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CIA suddenly stops publishing, removes archives of The World Factbook

simonwillison.net

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Re: CIA suddenly stops publishing, removes archives of The World Factbook

#81

Post by gunapologist99 »

scarecrowbob wrote: post #13

Damn I wish the waning of US soft power felt like a positive thing to me; the CIA, along with the DEA, has been one of the more powerful criminal networks on the planet since its inception in the mid 20th C. It doesn't feel like the US gov is moving away from the soft-power/understated action stuff because the US gov is somehow committed to being less evil. It feels to me like they don't feel like it's as useful as t…

But in some ways publishing your opinions on other countries might be the equivalent of sharing your hand at the poker table, right? So this arguably strengthens the soft-power method as well. (OTOH, to your point: how you describe other countries is itself an exercise in soft power, so your point is well taken in that respect.)

Re: CIA suddenly stops publishing, removes archives of The World Factbook

#82

Post by AngryData »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #65
supjeff wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much do we believe the current administration values "intelligence"? For the most part, the truth is trump's enemy. as far as he can control it, it's better for his to be the only authoritative voice. If he says Australia is full of muslims and bad hombres, he doesn't need the CIA contradicting him.

> How much do we believe the current administration values "intelligence"? Broadly? A lot. Donald Trump is wickedly smart. So is Stephen Miller. Susie Wiles. Hegseth is an idiot, but he's Chip 'n' Dale to Marco Rubio. (Our planes aren't falling off our carriers any more. And the raid on Caracas was executed flawlessly. That isn't something numpties can pull off.)

What makes you think h is smart instead of a blubbering idiot that Mr Magoo his way through life? All the reports from people who knew him personally had very low regard for his intellegence, and that is even before taking into account his repeated public blunders.

Re: CIA suddenly stops publishing, removes archives of The World Factbook

#84

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

linuxhansl wrote: post #83

What is going on? This will not/hardly save any money. And this was a source of US soft power (deciding which facts to list, how to report on them, etc, allowed to shape an opinion.)

This administration doesn't seem to see value in soft power.

Re: CIA suddenly stops publishing, removes archives of The World Factbook

#85

Post by adventured »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #78
red-iron-pine wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Donald Trump is wickedly smart. wut. this is a joke, right? Stephen Miller... maybe. He's mostly evil and shiftless, and willing to utilize any and all tools.

> wut. this is a joke, right? No, it's not. He's smart. His political instincts are well honed. And he's good at surrounding himself with strategists. I'm not sure he's wickedly intelligent . And he's getting old, which cuts into his cleverness and memory. But his wit is quick (recall the Republican debates), retention used to be spectacular and has achieved things which you simply cannot do by being the bumbling dop…

The bumbling dope is the default go-to characterization by the left, they always target intelligence first no matter what.

Bush 1 was a dope. Dan Quayle was a dope. Bush 2 was a dope (until they decided they liked him). Sarah Palin was a dope. Trump is a dope. Vance is a dope.

The left views intelligence as a top tier prize, so they start by first trying to dismantle someone's standing on that.

How likely is it that all of those people are actually stupid compared to the typical voter? Zero chance. They're more likely to be considerably smarter than the typical voter, above average intelligence across the board. Are Bill Clinton and Obama smarter than Trump? Yes imo. But you can't play at nuance in the propaganda game though, so the left always settles on: my opponent is stupid; and they push hard in that direction.

Re: CIA suddenly stops publishing, removes archives of The World Factbook

#86

Post by tremon »

axus wrote: post #60
ks2048 wrote: post #48

This is surely just the tip of the iceberg of what is going on in the CIA at the moment. Senator Ron Wyden just sent a mysterious public letter about concerns about what they are doing. https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5724300-ron-wyden-cia-le...

Whenever there's a mystery, apply the scientific method to investigate it. Form a hypothesis, an experiment or test , then record the results and check if they support. Hypothesis: CIA is hacking reporters to determine their government sources. If we start seeing more government sources exposed, we haven't proven it but it supports the hypothesis. Hypothesis: State election systems are being compromised for federal m…

The CIA's primary remit is outside of their own country. If the CIA is turning their focus inward, that's actually good news for the remainder of the civilized world.

Re: CIA suddenly stops publishing, removes archives of The World Factbook

#87

Post by idle_zealot »

red-iron-pine wrote: post #67
idle_zealot wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It feels to me like they don't feel like it's as useful as the application simple hard power. They do feel that way, but I think they're wrong. Pervasive soft power is a lot better for building stable systems of oppression than more overt shows of force. They're either really bad at, or not interested in (probably both) building anything. I don't think this period of brutal oppression they're gearing up for is goin…

this isn't 1820 -- most people's perception is via social media, and failing that, legacy media. which is why the big tech bros and the openAI execs donated money to Trump; "kiss the ring". it's why Larry Ellison desperately wants to buy CBS. recent posts show that 1/3 of the US electorate will still, in all likelihood, vote Republican, again, even after everything that has happened.

You're talking about that effective soft power, yes. There are some smarter authoritarians still maintaining it, but when things get overt it loses a lot of efficacy. We've swung from 1/2 to 1/3 support for Republicans, despite most people going about their lives more-or-less normally outside of one small city. So that swing is attributed to a failure of soft power. Check out opinions in Minneapolis to see what application of hard power looks like.

Re: CIA suddenly stops publishing, removes archives of The World Factbook

#88

Post by wan23 »

gunapologist99 wrote: post #80

I know this isn’t a popular opinion, and yeah, I will also miss it, but I’ve always thought the World Factbook was a strange thing for the CIA to be publishing in the first place. Not because the information is false, but because the act of choosing which facts to publish is itself an opinion. Once you accept that, you’re no longer talking about neutral data; you’re talking about the official position of the United S…

Alternatively, an intelligence agency might publish what they want you to think they know, or simply what they want you to think.

Re: CIA suddenly stops publishing, removes archives of The World Factbook

#89

Post by offmycloud »

arjie wrote: post #64

Really don't like this engagement-bait style "suddenly stops" / "have quietly" and all this stuff. It's no wonder it works. The headline from the CIA is far more staid and off the front page in comparison https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46891794 It's not even a bad submission saying that he mirrored it here: https://simonw.github.io/cia-world-factbook-2020/

How did the word "suddenly" get into the title?
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