Category: Corruption

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Syrian Domino Teeters….

05 Iran, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 11 Society, Advanced Cyber/IO, Civil Society, Corruption, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, Peace Intelligence
DefDog Recommends...

Syria’s Bashar al-Assad faces most serious unrest of his tenure

By Leila Fadel, Thursday, March 24

Washington Post

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was facing the most serious unrest of his 11-year tenure Thursday as anti-government protests in a southwestern city threatened to escalate after a deadly crackdown.

. . . . . . .

On Wednesday, security forces launched a pre-dawn raid in the city in which dozens of people were killed, according to witnesses and activists. Precise estimates of the death toll range from 15 to 51.

On Thursday, witnesses said, thousands of people gathered in the city to bury the dead, chanting, “Syria! Freedom!”

Click on Image to Enlarge

Phi Beta Iota: “Freedom” is neither a partisan term, nor one that can be bought by Lockheed Martin or discounted by Goldman Sachs.  Young, freedom, and the autonomous Internet.  Not at all what the “elite” had planned.  Most interestingly, the dominos falling to non-violent public will are in sharp contrast to the published plan of the neo-conservatives to take down the Middle East by force–nuclear if necessary.

See Also:

Review: Endgame–The Blueprint for Victory in the War on Terror

Reflections on Revolution, Information & Civil Affairs

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Japan Case Study in Nuclear Information Ignorance

08 Proliferation, 08 Wild Cards, About the Idea, Advanced Cyber/IO, Commercial Intelligence, Communities of Practice, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Earth Intelligence, Policies

Time does not permit the detailed study a topic of this importance merits (it would be an excellent PhD project for a bi-lingual Japanese-English speaking PhD candidate) but here is what we do know:

1.  The risks were known.

2.  A tsunami risk was specificially brought up and dismissed at a critical juncture.

3.  There was no “what if” planning or critical supply chain planning for contaminated water and food.

We speculate that an intense look at the information terrain surrounded Japan's nuclear and global warming and related environmental degradation and energy-commercial competitiveness discussions will yield an almost perfect understanding of where the data asymmetries and information pathologies were that allowed Industrial Era decision systems (inherently secret and corrupt) to ignore open source information on risk.

This is also a good place to study how disasters turn into catastrophes instead of remaining disasters, for lack of the proper political-legal, socio-economic, and ideo-cultural mindsets.

Fifty years from today, the catastrophe in Japan may be regarded as the moment of awakening for the global mind.

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NIGHTWATCH Taliban R&R Program Under Petraeus

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 08 Wild Cards, 10 Security, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Military, Officers Call

Afghanistan: Almost 5,000 Taliban insurgents laid down their weapons or are moving toward doing so, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan General Petraeus said on 23 March. About 700 former Taliban have officially completed the steps to reintegrate into society, Petraeus said. He said another 2,000 insurgents are taking steps toward reintegration and others have laid down their weapons entirely.

Comment: The statistic is interesting because only a fraction of the anti-government fighters have reconciled to the government, based on the daily number of clashes and engagements. Most have been in northern districts where logistics support from Pakistan is barely sustainable. Petraeus also did specify the time frame for his data.

NightWatch data in November 2010 and January 2011 show the number of ralliers increased, but the number of clashes increased at a much greater rate. Several developments can explain the data. First, the anti-government forces appear to be replacing losses at a rate much faster than the rate of rallies. That can only happen if the populace supports the recruitment effort and that means the fight in Afghanistan is a Pashtun tribal uprising, not an insurgency. Second, the ralliers do not remain reconciled, but rejoin the fighting after a period of rest. The spring anti-government offensive should provide insight into the rate of recidivism. Third, the numbers are spread over such a long period as to be meaningless in evaluating the success or failure of the Coalition efforts. And there are others.

Without more context, the statement about ralliers looks like cheer leading.

Continue reading “NIGHTWATCH Taliban R&R Program Under Petraeus”

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Japan Lost Its Integrity over Nuclear Safety

03 Economy, 05 Energy, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Proliferation, 08 Wild Cards, 10 Security, 11 Society, Commerce, Corruption, Earth Intelligence, Government, IO Sense-Making
Chuck Spinney Recommends...

The below report in the Guardian makes three general points regarding the Tokyo Electric's management operations at the Fukushima Daiichi reactor site:

1. Cost-cutting degraded safety procedures.

2. Collusion between industry and regulators.

3. Deferring decisions on how to permanently store nuclear waste.

Thank god these problems do not occur in Amerika (sic).

Chuck Spinney

Japan Nuclear Firm Admits Missing Safety Checks at Disaster-Hit Plant

Documents show operator failed to carry out mandatory checks at Fukushima Daiichi and allowed fuel rods to pile up

by Justin McCurry in Osaka, The Guardian/UK, March 22, 2011

Read full article….

Phi Beta Iota: Integrity, or the lack of integrity, is the defining factor in the rise or fall of complex civilizations.  The harm coming from the lack of integrity by the members of the UN Security Council with respect to nuclear proliferation and safeguards for nuclear waste; the arms market (they are the largest traders), and the general disregard for poverty, infectious disease, and environmental degradation, makes it clear that “governance” today is totally corrupt.  The good news is that informed hybrid networks can overcome Industrial Era irresponsibilities.  Multinational information-sharing and multinational intelligence (decision-support) offers a non-violent way forward.

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C-SPAN Hour on The Pentagon Labyrinth

Budgets & Funding, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Military, Movies

The Pentagon Labyrinth on C-SPAN

Mar 11, 2011

Stewart R. Mott Charitable Trust | Mott House

Three former, high-level Pentagon insiders take a critical look at how the Defense Department operates and where the money it receives goes. The three- Thomas Christie, Franklin Spinney and Pierre Sprey – are contributors to the book, The Pentagon Labyrinth. Danielle Brian, executive director .. Read More

Three former, high-level Pentagon insiders take a critical look at how the Defense Department operates and where the money it receives goes. The three- Thomas Christie, Franklin Spinney and Pierre Sprey – are contributors to the book, The Pentagon Labyrinth. Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project On Government Oversight (POGO), acts as moderator for the discussion.

Watch Video: 1 hour, 2 minutes

See Also + Pierre Sprey's “Seven Rules”:

Continue reading “C-SPAN Hour on The Pentagon Labyrinth”

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US Intelligence a Clipping Agency–A Bad One

02 Diplomacy, 03 Economy, 04 Education, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 10 Security, 11 Society, Budgets & Funding, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Cyberscams, malware, spam, Government, Intelligence (government), IO Impotency, Military, Officers Call
Mario Profaca Recommends...

Dr. Stephen Blank, one of America's top experts on Russia and the former satellites of the USSR, likens US Intelligence to a clipping service, a very bad one.  He itemizes the recent failures of US Intelligence and observes that anyone in the audience he was addressing in NYC could have written a better threat estimate than that presented by the Director of National Intelligence recently to Congress.  Includes video of his full answer to the question about US Intelligence.

Army college expert likens US intelligence to ‘clipping agency’

By Asia Society Mar 18, 2011 5:30PM UTC

asiancorrespondent.com

Continue reading “US Intelligence a Clipping Agency–A Bad One”