Cultural Intelligence – Page 843 – Public Intelligence Blog

2011/08/16

Cheery Waves: Four of Five CIA Bay of Pigs History Books Released by National Security Archive

04 Inter-State Conflict, 07 Other Atrocities, 10 Security, 11 Society, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Director of National Intelligence et al (IC), Government, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy

Archive Cuba Project posts Four Volumes; calls for declassification of still secret Volume 5

National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 355

Posted – August 15, 2011

By Peter Kornbluh

For more information contact:
Peter Kornbluh – 202/374-7281 or by email

EXTRACT

In perhaps the most important revelation of the entire official history, the CIA task force in charge of the paramilitary assault did not believe it could succeed without becoming an open invasion supported by the U.S. military. On page 149 of Volume III, Pfeiffer quotes still-secret minutes of the Task Force meeting held on November 15, 1960, to prepare a briefing for the new President-elect, John F. Kennedy: “Our original concept is now seen to be unachievable in the face of the controls Castro has instituted,” the document states. “Our second concept (1,500-3000 man force to secure a beach with airstrip) is also now seen to be unachievable, except as a joint Agency/DOD action.”

This candid assessment was not shared with the President-elect then, nor later after the inauguration. As Pfeiffer points out, “what was being denied in confidence in mid-November 1960 became the fact of the Zapata Plan and the Bay of Pigs Operation in March 1961”—run only by the CIA, and with a force of 1,200 men.

2011/08/16

Tom Atlee: Citizen Deliberations – Chart and Options

Advanced Cyber/IO, Civil Society, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, Government, InfoOps (IO), Methods & Process, Open Government, Policies, Real Time, Threats

Dear Friends

I am quite excited about the progress that has been made in various citizen political participation proposals. All of these clearly have tremendous potential and the articulations of their rationales are becoming quite compelling.

With such innovative deliberative democracy proposals, I want them to be thought through well beforehand, engaging a variety of authorities and perspectives in a search of answers that can embrace that diversity with greater wisdom than otherwise. I am especially interested in finding out people's concerns and what solutions appear when we seriously seek to understand and address those concerns (this being a basic principle of creative consensus processes and of collective wisdom in general). I consider this vital if we seek to inject sane, powerful initiatives into the kind of toxic political environment that exists today. There is just too much at stake to fail simply because we didn't explore our design issues sufficiently ahead of time.

With that intention in mind, I have the following twelve thoughts and inquiries to offer. I would love to be part of a serious inquiry into questions like these, both in person and online.

Coheartedly,
Tom

Observations

Comparison Chart

2011/08/16

Jon Stewart Slams Commentators on Ignoring Ron Paul

07 Other Atrocities, 11 Society, Corruption, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence, Media

Jon Stewart skewers the media, and especially the right-wing media, for obviously and deliberately refusing to name Ron Paul or mention his various victories.

Monday August 15, 2011

Indecision 2012 – Corn Polled Edition – Ron Paul & the Top Tier

Even when the media does remember Ron Paul, it's only to reassure themselves that there's no need to remember Ron Paul.

Phi Beta Iota: The corruption of the media, including CNN and Bloomberg, is despicable. They dishonor the public from whom they derive their public commissions to do business.

2011/08/16

John Robb: Urban Farming, Urban Zoning in Flux

Advanced Cyber/IO, Civil Society, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence, Earth Intelligence, Ethics, Government, Methods & Process, Policies

Portland Oregon is working on revising zoning regulations regarding urban market farms. Early debate indicates that the protection of traditional approaches to real-estate value (ornamental residences, noise/traffic abatement, etc.) is the priority. Given the scale of the economic crisis that is already upon us, this approach is completely broken. They should be focused on building a simple platform for accelerating a local food economy.

Phi Beta Iota: Portland in particular, and the Pacific Northwest generally, keep popping up as bastions of ethical sanity. The combination of intelligence and integrity visible there is quite heartening.

2011/08/14

DefDog: The Pentagon’s new China war plan

02 China, 03 Economy, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Iran, 07 Other Atrocities, 10 Security, 11 Society, Analysis, Budgets & Funding, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, IO Deeds of War, Military, Officers Call, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy, Strategy, Waste (materials, food, etc)

The Cold War Part 2, revisiting a failed strategy…..

Good closing paragraph in the story……

The Pentagon's new China war plan

Despite budget woes, the military is preparing for a conflict with our biggest rival — and we should be worried

This summer, despite America’s continuing financial crisis, the Pentagon is effectively considering trading two military quagmires for the possibility of a third. Reducing its commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan as it refocuses on Asia, Washington is not so much withdrawing forces from the Persian Gulf as it is redeploying them for a prospective war with its largest creditor, China.

. . . . .

AirSea Battle, developed in the early 1990s and most recently codified in a 2009 Navy-Air Force classified memo, is a vehicle for conforming U.S. military power to address asymmetrical threats in the Western Pacific and the Persian Gulf — code for China and Iran. (This alone raises a crucial point: If the U.S. has had nothing but trouble with asymmetrical warfare for the last 45 years, why should a war with China, or Iran for that matter, be any different?) It complements the 1992 Defense Planning Guidance, a government white paper that precluded the rise of any “peer competitor” that might challenge U.S. dominance worldwide.

. . . . . . .

For the first time since the end of the Cold War, the U.S. government has encountered the practical limits of the 1992 Defense Planning Guidance.

. . . . . .

Here is a noble appeal for Washington to match its commitments with the resources needed to sustain them, the absence of which has fueled the debt crisis that nearly reduced the United States to a mendicant state. Such are the crippling costs of a defense policy that makes global hegemony a mindless imperative.

Read full article….

2011/08/14

Chuck Spinney: What Caused the Fukushima Meltdowns?

05 Energy, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Justice, Civil Society, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, IO Impotency, Law Enforcement, Politics of Science & Science of Politics, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy

The Tsunami or the Earthquake Preceding the Tsunami?????

Below is another pathbreaking report in Counterpunch on the Fukushima question. Fukushima may be off the front pages, but the catastrophe is still generating serious questions with profound ramifications. In a few days, I will forward another blaster will showing how the some of these ramifications this catastrophe reaching into the good ole USA. In the meantime, I urge you to read this report.

Chuck Spinney
Nice, France

The Fukushima Daiichi Reactors Were in Meltdown After the Earthquake, But Before the Tsnumami Hit

TEPCO's Darkest Secret

By DAVID McNEILL and JAKE ADELSTEIN

It is one of the mysteries of Japan’s ongoing nuclear crisis: How much damage did the March 11 earthquake do to the Fukushima Daiichi reactors before the tsunami hit? The stakes are high: If the quake structurally compromised the plant and the safety of its nuclear fuel, then every other similar reactor in Japan will have to be reviewed and possibly shut down. With virtually all of Japan’s 54 reactors either offline (35) or scheduled for shutdown by next April, the issue of structural safety looms over the decision to restart every one in the months and years after.

. . . . . .

Problems with the fractured, deteriorating, poorly repaired pipes and the cooling system had been pointed out for years. In 2002, whistleblower allegations that TEPCO had deliberately falsified safety records came to light and the company was forced to shut down all of its reactors and inspect them, including the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant. Sugaoka Kei, a General Electric on-site inspector first notified Japan’s nuclear watchdog, Nuclear Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) in June of 2000. The government of Japan took two years to address the problem, then colluded in covering it up — and gave the name of the whistleblower to TEPCO.

Read full report….

Nuclear/Climate Change: CLOSED 17 May 2011

2011/08/14

Patrick Meier: On Synchrony, Technology and Revolutions – The Political Power of Synchronized Resistance

09 Justice, 10 Security, 11 Society, Advanced Cyber/IO, Blog Wisdom, Civil Society, Cultural Intelligence

On Synchrony, Technology and Revolutions: The Political Power of Synchronized Resistance

Posted on August 14, 2011 by Patrick Meier

Synchronized action is a powerful form of resistance against repressive regimes. Even if the action itself is harmless, like walking, meditation or worship, the public synchrony of that action by a number of individuals can threaten an authoritarian state. To be sure, synchronized public action demonstrates independency which may undermine state propaganda, reverse information cascades and thus the shared perception that the regime is both in control and unchallenged.

Read full posting–includes a TED video.