Hypnotizing chickens

The military has a powerpoint issue. My favorite quote:

Senior officers say the program does come in handy when the goal is not imparting information, as in briefings for reporters.

The news media sessions often last 25 minutes, with 5 minutes left at the end for questions from anyone still awake. Those types of PowerPoint presentations, Dr. Hammes said, are known as “hypnotizing chickens.”

Update: Good deconstruction of the article:

If, in fact, you were a reporter, rather than a royal stenographer and self-appointed Messenger to the Mighty, and you were doing an article on problems with PowerPoint presentations in the military, you would be obligated to mention Edward Tufte's famous essay, The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint which brilliantly described how thoroughly misleading and counterproductive these cheesy slideshows can be...

But if it is stenography - and it surely is - it's stenography with a particular message. Somebody powerful - Gates? Petraeus Both? Others? - is really fed up with sitting through all the stupid fucking PowerPoint presentations and wants it reined in.