Shhhh! There's "No Such Agency" - "Twice The Size of CIA"

CNN ^ | 21 June 2002 | CNN

[Asmodeus]

It's America's biggest spy organization and the principal translator of messages sent between and from foes of the United States.

Now, with the release of information that the National Security Agency received foreshadowing terror messages on September 10, people are asking questions about the third leg of the country's intelligence tripod, which includes the CIA and the FBI.

[Tourist Guy]

>>>It will not disclose its precise size, number of employees or budget. <<<

SOMEBODY must know...Congress just sends them a blank check?

[_Jim]

It will not disclose its precise size, number of employees or budget.

You might check with former Soviet operatives for close numbers ...

[_Jim]

NSA Director Michael Hayden said the 48-hour turnaround

Translated: translation/transcription is NOT done in real time (at least it APPEARS that it is not done in real time).

[Quix]

I suspect technologically and with bruit force computer power the NSA is up to the task. . . and has kept so for at least 35 years.

I don't think they are up to the task in terms of screening information. It seems to me the gov has been failing at that for many, many decades.

THEY NEED LIBRARIANS. . . AND NOT JUST PEOPLE TRAINED AS LIBRARIANS BUT SEASONED REFERENCE LIBRARIAN TYPES WITH QUICK MINDS AND MASSIVE MEMORY CAPABILITIES. Such people are HABITUALLY taking in massive amounts of information and throwing out various mixes of patterns of requested information for a wide diversity of purposes and customers. Such people would be best suited for detecting high priority clues or patterns from massive amounts of information.

And I do suspect the gov is not sharp enough to design programs to use such people optimally. The gov can be incredibly stupid and self-defeating in many ways as any caring conservative knows.

[AmishDude]

What are they talking about? The NSA has a huge hiring booth at every American Mathematical Society meeting. I have a pen and notepad from that booth. I had a few interviews with them.

[AmishDude]

The NSA is the largest employer of premier mathematicians and code breakers in the country, its Web site claims.

No. Second tier mathematicians. They don't pay enough.

[jae471]

They are also at the job fair of any college with a decent math/enginerring program. I put in an app with them last spring (Nothing came of it, but I might try again.)

[Tourist Guy]

Now THAT'S funny!~

[PoppingSmoke]

"SOMEBODY must know...Congress just sends them a blank check?"

YEP! No oversight what so ever.

[AmishDude]

They salivate over Ph.D. mathematicians. The problem is that young mathematicians can't publish any of their NSA work because it's classified. So, once you're in the NSA, you can't get back into academia. Hence, they should pay more!

[Militiaman7]

Worth every penny and more, IMHO.

[_Jim]

I suspect technologically and with bruit force computer power the NSA is up to the task

There's quite a bit of power available today in shrink wrap today for running on +1 GHz Wintel platforms that yields flexibility when doing research into 'codes': Mathematica, Derive, Matlab, Maple, Macsyma, MathCad ...

[PoppingSmoke]

"Translated: translation/transcription is NOT done in real time (at least it APPEARS that it is not done in real time)."

Wrong! it's prioritized. If the intercept fits the scope of the parameters. In this case it did not, so the 48 hour rule fell in place.

[John H K]

They salivate over Ph.D. mathematicians

What, all five of the PhD mathematicians with American citizenship to graduate from American colleges every year?

[mindprism.com]

Congress just sends them a blank check?

I think the CIA has its expenditures 'folded into' other gov program budgets. This is part of its design. Probably, in essense, no one really knows the whole picture. Im sure the NSA has a simular design.

Without real oversight, this is taxation minus representation, or - more accurately, a 'foreign' super-government installed within the USG.

If the Executive is the 'king' this is the 'queen'.

[Cvengr]

Might as well just send them a blank check. Remember these guys, if dedicated, could probably generate their own finances from their money market studies. It's easier to keep them as your friends. Besides, if one can't work with them as our friends, do you really want to have them as enemies? Mathematicians/Math Scientists typically aren't so carnally greedy,....but insults to their intelligence will probably tempt arrogance at best and who knows at worst.

[Cvengr]

I still remember the brochure for the NSA held by the college placement office some 15 years ago,....when discussing computational facilities for potential research the brochure read,....the agency has a very large computer......an understatement intuitively understood by most serious applicants.

[_Jim]

If the intercept fits the scope of the parameters.

You're not making sense, son. The article clearly doesn't state anything else ... unless you *know* something we all don't know ...

[AmishDude]

What, all five of the PhD mathematicians with American citizenship to graduate from American colleges every year?

Yeah, I'll say hi to "the guys" for you, BTW.