[GeoStL] Re: NCR: I made the New York Times today: A Man, a Plan, a Dam. Then, an F.B.I. Call. - New York Times

  • From: "Jim Bensman" <junkmailno@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <geocaching@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2006 22:07:34 -0500

-
Yea, you are probably right.  After I posted it, I thought about that issue
and wondered if I should have.  But it was in the excitement of the movement
of getting my story in the New York Times (I was posting the story in lots
of places).  And I was not posting it for political reasons, I thought some
may be interested in my story and the fact it made the NYT.  You have to
admit, it is a rather well written story.  So if I crossed the line, I
apologize.  I was NOT doing it to start a discussion on the spying, just
wanted to share my story.  

Jim Bensman
"Nature Bats Last" 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: geocaching-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:geocaching-
> bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of LuAnn
> Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2006 9:46 PM
> To: geocaching@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [GeoStL] Re: NCR: I made the New York Times today: A Man, a Plan,
> a Dam. Then, an F.B.I. Call. - New York Times
> 
> -
> I agree with Eric.  Let's not let this get out of hand like another time.
>   I don't discuss my political/religious views here, let's keep it that
> way all around.
>   LuAnn
> Eric East <christianherper@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>   -
> I have been banned for posting my religous and political views on the
> list.
> I had to promise to keep my views on these subjects off of the free list
> in
> order to be allowed to post, so I believe it's only right to ask you to
> keep your political agenda off of this list as well.
> 
> Eric
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jim Bensman"
> To:
> Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2006 12:57 AM
> Subject: [GeoStL] NCR: I made the New York Times today: A Man, a Plan, a
> Dam. Then, an F.B.I. Call. - New York Times
> 
> 
> > -
> > There is something in the Post Dispatch today too, have not seen it yet.
> >
> >
> > The reporter did not get everything right, but I like the story. And it
> > is
> > not everyday you get in the NY Times (only the 4th time for me).
> >
> >
> >
> > It certainly gives new context to Bush's claim that they are only spying
> > without warrants on "suspected terrorist" when you can get labeled as a
> > suspected terrorist this easy for exercising your 1st amendment rights.
> >
> >
> >
> > http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/22/us/22dam.html?ex=1156910400
> > > 65c233&ei=5070&emc=eta1> &en=fb1037510b65c233&ei=5070&emc=eta1
> >
> >
> >
> > August 22, 2006
> >
> >
> >
> > A Man, a Plan, a Dam. Then, an F.B.I. Call.
> >
> >
> >
> > By CORNELIA DEAN
> >
> >
> >
> > On July 25, Jim Bensman of Alton, Ill., attended a public meeting on the
> > proposed construction of a bypass channel for fish at a dam on the
> > Mississippi River. Less than a week later, he was under investigation by
> > the
> > F.B.I. - the victim, depending on how you look at it, of either a comedy
> > of
> > errors or alarming antiterror zeal.
> >
> >
> >
> > The meeting was organized by the Army Corps of Engineers, which
> maintains
> > Mississippi River navigation systems, including the Melvin Price Lock
> and
> > Dam in East Alton, Ill., where it is considering construction of a fish
> > passage.
> >
> >
> >
> > At the meeting, Mr. Bensman, a coordinator with Heartwood, an
> > environmental
> > organization, suggested the corps simply destroy the dam. It was an idea
> > the
> > corps itself had considered. In fact, a photograph of an exploding dam
> was
> > included in the corps' PowerPoint presentation, explosive demolition
> being
> > by far the most common method of dam removal.
> >
> >
> >
> > Mr. Bensman said he had long criticized the system of locks and dams as
> > environmentally damaging and an unfair government subsidy benefiting
> boat
> > traffic over railroads. "I've been fighting these things for decades,"
> he
> > said.
> >
> >
> >
> > But news accounts of the hearing did not put it quite like that. One
> > newspaper said simply that he "would like to see the dam blown up."
> >
> >
> >
> > And on July 31, he said, he got a telephone call from someone who
> > identified
> > himself as Matt Federhofer, an agent of the Federal Bureau of
> > Investigation.
> > There is such a person at the agency's office in Fairview Heights, Ill.,
> a
> > St. Louis suburb, but he did not respond to a voicemail message
> yesterday.
> > .
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > When Mr. Bensman learned what the call was about "it was just kind of
> > disbelief," he said. "How could anyone be so utterly stupid as to think
> > that
> > was a terrorist threat?" For one thing, he said, it would be ridiculous
> > for
> > a would-be terrorist to announce explosive intentions at a public
> meeting,
> > much less a meeting sponsored by an arm of the military.
> >
> >
> >
> > But when the agent said he wanted to visit him at home, Mr. Bensman
> became
> > frightened. "I was thinking, I need to talk to an attorney," Mr. Bensman
> > recalled. "And he said, 'Well, O.K., I will put you down as not
> > cooperating.' "
> >
> >
> >
> > That was when Mr. Bensman got angry. "I know what Bush is doing with all
> > these secret programs spying on the so-called terrorists, all these
> > provisions in the Patriot Act that I think crosses the line, being able
> to
> > spy on a suspected terrorist without the check and balance of a court or
> a
> > judge," he said. "That's just something that really worries you."
> >
> >
> >
> > He said he also remembered that the F.B.I. had a history of spying on
> > civil
> > rights, antiwar and environmental activists. He said one reason he knew
> > his
> > caller was a genuine agent was that he could cite items in Mr. Bensman's
> > own
> > F.B.I. file.
> >
> >
> >
> > Mr. Bensman said the agent had told him that someone from the corps had
> > asked the F.B.I. to investigate him. "I was saying, 'What in the world?'
> > There is no way anyone in the corps could reasonably think I was a
> > terrorist
> > threat. They know me."
> >
> >
> >
> > Kevin Bluhm, the corps official who moderated the meeting, said he
> doubted
> > the call came from the corps. Though he conceded that Mr. Bensman has
> long
> > been a thorn in its collective side, "he's not malicious, oh no," Mr.
> > Bluhm
> > said. "This was just Jim. He comes to a lot of our meetings, and he is
> > anti
> > a lot of the stuff that we do."
> >
> >
> >
> > Mr. Bluhm, who leads the corps' public communication efforts along the
> > Mississippi, said he could understand why the F.B.I. felt obliged to
> check
> > Mr. Bensman out, but "if they would have asked me first, I would have
> said
> > no, there's not that kind of risk there."
> >
> >
> >
> > Marshall Stone, a spokesman for the Springfield, Ill., office of the
> > F.B.I.,
> > said, "A lot of things we look into turn out to be things we don't have
> to
> > be concerned about."
> >
> >
> >
> > Mr. Bensman, who wrote an account of his experience which is circulating
> > on
> > the Internet, said he had been informed that he is not now suspected of
> > anything. But he worries that his phone may be tapped and wonders what
> > will
> > happen if he is pulled over for a traffic violation: "Are the cops going
> > to
> > think I am a terrorist? You never know what is going to happen
> nowadays."
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ****************************************
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> >
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> 
> 
> 
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