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"The international war on terrrorism" (by the end). Sorry: despite whatever he says, this is totally out of place. As long as you use the (buzz)word war, you op
by pfortuny 12y ago
"The international war on terrrorism" (by the end). Sorry: despite whatever he says, this is totally out of place. As long as you use the (buzz)word war, you open the door to exceptional "security" measures
- hawleyal 12y agoTo be fair, these are the operating directives of his employers. I imagine it's hard to be a completely objective mathematician when your work is actually used to affect substantial political change IRL.
- tempodox 12y agoAnd likewise, after you utter the words “National Security”®, the U.S. all of a sudden don't have a constitution any more. I'm quite sure, however, that this isn't any mathematician's fault.
- tux3 12y agoI'd argue that the mathematicians know who they are working for, though. I'm sure there are plenty of great folks working there, but "I was just following orders" hasn't been a valid excuse for quite a lot of time.
- rancur 12y agoI bet their first thought is "something doesn't quite add up..."
- bainsfather 12y agoHe also mentions 'piracy' (the data sharing kind, I presume) - it seems he will stoop to using any convenient buzzword/bogeyman.
- tempodox 12y agoWell, in absence of tangible success, what else can you do but admit failure, or otherwise produce massive amounts of hot air? It's probably easier to catch a “pirate” than a “terrorist”, so if the NSA has you believe “piracy” is a threat to National Security, then maybe they can claim some success stories after all.
- wtbob 12y agoWhy would you assume 'piracy' doesn't refer to actual piracy? It's a fairly big deal in several parts of the world.
- bainsfather 12y agoSure, many things are a 'big deal' in some parts of the world - malaria, corrupt governments, famine, domestic violence, ebola, contaminated drinking water, etc etc. Why did I presume he meant data sharing 'piracy'? Well he didn't choose to mention organised crime, of which naval piracy is a small part. It would probably be a more relevant target for sigint than e.g. Somalis in speedboats, and also more relevant to US security. The author is, imo, casting around for buzzwords/bogeymen, and he thought data sharing 'piracy' hit the right buttons.
- black_beard 12y agoBecause you don't need a strong cipher to send text messages like "Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum."
- schoen 12y agoPresumably pirates favor arrrr-C4 or arrrr-SA (both of them invented by Ronald Rivest.)
- canjobear 12y agoI especially liked the name-dropping of 9/11 toward the end, and the emotional appeals to the heroism of fighting Germany and Japan.