That is what happened at the CIA: A culture of process destroyed a culture of excellence. There are many outstanding people at the agency, in both the Directorate of Intelligence and in Operations. The agency's obsession with the intelligence process crushes these people daily. Those who flourish in this environment are those who can sit through long meetings without falling asleep. The people who can peer through the darkness and see the truth are either sucked into the surreal world of modern management or shunted aside.

Jeremy says: Gold Star.

I say: This link is on Free Republic. They are a bad reputation for being the Republican version of the Slashdot hordes. All power in numbers and no clue. However, the article is Stratfor, and hence worthy of attention. It reads a bit Republican, which is likely why the freepers have posted it. I'm not sure that it is. Stratfor likes to talk about what is going on and why. They don't usually talk about what might have been done. Its rare that they talk about what ought to be done.

The Problem With the CIA

Mr. Bush gave as good as he got, once his Irish was up. But Ms. Coleman remained resolute. It may have cost her a follow-up interview with Laura Bush. But the griping and debate about the interview was a sad reminder to Americans that the White House seldom welcomes robust questioning, especially when it is most needed.

When Irish Eyes Stop Smiling

Alan Kay rocks.

To those that are unfamiliar with the blue plane-pink plane concept, the concept may sound like an optics notion.

Fortunately, the idea is simultaneously more interesting, straightforward and yet complex.

The different planes are used as a visual model to describe the two major "planes", or ways of thinking, existent today.

Let us explore the meaning of the pink plane. It represents a more black and white way of portraying the universe. It declares that things are either right or wrong, they work or fail; it applauds discrete knowledge over reasoning and derivation of concepts. It is a plane of thought where math and science are memorized facts and equations.

The blue plane, on the other hand, can be described as perpendicular to the pink plane. The two planes might coincide on a line, where the same rules apply in the physical universe, and hence results can be the same, however the means is completely different. In this plane of thought, visualization of concepts and creativity can be used to accomplish what is accomplished in the pink plane by trite memorization.

It can be therefore shown that most advancement in any field has been accomplished by thought in the blue plane -- thought that in the pink plane would be deemed impossible or ridiculous.

You might agree, or disagree with the previous statements and arguments and ask, so what's the point of it all?

The questions I seek to answer are:

How can we learn to switch our universe into the blue plane? Can we learn to be "bi-planar" and support both schools of thought?

If the children are being instructed in the pink plane, can we teach them to think in the blue plane and live in a pink-plane society?

What is to become of those of us past schooling, who are aware of these planes? Are we to dredge on with pink shades over our blue eyes? What other choice do we have, become hermits and form our own seceded blue colony?

Blue Plane, Pink Plane

I thought this author was trying to hard, but I enjoyed this anyway...

All past scenes. All mummified in vintage yellow police tape, displaying warding epithets in four different languages. They were all the abandoned stages of other players. The disarrayed remnants of a wild performance with abused props still scattered where they had been disposed of.

This time, I figured, it was my own stage, my own script and my own trio of acts.

Somewhere distant, past the imperceptibly sprawling borders of the city. I saw the fragments of an origami Bengal tiger folded by your hands crumble and scatter on an unbound wind, and wished I was there.

fragments of an origami tiger

Simson Garfinkel has the cover article in the April 2004 issue of MIT's Counterpoint Magazine. It's a short (three page) article, and worth the read.

You can download the full issue in PDF; no subscription is required. Here's a brief description, in his words:

"It's a combination of advice to current undergraduates and reflections about all of the money and time that I wasted in my 20's. Key lessons from the article:

- It turns out that grades matter after all.
- On the other hand, your choice of major doesn't matter much.
- Once you graduate, it's really important to stay in school (i.e.: continuing education)/
- Apply for things.
- Invest for your future (ie: save, save, save --- and don’t gamble with your savings).
- Don't make enemies --- the world is a small place.

I can wholeheartedly endorse all of Simson's lessons. You'll also find at least one of them in Anthony Zinni's "20 Principles."

On Leap Day I posted the lyrics to Pink Floyd's "Time" -- I was thinking about many of the same things Simson brings out in this article, particularly the post-college context.

Simson Garfinkel, on College

Al-Sadr is, in fact, al-Sistani's pawn. Perhaps more precisely, al-Sadr is al-Sistani's ace in the hole.

Gaming Out Iraq

I agree with Marie's take on this, but I'm linking Jeremy's version because its not a PDF. Its well understood that this information was available before 9/11. Drastic changes to the makeup of institutions we not called for. Existing security mechanisms had worked prior to that point. The biggest red herring was the 1993 WTC bombing. Did they make organizational changes then to address the fact that they didn't predict that. Also, the embassy bombings and the U.S.S. Cole. Why didn't they foresee these things. Were they repairing that problem?

These, of course, are questions for the Clinton Administration... Also, there are questions that we should have been asking then, and not now, when we were busy fussing about interns.

Text of Presidential Daily Briefing from August 6, 2001

There are plenty of modern management techniques which the movement could employ to reinvigorate itself. Has, it, for instance, tried benchmarking itself against comparable movements? If street protest is too arduous for the membership, should it not think of outsourcing its more strenuous activities to the immigrants who already do most of Britain's tougher jobs? Taking that argument further, if domestic apathy is the problem, perhaps the answer is offshoring. A Mayday protest organised in, say, Libya or North Korea would really make a splash.

The finest in British wit, now available worldwide.

And it goes hand in hand with my recent suggestion that the Democrats hire a Bangalore call center to conduct a get-out-the-vote campaign.

From anarchy to apathy

The bottom line is clear: The privacy battalions oppose not just particular technologies, but technological innovation itself.

Declan McCullagh points out that Heather MacDonald has also written an essay arguing that racial profiling doesn't exist. (Our society clearly has no problems with racism whatsoever, and the fact that "DWB" is now a common American expression is obviously a liberal plot that has no relationship whatsoever to people's actual experiences.)

However, I'm memeing this anyway because its important to consider opposing views.

TIA is messy. I think that we SHOULD research the question of how effective these data mining programs can be. I'm not sure I agree that TIA was that program.

MacDonald claims that privacy advocates haven't raised specific, reasonable concerns, nor offered alternatives. Neither of these arguments is true.

The problem privacy advocates have with TIA and CAPPS is that everyone is held to scrutiny, and if you fit a specific profile you are targeted for further analysis. In a free society you should not be discouraged from living a particular lifestyle because it happens to peak the interest of an analyst who is observing you at all times. There is a fundamental philosophical problem with that approach to security.

From a tactical standpoint there are specific questions that remain unanswered about who you really catch with these scans. Especially over time as you can use increased scrutiny to tell whether or not you're tagged, and if so, abort, reconfigure, and retry. Furthermore, while whether TIA was an engineering or science project is hotly debated, but CAPPS certainly wasn't/isn't.

Whats even more problematic about CAPPS is the secret no-fly lists... Secret laws seem incompatible with democracy.

What most of the privacy advocates offer as an alternative are approaches that actually make the terrorist attacks hard logistically, rather then because of ubiquitous monitoring. Consistent explosives screening of all checked luggage, re-enforced, locked cabin doors. Remote control capability for airplanes. More air-marshalls.

Of course, this is just too expensive, its less visible, it doesn't offer the added benefit of getting to run warrant checks every time someone travels, etc...

The 'Privacy' Jihad

Book-ends for tax day.

On April 13, go to Borders for a second helping of Neal. On April 16, go to AMC for another course of Quentin.

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

After having killed the first two on her death list, O-Ren Ishii and Vernita Green, The Bride continues in her journey of vengeance to hunt down and kill the remaining victims, Elle Driver, Budd, and ultimately, Bill. However, matters become complicated when The Bride learns that her daughter, whom she presumed dead, is still alive.

Form 1040, line 42: Would you like to donate $10 to Miramax?

Kill Bill: Volume 2