Comments on: North of the Rio Grande http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/2006/04/28/north-of-the-rio-grande/ Robert Fischer and Brian Hurt on Punditry, Programming Languages, and Other Religious Issues Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:33:05 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: TheHawk http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/2006/04/28/north-of-the-rio-grande/comment-page-1/#comment-292 TheHawk Sun, 07 May 2006 02:21:48 +0000 http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/?p=129#comment-292 As much as all your points are true, there still is no evidence that the CIA was in any way running a prostitution ring. There is only speculation that the FBI might be investigating the CIA chief for possible involvement. This does not in any way say that they even <em>think</em> the CIA was running it. In fact so far it seems to have been run by civilian defense contractors out to bribe lawmakers. So again, until there's any actual <em>evidence</em> of involvement, this is all paranoid speculation. As much as all your points are true, there still is no evidence that the CIA was in any way running a prostitution ring. There is only speculation that the FBI might be investigating the CIA chief for possible involvement. This does not in any way say that they even think the CIA was running it. In fact so far it seems to have been run by civilian defense contractors out to bribe lawmakers. So again, until there’s any actual evidence of involvement, this is all paranoid speculation.

]]> By: bhurt-aw http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/2006/04/28/north-of-the-rio-grande/comment-page-1/#comment-289 bhurt-aw Fri, 05 May 2006 20:33:21 +0000 http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/?p=129#comment-289 Prostitution isn't a big money maker- not in the way the CIA is interested in. The problem is that it's a retail business. Retail businesses means lots of hands-on management sort of work. Worse yet, it's a retail business with a low barrier to entry- which means low margins. If you want to make the big bucks- and I'm talking about the fund your own wars or bribe entire goverments sort of big bucks here- you need something with a higher barrier to entry and you want to be doing wholesale, not retail, business. Which is why the CIA is all over drug and weapon smuggling, but they don't do much at the street level. There are only three things I see the CIA being interested in: money, power/leverage, and information. All three overlap like a Venn diagram, I comment. I don't see the CIA running prostitution rings for the money, there just isn't enough money in it. Which leaves power and information. Information- hoping your clients spill state secrets during pillow talk, is a good reason to be running prostitute rings in Berlin, Beijing, and Bogota. Places where their official, legal access is limited or non-existant. But this is Washington D.C. The CIA doesn't have to trick the information out of, for example, the OMB, they can just request it. Yes, there's a fair bit of paperwork involved- but it's still a heck of a lot less work than setting up a prostitute ring. That leaves power. A.k.a. blackmail. Prostitution isn’t a big money maker- not in the way the CIA is interested in. The problem is that it’s a retail business. Retail businesses means lots of hands-on management sort of work. Worse yet, it’s a retail business with a low barrier to entry- which means low margins. If you want to make the big bucks- and I’m talking about the fund your own wars or bribe entire goverments sort of big bucks here- you need something with a higher barrier to entry and you want to be doing wholesale, not retail, business. Which is why the CIA is all over drug and weapon smuggling, but they don’t do much at the street level.

There are only three things I see the CIA being interested in: money, power/leverage, and information. All three overlap like a Venn diagram, I comment. I don’t see the CIA running prostitution rings for the money, there just isn’t enough money in it. Which leaves power and information. Information- hoping your clients spill state secrets during pillow talk, is a good reason to be running prostitute rings in Berlin, Beijing, and Bogota. Places where their official, legal access is limited or non-existant. But this is Washington D.C. The CIA doesn’t have to trick the information out of, for example, the OMB, they can just request it. Yes, there’s a fair bit of paperwork involved- but it’s still a heck of a lot less work than setting up a prostitute ring.

That leaves power. A.k.a. blackmail.

]]> By: Candide http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/2006/04/28/north-of-the-rio-grande/comment-page-1/#comment-286 Candide Sat, 29 Apr 2006 15:49:26 +0000 http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/?p=129#comment-286 Beyond TheHawk's points, I'd also like to note that there are lots of good obvious motivation to run a prostitution ring without political spookiness -- and there would certainly be cleaner and easier ways to get blackmail material when the entirity of the CIA is at your disposal. Beyond TheHawk’s points, I’d also like to note that there are lots of good obvious motivation to run a prostitution ring without political spookiness — and there would certainly be cleaner and easier ways to get blackmail material when the entirity of the CIA is at your disposal.

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