Darin

Examining an Empirical Approach to Human Intelligence (HUMINT) Collection

In my previous life, I worked alongside several incredible intelligence professionals. We ran a few confidential informants or sources together. Most of our collection was obtaining human intelligence (HUMINT) to satisfy national security intelligence gaps.

What is a “national security intelligence gap”? First, national security, from a US perspective, is information relating to protecting America, her secrets, and her national assets. An intelligence gap, on the other hand, is a set of topics decided by the executive branch. For instance, a possible intelligence gap that exists now might be information about the Proud Boys. Intelligence collectors would then ask their sources for any information relating to Proud Boys. This information is collected, analyzed, and used to inform decision makers on policies and operations. Make sense?

When running sources, my colleagues and I used a direct approach to collect HUMINT. We would typically ask our sources for information. We did not usually utilize deception or special techniques.

There is a technique known as the Scharff technique, named after World War II interrogator Hanns Scharff (1907-1992). Scharff was known for being friendly in his interrogation.

During his work, he identified three counterinterrogation strategies:
1) ‘I will not tell very much during the interrogation’;
2) ‘I will try to figure out what they are after, and then make sure not to give them what they want’; and,
3) ‘It is meaningless to withhold or deny what they already know.’
He then sought to counteract these strategies.

In a 2014 study, researchers (Oleszkiewicz, Granhag, & Kleinman) applied the direct approach and two variants of the Scharff techniques to obtain HUMINT in an empirical research setting. The researchers used the Scharff confirmation and disconfirmation/confirmation technique as the variants. The former is where potentially accurate information is provided to the source, and the source is given a few moments to comment (confirm or deny whether it is accurate). The latter is where a known incorrect claim is provided in order for the source to negate or disconfirm.

Ultimately, the researchers found that the participants in the confirmation condition provided more information than participants in other conditions. This was interesting, especially given my former experience. And, this goes to show that no matter how secretive or classified a process may be, science can make it better.

Using Memes in Education: A Powerful Tool

Working in the educational space, I like to find creative ways to encourage learning. I often mix multimedia elements to better engage with the learner. This is not always possible, as often the subjects are too esoteric. Finding humorous videos on the FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) or information security can be a daunting task. My remedy: Memes.

A few years back, the BBC wrote about a 1921 cartoon that they believed could be the first meme ever used. The “flashlight” was the word used for a photo.

Gerken, T. (16 April 2018). “Is this 1921 cartoon the first ever meme?” BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-43783521

These simple images–often humorous–provide others an opportunity to view a concept through another lens. Anna Harvey (2020) wrote in the British Medical Journal: “These images spread and ‘evolve’ quickly—often gaining many layers of meaning. Online groups can have their own ‘meme culture,’ with images and phrases being essentially impenetrable to those outside of the group” (¶ 5).

Memes are meant to be engaging. Some are sarcastic. Some are serious. Most make others smile or chuckle. This is how I use memes: Not to poke fun at myself or others, but to provide a temporary respite from a serious topic. Below are some tips I use when utilizing memes:

Find a suitable picture to reflect the topic. When I am creating educational material, I tend to go to sites like ImgFlip. They have a “meme maker” where you can select from dozens of popular images from film or other sources. You can then type in the text to illustrate your topic. I tend to use the same image for memes (e.g., the Dos Equis guy), but I have definitely ventured from this to other photos.
Know the backstory of the image. It is definitely important to stick with a similar theme for your meme as the original story. This will help your learners to relate more easily to your concept, especially if the meme image is popular.
Don’t shy from making fun of yourself or your profession. It is important to always connect with your audience. I do that through being vulnerable. This vulnerability is often shown through my tendency to be self-deprecating.

A few years back, I was in meeting and a coworker snapped a photo and created a meme of me. The backstory was that I had setup a meeting with two stakeholders to (hopefully) bring them together for consensus. The meeting did not work as well as I was expecting, and apparently my face reflected that.

What tips do you have about creating memes or using memes for education?

Sovereigns on the Internet

For 2021, I have decided to be more purposeful in following conspiracy theories and narratives of sovereign citizens. I set up some searches and subscribed to a couple subreddits. The past month has been incredibly interesting. Here are a couple of stories from AmIBeingDetained:

An individual was arrested in New Hampshire for using “Private” tags. They posted their misdemeanor penalty notice online for advice.

An individual posted a recording of their traffic court hearing on Youtube.

Another individual talked about the “magical paperwork” patriots can send to debtors to discharge the debts.

A sovereign citizen filed a lawsuit against Whole Foods regarding their mask rules. The best part: They spelled preliminary as “preplimary”.

A Moorish individual posted their “Passport Travel Card” online.

A screenshot from Facebook where an individual explains “tort”.

Any interesting postings from sovereigns recently? Send them my way.

Being Systematic in Choosing Next Travel Destinations

Like all of us, I cannot wait to be able to travel freely again. A few months ago, I approached possible future international travel with a methodological approach:

I obtained the list of all countries as detailed on WorldoMeter.
Using a spreadsheet, I sorted out countries I had already visited.
I used Google Travel to source flights from a Midwest US city (Kansas City) to all the locations I had not yet traveled.
I mapped them out and color coded them based on categories.

I chose April due to my birthday month; however, I don’t anticipate we will be able to travel anywhere by then.

A few other comments: I checked prices now to just establish a baseline. Most of my previous travels have been multi-country trips, so I definitely understand that if I fly to South Africa, I can easily visit the other southern African countries easily and cheaply.

One can dream.

Identification Required to Vote in States

The genesis for this research began when listening to White Rage, White Fragility, and How to Be an Antiracist over the summer. These three books talk about systematic racism as demonstrated by election laws.

In order to challenge myself, I examined the data using Tableau Public (I am generally an SPSS guy).
1. I summarized requirements as found from the U.S. Vote Foundation.
2. I documented the data using Excel.
3. I I initially displayed the data with Tableau, then fixed with Mapchart.
Caveat: This may not incorporate local interpretation of voting regulations.

Coding. These are the categories and descriptions.

Government/Official ID. Driver’s license, State ID, Passport, etc.
Government/Official ID or Acquaintance of a local election official.
Government/Official ID or 2 Forms of Official-Type mail. Bank statement, voter registration card, leasing document, etc.
Government/Official ID or Official-Type mail/document. Bank statement, voter registration card, leasing document, etc.
Government/Official ID or Semi-Official ID. Inclusive of school or healthclub IDs.
Any identification that shows name with address, photo, or signature.
No identification required.