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WITandWISDOM(tm) - October 2, 2001 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: "The basic difference between being assertive and being aggressive is how our words and behavior affect the rights and well being of others." - Sharon Anthony Bower Source: Quotes From The Masters, http://MailRoom.DailyInbox.Com/ ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: A woman is dying of AIDS. A priest is summoned. He attempts to comfort her, but to no avail. "I am lost," she said. "I have ruined my life and every life around me. Now I'm going painfully to hell. There is no hope for me." The priest saw a framed picture of a pretty girl on the dresser. "Who is this?" he asked. The woman brightened. "She is my daughter, the one beautiful thing in my life." "And would you help her if she was in trouble, or made a mistake? Would you forgive her? Would you still love her?" "Of course I would!" cried the woman, "I would do anything for her! Why do you ask such a question?" "Because I want you to know," said the priest, "that God has a picture of you on His dresser." From: The Jokesmith, Published by Edward C. McManus, 44 Queen's View Road, Marlborough, MA, 01752, 508- 481-0979 Source: Bits & Pieces, May 23, 1996, Copyright (c) Economic Press, Inc., http://www.epinc.com ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: FREEDOM OF INFORMATION Web Site By Margie Boule It's gray outside. How about some light reading? Let's see... interested in history? How about detective stories? True crime? Movie star biographies? How about all of the above rolled into one big, messy, fascinating read? This is not the kind of cheap, trashy book you can get lost in on a plane flight or at the beach. This is the kind of cheap, trashy read you can find on the United States Department of Justice FBI Freedom of Information Act Web site at a computer near you. This is the real thing. The Freedom of Information Act was passed in the 1960s, but early versions excluded investigative files from the list of materials from which U.S. citizens could request copies. That changed in the mid-1970s, when the FOIA was amended and the Privacy Act of 1974 became effective. Now anybody could request FBI files, and not just their own. Since then, more than 6 million pages of FBI documents have been released to the public. And now the FBI has put a number of the most requested files online at http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex.htm There no attractive graphics. These are scans of photocopies of the actual typed memos, telegrams, letters from squealers and old news clippings that made up FBI investigative files dating back to the beginning of the agency. Many pages are unreadable; others that are legible have been heavily censored by someone with a black marker. Still, the files available on the site make for fascinating reading. There are the predictable investigations of mobsters such as Sam M. Giancana (2,781 pages) and Lester Joseph Gillis, aka "Baby Face Nelson" (224 pages), and rumored mob associates such as Frank Albert Sinatra (2,403 pages). Sinatra's file not only has sightings of Sinatra with known mobsters, but it also reveals an FBI investigation into whether Sinatra bribed a doctor to obtain 4-F status during WWII (he didn't, the FBI concluded). After about a half-hour, you start to feel like you're reading a very badly edited old copy of People magazine. There are plenty of celebrities' lives to wander through. There are files on Mickey Mantle (who was not investigated but who received threatening letters the FBI looked into) and Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play major league baseball. Robinson was not investigated either, but his involvement with groups such as the NAACP was followed. And how many people remember that Robinson testified before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1949 about Communist infiltration of minority rights organizations? Some celebrities were not suspected of Communist involvement John Wayne's file has copies of pleasant correspondence between the Duke and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover (whose file is also on the site). Elvis Presley's file has reports about criminals who tried extortion from the King. Marilyn Monroe was already dead by the time the FBI looked into her life; it pursued rumors about her affairs and whether her death was really a suicide. There are mysteries explored - Amelia Earhart's disappearance and the crash of the Hindenburg. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION Web Site http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex.htm You can reach Margie Boule at 503-221-8450 or 1320 S.W. Broadway, Portland, OR 97201. Source: The Oregonian, Copyright (c) August 23, 2001, http://www.oregonian.com/ Submitted by Barbara Henry ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: A friend was in front of me coming out of church one day, and the preacher was standing at the door as he always is to shake hands. He grabbed my friend by the hand and pulled him aside. Pastor said, "You need to join the Army of the Lord!" My friend said, "I'm already in the Army of the Lord, Pastor." Pastor questioned, "How come I don't see you except at Christmas and Easter?" He whispered back, "I'm in the secret service." Source: Laugh Works ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: What is the Mona Lisa missing? The lady in DaVinci's famous painting has no eyebrows. It was the fashion in Renaissance Florence to shave them off. Interestingly, X-rays of the Mona Lisa show that there are three completely different versions of the same subject, all painted by Leonardo, under the final portrait. Source: ArcaMax Trivia, http://www.arcamax.com A picture of Mona Lisa can be view at: http://www.yesnet.yk.ca/schools/projects/renaissance/davinci.html |