> The friendlier one eventually described how much it had cost to investigate another recent case where a person was reported to have pulled down an American fl

> The friendlier one eventually described how much it had cost to investigate another recent case where a person was reported to have pulled down an American flag and stepped on it. Only after the investigation was well under way did they learn that the perpetrator of this nefarious act was only four years old. I never cease to be amused and amazed by the incredible lack of imagination discernment law enforcement personnel display at all levels. I'm sure some smart people work at the three letter agencies, but there sure is a range! To me, I take it as a lesson about the dangers of dogmatic following of rules and how such a system will inevitably provoke people into work that have less than zero desired value. Obviously, as 1984 and many other works remind us, the value is in reinforcing the power of the system - but the official line of the system is to say that's not the case. The reason government agencies are so fond of crushing people who have the bad luck to become centered in their gaze is that they know or suspect they are not clever enough to match wits with a below-average four year old and they would never want that possible fact to become public knowledge.