Wikileaks' paradoxical secrecy potential.

Wikileaks. There, I have said it. I have actually mentioned the biggest news story of the decade. It had to be...I have watched on the sidelines too long.

I have been thinking about what Wikileaks are doing and, it seems to me, that they may achieve the exact opposite of what they intend. Wikileaks has the parodoxical potential to usher in an era of much greater secrecy in the USA.

The problem is this: the more Wikileaks exposes the USA, the more the USA will wish to protect itself from exposure. At this time, they are attacking Wikileaks, for releasing the information and persecuting them in whatever way they can. However, this does not address the true problem here: Wikileaks is not the origin of the information: the USA government is. Some state employee - perhaps PFC Bradley Manning - perhaps not, has given Wikileaks all of its information. Indeed, Wikileaks is only able to function because there are US citizens (and those of other countries around the world), disgruntled enough to reveal "state secrets" to an outside organization. Wikileaks is not the problem, here: US internal security of information is. Quite simply, as it is presently organized, the USA is congenitally unable to keep secrets, because it is entrusting them to the wrong people.

Once the USA has destroyed Wikileaks - which it is clear it intends to do, it will have to turn its attention to the real problem: the USA itself. The only way the USA will be able, logically, to protect itself from a Wikileaks style problem, is if it massively upgrades the security on information within the USA. This means, essentially, one thing: restricting the number of people who have access to that information and vetting those people more carefully. At present, I have read in various online newspapers somewhere in the region of two to three million US government employees, in various functions, had access to the information that has been leaked to Wikileaks. That strikes me as far too many to have any measure of security. So, it seems inevitable that the USA will begin to restrict access to "secret" information, in the wake of Wikileaks. However, this creates its own problem. You see, if state employees do not have access to the information they need to make decisions, then the state itself cannot function effectively. Thus, the USA is stuck between two needs: to maintain security of information - and to be able to function as a state. The only way to resolve this would be to increase the height of the hierarchy and to centralize decision making, more. This means deciding upon a limited number of layers who have, perhaps varying access, to information - and cutting off large numbers of people who presently have access. Now, those who have been placed in the dark need to refer to "higher ups" for advice on matters on which they would previously be able to proceed themselves.

Clearly, what I have described is a logical consequence of seeking to reduce the chances of further leaks. It is also a culture of much enhanced secrecy. It is the kind of culture that, on the outside, America is not supposed to represent. Yet, that is precisely the kind of culture which Wikileaks may force America to become: one paranoid about secrecy, extremely hierarchical and compartmentalized. It would also, incidentally, be inflexible, slow to respond and may, at times, be paralyzed, by the inability of a small number of people to make a large number of decisions. In some ways, such a change in structure, would weaken America, in ways that would do more damage to America than, perhaps, a constant stream of Wikileaks revelations. Either way, America loses...

However, if America chooses the path to greater secrecy as a way to protect against Wikileaks and similar endeavours then, in a fundamental way, Julian Assange and Wikileaks, will have failed. They would have provoked a shift towards secrecy, when, in fact, they had sought a shift towards open-ness. Wikileaks may, in fact, create a much darker world than the one it seeks to usher in. Wikileaks may lead to a world steeped in virtually unbreachable secrecy, a world in which almost no-one knows what is going on - because access to that information has been restricted as much as it is possible to do so, and still have a functional State.

Yet, if Wikileaks loses, in this way, we all lose. America would become an even less pleasant place to live in, than it already is - and the world would know even less about its conduct, than they do now.

Whatever happens, this much is sure: long after President Obama has been forgotten (and he shall be, on a long enough timescale), Julian Assange and Wikileaks will be remembered, for what they sought to achieve, even if they never achieve it. Another thing is sure, too: America cannot win in this situation - indeed, they have already lost. They cannot suppress the flow of revelations - and they will only be able to prevent future ones, by changing the entire character of their nation, in ways that would be detrimental to it. Thus, it is not untrue to say, that, in this information war, one man has defeated the world's supposedly greatest superpower. History will never forget that...though future American textbooks, might leave that information out, if their present behaviour is extrapolated. Never mind...other countries will remember for them.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here: http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

The flaw in Modern Man.

There is truly something wrong with Mankind, when a seven year old child expresses disappointment at humans.

Today, my two elder sons, Ainan and Fintan (seven), loaded up Gran Turismo 5, on the PS3 – a present, from my mother to my eldest son.
Together, they watched the opening video, which was an extended tale of how cars were built – from the melting of metal, through to the polished artifact, at the end. The actual process of manufacture came as a surprise to Fintan. He really perked up when he saw the intricate dance of robots, in the automated factory.

“Cars are built by robots?”, he asked, in absolute incredulity. He seemed utterly stupefied at the idea.

He stared at the screen in disbelief that such a thing could ever be.

“Humans are SO lazy!”, he judged, appalled.

I saw, then, his disappointment. I rather felt that he had had this idea that cars were built by people who really knew and cared about the machines and who did so with the greatest of skill. He had imagined cars as being a handmade, human manufactured product, built by skilled artisans. To see them built by unthinking robots, was shattering for him. In an instant, all the romanticism that he had built up inside him, about the origins of cars, evaporated. So, too, did much of his faith in the abilities of individual people.

There seemed to be a view, implicit in him, that skilled, difficult tasks should be done by people. To learn that some are done by machines, did not fit his view of how people should be. He thought, I believe, that everything important should be done by humans – and, to him, building a car was an important, difficult matter. Fintan does not understand the economic advantages of robotic “staff” over human staff. All he sees, is that people are seemingly so lazy, that they would go to all the trouble of having machines do the work for them.

Fintan is right, of course. There has long been a tendency to automate whatever can be automated. Were computers as smart and flexible as humans EVERY task in society would be automated. Humans would then have nothing to do. Indeed, that is the logical end of all our technological development. Eventually, not only would humans be “lazy” but we might just be pointless too. What point is there in a human, when the machines do a better job, in all instances, more cheaply and inexhaustibly?

Fintan, of course, would be aghast at such a future. Yet, I fear he will see much more automation in his life, than I have in mine. He will also, I fear, see an increasing laziness of the human populace as more and more tasks are taken over by machines to leave less and less for us to do. In the end, perhaps, there will be nothing left for humans to do. What then, would life be, for such people, in such a world? I fear they would do what Fintan would most disapprove of: laze around all day, to no purpose and no end “enjoying themselves”, without, perhaps, truly knowing how to do so, with no real purpose to fulfill. It could, in fact, be an end to the world, in a very real way. People without any purpose, are not really people at all.

Fintan has seen the beginning of the end. It starts with factories that make cars, on their own, without much input from people at all. It ends, with a world where no-one quite knows what to do with themselves, anymore.
I hope, Fintan, that you cling onto your own purposes in such a world – and ignore the culture of “laziness” you see all around you.

Perhaps I should find, for him, a workshop, where cars are handmade, just to restore his faith in people. Does anyone know of one? Please post below.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here: http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

On refolding reality

On December 1st, Tiarnan, four, brought something unusual to the dinner table.

In his chunky little hands, he held a paper ornament, made of thin card. It was grey and instantly suggestive of something – at least, to me.

“What is that?”, asked Fintan, seven, peering curiously across the table at his younger brother.

“An elephant.”, I said, answering for Tiarnan, without pausing to reflect whether I should do so. Indeed, that is what it was: an origami elephant. Tiarnan’s teacher had made it at school, for him.

Tiarnan’s eyes were held captive by his paper elephant, but his mind was on other possibilities. He spoke, at once, on hearing my description, managing to declare his thought, even before mine had faded in the room.

“But it can turn into a plane!”, Tiarnan exclaimed. He then set about, immediately, unfolding the elephant, and making it into a plane.

In a few seconds, his elephant had become a jet fighter. He moved it through the air, as if on powerful jets, for Fintan to see.

Fintan was enamoured of the new born plane, in an instant, and reached over to Tiarnan to take it from him. Tiarnan obliged without argument, perhaps wishing to share the experience of the plane he had made from an elephant.

I watched Fintan play with the plane. It shot back and forth along the dining room table, propelled by its young, external, pilot. Though it didn’t show on my face, I smiled inwardly to see Fintan enjoy something so simple, so much. Indeed, it was wonderful to be a child, of such an age, that such things delight.

Tiarnan watched, attentively, from across the table, seeming to enjoy the sight almost as much as if he piloted it himself.

Seeing the plane fly gave a new meaning to “flying elephants” – for indeed, Tiarnan had made an elephant fly.

It was a perfect childhood scene, one both simple and beautiful. What made it more of interest, to me, is Tiarnan’s creative response to the situation. The elephant his teacher had made, was all very well. However, elephants don’t inspire children’s imaginations in the way that planes do. Yet, that had been no problem for Tiarnan. He had seen the possibility of a plane, within the folds of the elephant – and had remodelled it, in a moment, to suit the desires of his imagination, the better.

It is an essential part of the creative imagination, to be able to see what could be, in what is: to see the possibilities that lie unrealized in life and the moment. Tiarnan has that. It was such a casual simple thing for him to turn the elephant into a plane – yet so meaningful, too. Many children, you see, on seeing the paper elephant, would not be able to see it as anything but a paper elephant. Tiarnan, however, saw more deeply into it. He saw, without any evident delay, that the “elephant” could just as easily – and more enjoyably – become a plane, with a little judicious folding.

I wonder at what Tiarnan shall be, one day. He is such a blend of faculties, that it is difficult to say what he might make of them. He has many nascent gifts – gifts that don’t necessarily normally belong together, I think, in one person. Thus, he has the potential to become a most unexpected person – one who may not, reasonably, fit into any standard mould.

I have a hope that he will use his nascent creative powers to become a creative person of some kind. Of course, I can only hope that, for it is for him to choose what he will be. I see, though, quite clearly, that he has the basic mental foundations of a creative individual, of, perhaps, a surprising individual. I hope he chooses wisely and well, what he does with those powers and chooses to become a man worthy of the young child he is today. Yet, it is a long journey from now, to then. I can only help him along, in whatever way I am able, until the day he walks free in the world, without any need for help, at all. In the meantime, he can make elephants fly!

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here: http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

Elaine Kaufman and Lord Valentine the Misplaced.

Elaine Kaufman, the famous restaurateur, and owner of the eponymous Elaine's in New York's Upper East Side, has died at the age of 81. Now, those who don't know my life well, will wonder why on Earth I am blog posting about her. Well, there is a reason: I met her, several times.

I met Elaine Kaufman under quite bizarre circumstances. This was many years ago, in the mid nineties. At the time, I was engaged on my Lord Valentine the Misplaced project. He was an 18th century dandy, at liberty in the modern world. Indeed, he was at liberty in Manhattan, when I first met Elaine. I had been advised, to pop over to Elaine's when I visited New York. So, I duly did so. However, I did so in a way which was rather unusual: I did not go as myself, but as Lord Valentine the Misplaced.

I didn't know this at the time, but Elaine could be rather selective about whom she let in her restaurant. Fortunately, the first time I visited was with a well connected friend, by the name of Katherine. I would share her surname, but she never let me know it. Anyway, I was let in, with expressions of surprise all round...but no barring of the way.

I visited Elaine's several times and found the clientele typically well established, in whatever field they inhabited. It was a strange mix. One evening, I remember dining with a screenwriter, the head of the NFL, a New York theatrical producer and a British theatre director, Michael Rudman...I suppose football is just another branch of showbiz, so I suppose the mix wasn't so strange after all. Just to add some spice, there was, apparently, a famous cop in attendance, too...a real life, famous cop.

Elaine often sat at my table. She came across as smart, but could, I sensed, be strongly opinionated - perhaps that is what people liked about her: that she had a forceful character.

Her staff were loyal and seemed to stay with her for many years. My most memorable evening there was when I arrived, as Lord Valentine, fully attired as an 18th century gentleman - and the pianist struck up a tune that prompted me to pause mid-step: "My funny Valentine...", he began to sing. I was touched in a way I had never been before. Never in my life, had anyone acknowledged my entrance to a restaurant by playing a song just for me. Yet, there I was, as if I had stepped out onto a stage of my very own.

It was a moment that will probably never happen again, in my life. I do not ever expect to be acknowledged in such a direct and personal way, again. At the time, I realized acutely what it meant: that I had made an impression on these worldly wise New Yorkers - an impression large enough for them to feel they should acknowledge me, in that way.

It was an apt and witty song, he chose and it underlined my entrance to the restaurant in a most theatrical manner. I strode over and sat at my friends' table, aware that the song had the aural equivalent of a spotlight effect. I had, most pointedly, been introduced to everyone - at least, to those who knew my name, and would spot the joke.

I can't recall the pianist's name (possibly because I never knew it)...but I would like to thank him, for his kindness in playing a song just for me. It makes for a characterful memory. Thank you.

As for Elaine: I am sorry to hear of her passing, but she shall long be remembered, in NYC: for she turned herself into an icon, almost as famous as the showbiz stars and literary names, who frequented her restaurant. Tales will be told of her and her establishment for many years to come.

R.I.P, Elaine.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here: http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

The question of Quebec, Montreal.

I do wonder whether a visitor from Quebec, Montreal, is awaiting a response, to a post that I never received. I wonder, because this visitor from Quebec, Montreal, has visited the same page on my blog, for several days in a row, several times a day. I can only assume, therefore, that they are awaiting some kind of response, perhaps to a post that they attempted to make. Well, I am sorry to say that no such post has been received. Thus, if you are the visitor, from Quebec, Montreal, and you have something you wish to say...please post again, so that I might read it and respond to it.

I would like to apologize for your wait, should you, in fact, have posted - but, like I said, I have received no such post.

The blog post that has been read, repeatedly, these past several days is the one entitled: "Don't underestimate a gifted child".

I may be wrong, of course, and the Quebec, Montreal visitor may just, in fact, be fascinated by the post, in question, such that they wish to reread it, several times a day, for several days. If so, perhaps that visitor would like to let me know why it is so interesting? Thanks.