Postcards from the Road to Ruin

About a year ago, I stumbled across a Clinton-era initiative to develop educational websites for children. The idea was to create “kid friendly” websites brimming with fun and enlightenment representing every government agency. The Department of Energy’s effort is right in line with what you’d expect, mildly boring and packed with cool science factoids and energy conservation tips and the like.

My favorite US Government for Kids website is a little nugget called CryptoKids™: America’s Future Codemakers & Codebreakers from our friends at the National Security Agency. Those are the folks who tap phones and datamine emails. In their own (slightly out of context) words:

It’s so cool… learn about the National Security Agency/Central Security Service - they’re America’s real codemakers and codebreakers. Our Nation’s leaders and warfighters count on the technology and information they get from NSA/CSS to get their jobs done. Without NSA/CSS, they wouldn’t be able to talk to one another without the bad guys listening and they wouldn’t be able to figure out what the bad guys were planning.

Say it with me, kids: “warfighters.” The child who yearns to frolic online with the likes of Crypto Cat™ and Decipher Dog™ surely counts that combination of syllables among her vocabulary arsenal.

Ok, cheap shot. I actually dig this site, even though it’s just a wee bit creepy. The truth is that if I had an internet when I was eight, I probably wouldn’t be able to tell my loved ones where I go to work each day. If you catch my drift.

In case you’re curious, US Government for Kids sites can generally be found by adding the subdirectory /kids/ to any .gov url. Go play. It’s fun for kids of all ages.

And your taxes are paying for it.