The boys and girls at the Department of Homeland Security paid me another visit late last night. I cannot imagine what they would find subversive about my blog. This time they took a look at a post I wrote regarding a visit my sister and I took to Guerrero Viejo, Mexico, back in 1996. They downloaded one of my photos, so maybe that's all they were after, or maybe someone was just bored. I sure wish they would find another way to spend our tax dollars, like creating jobs for the millions of folks who are unemployed. Hiring them to rebuild this country's teetering infrastructure would be a good place to start, that is if we had any money left after spending it on killing people in other countries whose resources we want.
Page Views:3Entry Page Time:23 Sep 2013 22:18:46Visit Length:3 mins 22 secsBrowser:IE 8.0OS:Win7Resolution:1600x900
Total Visits:1Location:Washington, District of Columbia, United StatesIP Address:Department Of Homeland Security (216.81.94.72) [Label IP Address]Referring URL:
Total Visits:1Location:Washington, District of Columbia, United StatesIP Address:Department Of Homeland Security (216.81.94.72) [Label IP Address]Referring URL:
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Seriously? They are spending our tax dollars visiting you because you visited this place and wrote about it? I suppose some terrorist once passed through there, or something like that. Anyway, the photos are still gorgeous and I'm happy to be looking at them again. Stay safe!
ReplyDeleteI have no idea why they returned, but some things probably raise red flags for no good reason ... here we are, in an age of more intrusion, less security.
DeleteMy goodness. I still believe people are basically good at heart. I should probably get over it.
ReplyDeleteAgree with you on the infrastructure. I'd go so far as to say if our troops were home they could resolve most of those issues in a couple of years. They know how to work as teams. And they know how to work.
I want to believe that too, but I think about men like Henry Kissinger, responsible directly or indirectly for millions of deaths in SE Asia, not to mention Central America, let's just say, it challenges that belief.
DeleteHiring veterans should be a priority.
How can you tell they are visiting your blog? details please, Isee the info above but not sure how you got to it.
ReplyDeleteoh I love the photo at the top, spectacular
All the information above came directly from a free download called Statcounter.
DeleteThe image is from Arches National Park, in Utah.
Wow.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to know what you use to gather that information. So that I can cloak myself next time I visit from my desk at HS.
Yes, I suspected that whole Truth or Consequences gig was a front. For god's sake, woman, wave next time ...
DeleteI wonder if everyone knows we're kidding? :)))
DeletePlease show us how you discovered this intrusion.
ReplyDeletePlease see my response to Linda Starr. It's a free download called Statcounter which can be visible or invisible. It gathers the information for you on an ongoing basis and you can check it as often as you wish to see who's visiting and from where. No personal names, just blog names, organizations such as Homeland Security. The NSA has also shown up for some blogging friends who cover more political topics.
DeleteMy sister was searching the internet for information about insurance plans available in her area, and the phone rang. It was a woman who said she saw that my sister was looking for insurance information and could she help? How did she know that? It was totally spooky. I am convinced that our privacy is a thing of the past.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely gone. I have nothing whatsoever to hide, but it doesn't seem to matter. We have lost everything we thought this nation stood for. It's easy to see now that we've been hoodwinked from day one. That image at the top should have been all the red flag we needed.
DeleteOh, oh. You're in trouble now. Send them a link to your poetry website so they can chill. Might do them so good. That particular link must have set something in motion. Something we are all unaware of. Still, I find this disconcerting.
ReplyDeleteI have a dream where poets become revolutionary and all good things rise to the top...
DeleteYes, I find it disconcerting, too, Bill. Did you read DJan's comment?
Yes. Very creepy. As someone who thinks our liberties are our most precious commodity, not money, not guns, but liberties, this really is disturbing to the nth degree.
DeleteAnd. It makes me wonder what's next ...
DeleteOh my, oh my.
ReplyDeleteAnd so it begins.
Yes.
DeleteI can not tell you how disgusting I find this to be. And for the second time and "late at night" and there will be no explanation. I'm sorry this happened to you. The money used means nothing absolutely nothing.
ReplyDeleteI'd find it laughable, if it wasn't so disgusting. Thanks, One Fly.
DeleteYou know, I would trust the original!
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that the DOHS hasn't paid me a visit: I've said lots of very nasty things about them... and meant every word.
Oh, yes, I would far prefer the original.
DeleteIt is not a time for us to be silent ...
I never. tsk tsk and tsk
ReplyDeleteBizarre, isn't it?
DeleteThey are scared of us. Everyone keep speaking out. The truth is on our side. There's a lot more of us than them.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is no time for silence.
DeleteI hope this means that homeland security agents are now appreciating poetry! After my back accident I discovered that one of our government NZ departments had been reading my blog to verify my accident claim. I hope they are now interested in learning potting!! It is good that you put out this information, I think that it is good that they know that we know that they know!
ReplyDeleteKind thoughts to you. Peter from New Zealand (My country of origin for the benefit of the spooks!) xx
I hope so, too, Peter!
DeleteYour incident is disturbing. What a crazy world it has become. Yes, good that they know we know...
Thank you, Peter.
Yes, our tax dollars at work. We pay them to spy on us.
ReplyDeleteBut am I reading this correctly, that this came from a google image search? Is it possible that this was a naughty civil servant looking for images of "two sisters and their adventure" that aren't as wholesome as your post? However ridiculous this person's job description might be, maybe this search was outside it.
Just wondering....
I'm not certain if their visit was the result of an image search, that might well be, as the original link took me to the first image of the church, which came directly from my blog post. It bothers me more that the only photo they downloaded was the one of me on the streets of Guerrero Viejo...
DeleteEither way, it's our tax dollars at work, and it's unacceptable.
I should add: it bothers me more because it's their second visit to me, for whatever reason. The last time it was right after I posted "Questionnaire," by Wendell Berry, and a speech by Eugene V. Debs.
DeleteAh. Debs and Mexico. Those are "flags", my dear, and they're waving in the wind. If you look at the next to last line in this list of keywords, you'll find Mexico.
ReplyDeleteOther provocative terms include charcoal (artists, beware!), privacy (want it? forget it!), Scully (X-files fans, the truth is out there), Peapod (forget having your groceries delivered), and Iris (along with daisy, hollyhock, and cornflower - quite a bouquet of suspiciousness, don't you think?)
I've just had it with these people. I'm going to get statcounter installed, pronto. I have sitemeter, but it doesn't provide the same level of detail.
I think it's time to pull out some of the old songs, too - like this one. There's nothing like cheerfulness and hope to make pinched-up, snoopy bureaucrats unhappy. ;-)
Do you mind if somewhere along the line I quote from your entry here? It will take me a while to do what I want to do on my blog, but I'd like to be able to refer back to your experience.
Thanks so much for posting this.
Thanks for that list. What a ridiculous direction our country has taken. It reminds me of the German film, "The Lives of Others," about the secret monitoring of East Berliners, particularly artists who were seen as subversives. It's a great film. You might be able to find it on Netflix or somewhere similar.
DeleteIt's almost impossible to imagine why some words are on that list .... code used by known groups? Who knows ... what a bunch of Keystone Cops, with a very ugly, dark side.
Thank you for that song by The Seekers. They were a class act. Where are the revolutionary songwriters/singers? They surely are out there ...
Yes, you may quote from / use my post in whatever way you'd like to help inform people. It is important that we speak out against our loss of Fourth Amendment rights, along with pretty much all the others.
Have you read Zoli by Colum McCann? Really good. About the original gypsies (especially Zoli a poet) in Russia at the start of Communism...not too far from what we have going on here.
ReplyDeleteNo, I haven't, but I will add it to my reading list. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteGuess that's what comes of being really interesting....
ReplyDeleteWhy thank you, Ashling! I hope that's the reason... ;)
DeleteDo you think I will attract their attention just by commenting on your blog (and saying I much I enjoy it). If so, please note my name is John Smith and I live at 31, West Street, Basingstoke. God save the Queen.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you'll hear a knock on your door any minute ... or someone will ... :)
DeleteYikes. Operating with a fair degree of paranoia seems rational and prudent nowadays.
ReplyDeleteYes, it does, unfortunately.
DeleteI fear this is only the beginning. Please take note as to who is in office and think long and hard about their agenda. Keep in mind one of the top goals on the list is to confiscate ALL guns from law-abiding citizens of this once great nation. There is one pesky little roadblock ---- It is called the Second Amendment to the US Constitution. I apologize in advance if this is too political. I fear our government more than I fear our foreign enemies.
ReplyDeleteI think the agenda started long before the current office holder, but things have definitely gone downhill ... no matter who is in office, others are the deciders ... all part of a broader agenda. I agree with your assessment and I also fear our government more than foreign "enemies." It's beginning to look like Nazi Germany 1938, when Jews had to turn in all weapons, including kitchen knives...
DeleteYou are so correct. This has been going on a very long time. You just used some words that triggered "their" machinery to begin it's hunt. I'm always surprised that so many people are still in the dark about this. (Have another drink of city water). Do you realize how precious your well water is?
ReplyDeleteA long time since I visited. I see we are still on the same page.
My very best to you.
Love as always, Manzanita
Manzanita, It's wonderful to hear from you again. I am very grateful for my well water and trying to remember every time I take a drink from it ...Yes, we are still on the same page ... Some folks like the comfort of being in the dark. I always prefer the light no matter how harsh it first appears.
DeleteLove to you...
Depressing. I get visits and hits from US Apo Armed Forces spooks every other day. The best method of responding is to draw attention to their attentions just as you have done, T. You're much too strong for any voodoo they think they have.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Tony. I really appreciate this. I'm so grateful for truth tellers such as yourself.
DeleteThe whole thing is disturbing. And yet another revelation today via Mr. Snowden shows how far down the path our government continues to go in spying on citizens so it can protect the citizens. A very twisted democracy. I need that counter as I'm sure I've raised red flags at times.
ReplyDeleteAnd it continues to unfold. Our democracy is a sham.
Delete