Chicken Terror
Notice: This entry contains spoilers for Michael Moore’s recent film. Additionally this entry is not for consumption by any government contractor or employee of the United States or other country. Any person described by the previous sentence that continues to read this entry is hereby notified that this entry is completely fictitious. Any person not described by the second sentence of this entry is notified to disregard the previous sentence. Any person that completely understands the previous two sentences is notified that medical help is suggested and/or you should immediately seek employment within a profession where excellent logical skills are a requirement.
There now that the legal gobbley-gook is out of the way on to the show! (Has anyone ever noticed that there is no gobbley-gook before a movie in the theatre but there is when you watch it on DVD/VHS? Why do you get screwed for taking it home, but not for spending the extra money to watch it in the theatre?)
The actual beginning:
I might be a bit of a nut job, but Strike that. I am quite a nut job, not of the planters or right wing variety. (or for that matter left wing variety.) I actually think I’m a nut job of the libertarian-open.source.communist-carefree20s-gay.pussylovin-anti.Bush variety. (no, the last two do not describe the same thing.) Okay, but does anyone else think anywhere near the same as I do or has the whole world just gone batty?
The actual beginning:
Okay. I’m so sick and tired of instructed by the government via the Homeland Security Advisory System to go into scared loon mode. Honestly does this system actually tell us any useful information? Perhaps it is intended to let us know how the chicken among us should act. Green for boneless, Blue for bone in without muscular control, Yellow for random walking about, Orange for running about frantically, Red for complete head cut off maniacism.
Now I’ve watched this thing go all the way from lifeless chicken nuggets to undercooked homemade chicken-salmonella puree, and as far as my unclassified sources tell me there isn’t a perceptible difference in terrorist attacks if that DHS pride scale is blazin red or cool blue. I think the Department of Homeland Security is just wanting something to wave about and be proud of, just like the gays of the 70s. Eventually though you have to get beyond that and produce some actual meat thats visible and verifiable.
Another piece to begin:
I find it quite telling that The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, besides having a name that any marketer would change in half a heartbeat, found that the only effective defense was a emergent, self organized defense by the passengers of United Airlines Flight 93. When they were able to piece together the proper information were able as a group to act. Note that all the top-down, command-and-control mechanisms failed us on that day. The only defense that worked was a bottom-up defense that depended on an abundance of information, not a controlled dearth of it.
What would the passengers of the other three flights have done if they’d read the presidential daily briefing, “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S”? Don’t dismiss it outright. One of the unsung heros of information gathering is the news media. The US news media, not the government actually quickly determined the identities of the 9/11. Its anecdotal proof that the more eyes, ears, and brains you have on a problem the quicker it’ll get solved.
Come to think of it, that fellow loon, Admiral John Poindexter, supported a “Terrorism Market,” designed to utilize information in the market to predict the next terrorist attack. The key feature was utilizing information and analysis’s not in the government’s hands to determine where the next terrorist attack would be.
My final point is this. I want to be treated like an adult by the government, instead of the “I’m sorry this information is too complex and/or sensitive to let you see.” I think we’d be much safer if the intelligence agencies had to release a large majority of the raw information they gather to the public. Yes, this does mean that terrorists will know what we know, but that in and of itself can be a deterrent. Think of the extra effect that would come if you increased the number of analysis’s by an order of magnitude. I’m not saying that the CIA is dumb, but if given the choice between having three CIA analysts review the raw data and having 300 or 3,000 uninformed lay people reviewing the raw data, I’ll take the lay people any day. Just how I’ll choose an open source operating system over a closed source system.
Rome wasn’t built by one person, it was built by a community working together. To expect something great to come from a small handful of people is foolishly putting all your eggs in one basket. It takes a community to make sure at least enough eggs make it through so they can hatch.
Oh, I just realized that I forgot to put in here some of my ideas. (specifically the ones that triggered the disclaimer at the top.)
- in Fahrenheit 9/11, many officials are shown before September 11, 2001 stating that Iraq is not a threat. If we had a distributed intelligence analysis system it is more likely that the intelligence could not have been manipulated to fit a specific agenda.
- Our current set of terrorists are in reality pretty lame at achieving their goals. While admittedly they were successful at fostering terror during the end of 2001 and beginning of 2002 for the most part things are business as usual. If they wanted to create terror they’d have a distributed attack on 20+ sites distributed throughout the country on the same day and time. After this follow up with attacks every 7 to 10 days. Like any marketer would tell you, its not just the initial push, but a continued presence that makes any communication effort successful. (And yes, terrorism is a method of communication.)
- We’re buffoons for allowing ourselves to be manipulated how we have been. If we wanted actual change, someone would’ve forced the issue long ago.