You know Lewis, the military, intel people, cops, and computer geeks all seem to be attracted to caffeine. Since the people commenting on this, with the possible exception of you, are all computer geeks, and the majority are also veterans from one or more of the other groups, there is a major chance of a lot of caffeine involved, and a solid understanding of what’s going on.
The problem is that it is unConstitutional for the government to do it without a warrant. We remember what happened during the Hoover years at the FBI, and the Nixon years. We don’t like it.
The separate problem is that it doesn’t work. What is the pattern of a terrorist? Without a pattern it doesn’t do you any good to gather the information. When you are selling something you can discover who your customers are and target similar people, but there is no pattern for a terrorist.
What you may not understand is that the best and most dangerous operatives make damn sure they don’t settle into a pattern. It’s the same with encryption which why random number generation is so important – to prevent a pattern that can be exploited from developing.
Rather than wasting time, money, and resources on something is isn’t legal or effective, we would rather they started to actually use those resources to do something that is proven to be effective – following the evidence collected back to the people responsible.
]]>IARPA is not “TIA renamed.” Elements of TIA were badly misguided, and killed for a reason.
]]>They include Naval, Air Force, & Ranger training, weapons development and testing, HQ Central Command, HQ Special Operation Command, two fighter wings, etc.
“Shock and Awe” is brought to you with a serving of orange juice.
Fort Meade is in Anne Arundel County, but there are “annexes” in other areas.
All politics is local, and Congresscritters have no problem throwing away any scruples they might have left if it means more Federal money for their district.
BTW, with all that spending, overall Florida doesn’t get back all of the money it pays in Federal taxes.
]]>This was fascinating!
Federal Assistance by Recipient Congressional District
Seems Florida got the biggest chunk of that pie! Almost $2trillion all up, most of it in unknown districts. Hmmm.
]]>Of course, now that I’ve just reread the article Bryan posted:
One of the agencies that absorbed the work was the Advanced Research and Development Activity, affiliated with eavesdropping National Security Agency, and like NSA, located at Fort Meade, Maryland. ARDA was later renamed, given the ominous-sounding moniker, Disruptive Technology Office.
Hopefully, you’ve kept with us through all the name changes and acronyms. (Do intel agencies do this on purpose to confuse, or is it just bureaucracy at work?) The point is that IARPA, according to Signal, the magazine of the Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association, was formed by combining the Disruptive Technology Office with research programs underway at the CIA and other agencies.
However… that wasn’t what was tugging at my memory. It was this:
IARPA Will Locate at UM’s Research Park
M-Square, the *respectable face* (front) for a a lot bad things. I remember now learning about things that eventually passed through UMD, or has some connection to it somewhere along the torturous thread during my own “data-mining” foray into the USA. 😉 🙂
And it becomes obvious now why the Dem’s caved on FISA:
IARPA consolidates the National Security Agency’s Disruptive Technology Office (previously called the Advanced Research and Development Activity); the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s National Technology Alliance; and the Central Intelligence Agency’s Intelligence Technology Innovation Center.
The Maryland congressional delegation, led by Senator Barbara Mikulski, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger, announced the decision. As members of the Senate and House Select Committees on Intelligence, Mikulski and Ruppersberger, along with Hoyer, have worked for months to secure a permanent home for IARPA in Maryland.
Democrats… Republicans… what was the difference again? I’m confused. They look the same to me.
]]>STASI by any other name, still stinks!
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