Rising dishonesty level

jimn8@netcom.com remarks about the rising level of dishonesty in 
(presumably) media/political circles:

*It's bad*   I once had a faint hope that a change in administrations
would reverse the tide.  I'm over that now.  People from eastern
Europe recognize a lot of what they see developing here, as a recent
poster noted.

jimn8 further wonders if anybody knows a better country to live in:

I know of several that are less intrusive in your private affairs.  
Unfortunately, it's hard for an American to find work in most of them.
I've made up a list of decision rules about when it's time to flee
to the first place I can find "three hots and a cot" (Places like
Belize, for instance).  Try compiling your own list, it's an 
interesting exercise.

My rules:

It's time to leave when...
... I can't say what I want.
... I can't own a gun.
... I can't use good crypto.
... I can't leave and enter the U.S. freely.

Brad   bdolan@well.sf.ca.us

Somewhat related:  Does anybody find it interesting that no one noted 
for over a decade that Ames had (1) a lavish lifestyle and (2) a foreign-born
(Colombian!)  wife.  Normally, spooks aren't allowed either.

A cynic might say that the lavish lifestyle was overlooked because it was
attributed to the Colombian connection, and not to the other
extracurricular activities.

-bd

Brad Dolan writes:

> It's time to leave when...
> ... I can't say what I want.
> ... I can't own a gun.
> ... I can't use good crypto.
> ... I can't leave and enter the U.S. freely.

It's getting closer to this situation in all areas. Entering and
leaving freely is still solid, but talk of checking tax status on both
ends implies this may be lessened. (Don't forget that the main way the
Jews in the USSR were denied exit visas was an argument that they had
not "fulfilled their obligations to the country," that is, that they
had not paid enough taxes.)

Computerized dossiers will make it much easier to check all kinds of
such details on both entering and exiting folks. 

> Somewhat related:  Does anybody find it interesting that no one noted 
> for over a decade that Ames had (1) a lavish lifestyle and (2) a foreign-born
> (Colombian!)  wife.  Normally, spooks aren't allowed either.

In the Ames case, he explained away his Columbian wife and his lavish
lifestyle by telling coworkers she was involved in the CIA's cocaine
business, shipping coke into the Mena, Arkansas airfield with the
blessings of Governor Bill Clinton and Cocaine Inhalers Anonymous. His
coworkers just congratulated him and asked how they could find a
similar deal.

(For the humor-impaired, fearing disinformation, this is only partly true.)

For the cynics, note the *timing* of the announcement on Tuesday. The
Feds have known about Ames for at least 2 years, they claim, and
Clinton was briefed 10 months ago on the charges. And complete media
packet were available at the time of the announcement on Tuesday.

So why the exact timing? Why now?

Probably to derail the Russian peace initiative in Bosnia. To
embarrass Yeltsin. To cause an orgy of Russia-bashing, even though
Russia's great sin was recruiting a mole in the CIA who ratted on the
American mole in the KGB!

And we can't have the Russians sending peace-keeping troops into
Bosnia...that's America's right! Hence, the announcement at this
particular time.

Sleazy? What else would you expect?


--Tim May


-- 
..........................................................................
Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,  
tcmay@netcom.com       | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
408-688-5409           | knowledge, reputations, information markets, 
W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA  | black markets, collapse of governments.
Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available.
"National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."

On Thu, 24 Feb 1994, Brad Dolan wrote:

> *It's bad*   I once had a faint hope that a change in administrations
> would reverse the tide.  I'm over that now.  People from eastern
> Europe recognize a lot of what they see developing here, as a recent
> poster noted.
> 

The problems is that we didn't have a change of administration.  All we 
really got was a president from the other party in our corrupt, two sided 
government.  Neither party really wants to change the system, they both 
thrive in it.  

-ck

Since you mentioned it...What is this new weapon that Russia has
deployed that Dee spoke about in the press conference???
Wayne

On Thu, 24 Feb 1994, Brad Dolan wrote:

> jimn8@netcom.com remarks about the rising level of dishonesty in 
> (presumably) media/political circles:
> 
> *It's bad*   I once had a faint hope that a change in administrations
> would reverse the tide.  I'm over that now.  People from eastern
> Europe recognize a lot of what they see developing here, as a recent
> poster noted.
> 
> jimn8 further wonders if anybody knows a better country to live in:
> 
> I know of several that are less intrusive in your private affairs.  
> Unfortunately, it's hard for an American to find work in most of them.
> I've made up a list of decision rules about when it's time to flee
> to the first place I can find "three hots and a cot" (Places like
> Belize, for instance).  Try compiling your own list, it's an 
> interesting exercise.
> 
> My rules:
> 
> It's time to leave when...
> ... I can't say what I want.
> ... I can't own a gun.
> ... I can't use good crypto.
> ... I can't leave and enter the U.S. freely.
> 
> Brad   bdolan@well.sf.ca.us
> 
> Somewhat related:  Does anybody find it interesting that no one noted 
> for over a decade that Ames had (1) a lavish lifestyle and (2) a foreign-born
> (Colombian!)  wife.  Normally, spooks aren't allowed either.
> 
> A cynic might say that the lavish lifestyle was overlooked because it was
> attributed to the Colombian connection, and not to the other
> extracurricular activities.
> 
> -bd
> 
> 

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*  Qjones@larry.wyvern.com        Quote from life and times of a man        *
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