask themselves how they know what they know? I'd like to think so, but with the popularity of Faux News, I am not encouraged.

Wasn't it nice to see Obama express a little anger over the recent Intelligence clusterfark? Still, it seems that we live in a glass house, and keep giving our neighbors rocks and plenty of reason to throw them. Those who engage in foreign policy should read Burdick's The Ugly American, to learn how to win hearts and minds. (And a replay of JFK's inaugural speech, as a reminder of what the US has since done to itself.)

I know I'm preachin' to the choir here, UK Bob. My neighbor's son, now living in the UK, tells everyone there that he's Canadian. I heard the ex-President of Ireland say that she was sad that the US is no longer a beacon for Human Rights.

I better go and take my medication.

You know Blackhorse 70V

As an outsider looking in, I see a certain malaise that seems to have gripped the US, where "truth" has been overtaken by (faux) propaganda and "justice" depends on which side of the fence you are on.

But when the CIA can "come up with" dubious evidence for anything you want e.g. WMD's - they've got it, little green men on Mars - they've got it, and so on. Something is not just wrong, for the US and the rest of the world, but DANGEROUSLY wrong.

On this very cold and icy day in London, I'm off to get a hot, steaming, strong cup of coffee (my medication).


UK Bob

The first goal of military intelligence-gathering is to assess the capabilities of one's enemies.

I've not been able to verify, but heard an official say that when the North Vietnamese signed the Paris Peace Accords, they had only 39 surface-to-air missles left in their arsenal. (Wth that info a better deal could have made for the So. Vietnamese.)

The fall of the Wall in '89, Saddam's troops waiting to surrender in '91, WMDs; one might wonder if the CIA knows anything!

On your way to get coffee, (not tea?), are you not warmed by the additional comfort provided by all those security cameras? I've heard that London is the most surveilled city on the planet.

Ha Ha - I thought that "getting coffee" would surprise you.

Seriously though, the CIA are now "Creators of Fiction" and, like any out of control military organisation, seem to have their own self-fulfilling agenda rather than working to keep the US (or anywhere else) safe.

As for the CCTV cameras in London, they are on the main streets and shopping areas and not on the streets where most people have homes.

To tell you the truth, I would prefer it if every single road and street in London was blanketed with CCTV cameras, as long as they are not planted in my home then I am not worried.


UK Bob