INDEX	October 14, 2022
Spooks show their paws? Since I posted about how I was sneakily getting round the hackers blocking my use of the BBC iPlayer, they have found a way to block my use entirely (I think). So far as I know, no-one actually read my post. No-one responded. But it seems as if I have at least one loyal reader: from the 'intelligence' services. The need for those quotes round the word 'intelligence' becomes daily more obvious. The reason they are hackers rather than virus setters is that the number one objective of the 'intelligence' services is not to get caught. They want to appear transparent, to leave no evidence even if it means they never actually catch any spies or terrorists (and of course they hardly ever do). The idea was set down by T S Eliot:
Macavity's a Mystery Cat: he's called the Hidden Paw- For he's the master criminal who can defy the Law. He's the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad's despair: For when they reach the scene of crime-Macavity's not there! Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity, He's broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity. His powers of levitation would make a fakir stare, And when you reach the scene of crime-Macavity's not there! You may seek him in the basement, you may look up in the air- But I tell you once and once again, Macavity's not there! Macavity's a ginger cat, he's very tall and thin; You would know him if you saw him, for his eyes are sunken in. His brow is deeply lined with thought, his head is highly domed; His coat is dusty from neglect, his whiskers are uncombed. He sways his head from side to side, with movements like a snake; And when you think he's half asleep, he's always wide awake. Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity, For he's a fiend in feline shape, a monster of depravity. You may meet him in a by-street, you may see him in the square- But when a crime's discovered, then Macavity's not there! He's outwardly respectable. (They say he cheats at cards.) And his footprints are not found in any file of Scotland Yard's. And when the larder's looted, or the jewel-case is rifled, Or when the milk is missing, or another Peke's been stifled, Or the greenhouse glass is broken, and the trellis past repair- Ay, there's the wonder of the thing! Macavity's not there! And when the Foreign Office find a Treaty's gone astray, Or the Admiralty lose some plans and drawings by the way, There may be a scrap of paper in the hall or on the stair- But it's useless to investigate-Macavity's not there! And when the loss has been disclosed, the Secret Service say: 'It must have been Macavity!'-but he's a mile away. You'll be sure to find him resting, or a-licking of his thumbs; Or engaged in doing complicated long division sums. Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity, There never was a Cat of such deceitfulness and suavity. He always has an alibi, and one or two to spare: At whatever time the deed took place-MACAVITY WASN'T THERE! And they say that all the Cats whose wicked deeds are widely known (I might mention Mungojerrie, I might mention Griddlebone) Are nothing more than agents for the Cat who all the time Just controls their operations: the Napoleon of Crime!
Those who believe the 'intelligence' services are not criminals but are, in fact, on the side of the angels are not paying attention. But the spooks appear to be rowing back on the prime importance of invisibility (or maybe I have suddenly got a second set of harassers). What's happened is that the directory in the Windows machine I have attached my scanner to, mysteriously changes its name to 'Saved Pictures'. This was annoying at first because I thought I'd lost my directory and couldn't figure out what had happened to it. It was also reasonably odd because the machine is offline and I rarely use it. It could be hacked (everything can) but even so it was weird. But then I noticed a mysterious .ini file, which I take to be a little Windows set up or control file. I can't be bothered to learn about Windows right now (I'm learning French and Linux which is enough for me), but this looks like a little piece of evidence of the kind that Macavity would never leave...
INDEX Jonathan Brind		October 12, 2022