Posted on 08/02/2004 4:46:10 PM PDT by BJungNan
Sandy Berger Times Two
by Sandy Berger
Last week I started getting some unusual e-mail with questions about cell phones cameras. My e-mail also included an abnormal number of politically oriented questions. After further investigation, it turns out that all of this was related to a recent political event.
It seems that Sandy Berger, Bill Clinton's national security adviser, was recently forced to quit his job as John Kerry’s adviser. He is now under federal investigation for taking notes and classified documents from the National Archives.
Berger was recently at the National Archives reading through highly classified terrorism documents related to the 9-11 commission. It has been reported that Berger asked to be left alone several times during his reading sessions to make personal phone calls on his cell phone. It occurred to many people that if Berger’s cell phone was equipped with a camera he could have used it to take pictures of classified information. After this announcement, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people started searching the Internet using the search terms such as, “Sandy Berger, camera cell phone”. The search results led them onto an article that I had written about the popularity of cell phones with cameras. In the article I wrote about the problems associated with these phones, including how easy these devices make it to steal information. Before long, a link to my article was posted on GoGov.com. My picture was posted right under the other Sandy Berger’s picture. People on several message boards picked up on my article and suddenly began discussing both Sandy Berger’s and camera phones. I loved the comment made by a visitor on the FreeRepublic.com message boards: “ I thought this was going to be blockbuster until I discovered that this Sandy Berger is a chick.”
The Sandy Berger situation brought to my attention the fact that today’s common tech devices today can be used in a way that until recently was available only to the FBI, KGB, CIA, and Maxwell Smart. Technology has given the every-day person the ability to easily spy on people and steal information.
My article that is posted on the Compu-KISS Web site at www.compukiss.com/populartopics/tech_gadgetshtm/article1199.htm, stated “As with most new technologies, there is also a downside to camera cell phones. Some critics are calling them a privacy menace as they are being used in bathrooms, locker rooms, and gyms. Art museums, and others, who ban photography are having trouble controlling the use of camera phones. Bookstores are struggling to crack down on the digital shoplifting that occurs when patrons photograph pages of books and magazines without paying for them. The speedy transmission of telephone photos enables confidential information to be stolen and immediately transmitted to an outside source.”
Yes, we are living in a world where every person has access to inexpensive technology that can be used for bad as well as good. Oh, and there is one more amazing thing about this story, it shows how the vastness and power of the Internet could bring, if only for a short time, the worlds of the two vastly different Sandy Berger’s together.
By the way, he’s Samuel and I am Sandra. Also, if you happen upon the headline that says, “Sandy Berger to pose for Playboy – Proof that he has nothing to hide” let me assure you that they are referring to the other Sandy Berger.
LOL! You are TOO funny! :^D
"...and Maxwell Smart"
You mean I can really buy a shoe phone ? I thought only Al Bundy had a shoe phone. I would also love to have one of those cones of silence.
They might not work inside a moderately shielded room or building, which at least some secure facilities are. However that doesn't mean the camera feature would not work. That would work just fine, although you'd have to wait until "outside" to transmit the pictures. Of course you could just as easily take them to your computer and burn them onto a CD-R.
As to secure facilities, they aren't. Many have a nice little shelf or bar outside the secure area for you to lay them to or clip them on. Lots of pictures with slashes through them so even senior Democrat operatives can understand what is and what is not allowed. Basically anything with memory that can be written to. Some facilities won't even let you take such things as CD players, although others will. Cameras, digital, cell phone or old fashioned film, are a definite no-no.
Special measures had to be taken to make the phone work in the tunnel. Basically put a cell in the tunnel itself. I've had mine go off and work just fine inside an elevator in a town (~40,000) in Nebraska. Hong Kong has the advantage (for purposes of cell phone coverage) of a very dense population in a relatively small area. Most places in the US have much lower population densities, but cell tower coverage and signal strength only depend on distance from the tower (and shielding by terrain or buildings of course). Since there is also a limitation on how much traffic any one cell can handle, in Hong Kong the cells are going to be more closely spaced to limit the number of users in each cell. This result in higher signal strength. In most of the US, we have a lot more "elbow room", with lower density of users, and thus the cells are larger. This results in a lower signal strength and more fringe areas.
Excatly what I said. The U.S. has poor cell infrastructure.
That is correct.
It would depend on how close you were to the Cell Tower and whether you were on one of the upper floors!
Excatley what El Gato said.. We have a bigger country to cover.. ;)
They are not. He broke the rules. . .
Bump!
That is the best line in the whole story! Actually he ought to be under house arrest as a spy and a thief. The National Archives will now have to relieve people of their cell phones and any other devises which could hide cameras; you would think they already had this sort of rule.
If this had been you or me, we would be UNDER THE JAIL! We wouldn't see the light of day for years. It seems that if you are one of the elite, no matter if your party is out of power, then you are un-touchable. He should have been charged immediately.
Sandy Berger does not need a cell phone, all he needs is a pair of big pants.
Ops4 God Bles America!
By the way, he’s Samuel and I am Sandra. Also, if you happen upon the headline that says, “Sandy Berger to pose for Playboy – Proof that he has nothing to hide” let me assure you that they are referring to the other Sandy Berger.
It doesn't seem to matter what pants he had or what information he had, the story is going nowhere at present.
the owner had been depressed lately, right? but he had made future plans, like buying a boat, etc.
They've created some images that are seared, literally, seared into my memory.
-good times, G.J.P. (Jr.)
They've created some images that are seared, literally, seared into my memory.LOL! Thanks.
Blackened brain cells?
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