Dead Drop: August 26

A WAR WE ARE DESTINED TO LOSE: Politico says the National Security Council has launched a secret war against secrecy and that they are trying to get a handle on the nation’s unwieldy classification system.  “It’s in our nation’s best interest to be as transparent as possible with the American public regarding U.S. government records and activities,” said an administration official speaking on the condition that he or she not be identified.  Really. The article says that according to the National Archives and Records Administration, the federal government creates “petabytes” (i.e., millions of gigabytes) of classified information each year. Printed out – one petabyte is reportedly enough to fill 20 million tall filing cabinets (or be enough to fill a million Mar-a-Lagos with classified info stacked floor to gilded ceiling.)

WE NOW RETURN YOU TO YOUR REGULAR PROGRAMMING:  Ukrainian hackers managed to get access to a TV channel aimed at Russians currently residing in occupied Crimea. According to Ukrainian Pravda, the hackers inserted an address by President Zelensky into a TV show. “Let each of the Russian officials who seized precious land in Crimea remember that this is not a land where they will have peace,” Zelenskyy says in the video. We imagine traffic heading back to Russia got even worse after that public service announcement.

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