The latest dumb idea came from retired Vice Adm. John Poindexter. Poindexter was convicted of lying to Congress when, as national security adviser to President Reagan, he testified about the Iran-Contra scandal in which arms were sold to Iran to finance Nicaraguan rebels. An appeals court later overturned his five felony convictions, ruling that prosecutors could not prove they had not been aided by Poindexter's testimony to Congress, which was given under a grant of immunity.

This time, as head of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (note how the guilty in high places are so often rewarded), he came up with the really stupid idea of running a lottery for people-presumably including terrorists-who would be willing to bet on when the next terrorist attack would occur.

The object of the lottery, of course, would be to generate income for the government. The additional income would make it possible to cut more taxes for the super rich which, rich supporters maintain, would help the economy. History has proved this dead wrong but, of course, there's always a first time. And the idea makes rich people happy, and they do have a strong voice in government.

Another dumb idea came from none other than President Bush, who rushed the nation into war to oust Saddam Hussein, a very bad guy, like many of the bad guys we continue to support around the world. It is possible, of course, that Bush may have considered the possibility that presidents of a nation at war tend to get elected to second terms. Another reason for the war, Bush insisted (while concealing research reports to the contrary), was that the Iraqi government was about to launch an attack against us with a massive stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. And we knew exactly where those weapons were located. Further, our advancing troops would be greeted by masses of happy Iraqis, who would strew flowers in their path. Having neglected any possibility of a downside, Bush has been rather quiet about the daily reports of our soldiers being killed in Iraq.

These, Charlie felt, were merely recent examples of the really dopey ideas that have come from high places. Top guys see only the upside potential of big ideas, whereas any good businessman, Charlie knew, is wise enough to review the many ideas that come his way, to evaluate them carefully, both for their upside potential to boost profits or otherwise improve the company's performance and for the downside possibility of great injury.

But in this one case, Charlie knew his latest idea was a sure winner-if he implemented it quickly.

George Rostky ( g_rostky@hotmail.com) is editor emeritus of EE Times.