Occam's razor[1] says it is more likely to be just an incompetence.
According to Albert Einstein, "[t]he two most common elements in the
universe are hydrogen and stupidity. But not in that order."
The same organization also lost a substantial amount of firearms.[2] Are
these "lost" intentionally as well, or merely misplaced or poorly guarded?
What's more likely?
Sturgeon's Revelation[3] applies to everything, including government
employees.
Let's not overestimate the quality of contemporary journalism. (retch)
(Let's also mention that a journalist himself can sweat blood and make a
decent investigative article, and then the editor comes and butchers it to
a third, usually taking out the most important points, so there's more
space for newest hyperimportant rumours about Jennifer Lopez's ass - an
act required by the realities of market-driven mass media, serving their
god Nielsen[4].) But let's also be aware of the "hostile media effect"[5]
which can further skew our subjective perception.
[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_razor
[2]
http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2007/02/13/fbi-still-losing-laptops-weapons/
[3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturgeon%27s_Law
[4]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_rating
[5]
http://advanced.jhu.edu/communication/doty_thesis_Spring_2005.pdf
On Tue, 13 Feb 2007, stevenw wrote:
>
>
>
> On Feb 12, 10:21 pm, "James M. Atkinson" <j..._at_tscm.com> wrote:
> > So, lets look at the numbers here:
> >
> > During the 44 months in questions the FBI "lost" on average 3.63
> > laptops per month, or roughly one per week.
> >
>
>
> Perhaps some are "lost" as part of "Canary Traps" (to use Clancy's
> name for the exercise)?
>
> Others may be "lost" as dispersement to sources, gifts to usefuls and
> so on.
>
> Consider the source of the information discussed, the "Media." Hardly
> trustworthy.
>
>
Received on Sat Mar 02 2024 - 00:57:28 CST