This is a small update to a previous piece on the The Two Generals, Petraeus and Allen. (See http://used-ideas.blogspot.com/2012/11/presidential-math.html) It concerns former EPA administrator Lisa Jackson and her communications throught secret emails, though not this time with sexual innuendo. It was strictly political. Is this better? We hear
"Earlier this year, the Competitive Enterprise Institute sued the EPA for documents involving Jackson’s use of alias e-mail accounts, operating under the name “Richard Windsor,” which drew attention from the GOP and an audit by the EPA inspector general."
Basically, she adjusted administration opinion to reflect a strongly environmental slant on activities within her domain, particularly to the detriment of the coal industry. The CEI reports that "She appears to have illegally evaded deliberative procedures and transparency requirements set in law." Oh, well. I guess everyone is doing it.
Make your case. Avoid the facts. Promote your agenda. Stonewall your opponents. Sustain your loyalties. Hope the press does not take you to task.
Whatever happened to reasonableness or compromise? Do we all need a fundamental, rigid, incontrovertible, and unmitigated agenda? If so, there will be a high price to pay.
------The original piece -----------
What is so utterly unbelievable about the Generals Petraeus and Allen is their apparent naivety.
Here they are experts at secure communications. Here they are intelligent and capable military officers. What could ever overcome them to believe that any communications on the open net is secure and undiscoverable? These firms actually do a lot of data mining, well beyond most of our comprehension. (Just use your favorite search engine on any topic. You will get thousands of hits. Imagine the computing power this requires. During the nights when few are hitting on searches, these servers do not rest. ) Anything appearing interesting is flagged. Even I know this. This is why it is good advice never post anything of any salacious, sensitive, or derogatory nature through these messengers.
But if you must... Use a messenger that supports encryption, such as PGP (Pretty Good Privacy), very difficult, no incredibly difficult, to decrypt. Make certain your messenger does not support (unknown to you) built in key-stroke software - always kind of a mystery. This goes well beyond virus software detection. It does that using them implies a certain trust. Do you have it?
At this point, I feel certain that what ever company was the email provider has the complete transcript of the communications. So much for security.
It is simply inconceivable these guys have been doing this. While Petraeus and Allen are great patriots, warriors, and consummate generals, actually how dumb can they get? Can it be that the good general was used as needed, then fired and discarded? We may never know, though Petraeus does.
I do feel bad for them and the country (mine) that may lose their services - they are phenomenal public servants. However, we the people are the bigger losers in this game of mayhem and indiscretion.
I am astonished.
P.S. All this includes texting.
"Earlier this year, the Competitive Enterprise Institute sued the EPA for documents involving Jackson’s use of alias e-mail accounts, operating under the name “Richard Windsor,” which drew attention from the GOP and an audit by the EPA inspector general."
Basically, she adjusted administration opinion to reflect a strongly environmental slant on activities within her domain, particularly to the detriment of the coal industry. The CEI reports that "She appears to have illegally evaded deliberative procedures and transparency requirements set in law." Oh, well. I guess everyone is doing it.
Make your case. Avoid the facts. Promote your agenda. Stonewall your opponents. Sustain your loyalties. Hope the press does not take you to task.
Whatever happened to reasonableness or compromise? Do we all need a fundamental, rigid, incontrovertible, and unmitigated agenda? If so, there will be a high price to pay.
------The original piece -----------
What is so utterly unbelievable about the Generals Petraeus and Allen is their apparent naivety.
Here they are experts at secure communications. Here they are intelligent and capable military officers. What could ever overcome them to believe that any communications on the open net is secure and undiscoverable? These firms actually do a lot of data mining, well beyond most of our comprehension. (Just use your favorite search engine on any topic. You will get thousands of hits. Imagine the computing power this requires. During the nights when few are hitting on searches, these servers do not rest. ) Anything appearing interesting is flagged. Even I know this. This is why it is good advice never post anything of any salacious, sensitive, or derogatory nature through these messengers.
But if you must... Use a messenger that supports encryption, such as PGP (Pretty Good Privacy), very difficult, no incredibly difficult, to decrypt. Make certain your messenger does not support (unknown to you) built in key-stroke software - always kind of a mystery. This goes well beyond virus software detection. It does that using them implies a certain trust. Do you have it?
At this point, I feel certain that what ever company was the email provider has the complete transcript of the communications. So much for security.
It is simply inconceivable these guys have been doing this. While Petraeus and Allen are great patriots, warriors, and consummate generals, actually how dumb can they get? Can it be that the good general was used as needed, then fired and discarded? We may never know, though Petraeus does.
I do feel bad for them and the country (mine) that may lose their services - they are phenomenal public servants. However, we the people are the bigger losers in this game of mayhem and indiscretion.
I am astonished.
P.S. All this includes texting.
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