Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Inside the Starbucks at CIA HQ

washingtonpost.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 55 posts

Re: Inside the Starbucks at CIA HQ

#21

Post by mindcrime »

bane wrote: post #17
chroma wrote: post #9

Interesting article. The CIA sounds like a terrible place to work. No smartphones, definitely no BYOD, and you can't talk to coworkers about your projects. You don't even know if you have old friends who work at the same place. The benefits and pay are probably decent, but it seems like one could find a better job in the private sector. I guess the restrictions weed out a lot of people who aren't truly dedicated to t…

The tradeoff may be that you might get to work on some of the hardest problems known. At least harder than your average chat or photo sharing app.

to work on some of the hardest problems known

Like "how do we keep our torture camps secret?" and "what happens if we given random people LSD or other psychoactive drugs?"

I'll pass, thanks.

Re: Inside the Starbucks at CIA HQ

#22

Post by bane »

mindcrime wrote: post #21
bane wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The tradeoff may be that you might get to work on some of the hardest problems known. At least harder than your average chat or photo sharing app.

to work on some of the hardest problems known Like "how do we keep our torture camps secret?" and "what happens if we given random people LSD or other psychoactive drugs?" I'll pass, thanks.

I didn't say "morally pure" did I?

Re: Inside the Starbucks at CIA HQ

#23

Post by bane »

mindcrime wrote: post #19

Meh... am I supposed to hate the CIA and the rest of the military-industrial-espionage complex any less because of a cheery article about their Starbucks store? If anything, I now think less of Starbucks as a company, for knowing that they agreed to such a setup. I mean, yeah, maybe I'm being overly sensitive and care too much about torture, detention camps, pervasive surveillance, blatant disregard of the Constituti…

I don't think the CIA wants to give you the warm fuzzies. After all, their sole occupation at the end of the day is basically to destabilize and overthrow governments.

Re: Inside the Starbucks at CIA HQ

#24

Post by mindcrime »

bane wrote: post #23
mindcrime wrote: post #19

Meh... am I supposed to hate the CIA and the rest of the military-industrial-espionage complex any less because of a cheery article about their Starbucks store? If anything, I now think less of Starbucks as a company, for knowing that they agreed to such a setup. I mean, yeah, maybe I'm being overly sensitive and care too much about torture, detention camps, pervasive surveillance, blatant disregard of the Constituti…

I don't think the CIA wants to give you the warm fuzzies. After all, their sole occupation at the end of the day is basically to destabilize and overthrow governments.

True, but in theory - to some extent - Congress has some oversight of the CIA and (again, in theory) the will of The People can influence the CIA's budget and authority, etc. All in all, I'd guess that CIA leadership would prefer people see them as benevolent guardians of peace and democracy as much as possible.

But I could be wrong. Maybe they are effectively untouchable, know it, and don't give a flap what people like us think. shrug

Re: Inside the Starbucks at CIA HQ

#25

Post by CoachRufus87 »

chrissnell wrote: post #15
tzs wrote: post #10

> The baristas go through rigorous interviews and background checks and need to be escorted by agency “minders” to leave their work area I would have expected the baristas to be actual CIA agents in training. Barista is a job available all over the world. Starbucks itself has locations in 65 countries, covering most of North and South America, most of Europe, and most of Asia. They also have pretty good coverage in t…

This is pure conjecture but I've served in the military and know how these things work in the more security-sensitive areas of that organization: My guess is that they are contractors, placed there by whatever corporation handles the rest of their foodservice. They could be former military servicemembers (cooks, quartermaster, etc) who have clean enough records and credit to obtain the security clearance. I'd be will…

they check your credit?

Re: Inside the Starbucks at CIA HQ

#26

Post by mindcrime »

bane wrote: post #22
mindcrime wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

to work on some of the hardest problems known Like "how do we keep our torture camps secret?" and "what happens if we given random people LSD or other psychoactive drugs?" I'll pass, thanks.

I didn't say "morally pure" did I?

Fair enough!

Re: Inside the Starbucks at CIA HQ

#27

Post by beachstartup »

qewrffewqwfqew wrote: post #20

Not a spook, but it bugs me also when I'm asked to give my name to identify an order. I have an unusual name that people find difficult to pronounce and spell. Meanwhile, there are five Matts behind me who have each ordered different things. All six of us have to keep visual attention on the service area so we can identify our stuff when it comes out, because I won't know whose name they're trying to call and latte-M…

i'm sorry but it sounds like you're making things up. if your name is hard to spell or pronounce, why give them your real name?

these kinds of social constructs are meant to be gamed, not taken at face value. i know people who give baffling names to baristas just for the fun of it.

also, every starbucks i've ever been to say the name you give them, and the order description when they call out for pickup.

MIKE DOUBLE ICED AMERICANO. JOHN SOY CAPPUCCINO. LINDSAY FRAPPUCCINO WITH CARAMEL.

Re: Inside the Starbucks at CIA HQ

#28

Post by bane »

mindcrime wrote: post #24
bane wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think the CIA wants to give you the warm fuzzies. After all, their sole occupation at the end of the day is basically to destabilize and overthrow governments.

True, but in theory - to some extent - Congress has some oversight of the CIA and (again, in theory) the will of The People can influence the CIA's budget and authority, etc. All in all, I'd guess that CIA leadership would prefer people see them as benevolent guardians of peace and democracy as much as possible. But I could be wrong. Maybe they are effectively untouchable, know it, and don't give a flap what people l…

More disturbing, perhaps the CIA is reflective of the majority will of the people? (questions to keep you up at night)

Re: Inside the Starbucks at CIA HQ

#29

Post by BugBrother »

bane wrote: post #23
mindcrime wrote: post #19

Meh... am I supposed to hate the CIA and the rest of the military-industrial-espionage complex any less because of a cheery article about their Starbucks store? If anything, I now think less of Starbucks as a company, for knowing that they agreed to such a setup. I mean, yeah, maybe I'm being overly sensitive and care too much about torture, detention camps, pervasive surveillance, blatant disregard of the Constituti…

I don't think the CIA wants to give you the warm fuzzies. After all, their sole occupation at the end of the day is basically to destabilize and overthrow governments.

It is a new world after at least 1989 (probably decades older), the CIA almost only destabilize non-democratic juntas. Personally, I don't really care about the working situation for the juntas, they are generally criminal thieves that have stolen a country.

Re: Inside the Starbucks at CIA HQ

#30

Post by notatoad »

qewrffewqwfqew wrote: post #20

Not a spook, but it bugs me also when I'm asked to give my name to identify an order. I have an unusual name that people find difficult to pronounce and spell. Meanwhile, there are five Matts behind me who have each ordered different things. All six of us have to keep visual attention on the service area so we can identify our stuff when it comes out, because I won't know whose name they're trying to call and latte-M…

At every starbucks i've been to (and it seems like a pretty strictly defined script), they call out both the name and the order so latte-matt and sandwich-matt aren't assigned the same identifier. The barista calls out "i have a tall latte for matt" and matt who ordered a latte knows his order is ready. It solves both the problem of three latte-drinkers in the line and three matts in the line, as long as there is only one latte-drinking Matt. and assigning names to drinks prevents the queue-jumpers who order their grande latte and then grab the grande latte of the person 5 spots ahead of them.
Post reply on HN