Ethics – Page 341 – Public Intelligence Blog

Johann Hari: The three fallacies that have driven the war in Afghanistan

Case for escalating the war is based on premises that turn to dust on inspection

Johann Hari Independent Wednesday, 21 October 2009

Is Barack Obama about to drive his Presidency into a bloody ditch strewn with corpses? The President is expected any day now to announce his decision about the future of the war in Afghanistan. He knows US and British troops have now been stationed in the hell-mouth of Helmand longer than the First and Second World Wars combined – yet the mutterings from the marble halls of Washington DC suggest he may order a troop escalation.

Obama has to decide now whether to side with the American people and the Afghan people calling for a rapid reduction in US force, or with a small military clique demanding a ramping-up of the conflict. The populations of both countries are in close agreement. The latest Washington Post poll shows that 51 per cent of Americans say the war is “not worth fighting” and that ending the foreign occupation will “reduce terrorism”. Only 27 per cent disagree. At the other end of the gun-barrel, 77 per cent of Afghans in the latest BBC poll say the on-going US air strikes are “unacceptable”, and the US troops should only remain if they are going to provide reconstruction assistance rather than bombs.

Continue reading “Journal: Demise of Obama in Afghanistan Part II”

2009/10/212009/10/21

Event: 27-28 Oct 09 Denmark International Workshop on Counterterrorism and Open Source Intelligence

09 Terrorism, Communities of Practice, Ethics, Key Players, Peace Intelligence

The International Workshop on Counterterrorism and Open Source Intelligence is one of the most significant events in the field of counterterrorism and open source intelligence today.

The workshop is an opportunity for researchers, professionals, law enforcement officers, intelligence agencies, and industry decision makers to establish professional relationships and serves as a platform for the formation of international cooperation.

Continue reading “Event: 27-28 Oct 09 Denmark International Workshop on Counterterrorism and Open Source Intelligence”

2009/10/21

Journal: Electronic Voting Fraud, Failure, & Foolishness

11 Society, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence, Ethics, Government, Methods & Process

Full Story Online

Sequoia Voting Systems hacks self in foot

by Mokurai

Tue Oct 20, 2009

Sequoia Voting Systems has inadvertently released the SQL (Structured Query Language) code for its voting databases. The existence of such code appears to violate Federal voting law. Read the announcement after the jump, just as received on the Open Voting Consortium mailing list earlier today.

The Linux “strings” command was able to peel it apart. Nedit was able to digest 800meg text files. What was revealed was thousands of lines of MS-SQL source code that appears to control or at least influence the logical flow of the election, in violation of a bunch of clauses in the FEC voting system rulebook banning interpreted code, machine modified code and mandating hash checks of voting system code.

I've got it all organized for commentary and download in wiki form at:

Continue reading “Journal: Electronic Voting Fraud, Failure, & Foolishness”

2009/10/202009/10/20

Worth a Look: Bankster

03 Economy, Civil Society, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Ethics, Government, Reform, Worth A Look

Site Home Online

On the one-year anniversary of the Banksters blowing a hole in the global economy, no employee of a major American bank or financial institution is behind bars. Compare this to what happened after the Savings and Loan heist almost 20 years ago.

No less than 1,852 S&L officials were prosecuted and 1,072 were jailed. Over 500 CEOs and top officers were indicted. What is going on here? Don't we believe in holding people accountable anymore? Tell the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI to get cracking! Our motto? TOO BIG TO FAIL, BUT NOT TOO BIG TO GO TO JAIL!

Put an End to Death Bonds

No New Powers for the Fed

Cap Those Interest Rates, 10% is Enough!

Demand Accountability, Fairness, and Security

Phi Beta Iota: Being added to Righteous Sites.

2009/10/202009/10/20

Journal: How NOT to Decide on Afghanistan

02 China, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 05 Iran, 06 Russia, 08 Wild Cards, 10 Security, Ethics, Government, Methods & Process, Military, Policy, Reform, Strategy, Threats

The Real Reason for More Troops in Afghanistan

Michael Gaddy LouRockwell.com October 20, 2009Anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of our quest for empire over the past six decades realizes that Obama’s contemplation of whether to send additional troops to Afghanistan is simply those who control him providing Obama with the opportunity to look “presidential.” The decision to send additional troops was reached prior to the situational comedy of General McChrystal’s leaked “confidential report” to the Washington Post and Obama’s National Security Advisor’s public admonishment of McChrystal’s failure to follow the chain of command. All of this is nothing but a well-rehearsed, though poorly camouflaged hoax. Additional troops will be sent to Afghanistan within a very short period of time and Obama really has no say in the matter. The question is: why?

Continue reading “Journal: How NOT to Decide on Afghanistan”

2009/10/202009/10/20

Journal: Medical Software–Dead on Arrival

07 Health, Civil Society, Ethics, Methods & Process, Mobile

Full Story Online

Medical Records: Stored in the Cloud, Sold on the Open Market

Kim Zetter October 19, 2009

When patients visit a physician or hospital, they know that anyone involved in providing their health care can lawfully see their medical records. But unknown to patients, an increasing number of outside vendors that manage electronic health records also have access to that data, and are reselling the information as a commodity. …

Below Fold More and Second Story

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2009/10/192009/10/20

Journal: Iran Bombings–Whu Dun It? Update 1

05 Iran, Ethics, Government

Phi Beta Iota: The public and Congress–and perhaps even the White House–are not fully informed on the this matter. In our view, “the Borg” is out of control and Iran could be a nuclear flash-point. See headlines. Zbigniew Brzezinski is the common threat, and is doing as much damage as he is because the “Bush Lite” team does not have heavy-weight thinkers willing to speak the truth (two part qualification, most fail on the second).

Webster Griffin Tarpley was interviewed by Russia Today in Washington DC discussing the role of the CIA and British intelligence in yesterday's terror bombing in Iran's Baluchistan region claimed by Jundullah which killed several key commanders of the Iranian Pasdaran Revolutionary Guards. Tarpley locates the US-UK strategy in the attempt to break up Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran in favor of the microstates and ministates demanded by Zbigniew Brzezinski, the grey eminence of Obama's foreign policy. Baluchistan is the location of the strategic port of Gwadar, which could become a key to solving China's need for imported oil – a perspective the Anglo-Americans are determined to block. Watch the interview on Russia Today.

Some Headlines:

Continue reading “Journal: Iran Bombings–Whu Dun It? Update 1”