Why I go overtly

[Magda Hassan]

An excellent point Ed! Thanks so much for this.

[Peter Presland]

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/3108/...oadau3.jpg

No harm done, though ...

Thanks Ed

The full inscription, in stone at the OHB (Original HQ Building) entrance is:

"And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free" - John 8:32.

It was placed there at the insistence of Allen Dulles of all people (Son of a Presbyterian Minister no less). Apparently it was referred to in his speech at the dedication ceremony of the OHB and has become the Agency's motto.

Jesus, when you consider what the CIA has been and is involved in, is that sick or what?

Maybe I'd better watch my lip eh? - potential 'enemy of the State' or some such classification on their infinite scale of enemies/dupes/patsies etc - and the UK does have this grossly one-sided extradition treaty with its masters. :eek:

[Myra Bronstein]

...
It was placed there at the insistence of Allen Dulles of all people (Son of a Presbyterian Minister no less)...

Son of a lotta things.

...
Apparently it was referred to in his speech at the dedication ceremony of the OHB and has become the Agency's motto.

Presumably he was making air quotes with his fingers when he said it.

[Magda Hassan]

...
It was placed there at the insistence of Allen Dulles of all people (Son of a Presbyterian Minister no less)...

Son of a lotta things.

...
Apparently it was referred to in his speech at the dedication ceremony of the OHB and has become the Agency's motto.

Presumably he was making air quotes with his fingers when he said it.

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

[Carsten Wiethoff]

Greetings to everybody, I am just back from my vacation which could also be described as an emergency break. I was really a bit over the top, when I left, but three weeks with my family and friends and without internet (deliberately) made me much more calm. But I am also much more determined.

First of all, Happy Birthday to the forum!

Second, yes, meanwhile I am a billionaire. The mailing from Singapore arrived while I was away, but it remained safely in my mailbox. I will detail this in the appropriate thread later.

Third, to the question of anonymity versus using your name. I have thought alot about this in my vacation and I have also noticed that in Germany the "Datenschutzbeauftragte" (person taking care of data security issues) warned on TV against using your real name on the internet, for privacy reasons.
I was also asked by a friend why I think that this warning was issued, and spontaneously I answered that the authorities are afraid of the liberating effect of speaking out the truth openly. That was based on my own experience. Meanwhile I see other reasons also. It is really the second oldest trick in the book of secrecy to use code names, and the reason is that even if the message is read, it cannot be fully understood without the correct assignment of the code names. On an internet forum I feel that a message can also not be fully understood, if the reader does not know, who has written it, what is the background of that person and what other material that person has produced. Without the availability of that information a statement by Posner would be indistinguishable from a statement of P.D.Scott and every statement would have to be analyzed without context.
Of course there is a risk. Standing up against a criminal system is supposed to be risky. Standing up under a pseudonym does not protect you from that risk, but it limits the effectiveness of your action and it eliminates the possible protection from being a publicly known enemy of that system. The more publicly known opponents are attacked, the more people will realize that there is indeed a criminal system at work, desperately trying to suppress the reality to enter the consciousness of the masses.
More later.
Carsten

[Myra Bronstein]

Greetings to everybody, I am just back from my vacation which could also be described as an emergency break. I was really a bit over the top, when I left, but three weeks with my family and friends and without internet (deliberately) made me much more calm. But I am also much more determined.
...

Welcome back Carsten. We were wondering where you were.

...
First of all, Happy Birthday to the forum!
...

Thank you!

...
Third, to the question of anonymity versus using your name.
...
Of course there is a risk. Standing up against a criminal system is supposed to be risky. Standing up under a pseudonym does not protect you from that risk, but it limits the effectiveness of your action and it eliminates the possible protection from being a publicly known enemy of that system. The more publicly known opponents are attacked, the more people will realize that there is indeed a criminal system at work, desperately trying to suppress the reality to enter the consciousness of the masses.
More later.
Carsten

Appreciate the input. And looking forward to the "more later."

[Ed Jewett]

On an internet forum I feel that a message can also not be fully understood, if the reader does not know, who has written it, what is the background of that person and what other material that person has produced.

Of course there is a risk. Standing up against a criminal system is supposed to be risky. Standing up under a pseudonym does not protect you from that risk, but it limits the effectiveness of your action and it eliminates the possible protection from being a publicly known enemy of that system. The more publicly known opponents are attacked, the more people will realize that there is indeed a criminal system at work, desperately trying to suppress the reality to enter the consciousness of the masses.
Carsten

Welcome back, Carsten. The first paragraph of yours which I have quoted is quite similar to what I have said about the subject on another forum. The use of a pseudonym masks that vital background. The same would be true if I encountered another on a street wearing a costume or mask or not having some recognizable prior identity. Another factor in this discussion is authenticity. A third is the phenomenon of "being a witness", made famous in many places but notably in the film of the same name. It is difficult to be seen taking a stance when one's persona is partially hidden. But then I think part of the strategy used by those we stand against is to break down or demean 'self' and individual identity and to mask their policy or approach as the desire of the mass of people who do not speak out. In a discusison elsewhere about 9/11 and the current mess in Afghanistan, I was told I needed to prove allegations of statist complicity in the crimes because such attitudes went against the "conventional wisdom", which surely is some amorphous mass of perspective held by anonymous commentators.

I am Ed Jewett, and I approved this message.

[Magda Hassan]

'conventional wisdom' is right up there with 'the invisible hand of the market' and 'manifest destiny' and western 'exceptionalism' Total BS. My conventional wisdom is certainly different to the states and all those anonymous amorphous commentators out there.