A colleague of mine, transplanted from Venzuela, told me once about a saying of his homeland: loosely translated, it states, "there's nothing more dangerous than an idiot with initiative." Nothing exemplifies the truthfulness of this saying than the fact that one of the most esteemed security researchers of our time was denied entry to the US to present her findings.
That's one way to read it. Of course, maybe the DHS knows something that we don't: maybe Dr. Wang is really a terrorist disguised as a groundbreaking security researcher. Maybe in reality, she's an extremist whose innovative approach is to gain our trust by increasing the security of computer systems worldwide. Maybe after gaining our trust through subterfuge, she will part with the ruse, lace her houndstooth jacket with TNT, and blow up a subway. oooo... oooo... I got it - maybe her plan is to fill her research with subliminal anti-American messages and thus undermine the very foundation of the United States' mathematical community's confidence in our way of life. If you listen, you can just make out her maniacal laughter in the background (mwah hah hah hah hah hah.) Or DHS could just have made yet another public flub. Could go either way in my opinion.
Either way, the DHS is to be thanked: either by US citizens for stopping the insidious plot of the sinister Dr. Wang and her cronies, or by terrorits worldwide for continuing to ensure that the security of the United States remains below par.
Posted by Ed at August 17, 2005 04:21 PM