The truth at any cost lowers all other costs — curated by former US spy Robert David Steele.
September 16 @ 8:30am (breakfast will be served at 8:00am)
National Press Club
First Amendment Lounge
529 14th Street, NW
Washington, D.C.
Moderated by Miller-McCune Editor-in-Chief John Mecklin, the panelists are Rolf Lundberg, Jr., U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Craig Holman, Public Citizen; and Frank Baumgarter, co-author of Lobbying and Policy Change.
Iraq: Insurgents conducted at least 34 coordinated attacks in 16 cities 0n 25 August. The bombings and other attacks killed 77 people and wounded nearly 400 more. Baghdad experienced five attacks.
NIGHTWATCH Comment: The attacks showed the breadth of the insurgents' operational area. They appear to be the work of a single group, apparently Sunni Arabs or secular Arabs.
The attacks also establish a baseline of the insurgents' ability to coordinate attacks over space and time. This was not a trivial display of the capability to coordinate attacks over long distances. They appear to be a test of the feasibility of taking the next escalation step in the insurgency.
Some outside entity is funding a new, most likely Sunni Arab, insurgency and has afforded its leadership the command and control capability for today's attacks. Look to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
Phi Beta Iota: Emphasis added above. The US Government (not America the Beautiful or the big-hearted American public) is called a “useful idiot” in most of the world precisely because it mixes hubris and naivete with vast amounts of money spent without a strategy and without accountability. It took too long to understand the Saudi funding behind the global spread of virulent Wahhabism, while the equivalent funding to the Bush family and others assured that at the political and policy level, our enemies the Saudis would remain conveniently and unethically our friends.
Journal: Nuclear War Against Iran…Again
23 Worst Tyrants/Dictators (Yes, there’s more than 23) and Oops, there’s Saudi Arabia..
NIGHTWATCH Extract: Dictators vs Iran in Middle East
Review: Breaking the Real Axis of Evil–How to Oust the World’s Last Dictators by 2025
Review: The CIA in Iran–The 1953 Coup and the Origins of the US-Iran Divide
Review: The Health of Nations–Society and Law beyond the State
Review: Threshold–The Crisis of Western Culture
Review: Wars of Blood and Faith–The Conflicts That Will Shape the 21st Century
Worth a Look: Book Reviews on Empire as Cancer Including Betrayal & Deceit
Gary Arndt, Author of Everything-Everywhere.com
August 23, 2010
On March 13, 2007, I handed over the keys to my house, put my possessions in storage and headed out to travel around the world with nothing but a backpack, my laptop and a camera.
Three and a half years and 70 countries later, I've gotten the equivalent of a Ph.D in general knowledge about the people and places of Planet Earth.
Here are some of the things I've learned:
1) People are generally good
2) The media lies
3) The world is boring
4) People don't hate Americans
5) Americans aren't as ignorant as you might think
6) Americans don't travel
7) The rest of the world isn't full of germs
8 ) You don't need a lot stuff
9) Traveling doesn't have to be expensive
10) Culture matters
12) Everyone is proud of where they are from
13) America and Canada share a common culture
14) Most people have a deep desire to travel around the world
15) You can find the internet almost everywhere
16) In developing countries, government is usually the problem
17) English is becoming universal
18) Modernization is not Westernization
19) We view other nations by a different set of criteria than we view ourselves
20) Everyone should travel
Full article here to see elaborations for each of the twenty entries
Defense News August 23, 2010
Experts: DoD Could Have Prevented WikiLeaks Leak
By William Matthews
While senior Pentagon officials resort to bluster in hopes of preventing the WikiLeaks website from posting any more secret Afghan war documents on the Internet, security experts say there is a lot the U.S. military could have done to prevent the classified documents from being leaked in the first place.
Steps range from the sophisticated — installing automated monitoring systems on classified networks — to the mundane — disabling CD burners and USB ports on network computers.
“The technology is available” to protect highly sensitive information, said Tom Conway, director of federal business development at computer security giant McAfee. “The Defense Department doesn’t have it, but it is commercially available. We’ve got some major commercial clients using it.”
Full Article Below the Line (Not Easily Available on Internet); Lengthy Comment Follows Article
Continue reading “Journal: DoD, WikiLeaks, JCS, Security Ad Naseum…”
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has a requirement to provide a secured, hosted environment that provides web-based access to geospatial visualization services and Open Geospatial Consortium complaint web service interfaces. The Schedule of Supplies/Services provides for the period of performance from 20 September 2010 through 19 September 2011 and two 12-month option years.
This acquisition is for Commercial Geospatial Visualization Services for NGA. Google is the only source that can meet the Government's requirement for worldwide access, unlimited processing, and Open Geospatial Consortium complaint web service interfaces. See Full National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Release
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by John M. Simpson (Aug 15, 2010)
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A comment on the Google wi-fi/wi-spy issue:
“Most of my sources say that Google and Facebook have been bankrolled by the NSA and CIA vendors and they are in complete collusion with each other. I believe Americans will live to regret their participation with Facebook and Google.” –Glen Woodfin (source)
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Related:
+ 2009 Arnold Google: The Digital Gutenberg (also: The Google Legacy, Google 2.0: The Calculating Predator)
+ Inside Google
+ Google = King of Malware
+ Journal: Google, CIA Invest in ‘Future’ of Web Monitoring
+ Street views privacy issue
+ Time For Google to Grow Up: Open Wi-Fi Privacy Mistake Must Be The Last (EFF.org)
+ Seriously? Eric Schmidt Thinks There Should Be No Anonymity Online? (Forbes – Aug 11, 2010)
+ EFF Warns of Untrustworthy SSL, Undetectable Surveillance (Aug 16, 2010)
+ Google CEO: Young web users will need to escape online posts (Aug 20, 2010)
Code for America was founded to help the brightest minds of the Web 2.0 generation transform city governments. Cities are under greater pressure than ever, struggling with budget cuts and outdated technology. What if, instead of cutting services or raising taxes, cities could leverage the power of the web to become more efficient, transparent, and participatory?
The Case Foundation | CityCamp | GOOD | GovFresh | GovLoop | Omidyar Network | Open311 | OpenMuni | OpenPlans | O'Reilly Media | Stamen Design | The Sunlight Foundation
New York Daily News
August 17, 2010
Pg. 18
Fired McChrystal Gets Yale Grad School Gig
WASHINGTON — Retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the too-outspoken Afghan commander sacked by President Obama, picked up a consolation prize yesterday from the Ivy League.
Yale announced McChrystal would teach a “ leadership seminar” for grad students. McChrystal said he was looking forward to “ sharing my experiences and insights as a career military officer.”
McChrystal, 56, was forced into retirement in June after dissing the chain of command in a Rolling Stone interview.
Continue reading “Journal: General McCrystal Wins, US Troops Lose”
