PDF (46 Pages): The Next Chapter of Global Terrorism (December 2012)
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Steven Aftergood: Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) – Single-Handedly Forces Flawed Intelligence Bill to Remove Anti-Leak Provisions Prejudicial to Public Interest
Civil Society, Government, Ineptitude, IO Deeds of War
SENATE PASSES INTELLIGENCE BILL WITHOUT ANTI-LEAK MEASURES
The Senate passed the FY2013 intelligence authorization act on December 28 after most of the controversial provisions intended to combat leaks had been removed.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the bill was revised in order to expedite its passage.
“Since the bill was reported out,” she said, “the Committee has received thoughtful comments from our colleagues, media organizations, and from organizations that advocate for greater governmental transparency. As a result of these comments, and technical suggestions received from the Executive Branch, we have decided to remove ten of the twelve sections in the title of the original bill that addressed unauthorized disclosures of classified information so that we might ensure enactment this year of the important other provisions of the bill.”
More precisely, the revision of the bill could be attributed to the intervention of Sen. Ron Wyden, who all but single-handedly blocked its enactment after it was approved in Committee last July by a vote of 14-1, with only Wyden dissenting. Its passage by the full Congress seemed to be assured, but in November, Sen. Wyden placed a hold on the bill to prevent its adoption by unanimous consent.
The provisions that were removed from the final bill included restrictions on background briefings for the press, limits on media commentary by former government officials, and authority for the DNI to unilaterally revoke the pension of a suspected leaker. (“Anti-Leak Measures in Senate Bill Target Press, Public,” Secrecy News, July 31, 2012).
Sen. Wyden opposed most of the anti-leak measures, he explained on December 21, “because, in my view, they would have harmed first amendment rights, led to less informed public debate about national security issues, and undermined the due process rights of intelligence agency employees, without actually enhancing national security.”
Marcus Aurelius: Hundreds of Ohio School Workers Want to Carry Guns
10 Security, 11 Society, Academia, Civil Society, Cultural Intelligence, Law Enforcement
Similar spirit to Flight 93 on 9/11. Federal Flight Deck Officer program could serve as a good model for training and standards. A good Ohio legislature would clean up the laws and preclude lawsuits.
Hundreds of Ohio school workers want to carry guns
More than 450 teachers and other school employees from around Ohio have applied for 24 spots in a free firearms-training program being offered by the Buckeye Firearms Association.
“We’re pleasantly surprised, but it’s not shocking,” Ken Hanson, legal chairman for the association, said today of the response since the group began taking applications on its website 10 days ago. “The demand has been there for quite some time.”
The issue of arming school employees to protect students has been “on the radar” of school boards in Ohio for several years, he said, but the organization decided to launch its training program after the Dec. 14 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., where a gunman killed 20 children and six adults.
“That was the breaking point,” he said. “We decided it’s time to quit talking about it and move forward.”
Marcus Aurelius: Matt Damon on Politics — Game is Rigged
Corruption, Government, IneptitudeLeftwing sage….
Huffington Post, 28 December 2012
Matt Damon is not only one of Hollywood's best actors, but also a top interviewee. The 42-year-old star rarely censors himself in interviews, offering unfiltered opinion and honesty that belies his standing as an A-list star. In a new chat with Playboy, Damon continues that trend by providing commentary on the recent presidential election and politics in general.
“We're at a point where politicians don’t really get any benefit from engaging with long-term issues,” Damon said. His new film, “Promised Land,” is tangentially about fracking, an environmental issue of growing concern in the United States, but not one politicians seem eager to discuss.
“It's all about the next election cycle. Those guys in the House don't do anything now but run for office,” Damon continued. “So unless they can find some little thing that zips them up a couple of points in the polls, they're not interested.”
Damon is often open about his politics. In a widely disseminated interview with Elle last year, the star dinged President Barack Obama for not being forceful enough.
“I've talked to a lot of people who worked for Obama at the grassroots level. One of them said to me, ‘Never again. I will never be fooled again by a politician,'” Damon told the magazine. “You know, a one-term president with some balls who actually got stuff done would have been, in the long run of the country, much better.”
Still, when asked by Playboy if he voted for Obama after those comments, Damon replied, “Definitely.”
“I assume there will be some Supreme Court appointments in this next term; that alone was reason to vote for him,” Damon said. “I don’t think I said anything a lot of people weren’t thinking. It’s easier now more than ever in my life to feel the fix is in, the game is rigged and no matter how hard you work to change things, it just doesn’t matter.”
The lengthy interview with Playboy is a must-read for Damon fans, and includes insight into much more about the star than just his politics. Head to Playboy.com to check it out.
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SchwartzReport: Black-Market Abortions — When Legislators Let Ideological Money Ignore the Reality of Poor Women
07 Health, Civil Society, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government
Black-Market Abortion Drug Sales Appear To Be Rising
The New Republic‘s cover headline this month is a topic that pro-choice activists speak about occasionally amongst themselves, but rarely address in public: “The Rise of DIY Abortions.” The reason that it's not much discussed in public forums is that reproductive health advocates are data-driven people, and one thing that's nearly impossible to get data on is the prevalence of women quietly buying an ulcer medication named Cytotec from sleazy online dealers and using that to terminate pregnacies at home, far out of the reach of doctors and agencies like the CDC or the Guttmacher Institute that compile statistics on abortions. The writer of the piece, Ada Calhoun, admits that there's no way to know how common these black-market abortions are, but points out that the rise in websites peddling Cytotec specifically to terminate pregnancy (instead for its on-label use to treat ulcers) makes it hard to deny that this is a growing trend:
Mini-Me: Sandy Hook Massacre — Still Conflicted
Collective Intelligence, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, IO Deeds of War, Law Enforcement, Media
Huh?
Sandy Hook: Huge Hoax and Anti-Gun “Psy Op”
By Jim Fetzer and Dennis Cimino
Jim Fetzer, a former Marine Corps officer, is McKnight Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
Dennis Cimino, who has extensive engineering and support experience with military electronics, predominantly US Navy Combat Systems, was the Navy’s top EMI troubleshooter before he went to work for Raytheon in the 1980s.
There are obvious signs that tell the difference between genuine and fabricated event. The recent shooting of police and firemen responding to a deliberately-set fire has all the signs of being a bona fide event: there is a single consistent narrative, one shooter has been clearly identified, and there has been no good reason to doubt that the subject, William Spengler, went off the rails and committed the crimes. There are many articles about it, which relate the same basic themes: “Killer of 2 NY Firemen had semiautomatic rifle, left note”: “Police say the man who lured firefighters in Webster, N.Y., into a deadly ambush had the same make and caliber semiautomatic rifle as the one used in the Connecticut school massacre. Webster Police Chief Gerald Pickering said Tuesday that 62-year-old William Spengler was armed with a .223-caliber Bushmaster rifle, a .38-caliber revolver and a 12-gauge shotgun in Monday’s ambush. Spengler killed two firefighters and wounded two others before fatally shooting himself.”
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Reflections on Healing the Americas — Open Source Agency & Hourglass Strategy
#OSE Open Source Everything, Advanced Cyber/IO, All Reflections & Story Boards, Communities of Practice, Cultural Intelligence, Earth Intelligence, Ethics, Peace Intelligence
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The Hourglass Strategy: Healing the Americas with Intelligence & Integrity
Robert David STEELE Vivas, CEO, Earth Intelligence Network
Mr. Steele grew up in Latin America, returning as a clandestine case officer, and then going on to teach governments across the region how to leverage Open Source Intelligence (OSINT). He is the #1 Amazon reviewer for non-fiction, reading in 98 categories, and has been described in the media as a serial pioneer and an unsung hero helping create the future. If implemented, ethical evidence-based decision-support becomes the foundation for a completely new innovative and positive OAS in the Americas.
The USA and the OAS have lost their way. The formation of CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) was ignored, just as President Barack Obama ignored the value of the book Open Veins of Latin America when it was given to him by President Hugo Chavez. The seven sins of American foreign policy, beginning with ignorance and ending with arrogance, persist. Meanwhile, in Asia – and reinforcing the future of CELAC – President Obama was politely sent home with a sound rejection of his proposed and obviously predatory Trans-Pacific Partnership; instead, a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is being established. The Western Hemisphere including the Arctic should be but is not Priority One for the USA and OAS. The fact is that the USA and OAS lack a strategy, lack coherent policies, and lack harmonized spending strategies for embracing, nurturing, and devising mutually beneficial diplomatic, informational, military, and economic (DIME) programs. This is a global short-coming best addressed first in relation to the Americas.
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