got geoint?

Welcome to the critically acclaimed Friday’s Food for Thought post from got geoint? As we mentioned yesterday, the WikiLeaks saga is ripe for a Hollywood blockbuster (Matt Damon as Julian Asange?) and this whole thing makes us realize that the truth is often much stranger than fiction. So, what a perfect theme for today’s FFT post. But before, we dive into this topic, we wanted to let our faithful readers know that we have plenty of got geoint? stickers left over from GEOINT 2010. So, if you are interested in getting more stickers for your car (or perhaps use as stocking stuffers), feel free to email us at info@usgif.org. Happy Friday!

Counting the WikiLeaks Story Lines — Stranger than Fiction
With every new day the WikiLeaks saga seems to reveal another story line. As the expression goes, “you can’t make this stuff up.” In the process, it’s highlighting rapidly changing — and often unstable — elements in Internet-based communication. First let’s take the emerging model of cyber attacks. People no longer just get angry at home or in bars, they attack those they disagree with online. First supporters of WikiLeaks were subjected to Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, then companies and organizations deemed against WikiLeaks were targeted. Read the full Work, Wine and Wheels blog post here.

Truth is Stranger Than Fiction – Where Did The Expression Come From?
It’s amazing how some expressions can just work their way into our collective vernacular. “Truth is Stranger Than Fiction” is certainly one of these expressions that has just stuck. Why? Well, because reality is often way more odd and interesting than anything that an artist, poet or writer could make up. Speaking of poet, Lord Byron came up with this saying in his 1823 poem called Don Juan. Perhaps the editorial team of got geoint? can come up with a GEOINT-related expression that will stand the test of time? Hmmm…I believe we have a New Year’s challenge to tackle!

Truth is Stranger than Fiction — Real Examples
A man hit by a car in New York in 1977 got up uninjured, but lay back down in front of the car when a bystander told him to pretend he was hurt so he could collect insurance money. The car rolled forward and crushed him to death. In 1983, a Mrs. Carson of Lake Kushaqua, N.Y., was laid out in her coffin, presumed dead of heart disease. As mourners watched, she suddenly sat up. Her daughter dropped dead of fright. A fierce gust of wind blew 45-year-old Vittorio Luise’s car into a river near Naples, Italy, in 1983. He managed to break a window, climb out and swim to shore — where a tree blew over and killed him. Mike Stewart, 31, of Dallas was filming a movie in 1983 on the dangers of low-level bridges when the truck he was standing on passed under a low-level bridge — killing him. Crazy huh? Check out more real-life examples of truth being much stranger than fiction here.

All I Got is a Red Guitar, Three Chords and The Truth – Bono
So, in coming up with a song that discusses the truth, the lyric “All I got is a red guitar, three chords and the truth” from U2′s version of All Along the Watch Tower came to mind. Well, because that pretty much sums up rock n’ roll, which is essentially about expressing the truth. So, with that, we hope you enjoy U2′s cover of this classic Bob Dylan song from Rattle and Hum.

Tags: All Along The Watch Tower, Friday's Food for Thought, got geoint?, Julian Assange, Truth is Stranger Than Fiction, U2, U2 Rattle and Hum, USGIF, WikiLeaks, WikiLeaks and Julian Assange