[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: "Gale R. Nie" <showme69@xxxxxxxx>
  • To: <geocaching@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2006 22:36:03 -0500

-
Posting the article was not political.  Editorializing is.

Gale


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "the people in our house" <sydstyr@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <geocaching@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2006 10:30 PM
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.  I didn't really take it as an overly  political thing either. 
> More
> of a chatty,  "oddity" kind of thing.. I even forwarded  it to a few 
> people
> with a note of "Hey -- I "know" this guy and he's in the New York Times!"
> LOL Regardless of anyone's political views or even the actual writing of 
> the
> article, overall it's a darn good story and I find it of interest simply
> because it's involving a fellow, long time geocacher.
>
> (I suppose I'm still considering us as geocachers -- do you actually have 
> to
> DO a thing to be a thing????)
>
>
> Nancy
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Jim Bensman" <junkmailno@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <geocaching@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2006 10:07 PM
> 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
>
>
>> -
>> 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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>>
>>
>>
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>
>
>
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