The phone book that led us to Assad's spy chief in hiding (bbc.com)
29 points by cwwc 2 hours ago
duxup an hour ago
I always wonder how reporters get folks who have these tangential connections to powerful / terrible people to talk after they refuse. It's an impressive skill.
zxexz 38 minutes ago
Not relevant at all, but I find that interesting and funny. As a rule of thumb I tend to accept unknown callers after 3 missed calls in rapid succession. Everybody I know closely knows this, and its come in useful. Though tbh I’d it’s a recognizable localish area code I usually pick up on the 2nd call in rapid succession.
chneu an hour ago
They just keep trying. It's not uncommon for people to talk after 3 or so attempts. Humans want to talk.
mingus88 an hour ago
I block numbers at that point. I don’t get how anyone would decide to open up after repeated attempts on their number.
mhh__ an hour ago
I assume it's often parallel construction
LAC-Tech 8 minutes ago
Is anyone just overwhelmed by the propaganda and partisanship as you read this? I have no great opinion on this Syrian regime or the previous - like basically everyone on HN when it comes to geopolitical topics, I do not know much about it - but the bias in the article is almost comically ham-fisted.