...tic tic tic tic... So, how did it go? 1. US intel sez Iran ain't buildin' teh B0mb; 2. Several Euro nations suddenly say, "Hey, we don't like those mean ol' Iranies, either. Let's trade-sanction 'em."
Okay, that was good: the logic and bravery that as long as the bad guy can't really whup you, it's okay to beat him up. I was all set to snark about it.
Then it got better: Our Friends In The Old Countries suddenly remembered the Yew-Natted States does not have a stellar rep for intel sneakiness and began to wonder aloud if maybe, just maybe, Iran is fixin' to build war-type nukes in the basement after all.
Thing is, they've got a point -- our sooper-seckrit spookiest of all agency (there is No Such Agency, okay?) has, for pity's sake, a museum with a cute little gift shoppe right across the street from their big, menacing no-you-don't-even-look-directly-at-it headquarters. Most of the big intelligence triumphs the US pulled off during the Cold War (remember that? Don'cha just miss those palmy daze?) owed more to the ethics of the Boy Scouts than those of Machiavelli. Traditionally, we just don't do "sneaky-tricky" all that well.
...So I can see the EU spymasters, serene in their sophistication, saying, "Well, if the States say it's all tickety-boo in Iran, then it cannot possibly be true."
So here's the fifty-Euro question: Our guys aren't always sure which wine to order with doughnuts, but they're not actually dim; could they, might they have come smilin' out, wavin' the "All Clear" notes, in order to get that reaction for our nominal Western allies and pals?
D'ya think?
Darnedifino. I'm about six "They know that we don't know that they know..." deep and I'm no longer sure of anything. Man, I'll bet if I could type, there'd be a heck of a future awaitin' me in some basement under a black-budget buildin' in Maryland.
...One way or another.
Oooo, lookit! Official "there is no mug here" coffee mugs! Kewl.
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Hit the "spellcheck" icon and for just a second, smoke poured out of Blogger. Um, oops.
BUILDING A 1:1 BALUN
4 years ago
5 comments:
One author called it "A Wilderness of Mirrors".
The NSA museum is small but cool; they have everything from an Enigma to a Cray. And the Enigma is set up so folks can actually use it.
Having actually worked in the basement of said Notionally Secret Agency, I can, with confidence, state that it is both more and less competent than it is cracked up to be.
People are people, some work hard and are smart, some get by with a lot dimmer bulb. Organizations are made up of people.
US: We think you stopped in '03.
Iran: Stop l00kin' at our n00ks!
Me: What nukes would those be then?
...Ummm hmmm. Them.
On another item, the boys at the Skunk Works claim one of the Boones Darm line of boxed wines the poroper with doughnuts, adding that the exact type depends on whether the doughnuts are jelly-filled ot not.
--Do you think the gang at the puzzle palace can work up an algorithim based on filling type?
(Mae West voice: "I'vve bin with Mistuh Gore and he has no rhythym...")
Er, "Boones Farm." See the ignorance that comes from growin' up in a teetotal household?
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