OT: HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

[Higgs Boson]

....to the good folks on this (generally) knowledgeable and helpful NG. (the exceptions prove the rule

[HeyBub]

It's funny only to the uninformed. Since the Salem trials, Massachusetts hasn't had ANY trouble with witches.

Here's another, similar, factoid that may save your life.

This business about a wooden stake through the heart of a vampire is pure Hollywood bullshit! If you read Bram Stoker's book, you'll discover that you dispatch a vampire with a BOWIE KNIFE, not some pissant tent peg!

I'm in Texas. We have a LOT of Bowie Knives and very few vampire problems.

[HeyBub]

Sorry, you've got some of the facts wrong:

"Plame's career destroyed, thanks to to White House criminal Scooter Libby..."

Er, no. Plame was outed by a worker in the State Department, Richard Armitage, not the White House and certainly not anyone in the Vice President's office. Libby had nothing to do with Plame's career.

Libby didn't work in the White House either. While the Vice President maintains a ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office building next door to the White House, Libby actually worked at the U.S. Naval Observatory (the location of all the vice-president's offices). He was, however, a member of the Executive Branch.

Libby WAS convicted of two counts of perjury, one count of obstruction, and one count of making a false statement, ALL of which stemmed from his trying to cooperate (or dis-cooperate) with the FBI.

[Higgs Boson]

Pardon? According to the film (and perhaps the book which I have not yet read) Libby WAS very much behind the move to humiliate Plame by cutting off her clearance and isolating her in an empty office with nothing to do. Well played by David Andrews, Libby is an amoral, reptilian creature who protects the institution and the Administration at all costs.

To put it mildly! I don't see that his geographical location has anything to do with his role in this scandal.

Now I've heard everything! Do you need another bucket of whitewash to complete your, er, sanitation of Libby's role?

I don't hold with "Never speak ill of the dead." Novak did endless harm by utilitizing his bully pulpit to such unpatriotic ends.

I t would have taken a LOT of space on the NG to go through the intricacies of the entire scenario, which BTW, is very well presented in the film "Fair Game", based on Valerie Plame's book of the same name.

The book itself has been heavily redacted =3D censored by the CIA, so one has to piece together the whole story from other sources. Wikipedia has a very long and detailed article at:

There are many reviews on-line, such as Amazon's

The ruthlessness of the Adminstration's revenge attack against Plame for her husband's article lifts the curtain a bit on the less savory operations of the CIA, which did not hesitate to ruin a faithful operative, blow her carefully constructed spy network, and doom its Iraqui collaborators.

How did our national security benefit from this counter-productive business?

HB

[Bob Villa]

Respect dictates you write that as "9/11"...it's evident you have none.

[Bob Villa]

Guess what? I am not the government of the USA. I am a citizen...I wouldn't hold the innocent or their families responsible for government policies. I consider the UK and Canada to be our closest allies (and friends). You, being a member of the minority wackos of your country. I don't need to be informed on the international date format...I said "out-of-respect" it should be "9/11".