DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL REDUNDANCY
When the Office of the Director of National Intelligence starting gearing up last year, I figured it was going to predictably develop into another level of bureaucratic strata:
Beyond that, these early indications tell me that the new National Intelligence office is going to be nothing more than an administrative extension of the CIA, thereby giving that agency more clout for interdepartmental turf battles. Since the DNI was intended to be set above and apart from the various intelligence agencies in Washington, it appears early concerns that it would develop into an unneeded governmental layer had validity.
It looks like Congress concurs, demanding an architectural study of the DNI to justify its expanding staff and operations:
The bill would require the nations intelligence director, John D. Negroponte, to present a detailed rationale for any additional increases to his staff or risk losing a portion of his budget. The measure was endorsed by Republicans and Democrats.
Were concerned about some of the steps that are going on at Negropontes office, said Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Hoekstra said Negroponte needed to demonstrate that any further expansion would improve coordination among intelligence agencies, and would not amount to putting in more lawyers and slowing down the process.
Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice [Calif.]), the ranking Democrat on the committee, cited similar concerns.
We dont want more billets, more bureaucracy, more buildings, Harman said. We want more leadership.
It really wasnt hard to see this coming. When you create a governmental agency, its got nowhere to go but the bloat route. In the case of trying to coordinate the intellgence fiefdoms, forget it.
BRITNEY AS HIGH-ART EARTH MOTHER
I didnt want to post this picture of Daniel Edwards Monument to Pro-Life: The Birth of Sean Preston, currently on display at Brooklyns Capla Kesting Fine Art gallery. Honestly, I didnt.
But this sculpted likeness of a nude and pregnant Britney Spears, which is causing the predictable stir, just would not leave my mind. Maybe it was the puzzling inclusion of the bearskin rug. Or my curiosity about just how much anatomical detail was included on the backside, i.e. action, portion of this sculpture.
By the time evening fell, I was practically compelled to upload it. And so I did.
I get a kick out of Edwards apparently non-ironic intentions:
If its really a genuine demonstration, its avant-garde enough to make the mainstream anti-abortionists nerve-wrackingly suspicious. So if nothing else, Edwards has accomplished that.