Tag: NSA

ON HONEST AND RESPONSIBLE DIALOGUE ON RACE RELATIONS IN AMERICA (CONCLUSION)

Our Founder and Editor, Mr. Chinedu Ezeocha with former World Bank President, Bob Zoellick at the CATO Institute’s 29th Annual Monetary Conference held at CATO Institute’s Building, Washington DC. November 16, 2011.
Our Founder and Editor, Mr. Chinedu Ezeocha with former World Bank President, Bob Zoellick at the CATO Institute’s 29th Annual Monetary Conference held at CATO Institute’s Building, Washington DC. November 16, 2011.

Selma (2014) the movie is out. Snowstorm barrels into the Northeast. And the U.S. is not expected to fault Darrel Wilson, the Ferguson police officer that killed Michael Brown last August. From the Feds’ decision, it is fair to assume that there could be some similarities in the findings of the Feds and that of the St Louis County, Missouri on what actually happened in the altercation between Michael Brown and Officer Wilson.  At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established. That is justice. And that is a closed chapter.

Meanwhile, once upon a time in the animal kingdom, a day came when all animals were reporting to the town hall for a general meeting. But the hen, which felt it had more ‘important’ things to do, absented herself from the meeting but pledged to abide by every decision reached at the meeting by those who attended the meeting. At the meeting, a decision was reached that a ceremony will take place and that the hen and her chicks will be killed to provide the meat for refreshment at the ceremony. The hen wasn’t present to object to that decision because she refused to attend the meeting. And as she pledged, she had to abide by the decision reached by others at the meeting.

Now, when you visit most of the think tanks in the District of Columbia, New York City, Chicago, and California, you will discover that the presence of African-Americans are close to non-existent in our country’s apex policy-making institutions where policies that govern this country are hatched. Some pockets of the Black people you will see walking the  ‘corridors of power’ are mostly interns from Africa who are studying government-related courses here in the U.S.

Same goes for all the departments of the federal government at the levels of relevance where folks effect policy decisions. Most workers of African-American derivation you will see at these federal government agencies work administrative and general services jobs. And not top level positions where policies that govern the domestic politics of the United States are formulated. And same also go for state and local governments. And that, my people is a sad and hard fact.

Why so?

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How the CIA lost an Asset

The CIA Memorial Wall
The CIA Memorial Wall

So a friend of mine recently developed an interest to work for the Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA. My friend is one of the smartest dudes on Earth and among the few men I revere.  He has a sharp mind. He is so discerning of a person’s intentions you might think he has a degree in psychology.  He is almost telepathic. And he is well lettered and has the mien of, well, the kind of professionals that are cast in the movies that work for the CIA. I have no doubt in my mind that he will be a great asset for the CIA.

I visited with him yesterday evening. By the time I got to his house, he had already browsed through the career page of the CIA’s website and decided on Political Analyst as the career path he want to pursue with the CIA. He had his resume tailored to meet the requirements of the job he want to apply for. And for the presumed questions the page indicated that he will be required to provide answers to as he proceeds in his online application, he had the answers ready. Then came the online application process itself.

Step 1 has to do with selecting 3 security questions from a drop down list and providing the answers, the purpose of which is to remind the applicant of their login info should they forget their username and or his password. That went pretty smooth.

In Step 2 the CIA website itself generated what to me is a simple alphanumeric username for the applicant. Then came Step 3.

In Step 3, the website requires the applicant to choose his or her own password. And it demands that the password contain lowercase letters, uppercase letters, numbers, and specifically, 2 special characters.

 

Passwords to me is an illusion of security. Therefore I do not care much about making my passwords complex. So whoever anytime desires to hack into any of my numerous online accounts can do so easily. And I simply do not care. But Kinsella my buddy love complex passwords, not because he is concerned about someone hacking him. It’s just who Kinsella is. Complex.  So when it got to the point of choosing the password for his CIA online application form, he came up with the strangest combination of letters, numbers, and characters I have ever seen, while being careful to abide by the password requirements of the website. After he “ENTERED” it, the website told him his password choice was mediocre and that he had to come up with something strong. He felt challenged and rolled out another combination he thought will take the guys at NSA forever to crack. Forgive my hyperbole. The second time the website told him his choice was very week. And this back and forth continued for a straight one hour. He will roll out a combination of lowercase letters, uppercase letters, numbers, and 2 special characters and after entering it, the website will tell him that it was weak, very weak, or mediocre.

Initially, he thought it was a test to ascertain his level of enthusiastic about pursuing a career with the CIA and to determine how determined he is to overcome challenges and be better at generating a more complex set of combination of lowercase letters, uppercase letters, numbers, and specifically, 2 special characters. But after an hour, it becomes a fruitless effort at satisfying some ludicrousness. His perception I must say. I was astonished at the CIA for that stupidity and was very relieved for my friend when he folded up his laptop and called it a day.

Now my friend’s experience could be as a result of a glitch on CIA’s website. But I strongly doubt that because up until that point of entering his choice of password, every other thing was working perfectly.

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