Why I think Jim Bell is getting railroaded
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- I think that the Government is trying to make an example of Mr. Bell. I think that much of the charges reported in the news are flase. Here is why... 1) They claim that Jim was actively trying to disrupt 911 service and poison the Bull Run water supply. These are non-political targets. Jim only thinks in political targets. (I remember trying to get him to come to grips with the idea that such a system as AP would not be used just for government types. That is would be used against anyone who had enemies. Could not even make a dent...) 2) The warrent is sealed, yet the media is reporting all sorts of things about the case. Where is the information coming from? Sounds like planted information to keep people from complaining too much when they send him up the river for a few years... (Whether he survives long in custody is another story. I would be willing to bet that if he does not "cooperate" that he will have some sort of "accident" while in government hands.) 3) The suspected crimes list keeps changing. How many times has the "official" story changed? Each time it gets more and more lurid. (And many of the crimes are ones that get used against damn near every case the government tries against someone who threatens the security of the state. Belief starts to wear a bit thin after a while...) Of course, i do not expect anything like the truth from standing in the way of a conviction... "Paranoia strikes deep... Into your soul it will creep... It starts when you're always afraid... Step out of line, the man come, and take you away..." -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 5.0 beta Charset: noconv iQEVAwUBM4J5L+QCP3v30CeZAQGzywf9HoiiBqO3vbuYDtHreTk7IPKP6ZUIZX4c 5Wn54ip08cJ3pRKi+xWFhuniVve5GaenMoMbWMvVH2AQ8jVl+xGpnjGyACr0dnFK icJkwXX59/v+whYyu9R7lWba9qjqCq6XAUkyZog28F23mVGqKYz+QRPqYQF2C9AE KN7WCXd1C38m6q1YtpqgaZZ7i3+9wDjkYTm+2J4wogKzxnhSWZchhslI0V0QoySe 0zf83U8nHWQtE0d4c8nzmdRV+wTBB3Aj5Q9WVOYFSukRfn9n1pBC00aZ3Pec8BLC AeRkbbG6pKprTOfxWzd+s5T5KlWZZXo9667n7xfi/wH9LNtKNGHfEg== =vP8r -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --- | "Bill Clinton - Bringing back the sixties one Nixon at a time." | |"The moral PGP Diffie taught Zimmermann unites all| Disclaimer: | | mankind free in one-key-steganography-privacy!" | Ignore the man | |`finger -l alano@teleport.com` for PGP 2.6.2 key | behind the keyboard.| | http://www.ctrl-alt-del.com/~alan/ |alan@ctrl-alt-del.com|
At 8:25 PM -0800 5/20/97, Alan Olsen wrote:
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I think that the Government is trying to make an example of Mr. Bell. I think that much of the charges reported in the news are flase.
Yes, it appears the fuckers are ignoring the lack of any significant criminality (no bombs, no water poisoned, nobody murdered, no buildings blown up, and no national capitals extinguished) and are throwing him to the wolves. They know that civil rights groups won't touch Bell with a 30-foot pole, because of his advocacy of murder as a solution to the Problem, and because he is not a good "poster boy" for a long public trial over free speech issues. And they probably have a pretty good case, given the American judicial system.
Here is why...
1) They claim that Jim was actively trying to disrupt 911 service and poison the Bull Run water supply. These are non-political targets. Jim only thinks in political targets. (I remember trying to get him to come to grips with the idea that such a system as AP would not be used just for government types. That is would be used against anyone who had enemies. Could not even make a dent...)
Exactly. This just doesn't compute. Bell never talked about poisoning water supplies, in connection with his theories. (I don't deny that he might not have speculated with his friends about how easy it might be to do X, or Y, or Z. We all do such things, and this is the nature of any inquisitive mind. But it ain't a crime, folks.)
2) The warrent is sealed, yet the media is reporting all sorts of things about the case. Where is the information coming from? Sounds like planted information to keep people from complaining too much when they send him up the river for a few years... (Whether he survives long in custody is another story. I would be willing to bet that if he does not "cooperate" that he will have some sort of "accident" while in government hands.)
Actually, in most cases like this the "perp" is found to have hanged himself. I never met Bell, but I sure hope this doesn't happen to him.
3) The suspected crimes list keeps changing. How many times has the "official" story changed? Each time it gets more and more lurid. (And many of the crimes are ones that get used against damn near every case the government tries against someone who threatens the security of the state. Belief starts to wear a bit thin after a while...)
The cops are clearly working with the media whores--that guy Painter is an example--and are "tuning" their story to maximize the PR value. It's the American Way. --Tim May There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws. Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!" ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^1398269 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."
Alan Olsen wrote:
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I think that the Government is trying to make an example of Mr. Bell. I think that much of the charges reported in the news are flase.
Here is why...
1) They claim that Jim was actively trying to disrupt 911 service and poison the Bull Run water supply. These are non-political targets. Jim only thinks in political targets.
He only mouths off on cypherpunks about FBI agents and such but I know a lot of terrorists who consider the 911 system a political target. The UVF in Ulster blew up a dam (so they could blame it on the IRA). I would not depend on Bell to any extent in any circumstance to be reliable.
2) The warrent is sealed, yet the media is reporting all sorts of things about the case. Where is the information coming from?
Who says they have any at all? The US press does not need information to publish articles. Bell has published his stuff very widely.
3) The suspected crimes list keeps changing. How many times has the "official" story changed? Each time it gets more and more lurid.
Expanding is the word. Put someone under a microscope and you are liable to find out quite a bit about them. Bell is not the kind of loon to stick one's neck out for. It may well be that he did not explicitly advocate murder but he danced awfully close to that line. My understanding is that the original charge relates to statements made in person that were interpreted as threatening. Each act individually may not amount to a criminal act but together they could well do so. For example in the 1970s a series of articles was written under the pen-name "Brownie" advocating the "Ballot Bomb" strategy in which political action would be used to compliment a terrorist campaign. Now it is arguable that the articles were or were not protected speech under the first amendment but consider the situation if that person were to say to someone such as a policeman "I know how to fix you". If as would be quite likely the policeman was aware of the "Brownie" letters the intent to communicate a threat of murder would be quite plain. Before charging to the rescue its a good idea to make sure that you are rescuing the right person. Government agents also have the right not to be threatened with murder. The first amendment has never been interpreted as making threatening speech or fraud legal, even by those such as Jefferson who argued against libel laws. Phill
participants (3)
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Alan Olsen -
Hallam-Baker -
Tim May