[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: LuAnn <luigilula@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: geocaching@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2006 20:13:57 -0700 (PDT)

-
I think it was interesting Jim, that you made the NYT!  And I'm not offended in 
any way to your post, but just afraid of the fall out is all.  LuAnn
Jim Bensman <junkmailno@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:  -
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 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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