Things I Wonder About–”Make Believe” Surveillance Oversight, Porn Extortion and Other Stuff

Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than the one where they sprang up. – Oliver Wendell Holmes

Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean. – Ryunosuke Satoro

By popular demand, I offer round 2 of “Things I Wonder About” (continued from Things I Wonder About).

In between selling a large tech company and starting up a Foundation that will “help NPO’s “do good better” through fact-based decision-making and evidence-based outcome assessments” (quoting friend and colleague, Doug P.), I often have other distractions that cross my mind that I feel merit some attention.

As a long-time Wall St. strategy guy, unsolved problems are always a conundrum for me, especially when the problems are significant in impact and are far / wide reaching in society.  Problems in society affect us all at some point, even if we don’t feel the affect directly (or believe we don’t).

However, I can’t tackle all these thoughts, nor should I (no individual is tagged as the “savior” of the world).  That being said, they are worthy of thought and action and so, with the encouragement of very nice colleagues who kindly never lose patience with me when I muse about other concerns in the world, I’m going to occasionally toss some ideas out with the idea that someone else may feel inspired to own some of them.

This is not a typical blog post for me such as can be found in the #1206 series, the Abigail / Gabriel series or any general post.  It is a grab bag of thoughts that pass through my brain in the course of leading a busy Life.

If you want to own one, I would be glad to help!

A subset of my random thoughts this week:

1. Winning (Losing) on Principle: How do we help people such as the person who contacted me this week, telling me an unfortunate story of how she has had compromising video / audio taken of her but she can’t report it to police?  The information is such that her personal and professional reputation would be destroyed if it was made public but she has been informed that any action by the police against the miscreant will cause the information to be released to the public.  After contacting the police, I was told that she needed to come forward and file official charges (of course).  But the moment she does so, her Life is destroyed.  The police say “but we will still arrest him”.  The counter, that her Life is still destroyed while she “wins on principle”, doesn’t seem to matter much.
2. Bureaucrats Who Don’t Think Things Through:  The Liberal Government in Canada is planning sweeping legislative changes to curtail the surveillance authority of various law enforcement groups as provided by the previous government.  Unfortunately, all of the laws can be circumvented, providing unlimited power to surveillance authorities.  For information on how that is accomplished, observe how the NSA has dealt with similar “restrictions”.
3. Our Over-Spend on Anti-Terror: Over dinner with Gwynne Dyer last week, I explained to him how billions of dollars spent annually on surveillance and decryption technology can be undermined using $100 worth of technology (I wrote about it in National Security – Arming Both Sides).  He just shook his head.  Why are we still pretending (outside of the fact that it keeps people “fat, dumb and happy”)?  The money spent on this could be better spent on …. just about anything.
4. Our Overstated Fear of ISIS: While random attacks using vehicles as weapons draw great press and create fear that can be used as leverage for various purposes, consider this the next time a “”frightening event” occurs.  You are:
• 6 times more likely to die from a shark attack (one of the rarest forms of death on Earth)
• 29 times more likely to die from a regional asteroid strike
• 260 times more likely to be struck and killed by lightning
• 4,700 times more likely to die in an airplane or spaceship accident
• 129,000 times more likely to die in a gun assault
• 407,000 times more likely to die in a motor vehicle incident
• 6.9 million times more likely to die from cancer or heart disease (source).
5. The Disabling Effect of a Good Story: Someone used the story of the fisherman and the starfish on the beach (where the fisherman insists he can’t save all of them but he saves one by throwing it back into the ocean) to explain how every little bit helps.  Many of these feel-good stories can also be used to justify minimal effort under the guise of making a difference when much more could be done.
6. The Lack of Strategy In People’s Lives: Most people would never set out on a long drive wearing a blindfold, without a working gas gauge, without knowing how much gas they have in the tank and not knowing where they were going.  However, if you look at how much effort goes into planning their Life, they don’t follow the same safety guidelines for their own Life.  It matters – we all reap the reward and pay the penalty for each person’s brilliance, greed and ignorance.  If you don’t believe me, ask your insurance company how your premium is calculated or how many stupid people it takes to get all of us to take our shoes off in airport security (the answer to the latter question is one).
7. Realistic Use of Strategy: While many people generally accept the importance of strategy, many of those same people prefer to build plans in ignorance of where they are at the moment because where they are reminds them of some failure or shortcoming.  This myopic, over-optimistic view causes them to not realize that knowing where you are going depends entirely on where you are starting from.  If I call you and ask for directions to Penn Station in NYC because I need to be there in an hour, it matters if I am calling you from Chinatown (NYC), Seattle or Moscow.
8. Failure to Use Data: Many people make choices regarding important things that involve risk (e.g. in investment, buying insurance, extended warranties, implementing new business strategies and the like) based on how they feel at the moment.  Unfortunately, doing so using “your gut” instead of using data may cause you to be too risk averse if you just experienced a bad moment or not risk averse enough if Life is going swimmingly at the moment.  Data doesn’t care how you feel, is not so easily biased and can prevent you from over/under reacting to a specific risk mitigation requirement or being coerced / influenced by someone else who tells you to do something “just because”.
9. Be Proactive: Stephen Covey was right when he said Habit 1 is to be proactive.  Look around you and ask yourself how often we apply this rule.  Do you?  Don’t forget – we all reap the reward and pay the penalty for compliance / non-compliance.
10. Awareness of Psychology: Why do so many people have the ability to explain every nuance about how Facebook works but can’t explain the psychology of how people use emotion (particularly anger, fear, envy or greed) to manipulate them or how someone can debate them repeatedly into no-win choices that always benefit the other person?
11. Multidirectional Respect: Why do people who insist that we all be respectful of one other tend to be the ones who least like counter ideas and opinions and shout the loudest to diminish the ideas of others?  When the Voice of Fire was purchased by the National Art Gallery in Ottawa some years ago (containing three equally sized vertical stripes, with the outer two painted blue and the center painted red), many people stood in front of it and marveled at its insight, brilliance and creativity. I observed to the person next to me, quietly, that it looked like the artist had run out of paint.  Apparently I wasn’t quiet enough because a security guard who had been marveling with the others came over and told me to keep my uninformed opinion to myself or I would be asked to leave the Gallery.
12. Hyper-Analysis of Zer, Zim et al:  If you don’t know what these mean, you have learned how to tune out the news (which can be a good thing) or you are living under a rock.  We must be careful that we don’t get so distracted by the tail wagging the dog that other things in society (appropriate governance, health care, education, infrastructure, safety and security of society, etc.) are not forgotten.  We thrive or die together.  Focus and priorities will determine which way we are going.  When politicians tell you that they are balancing everything well, ask them about unsustainable budgets, infrastructure security, health care waiting lines, failing grades for education performance …. well …. you get it.  I find that when I use social media to ask (not accuse) a politician how things are going, they block me without trying to answer. Some in the meantime, will then tweet all day about someone’s cat that looks very cute.
13. Airport Security: A cell phone battery and a glass of water can create a potentially dangerous situation on an aircraft (I won’t say how).  People examining this situation are considering bans of laptops, tablets and potentially cell phones as well as potentially requiring you to submit them for safe transport (and obviously, examination).  Don’t act surprised if this happens …. soon.
14. And More Airport Security: I explained to someone today how a $60 drone purchased at Walmart can imperil everyone on a large aircraft at an airport.  Bureaucrats who legislate against drone use close to airports ignore the reality that those of us with common sense don’t need to be told this and people who don’t care won’t be told this, so the legislation impacts very few people.  We have avoided a disaster because people have chosen not to do something stupid but unfortunately, hope is not a strategy.  And if something happens, we will still have excellent laws to charge the miscreant but as in the first point in this list, we will win in principle only.

Do these things matter or am I just over-sensitive?

Should we care that these represent symptoms of a society that is not ticking over as well as claimed by politicians or do we ignore them, saving our complaints and intention for action only when we are directly affected as opposed to when our neighbor is being pummeled instead of us?

If they matter, what can we do about them?

The Bottom Line

I’m a big believer in sharing thoughts and encouraging people to dialog about things with an eye towards taking measurable action.  Good intentions and thoughts are worthless without measurable results.

However, we can’t own everything that comes before us, even when it impacts us deeply.  Some of us who work hard to make a difference in the world need others to share the responsibility, especially when many who put little into society want to reap the harvest that comes from a better world.

It’s time for more people to be concerned about society and where it’s going …

… while it’s still a going concern.

In service and servanthood, create a great day because merely having one is too passive an experience.

Harry

Aviation Security and Ignorance in the Land of Make Believe

We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers. - Carl Sagan

Ask courageous questions. Pay attention for the wisdom that follows. – Steve Broe

The #1206 “fiction” series continues …

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The gentle sway and clack-clack-clack of the train as it left Penn Station in New York lulled Gabriel into a gentle stupor.  “Tickets out please, tickets”, said the conductor as he walked past Gabriel, noted the monthly pass held in Gabriel’s hand, stuck a receipt stub in the clip on the wall and moved on to the next car.

Gabriel didn’t resist the sleep that was quickly overtaking him, offering relief and escape from the difficult day that he had experienced.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been asleep when he was suddenly jarred awake, feeling the train shaking and rocking from side to side.  In a half-awake, half-asleep stupor, he looked out the window and realized that the train was traveling much faster than it usually did.

Gabriel glanced around in a panic, hoping to find a conductor to see if there was anything wrong.  He spotted a conductor he didn’t recognize in the last seat of the car, resting calmly and seemingly oblivious to the condition of the train.

Gabriel stood up and steadied himself against the seats as he made his way up the aisle towards the conductor.  The conductor seemed to be asleep so Gabriel cleared his throat and then reached down and touched the conductor on the shoulder.

The conductor stirred and looked up at Gabriel.  “Yes?”, he asked.

“The train seems to be going very fast”, said Gabriel, “And I was wondering if everything was ok with it.”

The conductor squinted for a moment before peering through the window out into the dark night.  “Seems to me like we are on a run-away train that is out of control”, he observed dryly, “Not much you can do about it now.”  The conductor pulled his hat down over his eyes and stretched out as if to resume his slumber.

Gabriel poked at him with alarm.  “Out of control?”, he asked, “How can you remain so calm if that’s the case?”

The conductor sat up and looked at Gabriel with a rough look.  “You never cared about the train before”, he said, “Why should you care about it now?”

“Never cared about the train?”, asked Gabriel, “What the hell are you talking about?  What could I do about the train?”

“And besides”, said Gabriel, “Why would I care about this train unless I am on it?”

“Ahhhhh”, said the conductor, “So it only matters if you are directly affected.  Typical.  Everyone is always innocent, indifferent or ignorant until they are affected and then they demand instant solutions.”

“Funny thing, though”, grunted the conductor as he leaned forward and looked Gabriel in the eye, “When people like you demand answers, you believe everything we tell you, even if the solution we chose or the explanation we offer doesn’t make the train any safer.  What if I told you that the train is running out of control because you demanded so much from it that we had no time to perform proper maintenance on it?”

The conductor paused for a moment before continuing.

“So what if I told you that the reason the train is out of control is entirely your fault?”

“Why, that’s preposterous”, expostulated Gabriel, “How dare you blame me for your train’s maintenance issues?”

“Really?”, asked the conductor, “Let’s see now.”

He leaned over and grabbed a newspaper sitting on the seat across from him.  The headline on the front page screamed about the possibility of a bomb on the Russian commercial flight flying out of the Sinai and the possibility of Homeland Security changing its screening procedures as a result.

He pointed at the headline with a thick index finger.

“Here’s a perfect example”, he said, “Understand the difference between cause and effect here and the notion of treating symptoms instead of diseases.  If Homeland Security improves its handling of baggage on the plane, will it reduce the chance of a bomb being placed on another aircraft?”

“Of course”, said Gabriel, “We will …..”

The conductor interrupted him with a dismissive wave of his hand.  “Spare me the propaganda lecture”, he said impatiently, “Such actions only prevent the amateur from getting a bomb on the plane.  Professionals will always be able to get one on the plane and in fact, the only thing that makes you secure as a passenger is not because the security measures are so good but rather, because professionals have chosen not to do anything evil at the moment.  As for shipping luggage alone in a separate aircraft, that will make the cost of travel prohibitive and so that’s not an option either.  So you can’t keep the processes you have and there isn’t a guaranteed-safe, economically-viable option available to you.  How does that make you feel?”

“That is ridiculous”, explained Gabriel, “We …”

Again, the conductor waved him off impatiently.

“The fact that you don’t know this is more a reflection of your own ignorance than that of the people who deliver feel-good propaganda drivel in your direction.  Do you know how easy it is for employees, baggage handlers and the like to get explosives into the secure areas and subsequently into the cargo hold of an aircraft?”, asked the conductor.

Gabriel shrugged.

“Very”, replied the conductor and he proceeded to explain how it was accomplished.  When he was done, he explained how to draw pilots out of the secure cockpit, thus allowing hijackers to take over the cockpit “911-style”.

“The aviation and security industries don’t like to talk about this”, the conductor concluded, “because they figure it will be bad for business.”

He chuckled at his own joke and then sat quietly.

Gabriel suddenly felt nauseous and weak and sat down across from the conductor.

The conductor thumbed through the newspaper nonchalantly, while muttering “Tsk tsk tsk …. always addressing the symptom instead of the disease”.

“Ahhhh”, he said, “Here’s another example.  Police and community groups across Canada and the US are now revealing so-called exciting new programs to stop the Islamic radicalization of young people.  It has all kinds of neat ideas such as 1-800 numbers to call if you suspect someone is being influenced, follow-up counselling for the person in question and the like.  It’s all well and good but by the time you notice someone is being influenced, they’ve already experienced childhood difficulties like abuse or bullying, mental illness or other things that open the door for the youth to be exploited by a professional recruiter.  So the challenge is not to prevent the radicalization but to prevent the difficulties that set the young person up to be radicalized in the first place.”

The conductor paused for a moment before continuing.

“So you can address the complex issues at the core of a problem or you can dismiss them as unsolvable, too expensive or too time consuming and promote a feel-good thing instead that helps people feel safer but which in fact does absolutely nothing for your safety or security.”

“Think of it like this”, observed the conductor, “If you are told that you are tired because of cancer, do you treat the cancer itself or ask for uppers to help counter the fatigue, acknowledging that the latter gives short-term immediate relief and is much easier to do but will eventually cause you to die anyway?”

“You treat the cancer, of course”, said Gabriel.

“Exactly”, replied the conductor.

He pulled out a pocket watch, squinted at it for a moment and then tucked it back in his pocket.

“You’re almost at the end of the line”, he said.

“But we’re running out of control”, exclaimed Gabriel, “What happens when we reach the end of the line?”

“Well, that all depends”, replied the conductor, “It depends on what you do.”

“What I do?”, asked Gabriel incredulously.

“Yup”, the conductor said as he stood up, stretched, open the door between the cars and left the car.

Gabriel dazedly watched the door close and then, shaking himself from his stupor, grabbed the door handle to open the door.

It was locked.

He felt his heart start to race as the train rocked more when suddenly there was a loud squealing of steel wheels on steel rails and he felt the car he was in lifting into the air.

And suddenly he was awake, being shaken by the conductor.

“Last stop coming up”, the conductor said, “End of the line.”

Gabriel rubbed his eyes sleepily and thought.

“End of the line?”, he asked.

“Yup”, replied the conductor.

To be continued.

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© 2015 – Harry Tucker – All Rights Reserved

Afterword – Humanity: The Weakest Link

“It is a beautiful, sunny day”, he thought as he strode around the airfields at a small, nondescript airport a couple of hours drive from the city where he lived.  A buddy of his had offered to take him sightseeing today, with a short stop at the main airport in the city to run a few errands before flying back in the evening.  While he waited, he wandered the airport grounds with the permission of his friend.

“I have my own errand to run in the city”, he thought as he squeezed the handle of the briefcase he was carrying.

He glanced at his watch, calculating when he would arrive at the larger airport.  He hoped his friend in baggage handling would be there as planned.

He squinted as he looked up into the sun.

It was a beautiful day indeed.

Background

The story the conductor told to Gabriel about compromising aircraft security is real.  I intentionally do not share the details here although I hint in the afterward about one of several scenarios.  Find someone you know in aviation security who trusts you and ask them if it is possible.  Ask questions about things these articles:

• TSA Fails to ID 73 Airport Employees With Links to Terrorism
• TSA Investigation Finds 73 Workers on U.S.’s Terrorist Watchlist
• Can the TSA find hidden weapons? Rossen Reports goes undercover
• Unvetted Foreigners Working as US Baggage Handlers.

You won’t like the answer.

We always insist on treating symptoms instead of diseases in society, primarily because feel-good stuff can be produced much quicker and cheaper than real solutions.  Unfortunately, feel-good stuff protects us against the amateur and the deranged but never against the professional.

Accountability and responsibility aren’t about helping us feel better about something – they are about us knowing that we are safer because we have addressed the core problems.

Until we address core problems, we must not act surprised when our safety and security is compromised in the future.

When someone gives us a feel-good solution instead of a real one, whose fault is it when the solution that solves nothing is implemented – the person who implemented it or the person who accepted it unquestioningly?

You probably won’t like the answer to that question either.

But that’s the interesting thing about reality.

It doesn’t care what you think – it is only influenced by what you do and what you allow others to do.

And the other truth about reality is that whenever humans are involved, the greed, ignorance and twisted motivation of some people will always be the weakest link, no matter what people say to the contrary.

Series Origin

This series, a departure from my usual musings, is inspired as a result of conversations with former senior advisors to multiple Presidents of the United States, senior officers in the US Military and other interesting folks as well as my own professional background as a Wall St. / Fortune 25 strategy advisor and large-scale technology architect.

While this musing is just “fiction” (note the quotes) and a departure from my musings on technology, strategy, politics and society, as a strategy guy, I do everything for a reason and with a measurable outcome in mind. :-)

This “fictional” musing is a continuation of the #1206 series noted here.

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Important Related Posts

• Terror: Vulnerability Through Decent Acts – October 24, 2014
• Pay Attention to the REAL Source of the Problem (other security holes at airports in North America) – November 15, 2010

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Public Relations–The Only Investment in Aviation Security That Works

The history of PR is… a history of a battle for what is reality and how people will see and understand reality. - Stuart Ewen

Since we cannot change reality, let us change the eyes which see reality. - Nikos Kazantzakis

The #1206 “fiction” series continues …

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In a meeting room at FAA Headquarters on Independence Avenue in Washington, DC, representatives of the commercial aviation industry sat around a large boardroom table.  They had been summoned to address concerns over aviation security and the rumors that such security was still a non-existent fantasy.

One by one, they answered questions from bureaucrats seated around the table.  The questions were direct and to-the-point and the bureaucrats asking the questions did not challenge any of the responses from the aviation representatives.

The Secretary of Transportation said nothing as he watched his team interrogate the aviation officials.  When the last of the questions had been asked and answered, silence pervaded the boardroom as he clasped his fingers together, frowned and pursed his lips.

After a brief pause, he leaned forward in his chair.

Clearing his throat, he addressed the boardroom.  “So after hearing all of the evidence presented by the industry today, the fears of myself and my team have been confirmed.  Despite spending billions on aviation security over the decades, we are no closer to preventing an explosive device from being planted on an aircraft nor are we any closer to preventing cockpit compromises similar to those that occurred on 9/11.  Am I correct in my understanding or have I missed something in your presentations?”

The aviation officials said nothing, some of them squirming nervously in their chairs while others stared at the boardroom table to avoid the gaze of the Secretary.

”So what you are saying”, he continued, “Is that while it is unlikely that a specific individual could be killed in a terrorist act in an aircraft, the likelihood that someone will be killed by a terrorist act is very high.  Is that what you are telling me?”

“That would be correct, Mr. Secretary”, said a voice at the other end of the table.

The Secretary nodded for a moment before responding.  “Do you realize that knowledge of such an inconvenient truth could derail your industry and cripple the economy of the entire nation?”

His question was again met by silence.

“Hmmmmmph”, grunted the Secretary, “That’s what I thought.  Well, if we can’t secure the aviation industry or any place where the public congregates for that matter, then we will have to promote things such that the people believe they are secure anyway.  In anticipation of this, I have invited some guests to make a presentation to those of us assembled here today.”

He nodded to the aide sitting at his side and the aide promptly stood up and left the room.

The aide returned a few minutes later with three individuals.

“Ladies and gentlemen”, began the Secretary, “The Secretary of Homeland Security needs no introduction.  I would, however, like you to meet two of the most brilliant public relations people in the nation.”

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In a small street-side cafe in a city in the Middle East, two men argued passionately over their coffees.  One argued for quicker action against the infidel in the west while the other argued for a more patient, methodical approach.

Finally, the younger of the two men couldn’t contain his anger any longer.  “I don’t understand you”, he exploded, “What in the name of Allah is the value in training some of our best people in public relations?  We need fighters and not talkers.”

“Patience, my friend”, his companion replied.

“Patience”, he said again, his voice trailing off as his mind travelled westward and he wondered how his companions were doing.

To be continued.

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© 2015 – Harry Tucker – All Rights Reserved

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Addendum – Humans – The Weakest Link – March 26, 2015

News about the Germanwings crash this week indicating that the co-pilot may have deliberately crashed the aircraft puts this aircraft on a shortlist of planes known to have been deliberately crashed by crew members.

In a strange twist of irony, the processes implemented after 9/11 that were designed to keep hijackers out of an aircraft cockpit may have kept the pilot out of the cockpit in this instance, thus preventing him from saving the aircraft from doom.

There have been other stories over the years of crew members suddenly needing to be restrained by fellow crew members and passengers after exhibiting behavior that endangered an aircraft.

It goes to show that when one needs to rely on the weakest link, humanity, that there are never any guarantees of safety.

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Background

Two themes are present here.

The first is that the aviation industry (or any public place for that matter) can never be secured as long as there is a human element present in managing that security.  We are always our own weakest link, whether it is in preventing explosives from being planted on aircraft, weapons being carried onto an aircraft or in preventing the wrong people from gaining access to the cockpit.  All are still realistic possibilities today.

The second theme is that if someone could be convinced by an insider to diminish action in favor of merely promoting positive spin as the government is doing now, then the risks to the aviation industry could be increased even further.

Meetings as described in this post have been taking place in the commercial aviation industry for years.

No results of merit in relation to true security have ever been produced and the aviation industry has resigned itself to acceptable losses of passengers and assets.  The use of statistics in promoting the likelihood that you will not die at the hands of a terrorist are accurate.  However, the darker side of statistics, that someone will die, are also accurate but are not promoted.

This is not something to be upset about since the reality is that the aviation industry cannot be totally secured.

But it would be interesting if the government and aviation industry admitted this instead of spending billions for security procedures and equipment that complicate the average passenger’s Life while leaving the trained, patient terrorist with plenty of time and opportunity to plot what they intend to accomplish anyway. 

The difficulty is that the truth is often so inconvenient for government intentions and agendas that many people are better off without it.  Most people couldn’t deal with the truth anyway so what difference does it make for them whether we know the truth or not?  Ignorance is truly bliss in today’s world.

Meanwhile, we continue to be lucky in the aviation industry.

I wonder how long our luck will last.

I had close friends who were killed by terrorists on 9/11, both on the ground and in the air.

They weren’t so lucky.

Series Origin

This series, a departure from my usual musings, is inspired as a result of conversations with former senior advisors to multiple Presidents of the United States, senior officers in the US Military and other interesting folks as well as my own professional background as a Wall St. / Fortune 25 strategy and large-scale technology architect.

While this musing is just “fiction” and a departure from my musings on technology, strategy, politics and society, as a strategy guy, I do everything for a reason and with a measurable outcome in mind. :-)

This “fictional” musing is a continuation of the #1206 series noted here.

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