Maybe they should start by requiring the military to demonstrate how everything it spends is in the 'National Interest'.
I think you'd lose a lot of pork.
The military has been doing that for years. These days, the primary skill needed by general officers is planning equipment and staff reductions while keeping some ability to fight. It's quite eye-opening to watch the talks by senior military staff that make their way to YouTube, and see e.g. an admiral talking about how the Navy plans to lose a carrier battle group - not in war, but to congress.
It's true that congress holds the purse strings for the military, but when over 60% of non-discretionary spending goes towards military spending, they're not going to suffer like paying down the national debt or stabilizing SS/Medicare. Their biggest problem are the spending cuts via sequester, but congress can always allocate emergency funds for anything they want and already have for some military spending.
Regarding the military demonstrate that they need something in 'national interest' to get funding is ludicrous. Just look at the F-35 Lightning II. That plane's construction has roots in almost every state (read section 7 Political Engineering). That's why you're not going to get rid of that pork so easily --even the Pentagon doesn't want F-35 features that the House is trying to force spending on.
Would I take a job there? Probably not, largely because (post Snowden) I'd be concerned I'd be put in a position whether I have to choose between betraying my principles or betraying my promises.
I have a feeling 'Slashdot User ID' is a checkmark against anyone wanting to get hired by a TLA-agency --News for nerds, Stuff that matters, Yo!
Can't live with em.. can't live without em.
I'd love to know who to attribute this quote to --I think it's Frank Herbert, but was never able to verify it after some modest searching: The purpose of science fiction isn't necessarily to predict, but sometime to prevent.
What org was it that wrote the SELinux extentions? Oh right the NSA.
And that should give complete pause to someone considering using those extensions. For someone that doesn't write kernel extensions, they'll never believe the source doesn't have backdoors/known exploits.
Why?
Because he's not a microsoft technology nerd.
Microsoft needs someone at the top who uses their products the way someone who isn't surrounded by microsofties every day does. So they can get their shit together on design.
I honestly thought Nathan Myhrvold was on the shortlist; perhaps he was courted, but wanted nothing to do with a (seemingly) sinking ship.
I'm proud of my sister and her kids who walked into the consulate in Alberta Canada and renounced their American Citizenship.
And you can actually do that?
It's called terrorism. He is trying to terrify you into changing your behaviour and beliefs with threats.
I thought it was called FUD. That seems to be the gov's primary tactic, unless you call FUD 'verbal terrorism'.
The reason Halliburton got a no-bid contract was because other countries' companies were not allowed to participate in troop support or rebuilding. That's why no other country wanted to help the US oust Saddam. Considering that Cheney was a Halliburton CEO, it all makes sense. Utter corruption at its finest.
"Certainly Halliburton would have the lead [in the competition for that job], even absent this contract, given the size and scope of their current operations," said Pierre Conner, an analyst with Hibernia Southcoast Capital. "But there's no question they'll start with some footprint there. It clearly puts them in the position where they will know more about the situation and have a bit of an operation there."
Though none of the potential administrators of such a contract -- including the Defense Department, the State Department's U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations -- have claimed responsibility for handing out the job, Monday's award and Bush's request for funding seem to indicate the U.S. government will be in charge.
http://money.cnn.com/2003/03/25/news/companies/war_contracts/
Stellar rays prove fibbing never pays. Embezzlement is another matter.
