This has special resonance if you've ever read "Our Man in Havana" by Graham Greene. Indeed, I thought it was perhaps a CIA press handler making a veiled reference to the vacuum cleaner subplot in that book. Or perhaps KSM was a fan of Graham Greene. Life imitates art imitates...
On Sun, Jul 14, 2013 at 4:38 PM, Kyle Maxwell <[email protected]> wrote: > Keep an eye out for In-Q-Tel investments in home appliance companies... > > On Sun, Jul 14, 2013 at 6:19 PM, Yosem Companys <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > http://news.slashdot.org/story/13/07/13/0012230/mastermind-of-911-attacks-designs-a-secret-vacuum-cleaner > > > > AP reports that while confined to the basement of a CIA secret prison in > Romania about a decade ago, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the admitted mastermind > of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, asked his jailers whether he could design a > vacuum cleaner. After all KSM earned his bachelor's in mechanical > engineering, the agency had no long-term plan for him, but might thought he > might someday prove useful and might even stand trial one day and for that, > he'd need to be sane. They were concerned that his long imprisonment might > do so much psychological damage that he would no longer be useful as source > for information. "We didn't want them to go nuts," said a former senior CIA > official. So, using schematics from the Internet as his guide, Mohammed > began re-engineering one of the most mundane of household appliances. It > remains a mystery how far Mohammed got with his designs or whether the > plans still exist and even Mohammed's military lawyer, Jason Wright, says > he is prohibited from discuss > ing his client's interest in vacuums. 'It sounds ridiculous, but > answering this question, or confirming or denying the very existence of a > vacuum cleaner design, a Swiffer design, or even a design for a better hand > towel would apparently expose the U.S. government and its citizens to > exceptionally grave danger,' says Wright. So now, says Doug Mataconis, if > you happen to start seeing ads for the CIA's revolutionary new home > cleaning device, you'll know where it came from. > > -- > > Too many emails? Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password by > emailing moderator at [email protected] or changing your settings at > https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech > -- > Too many emails? Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password by > emailing moderator at [email protected] or changing your settings at > https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech > -- Christopher Csikszentmihályi Professor, Media Design Art Center College of Design [email protected] edgyproduct.tumblr.com
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