Saturday, June 10, 2006



All relationships of men between themselves rest obviously on the fact that they know something about one another    
The future raises the two unsolvable problems of intelligence. One is predicting the future and the other is convincing policymakers of what they may not want to believe. While these problems are intensified by the proliferation of unbreakable systems of cryptography, they may be ameliorated by humankind’s greater reliance on facts and logic, its thirst for knowledge, and the tendency towards least effort, which intelligence aids. Intelligence is a mental phenomenon, and therefore so is its contrary, surprise. Though in a few cases people are surprised because they did not have enough information, more often they are surprised because they did not have enough time to make sense of the flood of facts. The clarity of hindsight proves this. 

A couple of lifetimes ago I might have become a movie reviewer Movie Reviewing: Job? Career? Calling?
SINCE all of us are deeply learned experts on the movies even when we don't know much about anything else, people wishing to make their mark as movie critics must either be able to express opinions like ours better than we can, or else they must be in charge of a big idea, preferably one that can be dignified by being called a theory How to Write About Film

Art of Living & Literature Across Frontiers: Ian Carnell: Trust and the Rule of Law
Truth is indeed “great and mighty above all things” — and in the often difficult world of intelligence, the smoke and mirrors make it a difficult thing indeed to discern. Yet it is that very capacity to ascertain the real amid the smoke and mirrors that is one of the great skills. Accountability is fundamental because only through proper accountability can agencies have the trust of the community.

In listing fundamentals we must include the need for community trust in agencies — and closely related to this is the importance of adherence to the rule of law. For it is only by having the trust of the community, of having acceptance that intelligence agencies are indeed trustworthy guardians of community safety and the rule of law, that the agencies will continue to be entrusted with significant powers and capabilities.


Looking over the intelligence world [1. Cold River Milos Forman (2007) Guardian reveals top 50 film adaptations ; Don't Hold Your Breath at Powell's Cold River ; Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope ]
• · Homeless blogger bags book deal; Determine how you want your customers to be treated and train your employees accordingly. This means that when someone comes into your business, they should be acknowledged immediately. Phone calls should be answered quickly and pleasantly. Transactions should be handled in an efficient, friendly manner. Ten Steps to Customer Happiness
• · · Performing Arts Encyclopedia ; Alan Ryan, in NYRB, reviews new books by Kwame Anthony Appiah, Amartya Sen, and Martha C. Nussbaum. It's a good read Cosmopolitans
• · · · Aquatics International magazine examined why so many children who are members of racial or ethnic minority groups drown, when compared to the number of white children who die in drowning accident When Children Drown ; Russell Crowe has revealed director Baz Luhrmann dumped him from an Australian-based film project before the Oscar-winning star had a chance to comment on a draft script. Dumped Crowe at a loss to explain the director's cut
• · · · · Internet affairs have replaced the office romance as a main cause of marriage break-ups. It can be anything from somebody putting a big toe in the water outside the marriage to see if the grass is in fact greener on the other side, to quite explicit nasty sexual practices with cameras on computers while their beloved is tucked up in bed in the room next door Marriages fall prey to cyber romance ; Your best mate is dating someone new. The first casualty? Your friendship. So how do you ensure that when your mate finds someone new, the friendship doesn't go astray? Mates before dates
• · · · · · Idol on the internet ; From the Usual to the Unconventional: Query Letters that Get Results