I did my required, annual insider threat training today. One bit of information stood out far more this year than it is ever had before.
Recruitment
- Reportable indicators of recruitment include, but are not limited to:
- Unreported request for critical assets1 outside official channels
- Unreported or frequent foreign travel
- Suspicious foreign contacts
- Contact with an individual who is known to be, or is suspected of being, associated with foreign intelligence, security, or terrorism
- Unreported offer of financial assistance, gifts, or favors by a foreign national or stranger: Beware of those bearing gifts
1 “Critical assets” are assets essential to an organization’s mission or to national security that, if exploited, could result in serious harm. They include: classified information; proprietary information; intellectual property; trade secrets; personnel security.
I just can’t quite put my finger on why this stood out at me more this year…
So remember: if you see something, say something!
Stay frosty!
Open thread.
Baud
Finally, a thread I can comment in.
Adam L Silverman
@Baud: You’re welcome!
dmsilev
This is the shitty-person open thread, right?
Corner Stone
God, I hope so.
Baud
Probably the first year when the training produced howls of laughter from the trainees.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: I think, as Steve in the ATL noted, attorneys were unwelcome in the previous thread.
jl
Nothing about someone griping around the water cooler about famous porn stars they had sex with, who probably have pix, but they won’t abide by the NDA? What kind of crummy insider threat indicator for recruitment training is that?
Adam L Silverman
@dmsilev: @Corner Stone: But of course!
Adam L Silverman
@?BillinGlendaleCA: As is tradition…
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
I did the same training a year ago (required for all USDOT employees whether they handle any type of sensitive material or not). Noted the same thing and furthermore my training included a list of psychosocial warning signs including anger, resentment, etc. that also fit a certain person to a T.
jl
@Baud:
” Finally, a thread I can comment in. ”
Baud 2020! campaign recruitment thread!
scav
@Corner Stone: As do many of us.
Fair Economist
@Baud: Ridiculous. Baud, you are the ultimate outsider.
Adam L Silverman
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: This did too.
Brachiator
This is very sad and very funny.
RSA
I went through training a few months ago, and when I came across this report in NY Magazine,
I immediately thought of this red flag:
Adam L Silverman
@Brachiator: Yep and yep!
Adam L Silverman
@RSA: Yep. That’s in the rundown at one of the links.
Omnes Omnibus
I remember that, when I was stationed in Germany, the markers were spending a lot of money relative to income, driving a sports car, taking frequent trips to other countries. My buddy and I used to talk about it as we drove in his Porsche to go skiing in Austria and Switzerland every weekend we could.
Mary G
Open thread?
Politico Magazine has a feature on a dark horse Democratic presidential candidate who’s a great alternative to Bernie/Joe/Elizabeth and other grey hairs. His name is Pete Buttigieg and he’s the mayor of South Bend, Indiana.
I like him and I’ve been following him on twitter since he did unexpectedly well in the race to head the DNC (and between Tom Perez and Keith Ellison, getting attention is an achievement.)
When he sets up a committee, I am going to donate. He’s perfect foil for Twitler and I can see the #MarchForOurLives kidz really going for him.
Brachiator
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?:
To a T.
I see what you did there.
LAO
@Baud: @dmsilev: Ah, finally!
lamh36
This witch was wrong, and spread this bullshit far and wide and now it’s too damn late…cause now the usual folks calling her retraction FAKE NEWS. She was looking for something to discredit one of the Parkland kids…so she took an doctored video and ran full tilt with it. Of course nothing will happen to her…Redstate will just keep on trucking along…but I hope that karma does it’s due diligence on this heffa. And I’m with Soledad…this is a lame azz apology.
I’ll link to Soledad’s tweet, but not a direct link to that woman…
Dmbeaster
The revelation that Kushner sought secret back channel communications is just gigantic. There was no proper purpose for doing that. It has guilt written all over it.. It seems lost in all the other sleaze, and also it has not been disclosed what the purpose was, so it simmers below the surface. Some day more of this story will be known.
JMG
In 2000, I was lucky enough to cover the Sydney Olympics for my paper. One slow day, I thought that the dog and pony show to be held by the Beijing 2008 committee would be a good story. It was, kind of, mostly because the Chinese speakers were so much like the Atlanta Olympic Committee in so many ways (nix to the solidarity of the proletariat, up with local boosterism) as to amuse me. But the highlight came after the press op when I and the Philadelphia writer who was the only other American there were approached by a beautiful young woman in a suit that cost more than my car who was with the Beijing delegation and asked us if she could video interviews with us. Sure. We weren’t going to turn her down. She asked some boilerplate questions and I truthfully said it would be neat to see China, as did the Philly guy. It was only later we realized she hadn’t been really filming us, she’d been filming the Olympic ID photocard hung around our necks. Somewhere in the bowels of the Forbidden City is me, listed as an unwitting agent of the People’s Republic. I was out of the newspaper business before 2008, so the flirtation never got past that, I guess.
efgoldman
I guess that’s the end of the non-shitty thread.
debbie
@lamh36:
What more could you expect from someone at Redstate? Right now, there’s a guy on a FB friend’s post insisting that Hogg is questionable because his father is with the CIA. I’m ticked because I can’t report the post.
JPL
@Baud: Unless you are a member of the Trump clan, you can post on this thread.
Calouste
@Mary G: Being mayor of a city of 100,000 is not enough experience to run for President. Let him go for something in between first. And yeah, it sucks that he is from Indiana, where it might be hard for him to become Governor or Senator.
ETA: that he thinks he can run for president with his limited experience is a major disqualifier for me.
zhena gogolia
@efgoldman:
I’m still back there commenting into empty space.
debbie
A description of a PBS show broadcasting tonight:
What the heck is an artisanal mortician???
efgoldman
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?:
Because people waiting in line for two hours, wondering if they’re going to make their flight, wouldn’t be angry or resentful.
Mnemosyne
Today I got to make someone scan his ID badge before I would let him through the gate behind me. But because of where I work, I did it with a big “have a magical day!” smile. ?
Omnes Omnibus
@debbie: If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.
divF
@debbie: When I first read it I thought it was describing a single person, rather than four people.
lamh36
Open thread…ok…so…um this happned –>
I can’t be the ONLY one who thought of the Dave Chappelle…Oprah skit when reading this…LOL
Dave Gets Oprah Pregnant – Uncensored https://on.cc.com/QD9AYR via @comedycentral
TenguPhule
@Baud:
Reminds me of the Farside cartoon where every sheep in the flock turns out to be a wolf in drag.
divF
@Mnemosyne: That is some pretty rigorous security – does The Mouse have a plutonium facility ?
TenguPhule
@efgoldman:
How would they notice when they’re stuck on their smartphone?
TenguPhule
@divF:
She could tell you, but then she’d have to kill you.
Jay
@debbie:
Morticians who assist the Family in bringing back some of the friends and family involvement in death and burial, rather than for profit funerals.
efgoldman
@Omnes Omnibus:
When I was a lad, and dad was stationed in Germany, all the young single officers bought sports cars and spent the weekends and off days driving to other countries.
TenguPhule
@efgoldman:
So to France then?
Kathleen
@debbie: Services only locally sourced corpses?
TenguPhule
@Kathleen:
Killed humanely and without artificial preservatives?
Jay
@divF: @Kathleen:
Free range, organically raised, from small Family owned farms and cooperatives.
debbie
@Jay:
So, an off-label use of an overused word.
efgoldman
@divF:
Hell, when I worked at Enormous Brokerage and Mutual Funds LLC, at an office park in the middle of nowhere, we had to swipe photo RFD IDs to get into the building, to get access to certain floors, and to get into certain workspace. Always seemed like overkill to me.
lamh36
As someone said… China schooling Kim on how to get the most out of Chump?
Here is a pic: https://twitter.com/chadocl/status/978781054407294976
?BillinGlendaleCA
@TenguPhule:
I’m sure just to visit these folk.
efgoldman
@TenguPhule:
Luxemourg, Holland, Denmark, other parts of Germany (Bavaria was popular). Actually any place not under Soviet occupation.
Jeffro
@jl:
It’s a little specific, is all I’m saying. You can’t prepare for every possibility.
Besides, what kind of moron would let himself get set up like that? Totes unrealistic…
Kathleen
My youngest brother lives in a huge apartment complex in a northern Cincinnati neighborhood. Several years ago, a Russian woman occupied an apartment a couple of floors down from his unit. They would meet as they were entering or leaving the building and eventually became somewhat friendly. If I recall she had a killer plant. They went to a concert together and she invited him to a party which included only other Russians. We joked that he was probably consorting with Russian spies.
A day or two after Feds busted a Russian gambling ring back east (in 2013), she suddenly moved without warning or farewell. We both thought that move was not coincidental. She left the killer plant.
Kathleen
@TenguPhule: Uses only gluten free, organic embalming fluid.
Miss Bianca
@Calouste: Well, tbf, Mayor of South Bend is one metric shit-ton more political experience than the current PO(TU)S had upon taking office.
RobertDSC-Mac Mini
@lamh36:
Wow. KJU actually left the country? Weird.
Jay
@debbie:
Yes, and no. Once upon a time, families, friends and the community, with some help from a Minister, would manage the death and funeral process, which would often last up to a week.
It would require intimate contact with the body, often some rituals long since abandoned, gifts of service from the community, and was often a core part of the grieving process.
Kelly
@efgoldman: When I worked for Gigantic Global Tech Corp my cube was in a small rented building near the main campus with absolutely terrible card locks. Often took 5~6 swipes to get in. One day in frustration I tried slipping the card into the latch like in the movies and IT WORKED. Eventually someone in management noticed me and decent locks were installed. I retained an undeserved rep as an ace hacker.
Jay
@RobertDSC-Mac Mini:
He has an armoured train.
Mnemosyne
@divF:
How else can we keep Walt’s head cold enough?
Shit, I’ve said too much.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne: Yup, you’ll get a visit from The Mouse tonight.
Gravenstone
@Jay: Wonder if Putiin gave him a discount on an unused railcard mobile ICBM launcher?
Corner Stone
@lamh36: And that no good, low down dirty swamp POS Sarah Rumpf shows up alllll the time in NeverTrumper’s twit feeds.
And that is to say, a reminder that I hate Tom Nichols’ fucking guts. He was also criticizing David Hogg earlier today. In very specious ways.
Repatriated
Didn’t they have a fleet of submarines?
… And a space program, too.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: Yep. They found a method identifying both spies and company grade officers.
Omnes Omnibus
@Jay: And here I thought Strelnikov was Pasha Antipov.
danielx
@debbie:
Inquiring minds want to know. Maybe they stuff skulls with brie?
Jay
ar·ti·san·al
ärˈtēzən(ə)l/Submit
adjective
relating to or characteristic of an artisan.
“artisanal skills”
(of a product, especially food or drink) made in a traditional or non-mechanized way.
“artisanal cheeses”
Southern Goth
@debbie:
I don’t know, but be assured that he does it in Earnest.
Repatriated
@Southern Goth:
Dead Earnest.
Mary G
@Calouste: @Miss Bianca: Obama had less administrative experience when he was elected president. More from the profile:
Of course, YMMV. The end:
Adam L Silverman
@lamh36: The rumpfshaker!
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@Jay:
And I was assuming it had to do with old-school mummification, maybe Viking-style pyres and burials at sea.
danielx
@Mary G:
Some Americans, anyway.
Gelfling 545
@Calouste: I want to see people with at least SOME foreign policy exposure running. It’s going to be a big job unwinding this mess.
Mnemosyne
@Mary G:
What other offices has he held? Obama was both a state and a US senator and had held elective office for a dozen years before 2008.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: Oblig.
danielx
@Gelfling 545:
Well, there is his experience in dealing with both South Bend’s black and Polish-extraction populations, which is a pretty sharp divide.
Mnemosyne
@Gelfling 545:
Why do you think the propaganda against Hillary continues from the left? The last thing the Russians want is for a former Secretary of State to get involved in unwinding this mess, and they’ll do everything they can to smear anyone who tries to enlist Hillary’s help.
Adam L Silverman
@debbie: Which is itself screwing up the conspiracy. His father is a retired FBI special agent.
Chyron HR
@Mary G:
Wow, we haven’t even had the midterms yet and already we’ve selected 2020’s One True Candidate Who Must be Nominated or the World Will Be Destroyed For Denying His Glory. Glad to see the left is on top of things.
Adam L Silverman
@debbie: A mortician that uses extra virgin olive oil and Himalayan salt in his or her proprietary embalming fluid.//
Jay
@West of the Rockies (been a while):
Probably possible if you can get the permits, boats and pyramids, maybe ask Ben Carson.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
I thought you were going to mention the story about how Jared requested more intel by far than anyone else, which I’m sure included plenty outside his need-to-know. Indicator #1.
Adam L Silverman
@Kathleen: Ethically harvested and served from slab to table only within a 25 mile radius.
FlyingToaster
@Omnes Omnibus: And overseas employees of US Flag Carriers (Airlines). A fair number of the kids I went to MS/HS with had spent a couple-three years in EU boarding schools while their parents were loaned to national airlines in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and east Africa. The kid I used to babysit spent his MS/HS in boarding school while his parents were loaned from TWA to Olympic and Saudia. A kid in 8th grade has spent his K-2 years in Switzerland while his parents were in Ethiopia.
I hope the training goes beyond the “foreign travel” to “look at the context of same”.
Edited for spelling
moops
we sort of got off the lead teaser, which I’d like folks to get back on. People like Jared sure do set off a lot of the checklist red flags. But really, foreign assets? Do we think there are really foreign recruited agents in the White House? This bunch of people are idiots. Does having a idiot as a deep plant asset help?
moops
Why recruit an idiot like JarJar when the doofus gives intel to people like the crown prince of Saudi Arabia for free.
Adam L Silverman
@Jay: Here’s a picture:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c6/8e/c2/c68ec2908a11fbc7672d2538899f93d2.jpg
Gravenstone
@Chyron HR: don’t be an ass. Huge difference in expressing a rooting interest in a prospective candidate and anointing them the one true savior.
Kathleen
@Adam L Silverman: Also, the corpses are grass fed and free range.
Gelfling 545
@Miss Bianca: so does the president of the PTA.
Trollhattan
@debbie:
Thinking of the Portlandia skit “You could pickle that!”
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: She doesn’t look like that.
p.a.
shitty person open thread? present. do I need to sign in?
Mnemosyne
@moops:
What do you think Michael Flynn was?
And keep in mind that you can recruit people who don’t realize they’ve been recruited because they think that you’re helping them do what they want. This whole crew strikes me as people who are both stupid and easy to manipulate, which is exactly what a spymaster would want.
Jay
@moops:
Yup, it helps. Look at the history of foreign spies in the US. Not many Bonds, or Ludlum characters, or even any of Smilie’s crew.
Mostly compromised individuals with access, who manage one way or another to avoid the checks long enough, often through mismanagement.
Mnemosyne
@lamh36:
And yet the writer’s pinned tweet is still a defense of poor, beleaguered Marco Rubio. So, yeah, eff her.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@moops:
Yes.
Jay
@Adam L Silverman:
Kim could never wear that.
Adam L Silverman
@Jay: Well they’d have to let it out…
Jay
@Adam L Silverman:
And make it shorter, and send somebody out for a chest plate stretcher.
Corner Stone
@moops:
Case to be made it was not for free.
rikyrah
@lamh36:
That was a funny skit???
TenguPhule
@Kathleen:
Does it still work free lance or just bask in the shade these days?
EBT
@efgoldman: At Valve in Seattle, the building they have several floors of won’t let you press any elevator buttons besides the floor you work on.
TenguPhule
@Jay:
Love for the dead gone too far?
Jay
@TenguPhule:
Nope, in much of the west, the death of a loved one has become as antiseptic and outsourced as the plastic covered meat on styrofoam trays.
ARoomWithAMoose
@EBT: Valve’s “Steam” as a game publishing platform for third parties is pretty much all their revenue at this point, world wide in scope, with all the hassle of covering each country’s online privacy and financial laws concerning cash equivalent transactions and payment card transactions. Damn sure they have a physical audit log of everyone that comes into that building and a default “minimal access” for all employees, even GabeN.
pnein58
@Baud: Sadly, no. That’s happened more than once in my Army research lab. What’s worse are the years when they CID briefers go full Stasi, and no one notices.
satby
@Calouste: well, to be fair, it’s way more relevant experience than the current illicit occupant of the Oval Office ever had. Mayor Pete seems pretty popular here, that’s really the extent of my knowledge. Seems to be doing the right things in revitalizing the city.
efgoldman
@Kelly:
I worked at unnamed public broadcasting station in the early 70s in the early days of (magnetic) card swipes. Any card with a magnetic strip worked.
SgrAstar
@Calouste: Buttigieg is a Harvard grad, Rhodes Scholar, and Afghanistan vet. Boxes ticked. I agree he should build up his experience base. Brains and guts, he has.
frosty
@Jay: Well, my siblings and I threw our parents overboard with our own hands, just like they asked.*
* … to have their ashes comingled and scattered in the Chesapeake Bay.
satby
@Chyron HR: that’s a dick reply to what MaryG expressed. She said, essentially, that Buttigeg is an emerging politician to watch as opposed to the current well known crop. And unlike St. Wilmer, Mayor Pete has had to actually run a multicultural rust belt city and revitalize it on a shoestring. And though people associate the wealthy Notre Dame University with South Bend, it incorporated as it’s own city so it doesn’t contribute any taxes to South Bend.
He’s an interesting guy, and I hope he goes farther in the Democratic Party too.
GxB
@divF: I’m reading it as three individuals. Oxford frigging comma people – use it, love it.
And a sawbuck says the mortician/philosopher rides a “fixie”.
Omnes Omnibus
@GxB: Preach it! And “no, duh!” on the fixie.
Jager
@Omnes Omnibus: Yeah but you got discounted lift tickets, right?
Omnes Omnibus
@Jager: In Austria and Switzerland? Hah!
ETA: But I got to ski there. Priorities.
Jager
@Omnes Omnibus: The BIL of a friend of mine was an Army Medic in Germany in the early 60’s, he spent two winters as a ski patrolman at German ski areas that catered to GIs and dependents. Great duty!
uen
@Jager: We went deeper into the Alps.
Omnes Omnibus
@Jager: We went deeper into the Alps.
Jager
@Omnes Omnibus: I’ll bet you did.
Omnes Omnibus
@Jager: Golly.
mad citizen
@Mary G: two hoosier presidents in a row! I would love that!
J R in WV
@frosty:
My brother and I threw my mom and dad’s ashes into a waterfall they loved, so same, kinda. We cried, even though their deaths were 7 and 1.5 years ago. Or I did, anyway.
frosty
@satby:
He sounds like John Fetterman, mayor of Braddock, PA, who was running in the PA primary to beat Toomey and got shunted aside by the PA Dems and lost. He too was working to revitalize a rusted out Rust Belt town. Also, too, MS from Harvard.
The D candidate (Katie McGinty) then proceeded to run an uninspiring campaign (IMHO) and I’m left with that execrable R as a senator. I dunno, I think in the climate in 2016 a tattooed, skinhead, bearded, outspoken populist/socialist could have gotten enough Trump voters to win.
Corner Stone
@frosty: He was an early Bernie guy and was outspoken about how Bern ditched his ass and left him hanging.