# The CIA did \*what\* to a cat? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 5, 2001, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-did-what-to-a-cat/91646 "2001-11-05T18:50:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![PosterChild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e274bd/32.png) [@PosterChild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PosterChild)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2001, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-did-what-to-a-cat/91646/21 "2001-11-07T17:19:39Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by \*\*Jeff Olsen \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by PosterChild \* > > Just thought I’d point out that no one knows how to wire any animal (human or feline) like that. Not saying I support animal torture, but the OP seems a little less than, um, completely believable. > > Which is why I checked Snopes and news sites before even posting. The people at [urbanlegends.about.com](http://urbanlegends.about.com) seem to think the story is genuine. The National Security Archive at the GWU website has what appears to be an [orignal memo (PDF)](http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB54/st27.pdf) on the subject. Yup, the secret cyber kitty is not in doubt, it’s the impressive neurosurgical details that are. I just think it’s wrong to hype it out of proportion to what really **could** have happend. There’s evidence of trying to wire the kitty- granted. The rest of the clap trap is just that. IANA-NA (Neuroanatomist), but I do know that outside of the CIA, the rest of the research world doesn’t know how to do this. CIA- Bad. Kitty- Good. CIA- Maniacal supergeniuses. I don’t think so. (Maniacal maybe) 🙂 PC ---
**Author:** ![PosterChild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e274bd/32.png) [@PosterChild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PosterChild)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2001, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-did-what-to-a-cat/91646/22 "2001-11-07T17:24:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by \*\*Jeff Olsen \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by PosterChild \* > > Just thought I’d point out that no one knows how to wire any animal (human or feline) like that. Not saying I support animal torture, but the OP seems a little less than, um, completely believable. > > Which is why I checked Snopes and news sites before even posting. The people at [urbanlegends.about.com](http://urbanlegends.about.com) seem to think the story is genuine. The National Security Archive at the GWU website has what appears to be an [orignal memo (PDF)](http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB54/st27.pdf) on the subject. Yup, the secret cyber kitty is not in doubt, it’s the impressive neurosurgical details that are. I just think it’s wrong to hype it out of proportion to what really **could** have happend. There’s evidence of trying to wire the kitty- granted. The rest of the clap trap is just that. IANA-NA (Neuroanatomist), but I do know that outside of the CIA, the rest of the research world doesn’t know how to do this. CIA- Bad. Kitty- Good. CIA- Maniacal supergeniuses. I don’t think so. (Maniacal maybe) 🙂 PC ---
**Author:** ![Yondan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/278dde/32.png) [@Yondan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yondan)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2001, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-did-what-to-a-cat/91646/23 "2001-11-07T18:02:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eternal \* > \*\*It’s not. It’s just hilarious. \*\* I disagree. I think this is both sick and dangerous. I have no doubt that someone will actually do this after seeing it on the web. This is NOT funny. ---
**Author:** ![ramesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d07c76/32.png) [@ramesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ramesh)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2001, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-did-what-to-a-cat/91646/24 "2001-11-07T18:12:09Z")
err… I dont see the point of this rant. I work in Speech Recognition and we would like to know how the human ear works when the brain recognizes speech. Human subjects are out of the question. So, what do the Physiological guys do? …Thats right!!! screw around with cats’ ears!!! This has been going on for _at least_ 30 years (I will guess this started in the 50s or even the 40s) Why are people complaining about ONE lousy cat? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2001, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-did-what-to-a-cat/91646/25 "2001-11-07T23:59:34Z")
> [@](#): > > **ramesh:** Why are people complaining about ONE lousy cat? Reminds me of the infamous case of Vancouverite [Rick Gibson](http://www.en-stu.com/jdhf_shp.asp?thisClassId=classic-social), who created a huge public outcry in 1990 when he:[list=1][li]Built a concrete euthanasia machine.[_]Purchased a rat that was being sold as live reptile food.[_]Held a press conference in which he introduced “Sniffy”,[/li]got everyone to acknowledge how cute he was, and announced his intention to crush him as “performance art.”[/list=1]IIRC, his property was vandalized, he was assaulted, threats were made, and nobody understood when he explained that Sniffy would actually be _spared a worse fate_ if he was snuffed out quickly. Or the Vietnam era activists that narrowly avoided being beaten up by outraged animal lovers when they announced that they were going to napalm a dog in a public square in order to demonstrate how horrible napalm was. There was no dog, and no napalm-- They intended to say “You people are here to protest the death one _one dog_. Can you support our government using it on women and children?” They didn’t get a chance-- As soon as the crowd identified them, they had to _run._ Ha. While I agree, it’s a pretty cruel thing to do, I have to admit that I’ve always wondered: If you had an electriconic compass in your head, that delivered a variable microvoltaic signal to an electrode in your brain, would you eventually always know what direction you were facing? I’d be willing to give it a shot, if they tested it on a few cats first and they didn’t have too many seizures. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![\_Uigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/e9a140/32.png) [@\_Uigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Uigi)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2001, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-did-what-to-a-cat/91646/26 "2001-11-08T00:53:29Z")
Now, I’m fairly certain most would recognize the “hump” on a camels’ back. Is the “hump” a hidden radar for the USAF? Cooouuullldd it be a discrete antenna for the NSA?!? Only time will tell. p.s. yeah, the cat story IS correct. ---
**Author:** ![Narile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@Narile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Narile)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2001, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-did-what-to-a-cat/91646/27 "2001-11-08T08:50:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by PosterChild \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > > \*\*Can the CIA rewire MY brain so I don’t feel any hunger? I’m even willing to risk being hit by a passing taxi. \*\* > > Just thought I’d point out that no one knows how to wire any animal (human or feline) like that. Not saying I support animal torture, but the OP seems a little less than, um, completely believable. > Putting a transmitter and wires under the skin of an animal doesn’t seem too difficult, (Hell, people have put much bigger things under their own skin before.) but wiring the cat brain not to feel hunger? Uh Uh. > Also, it’s not like cats sit still even when they’re not hungry. If it was supposed to act like a cat, it would wander around and play and chase things, anyway. \*\* Actually, when I was in college, I helped a friend test a program for psychology students that was based on some old experiments where cats (I think, it might have been rats) did have their hunger centers burned out by probes, and the effects of stimulation to said centers. The experiments were carried out in the 50’s or earlier I believe. The program was a crude simulator, you had a (poor) graphic of what was supposed to be a cat’s brain, and would ‘burn’ out areas and wire other areas and then see what would happen. Basically, it used a lookup table and gave you results of said experiments from long ago. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2001, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-did-what-to-a-cat/91646/28 "2001-11-08T11:37:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Yondan \* > [BI think this is both sick and dangerous. I have no doubt that someone will actually do this after seeing it on the web. > > This is NOT funny. \*\* [http://www.snopes2.com/inboxer/outrage/bonsai.htm](http://www.snopes2.com/inboxer/outrage/bonsai.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Yondan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/278dde/32.png) [@Yondan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yondan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2001, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-did-what-to-a-cat/91646/29 "2001-11-08T14:14:22Z")
And your point, **bob scene**? I understand that the site is meant to be humorous. I understand that it is protected by free speech. I also think that snopes is going overboard by so vigorously defending something that is NOT FUNNY. The parallel they draw between the site and a film like “Life is Beautiful” is specious at best. I also understand that there are a lot of stupid, sick people who may be inspired by such sickness to actually try something like what the site “jokingly” portrays, which is what I said. I did not say that the site was actually trying to shape kittens by cramming them into glass blocks. Does this justify hounding the the people and forcing them to take their site down? Probably not, but I have a right to voice my opinion, too. So, I ask again, do you have a fucking point, or what? ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-did-what-to-a-cat/91646/30 "2001-11-11T12:40:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Yondan \* > \*\*So, I ask again, do you have a fucking point, or what? \*\* My point is that it **is** funny, and that certain people have drastically overreacted to it. ---
**Author:** ![Lockfist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@Lockfist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lockfist)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-did-what-to-a-cat/91646/31 "2001-11-11T17:59:08Z")
**Yondan** The site suggests using a shoe horn to maneuver the animal into the jar. If that doesn’t strike you as so preposterous that you don’t howl in laughter then you have - _missed the point_ - of the website. The fact that you thought it could possibly be real (or inspire someone to try it “for real”) also strikes me as humorous. Its like a double whammy every time someone links to **bonsaikitten**. ---
**Author:** ![JustAskAnyone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JustAskAnyone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustAskAnyone)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-did-what-to-a-cat/91646/32 "2001-11-12T06:36:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by milo\_minderbinder \* > \*\*Some [pictures](http://www.konstruktiv.net/kitty_02.html) of the cyber kitty in action. > > milo \*\* Right click, zoom in on the eye twice… [sub]Freaky[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Dragon\_Phoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Dragon\_Phoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragon_Phoenix)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-did-what-to-a-cat/91646/33 "2001-11-12T08:11:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JustAskAnyone \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by milo\_minderbinder \* > > \*\*Some [pictures](http://www.konstruktiv.net/kitty_02.html) of the cyber kitty in action. > > > > milo \*\* > > Right click, zoom in on the eye twice… > [sub]Freaky[/sub] \*\* OK, apart from the fact that your instructions have given me a major headache - what am I supposed to see? ---
**Author:** ![Yondan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/278dde/32.png) [@Yondan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yondan)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-did-what-to-a-cat/91646/34 "2001-11-12T16:23:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lockfist \* > \*\ ***Yondan** The site suggests using a shoe horn to maneuver the animal into the jar. If that doesn’t strike you as so preposterous that you don’t howl in laughter then you have - _missed the point_ - of the website. The fact that you thought it could possibly be real (or inspire someone to try it “for real”) also strikes me as humorous. Its like a double whammy every time someone links to **bonsaikitten**. \*\* So, it’s funny when someone is horrified by something? And if you don’t think that someone could easily be inspired to try something similar to the site, then you and I live in different worlds. On the SDMB alone there are first hand accounts of people committing terrible acts of cruelty to animals, from poisoning pets to running over turtles. I have seen kids shove glass into frogs’ mouths and run over kittens with lawnmowers. You think it’s funny? Fine. But don’t tell me I missed the point as though something HAS to be funny to everyone, or that’s something is wrong with me because I think a joke is sick. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-did-what-to-a-cat/91646/35 "2001-11-12T17:09:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ‘Uigi \* > \*\*Now, I’m fairly certain most would recognize the “hump” on a camels’ back. > > Is the “hump” a hidden radar for the USAF? > Cooouuullldd it be a discrete antenna for the NSA?!? > > Only time will tell. > > p.s. yeah, the cat story IS correct. \*\* Have you ever noticed, while flying, that there are a lot of big clouds and then there is one small cloud that doesn’t quite look right? That cloud is a “spy cloud”!!! I know people in the “intelligence community” and, when asked, they hemmed and hawed, but would not deny it! Spy clouds! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-did-what-to-a-cat/91646.md?page=1)