SchwartzReport: House of Saud Dead by 2016?

Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government
Stephan A. Schwartz
Stephan A. Schwartz

Saudi Arabia is without question the weirdest country I have ever visited. It gave me the creeps from the moment I set foot on the ground, and was handed a copy of the Protocols of Zion a virulently anti-semitic 19th century propaganda screed. Going to an opulent mall that would have been at home in Beverly Hills and seeing groups of women looking like floating black bags — indeed that was how my guide referred to them, “black bags” — was unnerving, and they appeared in my dreams for months afterwards. Enormous wealth grossly inequitably distributed wedded to fanatical absolutist Medieval theology has produced something unlike any other country on Earth. Recently I have been seeing more and more articles about the growing instability in the country, which does not surprise me, but which could spell massive upheaval in the region. The closest analogy I can think of is the fall of the Shah in Iran. Based on what I am reading it would not surprise me if the House of Saud fell in 2015-2016. Here is an example of what I have been reading.

Al Saud’s Repressive Monarchy Creates Traction For Saudi Revolution

Though Saudi Arabia hasn’t yet fallen victim to the Arab Spring, it may only be a matter of time, especially as the parallels between Iran under the Shah and present-day Saudi Arabia become alarmingly more apparent.

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Chuck Spinny: Netanyahu as Chickenshit –The Gamble

04 Inter-State Conflict, 07 Other Atrocities, 10 Security, 11 Society, Corruption, Government, Idiocy
Chuck Spinney
Chuck Spinney

Chickenshit 

Uri Avnery, Gush Shalom, 01 November 2014,

[The author is a former member of Irgun, a hero of the 1948 war, a former member of Knesset, and is today Israel’s leading peace activist

WHEN A high-ranking official of one country calls the leader of another country “chickenshit”, it may be assumed that the relations between the two countries are not at their best. In fact, they may be considered somewhat less than cordial.

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Berto Jongman: CDC Removes Web Documents Demonstrating Its Ignorance

02 Infectious Disease, 07 Health, Government, Idiocy, Ineptitude
Berto Jongman
Berto Jongman

BREAKING: CDC Removes Documents Unearthed On YourNewsWire

The Huffington Post reports in an article entitled “CDC Removed Info On Coughing And Sneezing From Ebola Q&A (UPDATE):  “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has quietly removed some Ebola information from its website. The changes follow claims from news outlets and conservative blogs that the agency hasn’t been forthcoming about how the virus spreads, but it was not clear on Thursday afternoon whether the removal was related to the reports. – See more at: http://yournewswire.com/breaking-cdc-removes-documents-unearthed-on-yournewswire/#sthash.tT7Wfq6K.dpuf

Owl: Did Netanyahu Just Threaten Obama with Assassination? We Recollect Rabin in Dallas as a Party to the Assassination of JFK

07 Other Atrocities, Government
Who?  Who?
Who? Who?

Netanyahu Implies Threat to Assassinate Obama in Recent Speech?

Given the reference to a “grassy knoll” in a recent speech from Israel PM Netanyahu, as noted below by writer Raimondo, we hope Mr Obam's Secret Secret security arrangements are in much better shape than they were when another head of the Secret Service was in charge up to a few weeks ago:

“The famously combative Israeli Prime Minister went on to say:

“When there are pressures on Israel to concede its security, the easiest thing to do is to concede. You get a round of applause, ceremonies  on grassy knolls, and then come the missiles and the tunnels.”

Continue reading “Owl: Did Netanyahu Just Threaten Obama with Assassination? We Recollect Rabin in Dallas as a Party to the Assassination of JFK”

SchwartzReport: Political Corruption = Child Poverty

01 Poverty, 03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 11 Society, Civil Society, Corruption, Government
Stephan A. Schwartz
Stephan A. Schwartz

I think this is an excellent essay on the state of voting and voters in the election coming up. I find political ads offensive, ads in general come to that and mute the sound, maybe you do the same. But I have come to realize the truth in John Cassidy's essay. Some very significant fraction of Americans has just tuned out or, perversely, just votes a party ticket without understanding the truth about the candidates or the issues. That is the only explanation I can see for the continuing voting that occurs in Red value states, even though the policies they are voting for are horribly damaging to their lives. This also explains I think how people like Louie Gohmert or Steve King, or Ted Cruz remain in office.

The Empty Elections of 2014

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Jack Davis: Role of the Intelligence Professional — Doctor, Lawyer .. Teacher … Priest?

Advanced Cyber/IO, Ethics, Government
Jack Davis
Jack Davis

Jack Davis, dean of analysts and integrity czar for the CIA, was recognized today with a lifetime achievement award from the International Association for Intelligence Education (IAIE), Dr. Bill Spracher Chapter Chair presiding. After laudatory anecdotes from several senior members, Jack offered a few comments centered around his learning over time that intelligence professionals must not only be doctors to the policy client, but lawyers as well. Implicit in his remarks and his lifetime of service as a trusted briefer was a third role, that of  teacher. During the Q&A he was asked about a fourth role, positing a corrupt government, that of priest.

See Also:

Analytic Tradecraft @ Phi Beta Iota

Fiona Bywaters: Notes on the Open Source Everything Manifesto (World Futures Council Perspective)

Civil Society, Cultural Intelligence, Earth Intelligence, Ethics
Fiona Bywaters
Fiona Bywaters

The Open Source Everything Manifesto – Transparency, Truth & Trust
By Robert David Steele (2012)

Notes by Fiona Bywaters of the World Futures Council

DOC (4 Pages): Notes on the OSE Manifesto (Fiona Bywaters)

Full Text Online Below the Fold

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