Slashdot Mirror

By Justin Raimondo

Israel had foreknowledge of 9/11 - that was Carl Cameron's explosive contention, made last year in a blockbuster series of reports on Fox News exposing an Israeli spy ring in the U.S. New evidence confirms his story - and points to a rather ominous conclusion....

Reporting the round-up and deportation of scores of Israeli agents - masquerading as "art students" - Cameron noted last December that several were "active Israeli military" and the rest had skills that one normally associates with spies: electronic interception, explosives, and special operations. Several failed polygraph tests when asked if they were engaged in "surveillance activities against and in the United States." Aside from trying to penetrate U.S. government facilities, this network, which went into high gear in the months prior to 9/11, was also watching the Al Qaeda terrorists, according to Cameron:

"There is no indication that the Israelis were involved in the 9-11 attacks, but investigators suspect that the Israelis may have gathered intelligence about the attacks in advance, and not shared it. A highly placed investigator said there are - quote - 'tie-ins.' But when asked for details, he flatly refused to describe them, saying, - quote - 'evidence linking these Israelis to 9-11 is classified. I cannot tell you about evidence that has been gathered. It's classified information.'"

This was denied up and down by the U.S. and Israeli governments, and the story was derided as an "urban myth," denounced as an "anti-Semitic" canard, and subsequently banished from the pages of the "mainstream" media. But evidence began to pile up: reports of hundreds of Israelis descending on U.S. government facilities, and a massive round-up of these operatives claiming to be "art students," began to leak out.

The story refused to die. A secret government report (originating with the Drug Enforcement Agency) detailing the highly suspicious activities of these aspiring Israeli "artists" was subsequently uncovered, and a series of stories appeared in the international media: Le Monde, the British media, and then leaping across the Atlantic. An excellent article in Salon, by Christopher Ketcham, and wire stories detailing the leaked contents of the DEA report raised awareness of a possible Israeli connection to the events surrounding 9/11.

I've been covering this since November of last year, when I noticed a story in the Washington Post reporting the detention of some 60 Israelis under the same legal rubric as the Arabs being held on suspicion of terrorist connections. These guys, said the Justice Department lawyers, were of "special interest" to the government; and, as their role in the events leading up to 9/11 begins to come into clearer focus, I can see why.....

A report in Die Zeit, a German newspaper, outlining the glitches and outright obstructionism that led to the greatest intelligence failure in our history reveals a stunning bit of information. The BBC reports:

"The paper has uncovered details of a major Israeli spy ring involving some a 120 agents for the intelligence service Mossad operating across America and some masquerading as arts students."

The Israeli "art student" story has come a long way since the days when it could be airily dismissed: the whitewashers have been forced back to their second line of defense, which is admitting that, yes, there was an Israeli spy ring in the U.S., but they had no foreknowledge of 9/11. That was the conclusion reached by a recent article in the Forward, as well as an ABC News report, "The White Van." But the latest revelation goes further:

"The ring was reportedly hard on the heels of at least four members of the hijack gang, including its leader Mohammed Atta."

The whitewashers, it seems, have retreated to their third line of defense, as iterated by the BBC:

"But the Israeli agents were detected by their American counterparts and thrown out of the country, it says. The US authorities said then that they were students whose visas had expired.

"Just a month before the deadly attacks, the paper said, Mossad handed over to the Americans a detailed report naming several suspects they believe were preparing an attack on the United States."

So the Mossad has an alibi, after all. Or maybe not. For, according to these same reports, including one in Der Spiegel:

"An entire troop of Israeli terror investigators disguised as students took to the tracks of Arabic terrorists and their cells in the USA between December 2000 and April 2001. During their undercover investigations, the Israelis came very close to the later perpetrators of September 11. In Hollywood, Florida they located both of the former Hamburg students and later terrorist pilots Mohammed Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi as potential terrorists. Agents settled down in immediate proximity of their apartment and observed the seemingly normal flight school students around the clock."

So they were living next door to the terrorists, including the leader of the 9/11 hijackers, watching their every move - but didn't tell us what they were up to until August, 2001.

The list turned over to the FBI by the Israelis apparently contained the names of at least four of the nineteen hijackers, but the warning was non-specific: only that these were potential terrorists. It stretches the bounds of credulity to believe that, after observing them up close for an extended period of time - and perhaps monitoring them in other ways - the Israelis knew no more than this.

The DEA report names South Florida, and specifically Hollywood, a small city near Ft. Lauderdale, as the nexus of the Israeli "art student" spy ring: "The Hollywood, Florida area seems to be a central point for these individuals with several having addresses in this area." The DEA investigators also noted that a whole platoon of these characters, including the leaders, were apprehended in the South Florida area from March to May, 2001. Prior to 9/11, the authorities had detained 140 of them nationwide: and they were still rounding them up, some 60 more, after the event.

So if the Israelis had decided, in August, to come clean with the information they had, then why were federal agents still arresting and detaining our "partners" in the "war on terrorism" in late November and early December? The DEA report also shows that the South Florida operation was active since at least January, perhaps earlier: plenty of time and opportunity to gather more than vague inferences as to the terrorists' intentions.

But the spin put on this by Die Zeit and Der Spiegel is that if only those stupid Americans had listened to their friends, the Mossad, 9/11 would never have happened. The latter avers that no sooner had the Mossad located Atta and his crew, then the ungrateful Americans acted in their typically pig-headed and even vindictive manner:

"Yet soon after, the agents were unmasked by US authorities and deported to Israel. As usual in such cases, the exposure was not made public and only led to disgruntlement between the traditionally competitive intelligence agencies Mossad and CIA. This case proves once again that even in concretely dangerous situations, the US agents were not obliged to cooperate, instead opting to antagonize each other."

This case proves nothing of the sort. What it does prove is 1) that those of us who identified the Israeli "art students" as part of a spy operation in the U.S. were absolutely correct, 2) that the Israelis were not only conducting covert operations against U.S. government facilities but were also watching the hijackers very closely, and 3) that some people will go to any lengths to avoid considering some very unpleasant and politically explosive possibilities.

It is possible that the Israelis were doing more than merely watching the hijackers. As Mohammed Atta and Marwan Alshehhi went back and forth between Huffman Aviation, a flight school in nearby Venice, and their Hollywood apartment, what were the Mossad agents next door doing - and why did they wait until August, after their operation had been discovered and busted up, to share this vital information?

But Der Spiegel knows better than to implicate the Israelis in anything untoward, and instead mournfully reports that "observation of the ... terrorists also ceased" when the "art students" were apprehended. But if the information had been shared then and there - in March, when the authorities first became aware of the Hollywood-centered South Florida operation - then what prevented the FBI from taking up where the Mossad had left off? Der Spiegel is vague about this:

"The Israelis' list with at least four of the 19 assassins from September 11 was apparently not handled by the CIA with the necessary urgency, nor was it forwarded to the FBI. Fact is that the US authorities did not efficiently follow up on the Israeli agents' leads. Information on the Israeli tips has also been made known in the USA during the [Senate intelligence committee 9/11 hearings], which [have] been ongoing for weeks."

While the FBI is scapegoated for its alleged inefficiency, the Israelis were not exactly forthcoming. On March 3, 2001, alerted to the Israeli "art student" invasion, the Orlando office of the DEA took one Peer Segalovitz into custody, and interrogated him for four hours. According to the DEA report:

"Segalovitz was untruthful about his reasoning to be in the United States for approximately the first 3 hours. Segalovitz finally admitted that he was one of approximately 30 Israeli art students who are currently in Florida. Segalovitz would not admit what their purpose was in Florida, but did state that they were not here for legitimate means."

A 27-year-old officer of the Israeli special military forces, attached to the 650th battalion stationed in the Golan Heights, Segalovitz gave his rank (Lieutenant) and serial number (5087989) and said that he "specialized in demolition." After recounting his familiarity with military operations, and stating "that the only thing he was not trained to operate was military aircraft," he "asked agents not to divulge this information to Israel because it would lead to his immediate arrest in Israel."

If it's true, as Der Spiegel avers, that the distinguished members of the Senate Committee investigating 9/11 are pinning the blame on our own intelligence agencies and exonerating the role of the Mossad, one can only wonder why they don't call Mr. Segalovitz as an expert witness?

And while they're at it, they might also call for the extradition from Israel of two people named on the FBI's terrorist suspect list: Dominik Suter and Ornit Levinson Suter, who fled when their Urban Moving Systems office and warehouse was raided by the police. Four employees of this New Jersey-based firm had been arrested on 9/11, hours after the attacks, when they were seen cheering as the World Trade Towers burned. They were held for months, and then deported. Even Barbara Walters' whitewash of this incident admitted that Urban Moving Systems was undoubtedly a Mossad front.

I deal with this subject at length in my forthcoming book, The Terror Enigma, to be published by Verso Books sometime next year. Suffice to say here that the Israeli role in the events leading up to 9/11 is, at best, highly suspicious. Certainly the news that their agents were close neighbors of Mohammed Atta and an accomplice leads to some disturbing juxtapositions.

Did the "art students" stand behind the terrorists in line at the local supermarket? Did they bump into each other in the street - and what, pray tell, did these dedicated Al Qaeda cadre think of a group of Israelis living in such close proximity?

In considering the mystery of how the Mossad and Al Qaeda came to be next door neighbors, I am reminded of this little exchange between Brit Hume and Carl Cameron at the end of their December 11 broadcast:

HUME: "Carl, what about this question of advanced knowledge of what was going to happen on 9-11? How clear are investigators that some Israeli agents may have known something?"

CAMERON: "It's very explosive information, obviously, and there's a great deal of evidence that they say they have collected - none of it necessarily conclusive. It's more when they put it all together. A bigger question, they say, is how could they not have known?"

Inquiring minds want to know....

TIA: An Impossible Socialist Dream

Actually, a very good argument can be made that the Israeli government is a sort of suicide bomber. It does consistently take actions that increase the chances of its own people dying, for political reasons.

It's probably the bad choice of targets of these suicide bombers, that you want to point out as one of the reasons for supporting Israel. Well, both sides are guilty there: when Israel sends its helicopters against a town that supposedly harbors terrorists, and fires missiles into their homes, innocent civilians die. These aren't precision military bombings as some would suggest. The town is chosen for harboring terrorists but the people wounded and killed in these raids are not picked off carefully. In my opinion that is just as bad as a suicide bombing.

It is. And I think most americans misunderstand the situation so far as what palestinians target as well. Because Israel is a state that practices compulsory military service, when they target busses or nightclubs they are targetting military targets in a sense; the busses are primarily transportation for military personnel, and of course the nightclub patrons are in large majority military personnel, because they are of the age where that is compulsory. The argument is a double edged sword - the palestinians inflict civilian casualties - but the Israeli government uses those civilians as human shields, making it nearly impossible to attack military targets without inflicting civilian casualties. Both the US and Israel routinely inflict casualties on civilians and excuse it as 'collateral damage' - whatever validity that argument has (I am extremely skeptical of it) it has for the palestinians just as much as for others.

Disagreeing with the Israeli government is not anti-semitism, although there are all too many who will cheapen that word by slurring with it as if that were so. The Israeli government, and its overzealous defenders, in fact, are manufacturing anti-semitism with such misuse.

As a footnote to those readers who now think I'm anti-semitic, note that both of my links are to articles written by Jews whose forthright dedication to truth and justice I hold up as shining examples to be emulated by all people. The Jewish people are not identical to the Israeli government, either individually or collectively, and it's quite possible to criticise one without any prejudice towards the other. Take a minute, read the links, and think instead of reacting for once, please.

You pussies retreat into government jobs or into defense contracting positions and then cheer for big government without any regard as to who the hell has foot the bill for the welfare-warfare state.

Socialism, communism, fascism, it's all the same collectivist, statist bullshit.

So oooh and aaah all you like about the kewl new military toys. Fact is it's a drain on society and those of you involved in defense contracting--no matter how neat you think it is or how many toys you get to play with--are part of the problem.

And now for a few shameless plugs for sites where you can learn more:

LewRockwell.com

Antiwar.com

The New American

The columns of Joseph Sobran

I suspect this virus has been developed by the Israelis to help create Denial of Service attacks against those who oppose Zionism and the attack on Iraq. Sites like What Really Happened, AntiWar, and Stormfront have been hammered by these attacks. Also radio programs like those on the Turner Radio Network have been under attack constantly because of the anti-Zionist views some of their programs air.

They have already been using the Linux worm "Slapper" for these DoS attacks (this has been proven), and now they will have a Windows worm to do the same thing. It is amazing how far people will go to silence free speech!

> Look here.

I've taken a look at the whole site, not only the article. It's so misinformed, it is not simple biased, it's willful disinformation.

Dismissing Hugo Chavez authoritatism and attacks on democracy as patriotism is bad enough, but calling the war on Iraq aggression is worse. It's Chamberlain revived, without even the excuse Chamberlain had of being on the same level as current climate of opinion. Even the current climate of opinion is better informed than that.

>> That Chavez doesn't fit into any of the formerly useful categories of "right" and "left" is the source of whatever confusion there is about what he believes, but this is due to the myopia of his critics, for the most part, and not - as we shall see - any fuzziness in his own thinking.

Incidentally, this single phrase is correct. He isn't rightist or leftist, he's simply a populist caudillo.

> Look here.

I've read that, and found it pretty much uninformed about Latin America in general and Venezuela in particular. Almost another instance of the Western quest for the good savage.

I would recommend you read Carlos Rangel's Del buen salvaje al buen revolucionario: mitos y realidades de America Latina, if you ever hope to see thru populist, Third World rethorics. There are also French and Portuguese translations.

Hugo Chavez is a Colonel who previously had attempted a military coup d'etat, so he's no leftist or democratist, only a populist with muddled ideas.

Funny, I've read something slightly different not too long ago...

That Chavez doesn't fit into any of the formerly useful categories of "right" and "left" is the source of whatever confusion there is about what he believes, but this is due to the myopia of his critics, for the most part, and not - as we shall see - any fuzziness in his own thinking.

Look here.

There is a school of thought that the market of a diamond as an engagement gift is one that was artificially created by the powers behind the global diamond cartel.
Just a couple of links to flesh out this point of view are here and here

Let's try that again: http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j032202.html.

Bush? Maybe. Israel? Definitely:

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j032202.html

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j031302.html

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j030802.html

Bush? Maybe. Israel? Definitely:

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j032202.html

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j031302.html

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j030802.html

This guy has been following that story since it first hit, and if you follow all the links in that article you'll find out a lot more than might be good for your sanity.

It's not one Israeli company, but two, Amdocs Ltd. and Comverse Infosys. Between the two of them they don't just handle all the billing but also play crucial roles in law enforcement wiretaps. The amount of damage some random joe can do with a good exploit is really pretty minor compared to the damage that can result when crucial infrastructure is under control of a foreign government - even if it's a government which is usually an ally.

Russia "made" the 'short-list' because the Wolfowitz doctrine is the Bush doctrine as outlined in this fancy article.

judging by all recent events, things are in fact falling in to place, as outlined. These latest reports are all just part of the 'game'.

We are in fact gaining a strong military presence in the exact area the Wolf Doc details, strategically we have placed ourselves in the center of the cyclone so to speak.

Harry Browne loves america. Do you? you sound like you don't.

What I'm saying is that these extremists want us dead and our society destroyed. And there is absolutely nothing we can peacefully do, politically or otherwise, to change that. There is no reasoning with these extremists because their end goal is the complete and utter destruction of our (re: most average Americans') way of life.

Oh, and as far as military action in the Middle East for centuries goes...don't forget war amongst the tribes, fueding warlords, etc, etc. It ins't just the West that's been fighting there.

If there were effective alternatives to forcefully protecting ourselves, then I'd love to hear them.

And just what is the West trying to accomplish in Afghanistan?

• whatreallyhappened.com
• WAR ON TERROR: THE REAL VICTIMS
• Boom, Bust and Echo: A Dark Theory Behind Black Tuesday (This one is a little over the top, but there is some interesting information)
• Asking "Why?"
• Explaining Arab anger
• They can't see why they are hated
• Who did it? Foreign Report presents an alternative view
• When Will We Learn?
• Why we should reject American propaganda
• emperors-clothes.com
• zmag.org, see especially:
  • The New War Against Terror

But, you can make it clear to other nations that a given government will not be allowed to exist if said government either turns a blind eye to terrorists operating in its borders or, even worse, endorses and supports terrorists.

As Congress Ron Paul said today on antiwar.com, we are for protecting our borders with a good defensive army and coast guard.

Great article by him, btw, link here.

Has anyone read Harry Browne's article?

It's here:http://www.antiwar.com/orig/browne2.html
His homepage is here:http://www.harrybrowne.org

It will take you less that 2 minutes to read.

The most important responsibility of government is to protect the lives, liberty, and property of its citizens. Our government has failed in this regard.

"Our government" has failed in this regard because the primary responsibility of people acting under the guise of government is to insure the continued existence of government (to make sure they still have a job, are still important, and still have control over 'the population'). You can see this in their news conferences - to paraphrase "I want to let everyone know that the Federal Government still exists and is still working, and is doing important stuff". Nevermind that the actions of those acting under the guise of government were likely the primary instigator of these attacks, as you point out - remember that bin Laden got his start with the CIA (MSNBC article), and our 'government' chooses sides often enough in worldwide conflicts to royally piss off people who get the bad end of the boom stick.

Many thanks to whoever it was that posted Harry Browne's "When Will We Learn?" article on slashdot yesterday.. In case you missed it, here's the first section:

>>>
The terrorist attacks against America comprise a horrible tragedy. But they shouldn't be a surprise.

It is well known that in war, the first casualty is truth ? that during any war truth is forsaken for propaganda. But sanity was a prior casualty: it was the loss of sanity that led to war in the first place.

Our foreign policy has been insane for decades. It was only a matter of time until Americans would have to suffer personally for it. It is a terrible tragedy of life that the innocent so often have to suffer for the sins of the guilty.

When will we learn that we can't allow our politicians to bully the world without someone bullying back eventually?

President Bush has authorized continued bombing of innocent people in Iraq. President Clinton bombed innocent people in the Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Serbia. President Bush Senior invaded Iraq and Panama. President Reagan bombed innocent people in Libya and invaded Grenada. And on and on it goes.

Did we think the people who lost their families and friends and property in all that destruction would love America for what happened?

When will we learn that violence always begets violence?
<<<

What 'America' must do now is stop the insanity, stop whipping out it's proverbial dick and beating people with it, even if some believe 'it's in their best interest'. Mind your own business, and there'll be less animosity towards you in the world.

Libertarian Party's Harry Browne's position.

"Your comment violated the postercomment compression filter. Comment aborted"

TERROR - The price of hegemony

The World Trade Center - monument of the New York business community, towering over downtown Manhattan like twin silver phalli pointed at heaven - is but a pile of smoldering rubble. Crashing down along with this symbol of capitalism, modernity, and civilization is the overweening hubris of a government - and a people - who thought themselves immune. It is the doctrine of "American exceptionalism," the theory that the US - blessed by Providence and released from the travails faced by other nations - is exempt not only from the rules that govern and limit the powers of other nations, but also from history itself. For history - and not only history but physics - tells us that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. No one is immune, and this is the meaning of the horrific events unfolding before our eyes.

Let's reiterate what has happened: in a coordinated operation that involved hijacking a plane from Boston, two aircraft dove into the World Trade Center, leveling both buildings and (probably) killing and injuring thousands. Not only that, but in Washington, D.C., the Pentagon itself was reportedly under attack, with at least one explosion in the area: also the US State Department is the scene of yet more high drama, as it too is rocked by explosions in the area and evacuated. It was a strange sight indeed to see an F-16 jet fighter plane patrolling the skies above New York City and the announcer's voice intoning in a sepulchral voice that the primary election scheduled for this morning in New York has been canceled.

Suddenly, Americans wake up one day to find that they are living in a Third World country. Would anybody be surprised to learn that all civil liberties have been suspended, and martial law declared? What is going on?

What's going on is this: the war is coming home. The war fought by America and its chief Middle East ally against the Palestinian uprising has moved from the streets of Gaza to the boulevards of the imperial metropolis. What Americans are facing, now, is what the Israelis face on a daily basis. For us, these attacks are a horror of monumental proportions, something so out of the ordinary that to call it "unusual" would be something of an understatement: for the Israelis, this is a way of life.

STORY CONTINUED HERE

Antiwar.com

This guy makes a very understable point that you have got to pay a price for hegemony, especially if you support a very small group of people against the wishes of a large one (like in the Middle East).

While it is hard to find satisfactory explanations now, try understanding the suffering of these people:

Hundreds of Palestinians killed with US supplied weapons and US trained and sponsored Israeli troops.

Unknown amounts of Yugos dead

Unknown amounts of Panamanian dead during US invasion

Unknown amounts of Grenadans dead during US invasion

The list could go on, including Vietnam, and other places around the world (Iraq comes to mind).

Now, I hate to see innocent people dying, but I hate to see ANY people dead, not just US people.

THINK ABOUT IT..!!!

Is it worth to keep supporting Israel's occupation of Palestine and have hundreds of millions of Arabs against the US...?

While it is sad to see this happenning in beautiful NYC, perhaps that is the price to pay if you self appoint as the world cop, especially one that does not do TRUE justice around the world.

Here's an alternative viewpoint: we are in the same boat as Israel now. Interesting article elaborating on this is here (Antiwar.com). Just blasting everybody will spawn more hatred of the US, because we do a pretty lousy job of limiting collateral damage. Witness the moonscape that used to be Iraq.

Absolutely. I read antiwar.com on a regular basis, and it's enlightening. What is interesting is that if these terrorists think that this will make the US mind its own business, they can fugeddaboutit. This will make the US as mad as a hornet, and you can bet the retribution will be broad and deep and long.

That may have been true in 1948, but today communism is pretty much dead in China.

You wrote:

They already knew, shortly after Barbarossa, that the Japanese were not going to attack the USSR, thanks to their spy in Japan, Sorge. Therefore they were able to move their best Siberian divisions West to attack the Germans without worrying about a Japanese attack. Note this happened well before Pearl Harbor. USSR of course would have liked to ensure that the Japanese did not change their minds...

many Soviet officials were worried Japan would change its mind. Germany constantly "tried to induce Japan to reorient her policy and to strike at Russia in the East... Sorge later said that 'the course of the Japanese-American talks was of great importance for the Soviet Union.' Had the Japanese-American talks succeeded, there would have arisen the danger that after their rapprochement, Japan and the U.S.A. [would] pursue a coordinated anti-Soviet policy."

Interesting stuff in any case, if only because it reminds us how many layers there can be behind what's written in the history books. Check out antiwar.com if you are interested in more such.

While it is an excellent point you make, I must wonder why you imply a correlation between Libertarians and the rhetoric of the war party politicians and their cheerleaders. Libertarians are the one group that consistently point this out. Bevin Chu, Alan Bock and even conservative Libertarian Representative Ron Paul all point out this and other errors in the rhetoric adopted by both wings of the war party - the neocons on the right and the clintonistas on the left.

While it is an excellent point you make, I must wonder why you imply a correlation between Libertarians and the rhetoric of the war party politicians and their cheerleaders. Libertarians are the one group that consistently point this out. Bevin Chu, Alan Bock and even conservative Libertarian Representative Ron Paul all point out this and other errors in the rhetoric adopted by both wings of the war party - the neocons on the right and the clintonistas on the left.

First off, if you are offended by me assuming that you are an American, then I'm sorry. I usually don't look at people's email addresses. And if you are offended by me calling you a racist, then I apologize for that as well. It's just that your comment about all immigrants being potential traitors struck a nerve in me as I (though an American citizen) find that I will not be able safely to pursue a scientific career in NASA because of my ethnic background. As I saw with Wen Ho Lee, if you are Chinese, then the US government will treat you as a traitor. Now, with this crap about a space war, I will almost certainly never be allowed to work on anything interesting related to space, despite the fact that I will soon graduate from the best college in America.

Second of all, to understand why I feel that Taiwanese are traitors and why I'm not xenophobic, racist, paranoid, or communist-sympathizing for feeling this way(several of my relatives were persecuted because they were born to rich families, so you can guess my feelings toward the current Chinese government), go to the following site.

I will not suggest that the author isn't biased (though you should pay attention to the his biography on the right column). However, it will give you a perspective on Chinese-Taiwanese relations that is not presented in Western media. It certainly had a huge impact on my view of things after I read the essays.

Third of all, as for why I oppose SDI, consider that in an arms race, you can do two things 1) Make your own weapons work better or 2) Make your enemy's weapons work worse. Both courses of actions will escalate tensions.

I suppose at the worst case of Ad judo, they could convert the text to graphics and mesh it with an advertisement. And the ultimate response is an image-processing filter that strips out any non-textual graphical information.

It does cost money to employ web designers, coders (like myself), and such. But that cost has to be balanced against potential return, and I think the fundamental error that is being made is spending way too much on the latest look'n'feel, and then having to justify it with ill planned advertising schemes.

http://www.antiwar.com/ This is a great news site. It's look is simple yet effective, and the banner ads are unobtrusive. This can be run by two folks, tops. Flash? Screw it. Totally original art? Whatever. Site revamped every quarter? Hah.

But it does the job, and it's supported by advertising and donations. Many other small news sites could do the same. But as for the NYT, I expect they will turn subscription / fee based eventually. And then fold their web presence, since it's doubtful there's enough folks out there who'd be willing to pay to cover costs.

But sad to say, plain .TXT is not much of a marketing tool these days. Tom Paine's handprinted manifestos lit the fire of revolution; today, only a multimedia manifesto would catch the public attention. We are a society of Web surfers and couch potatoes. The revolution had better be televized, or it's not gonna fly.

(It's offtopic, but those televised images of the Bosnian prisoner camps that TMiB mentions are a great example. It turns out they were faked (there's an article and even a video with the skinny on how it was done. But they sure built up a lot of sympathy for the Bosnian Muslim separatist movement, didn't they?!)

But pirate radio and TV transmitters are easy to jam and track down. That leaves computers. Freenet is not going to be a speed demon, and Publius will enforce this 100k limit. So the single most important way for people of limited means to disseminate controversial information is, I would argue, the Web. And, in fact, just about any political or controversial group you'd care to name has a Web site by now.

Once the Web becomes truly a mass medium worldwide, I predict that we will soon start seeing national governments go after the Web sites of movements they don't like. Thing is, some of those sites will be backed by other national governments. I wonder what the 'net will look like then. More firewalls like China's? Special agents attacking server rooms? ISP workers getting threatened like judges in South America?

But sad to say, plain .TXT is not much of a marketing tool these days. Tom Paine's handprinted manifestos lit the fire of revolution; today, only a multimedia manifesto would catch the public attention. We are a society of Web surfers and couch potatoes. The revolution had better be televized, or it's not gonna fly.

(It's offtopic, but those televised images of the Bosnian prisoner camps that TMiB mentions are a great example. It turns out they were faked (there's an article and even a video with the skinny on how it was done. But they sure built up a lot of sympathy for the Bosnian Muslim separatist movement, didn't they?!)

But pirate radio and TV transmitters are easy to jam and track down. That leaves computers. Freenet is not going to be a speed demon, and Publius will enforce this 100k limit. So the single most important way for people of limited means to disseminate controversial information is, I would argue, the Web. And, in fact, just about any political or controversial group you'd care to name has a Web site by now.

Once the Web becomes truly a mass medium worldwide, I predict that we will soon start seeing national governments go after the Web sites of movements they don't like. Thing is, some of those sites will be backed by other national governments. I wonder what the 'net will look like then. More firewalls like China's? Special agents attacking server rooms? ISP workers getting threatened like judges in South America?