Re: Brin on privacy

Michael Lorrey (retroman@tpk.net)
Sat, 21 Dec 1996 19:05:12 -0500


Jsn@cris.com wrote:
>
>
> Lyle Burkhead writes:
>
> > Cryptography is now classified as munitions, and the NSA may emerge
> > as a branch of the military, with the same standing as the Army, Navy,
> > and Air Force, and with a comparable budget.
>
> Oh, come now.
>
> Tell me, do you know something I don't regarding the operational
> standing of the NSA and governmental plans for the same, or are
> you just painting a paranoid nightmare scenario for the sheer joy of
> trying to spook people?
>

First a clue for Lyle: Cryptography has always been classified as
munitions.

Secondly, yes he is just going in paranoid loops. Not only is the NSA
too happy with its behind closed doors public persona to want equal
standing with the Miliraty Services, the Services always have and always
will regard ANY intelligence gathering agency as simply a tool, and not
the equal of grunts who actually go into combat, nor does spying carry
the same level of "honor" in the eyes of the establishment to be able to
achieve military service status.

The day a spy agency like NSA gets such status and budget will be the
beginning of the Second AMerican Civil War.

-- 
TANSTAAFL!!!

Michael Lorrey --------------------------------------------------------- President retroman@tpk.net Northstar Technologies Agent Lorrey@ThePentagon.com Inventor of the Lorrey Drive Silo_1013@ThePentagon.com http://www.tpk.net/~retroman/ --------------------------------------------------------- Inventor, Webmaster, Ski Guide, Entrepreneur, Artist, Outdoorsman, Libertarian, Certified Genius.