[Don Joe]

Interesting. My friends thought I'd work for the CIA, but the CIA frowns on people with criminal records, even if they were found guilty of crimes they didn't commit. Sigh.

Frowns?

Perhaps. But, "frowns" is not equivalent to "refuses", in that Palace of Ambiguity. While I do not have a criminal record, I know of at least one (ahem) "former" operative who was recruited "smack dab in the middle of criminal activity." Seems that for certain tasks, "it takes a thief," so to speak. (In her case -- and I'm not violating any "national security" issues -- it apparently made for an ideal cold war era courier behind the Iron Curtain.)

[scripter]

I'm sure that's true. My situation is a little different.