52 Billion dollars for intelligence???

[crp]

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/08/black-budget/

Makes me thing that there is quite a bit of streamlining that could be done.

Also, note how this is marked as 'Top Secret'. points to the overuse of the classification. no way that all this should be top secret. some of it - maybe , but all of it?

[goretsky]

Hello,

 

I think the idea behind classifying the dollar is amount is that having some/all of that information in the public will allow the intelligence services of other nations to get an idea of what sorts of capabilities the NSA might have, given their own budgets and research reports into how much it costs to implement their own various activities.

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh "If you think $52B is excessive for intelligence, imagine how much the cost of stupdity must be" Goretsky

[Guest LilBambi]

I hear ya Aryeh...however there is also this throught from Bruce Schneier's Secrets and Lies: Preface:

 

If you think technology can solve your security problems, then you don't understand the problems and you don't understand the technology.

~ Bruce Schneier

 

And this quote from the whimsical Star Wars Sci Fi movie: A New Hope:

 

Princess Leia: The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.

 

I would think there is still much some in authority need to learn about human nature and the need for freedom and privacy in our lives.

Edited September 2, 2013 by LilBambi

[RichardKR]

I'm being silly here but the first thing I thought of after reading "52 Billion for Intelligence" was: Stupid is free.