Post 600!

I was coming on here to write a post about how life has gotten in the way of my 31 day challenge, and that I will be back on it as soon as I get about an hour to sit down and write.  I noticed that my very next post, this post, is post #600!

So, Life is in the way.  And this is post #600.  And I'll come back soon.  Hopefully tomorrow.  Until then....

Hugs,
Melinda

Cool Spy Gadgets

First off, I must apologize if this post seems a bit disjointed and rambling.  I'm trying to write while watching game 4 of the ALCS.  I hope that the Royals can sweep the series and head to the World Series.  The Playoffs have been fabulous to watch.

Okay, back to the CIA and spy gadgets.

When you think of spy gear, what do you think of?  Lipstick guns?  Microfilm?  Bugs and microphones?  I believe that one of the reasons that spy novels and tv shows and movies is because it is somewhat grounded in reality.  We love to pretend that these things actually exist and that we would recognize them if we ever saw them.



Pigeon Camera
 

Letter Removal Device

What would you say if I told you they do exist?

In the exhibits of both the International Spy Museum and the CIA Museum, you will find all sorts of gadgets and gear used by covert operatives in the field. 

One of the most interesting is the Insectothopter.  It was built to resemble a dragonfly, and it had a listening device built into it.  Here is a video of it's test flight.


From concealed compasses, to robotic fish, it seems like the CIA thought of it all.  I have spent about an hour just browsing the pictures on the CIA website and on their Flickr account.  I only wish I knew the stories that go with the pictures.

Can you imagine the story behind this hollowed out coin?
 

Hugs,
Melinda

This post is part of a 31 day writing challenge.  Find all my posts here.

Going Dark

This is part of a 31 day challenge.  Find all the other posts here.  

My husband and I were watching a movie the other day, and the director decided that he needed the operations room to "go dark."  I don't know what that phrase means, and since my mom's favorite phrase was "look it up," that's what today's post is all about.

According to UrbanDictionary.com it is a "slang term in the intelligence world which means you go silent.  You don't speak or communicate with anyone for a given period or time.  It is a way of protecting yourself from someone who would do you harm."

There was also an interesting answer on this page that appears to be from someone who has used it before: "Going dark is a Military term we used quite a bit in the Marine Corps Infantry when I was in. It means "Radio silence" driving "black out" with no lights and basically incognito and stealth mode. I use it nowadays when I let people know I am cutting off my cell phone so they won't try and contact me."


All of which makes this story extremely interesting.  Especially since finding the article that it references was slightly difficult.  Apparently, the CIA has "gone dark" in Europe.


My other question is what are "black ops?"  I can guess what it is, but like I said before, my mom always told me to look it up for myself.


According to Wikipedia, a black operation is a covert or clandestine operation, and according to this page, the CIA is the one that "must lead covert operations unless the president finds that another agency should do so and properly informs the Congress."  Their authority to do so comes from the National Security Act of 1947.  You know?  The Act that officially established the CIA.

One last thing.  The National Clandestine Service is an arm of the CIA that performs the "black ops" for the CIA.

"Bond.  James Bond."

And let's not forget about everyone's favorite black op agent.  Because I mean really.  What else is he if he's not a black op?

Okay, this is EXTREMELY interesting to me.  I couldn't remember who James Bond works for.  (Is it MI5?  MI6?  What's the name of the agency?) Well, my search lead me to this article of the literary character written by Ian Fleming.  Apparently, Mr. Fleming wrote Bond as a Secret Service agent.  I guess I'm going to have to get one of the novels and find out for myself.

Until Then,
Hugs,
Melinda

Stars on the Wall

I love my husband.  I really do.  He is very supportive and encouraging.  Even when I don't want him to be.  *sigh*  We were talking about how I thought I should stop posting information about the CIA, how I had written my last post, and how I was going to move forward from here. 

I was bouncing ideas off of him, because I just knew that I was going to start over.  Some of my ideas were 31 Ordinary Days, 31 Names of God, 31 Smartphone Photos, 31 Days of Homeschooling, 31 Recipes I actually use, and so on and so forth.  I'm putting them here, so that I can find them for the challenge next year.  Who knows?  I might even just do one or two before then.

Because the love of my life has convinced me I need to keep going.  That I'm not writing for anyone but myself.  That I don't have to include ALL the information I find.  That I need to finish.

I hate it when he's right.

So, here is the next installment in my 31 Days series.  You can find my other posts here, including my "last" post.

The stars are real.

If you watch enough shows or read enough books about the CIA, eventually you will come across mention of the memorial wall.  It's real.  It's a part of the legend and lore of the CIA.

As of this moment, there are 111 stars engraved on this wall.  Each represents a fallen CIA officer.  Each represents a name.  A story.  A family.

Underneath the stars is a book.  The Book of Honor, it's called.  If the star on the wall is attached to a name that can be known, it's actually listed in The Book.  Otherwise, there is simply a gold star.

 



One thing I learned is that the size of this book has been changed.  In 2004, it went from about 25 inches by 9 inches to almost double that at 20 inches by 30 inches.

The stars on the wall are there as a memorial, a reminder, that the fight against evil and terrorism is real.  That there are people out there who want to see the United States of America fall.  That there are people out there who fight them. 

I have a picture of the memorial service for my uncle.  In it, I can see my aunt, my cousins, my grandparents sitting next to the Director.  On the other side of the picture, I see the flower arrangements, and the stars. 

They are very real.  They are a part of our story. 

Hugs,
Melinda

Too much information ...

There's just too much information....  Or there's simply not enough. 

Aldrich Ames was a double agent convicted of selling secrets to Russia.

The CIA has been portrayed in books, in film, on TV, and in video games.

The agency is known for having a multitude of cool gadgets and unique tools for getting the job done.

I have all these things that I want to read about and research and write, and yet, I also feel like I don't have enough.  At least, not enough to put into a 31 day series.  There is more.  Much more. 

And yet, I feel like I don't have enough words for it all.

I think I am going to stop this "series."  I'm not stopping my research and I'm not stopping my novel idea.  I'm simply putting a halt to including it on my blog. 

That's not really what this blog is about anyway.

If you've been with me this long, I want to say thank you.  I appreciate the 1700+ views that this post brought.  I appreciate learning how to make buttons, and link pictures, and how to somewhat plan for a 31 day series.  Thank you for your time, and your interest.  I greatly appreciate it.

Hugs,
Melinda

The start of my search

This post is part of a 31 day writing challenge. Find all my other posts here.

I'm going to be honest here.  99.9% of all my research this month is online.  I homeschool, and we have one vehicle.  Getting to the library every time I want to is not going to happen as often as I want.  So I do online searches.  There are sites that I trust, and sites that I stay away from; WikiLeaks being the first one in that list.  (I hesitate to even mention the name.)

I'm sort of stuck on content for a blog post today, so I thought I would put up a whole bunch of links about my uncle that I've read through and used as a jumping off point.  I'm going to do my best to give a brief summary of what is contained in each, but please remember these are not my works.  I'm simply passing them on.

Arlington Cemetery - This one pops up almost always first.  It seems to be a collection of press releases and stories that appear no where else.  It's an interesting read if you can get all the way to the end.  This is where I started my search.

Wikipedia - I use this one simply to remember dates.  As you can see, it's missing quite a lot.

The Baltimore Sun - This one is interesting, because it's pretty much the only one out there I've seen that said President Clinton "approved a CIA operation."

The Los Angeles Times - This one starts off with the fact that James Woolsey retrieved his body.  But I never noticed before today that it also states Freddie was "a U.S. diplomat acknowledged by Clinton Administration officials to be a CIA operative."

RefWorld - This one is interesting.  It's about the start of Michael Pullara's efforts to reopen the case and try to get Sharmaidze released.  It does seem to be connected to the UN Refugee Agency, but I don't know how.

The Baltimore Sun, part 2 - This one goes more into the politics of the time, and starts to explore the connections between the CIA, Shevardnadze, the KGB, and Russia.

The New York Times - One last one.  This is pretty much the same as the Baltimore Sun and the Los Angeles Time.

Hopefully tomorrow, I won't have writer's block.
Hugs,
Melinda

The Farm

There are not too many TV shows or movies about the CIA that don't mention "The Farm" in some way or another.  The one I've seen most recently was The Recruit with Al Pacino.

That made me wonder what exactly is "The Farm?"  It should be perfect for 31 days of random CIA facts.  Right?

The most interesting thing I've seen, or not seen, is the lack of information.  There is a lot of speculation, but nothing definitive.

But let's start with the basics.

The rumor is that the CIA maintains a clandestine training facility at Camp Peary in Virginia.  Okay, so let's learn more about Camp Peary.  Would you like to see a map?

It was initially used as a Seabee training facility during WWII.  Also during it's formation, the residents of the towns of Magruder and Bigler's Mill had to relocate, which is interesting to me, because apparently the town of Magruder was an established community for freedmen after the Civil War.  Camp Peary was also apparently used as a POW camp for German soldiers.

There are approximately 9,000 acres, lots of fresh water, and lots of wildlife.  It has also been closed to the public since 1952.

So, those are the "known" facts.  You can look up just about any of those and confirm them.

How about some speculation, then, since we do not know all the facts.

I'm going to start by linking to all the articles where I found this information.  I would dearly love to do more in depth research and get my hands on physical copies, but I just don't have the time or the resources right now. 

Wikipedia Article on Camp Peary
Source Watch article on Camp Peary
Eyeballing Camp Peary
eHow article on CIA Training
Daily Press news article from 1994 - This one is the one I found the most interesting and the one that I would like to chase down every lead and article it mentions.  This was a good article to read.

Going through these articles, I have a brief timeline of supposed reports.

In 1964, Camp Peary officials reached out to the Daily Press to reassure area residents that nothing improper or unsafe was being conducted by the river or the woods.  That the camp was a training camp in experimental war techniques.  (Daily Press)

In 1970, a former operative, Bill Wagner attends a 3 week interrogation course, that he describes as the "premier course."  Attendees take the roles of interrogators and the interrogated.  Supposedly, this course was dropped after the Watergate scandal.  (The Atlantic via Wikipedia)

In 1972, The Virginia Gazette reports that CIA officers are being trained as assassins, and quotes former agents saying "experimental" training includes hand held nuclear devices, such as a backpack bomb.  (Wikipedia, Daily Press). A "high-ranking CIA official ended up calling the Washington division of the Richmond Times Dispatch to deny the claim and say that it was nonsense that they trained assassins.  (Daily Press)

In 1984, three game wardens were able to breach security in order to ticket six hunters with improper hunting without launching any alarms.  (Daily Press)

In 2005, airplanes are regularly seen taking off and landing at the airstrip.  Flight plans include Guantanamo Bay.   (Eyeballing)

So what goes on at "the farm?"

According to former operatives, this is a basic operations course.  There is Weapons and Explosives, Driving, Navigation and Parachuting, and Tradecraft, which includes tailing, breaking and entering, bugging, drop offs, and report writing.  (eHow)

And according to the Daily Press:

"What else goes on there is pure speculation and area folklore."

Hugs,
Melinda

Russian Politics and a Bit of History

I really have been doing a lot of research into this, even though I haven't posted a whole lot of information.  I have gotten to the point that I feel I really need to spend some time on the politics and the history of Russia before I can move on.  After all, this 31 day challenge was really just a starting point for me, for my research and the novel I hope will come from it eventually.

I will freely admit, that most of the information I have gathered tonight has been from (insert sarcasm here) the ever reliable source of Wikipedia, but silly me, I forgot and closed links before I could connect to them.  However, I did go to the library tonight to get physical books to research this better than an hour long session with the internet.  See?

A little light reading

So Russian politics and history.  First I want to say that even though Russia is one of the oldest countries with a wonderful and rich history, the Russia that we know today hasn't actually been around that long. 

On March 17, 1991, there was a Referendum on the future of the Soviet Union.  In plain English, a question was put before the voters about what should the USSR look like in the future.  This was the question

Do you consider necessary the preservation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as a renewed federation of equal sovereign republics in which the rights and freedom of an individual any nationality will be fully guaranteed?

With over 80% voter turnout, the referendum was overwhelmingly passed with 70% approval.  (I wish we could get that kind of voter turnout in America.)

So what went wrong?

Well, 6 republics boycotted the vote.  Armenia, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Moldova.  And in doing so, they effectively seceded from the USSR.  And in the first part of December 1991, the Ukraine also declared itself an independent republic.

Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as president of the USSR on December 25, 1991, and the USSR dissolved shortly after, leaving the country of Russia in it's place with Boris Yeltsin as the president of the brand new country.

So then, in January of 1992, Yeltsin tried to privatize the Russian economy in most industries and agriculture.  The notable exceptions were in energy and defense.  Guess where most of the profit in the Russian economy comes from?  If you were to guess energy and defense, you would be right.

In April of 1993, there was another referendum held.  Four questions were asked of the Russian people.  Pardon me, but I don't have the exact language in front of me.  It was did they have confidence in Yeltsin, did they support his socio-economic policies, and should they have early elections for both the president and parliament.  The congress wanted Yeltsin to have 50% of the electorate in order for this referendum to pass, but the constitutional court said he only had to have a simple majority. All 4 parts passed with a majority vote.

My uncle Freddie was killed on August 8, 1993.  I simply put that here for a time line reference.

Because the referendum passed, Yeltsin started demanding more power.  The Congress of People's Deputies and the Supreme Soviet said no.  Yeltsin decided to dissolve them on September 21, 1993.  On September 22, the Supreme Soviet said you can't do that, we're going to impeach you, and then declared Rutskoy as president.

On October 2, Yeltsin had the military surround the parliament building and basically kicked everyone out.  This set off a string of street fighting that has been labeled as the "deadliest single event of street fighting since 1917."  Which, if you didn't know, is when the Bolsheviks overthrew the Russian Tsar.  He and his family were eventually all killed, and the legend of Anastasia was born.

But I digress.

Actually, that's as far as I got in my research for tonight. 

It's really hard to remember that Russia is basically a new country and still experiencing growing pains, because it is also an old country with a rich history.  Tonight, just for a moment, I want to consider the theory that not only is Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, and all of the other "new" countries that were established in 1991 are still experiencing their own growing pains, could we consider the thought that perhaps Freddie was a casualty, perhaps one of the last casualties of the Cold War?

I don't know.  There is a lot of information, and I have a really hard time understanding politics in our own country, let alone a foreign country.

But I'm adding it to my bank of knowledge, and my file of "interesting thoughts to have."

If you've read this far, I thank you.  If you are interested in reading more of this series, find all my other posts here.  I'm not normally this longwinded, but I had to make sense of what I was reading.  If you want a more lighthearted post, may I suggest this one?  There is a recipe for Elephant Stew.

Dasvidania,
Melinda

Spies, Black Ties, & Mango Pies

I have to apologize.  This is 2 "fun" posts right in a row.  I never imagined how heavy my research in this 31 day challenge would get.  There seems to be a lot of politics, a lot of Russian politics, that I don't really understand and am still struggling to see how it relates to my uncle's murder.  I do want to keep in the habit of posting daily, so I thought I would move this topic up a bit before I get back into the heavy stuff.

In 1997, my aunt gave my mother a copy of "Spies, Black Ties, & Mango Pies."  It's a cookbook of recipes from all over the world, but it includes stories from CIA families as well.  Very few of them are actually given names.  But they are absolutely interesting to read.  For example, the story of the patriotic potatoes. 

   "Ahmed came to us fresh from his village in 1962.  His English was sufficient, but he had a sponsor who described his ability as a cook as outstanding.  It was our first tour and we were still gullible.  We hired Ahmed.  Outstanding was, to say the least, an overstatement.  Nevertheless, Ahmed was a quick learner and after the initial month with its culinary trials and errors, we decided to keep him on.  He was delighted and strove mightily to please us.
   Ahmed realized his moment of greatest achievement when, on July 4th, he placed on the table a bowl of mashed potatoes -- in red, white, and blue stripes!  How could we fault him?  He beamed as we applauded his handiwork." (Spies, pg. 105)

The cookbook was released for the 50th anniversary of the CIA.  It is so much fun.  How about this recipe for Elephant Stew? 

Elephant Stew

1 Elephant
1 1/2 gallons bottled hot pepper sauce
200 gallons brown gravy
30 rabbits
salt and pepper to taste

Cut elephant into bite-sized pieces; cover with gravy and cook over fire at 465* F for 4 weeks.  This serves 3,800 people.  If more are expected, add rabbits.  However, this should be done only if necessary, as people don't like finding hare in their stew.

When I actually took the time to read this recipe, I cracked up.  That's funny.

For today's post, I decided to make the "Best Ever Banana Bread" that is on page 103.  I made two batches.  One just as written, and one with cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and pecans.  I debated adding chocolate chips, but I didn't this time.  I may next time though.  Okay, so here's the recipe.

Best Ever Banana Bread
(simple to make and easy to take along on a picnic)

3 to 4 ripe medium bananas, broken in pieces
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350* F.  Line a loaf pan with aluminum foil.  In mixer or blender, mix together first 6 ingredients.  Slowly add oil; mix well.  Pour dough into foil-lined pan.  Bake in preheated oven for about 1 hour 10 minutes, until golden brown, checking after 1 hour.  Cool before slicing.

It's in the oven right now, and it smells DELICIOUS.  I'll have to let you know how it tastes. 

Hugs,
Melinda

 

[ETA - I took both loaves to our Bible study today.  They were a hit.  Everyone liked them. I only have a little bit left over for my breakfast in the morning.]

 

 This post is part of my 31 Days of Random CIA facts.  Find all the posts here.

 

 

Flower Pictures

My brain needs a break.  I could sit and take pictures of flowers all day long.  So here's a small collection of some of the beautiful flowers I've seen.  I hope you enjoy them.

These were a birthday present (or was it an anniversary?) from my wonderful husband.

These grow in my front yard.  They were especially pretty this year.

This was new in my garden this year.

Also from Dale.

 This rosebush was one of the reasons I fell in love with my house.  It has the best and prettiest and nicest smelling pink roses.  :)

This one is my favorite.  Purple morning glories that I saw on a run.  :)

The wrong man

 

This 31 Day Writing challenge is a lot harder than I anticipated.  I think what I actually have ended up doing is researching more about what I know, and less "random" than I originally intended.  Regardless, today is the day I tell you the story about the wrong man.

The official story (that I was told at age 17) is that my uncle and his bodyguard had taken a car out of Tbilisi into the country to visit some archeological ruins.  On their return to the city, 3 drunk guys that looked like soldiers tried to stop them, get their vehicle, and rob them of everything else as well.  The bodyguard did not stop, and in fact sped up.  One of the three shot his gun into the air, and the bullet traveled through the rubber gasket around the window, hit the ceiling of the vehicle and killed my uncle.  Oh, and the gun was fired as they were driving away from the drunk soldiers, and yet, the bullet hit my uncle in the forehead and exited through the back.

Yeah, right.

The man that was arrested and eventually convicted is named Anzor Sharmaidze.  According to this article, Mr. Sharmaidze actually confessed and then recanted, saying he had been tortured into confession.  He was still sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.

According to this article, an attorney named Michael Pullera was asking for the case to be reopened.  There are some interesting facts in the article, such as the fact that at 9 pm, the sun wouldn't have set yet, so there wasn't a need for headlights.  Also, and this one is hard to type out or even think about, but Freddie's body was not delivered to a hospital until after 10 pm, and was in an advanced stage of rigor mortis, and that's not supposed to happen that quickly.

This is also an interesting blog post to read, but the one that gets me is how quiet Mr. Sharmaidze's release from prison was.  I'm going to have to start bookmarking websites as I research, because I've read a whole bunch more than this, but I've forgotten which search terms I used in order to get those articles. 

(Growing older and forgetful is not for wimps, let me tell ya.  I think I would honestly lose my head if it wasn't attached.  Or at least an arm.)

One last interesting article.  This one, near the end, connects the Boston Marathon bombings and my uncle's murder, but only in that the perpetrators were both from the Chechen area.

So, was the wrong man arrested?  Was he a fall guy for the actual killers?  How do the KGB and Eldar Gogoladze link to this?  Mr. Gogoladze was driving the vehicle, but does he have a connection to the former KGB?

And most importantly, why was there such a rush to arrest and convict and possibly cover up?  We may never know all the details for certain, and most of the time, I feel like I have more questions than answers.

But if Anzor Sharmaidze was indeed framed, then I am glad he is out of prison now.  Let's see if we can find the right man now.

Hugs,
Melinda

The Honeytrap

So, at one point in the past 21 years, I had seen a VHS tape labeled "Operation Honeytrap" or something similar.  I believe it came out after Aldrich Ames was apprehended.  Unfortunately, during one of our many moves, I discovered the tape had had an incident with some clear sticky goo that had congealed all over the tape and made it unplayable.  And because I first saw it when I was a whole lot younger, my older brain has forgotten exactly what it was about, and how my uncle figured in to it.

What I do remember is that Russia was being accused of using females (the honey) to spy on American spies (the trap).   

In searching for the video online, I discovered this video on YouTube.  It's not what I remember, but it's still interesting to watch. 

So the moral to this story is if you are a 60 year old man who works in the government, and a young 20 something starts to flirt with you, think twice before you start flirting back.

Hugs,
Melinda

This post is part of a 31 day challenge.  I am using that time to do research for a novel that has been bouncing around in my head for 21 years.  Click here to see the rest of the posts.

 

Tbilisi, Georgia

I am participating in a 31 day writing challenge, and I've decided to research information for a book I would like to write.  You can find all of my other posts here.

My uncle was in Tbilisi, Georgia when he was killed.  Today, I want to take the opportunity to learn more about the area.  Unfortunately, my brain is shot, so coherent writing seems to be out of the picture for today.  How about a list of links instead?

Oh, one interesting thing I read is that Joseph Stalin was from Georgia.

Tbilisi, Georgia - Wikipedia link
The country of Georgia - Wikipedia link
Information on Tbilisi - This looks like it might be local.
The US Embassy in Georgia

How about some pictures?

 

 

 

To make what could be a really long blog post short, Tbilisi is at least 1500 years old.  It is very diverse in population and culture.  It looks like it would be a very interesting place to visit.  I can see why Uncle Freddie would have enjoyed working there.

Hugs,
Melinda

A Brief History of the CIA

Well this was some interesting research.

I have decided to participate in a 31 day writing challenge, where I am supposed to write and blog every day for the month of October.  I've had an idea for a novel bouncing around in my head for 21 years, so I'm using this month to do research.  You can find all my posts this month on this page. 

Today, I decided to do a brief history of the CIA.  But in doing my research, I found a disturbing trend.  Most of the websites that I visited were just plagiarized versions of the CIA fact page.  I don't want to present that here.  I will link to it, but I want the words to be my own.

So a brief history.  The United States has always had a history of spies, even in the American Revolution.  But the form of the CIA that we know today first started in WWII as the OSS, the Office of Strategic Services.

The most interesting thing that I learned today is that President Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, which established a "fully functional" information gathering agency, or the CIA.

The more I learn about President Truman, the more I am beginning to believe that he may have been one of the most understated and most influential presidents in our history.  I really need to learn more about him.  Of course, living in Independence, Missouri near the Truman home and the Truman Presidential Library has nothing to do with that.

Anyway, here are some of the links I have come up with that gave just a little bit more information than I have presented here.

History of the CIA
The World Fact Book
CIA History

Hugs,
Melinda