- 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" <junkmailno@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: <geocaching@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> 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 > <http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/22/us/22dam.html?ex=1156910400&en=fb1037510b > 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." > > > > > > > > > > **************************************** > For List Info or To make _ANY_ changes, including unsubscribing from this > list, click -----> //www.freelists.org/list/geocaching > Missouri Caches Scheduled to be Archived http://tinyurl.com/87cqw > **************************************** For List Info or To make _ANY_ changes, including unsubscribing from this list, click -----> //www.freelists.org/list/geocaching Missouri Caches Scheduled to be Archived http://tinyurl.com/87cqw