Idiocy – Page 65 – Public Intelligence Blog

Secrecy = culture of waste.

Balancing Transparency and National Security

Is keeping military funding secret truly necessary for national security? Not according to Pieter and Siemon Wezeman. Greater transparency not only makes governments more accountable, it also helps reduce the causes of insecurity and conflict.

By Pieter Wezeman and Siemon Wezeman for SIPRI

EXTRACT

The secrecy of military matters is an illusion

Many governments justify secrecy in military budgets on the basis that such information should not be allowed to fall into the hands of potentially hostile forces. However, maintaining secrecy about military spending and key military procurement projects is practically impossible. For example, SIPRI has had 45 years of experience in collecting information about military budgets and international arms transfers. Open sources, official or non-official, provide SIPRI with a wealth of information about the procurement of major arms. If organizations like SIPRI, with minimal resources and working only with open sources, can calculate military spending and map global arms transfers with a high degree of comprehensiveness and accuracy, then national intelligence agencies in potentially hostile countries are obviously able to achieve a lot more.

Continue reading “Berto Jongman: Secrecy As Culture of Waste”

2014/02/20

Stephen E. Arnold: Hewlett Packard (HP) Implodes — Stupid Over Autonomy, Corrupt at Root — the Same HP That Killed Alta Vista

Commerce, Corruption, Idiocy, Ineptitude, IO Impotency

Frequentists Versus Bayesians: Is HP Amused?

I read a long report and then a handful of spin off reports about HP and Autonomy, mid February 2014 version. The Financial Times’s story is a for fee job. You can get a feel for the information in “HP Executives Knew of Autonomy’s Hardware Sales Losses: Report.” There are clever discussions of this allegedly “new information” in a number of blogs. What is interesting is an allegedly accurate chunk of information in “HP Explores Settlement of Autonomy Shareholder Lawsuit.” My head is spinning. HP buys something. Changes the person on watch when the deal was worked out. HP gets a new boss and makes changes to its board of directors. HP then accuses everyone except itself for buying Autonomy for a lot of money. HP then whips up the regulators, agitates accounting firms, and pokes Michael Lynch with a cattle prod.

As this activity was in the microwave, it appears that HP knew how the hardware/software deals were handled. If the reports are accurate, Dell hardware was more desirable than HP’s hardware.

Continue reading “Stephen E. Arnold: Hewlett Packard (HP) Implodes — Stupid Over Autonomy, Corrupt at Root — the Same HP That Killed Alta Vista”

2014/02/192014/02/19

Penguin: Is the Pentagon Completely Corrupt? Yes — F-35 Totally Vulnerable to Electromagnetic Neturalization

Corruption, Idiocy, Ineptitude, Military

The New F-35 Fighter Jet Can Be Taken Down Without A Bullet Ever Being Fired

The F-35, the latest fighter jet being developed for the U.S. Armed Forces, has hit another potential snag.This time, it's not questions of the jet's structural integrity or even questions of relevance in combat.

It's the plane's vulnerability to hackers.

The F-35's helmet displays an augmented reality overview, which is drawn from six cameras across the body of the plane. This enables the pilot to look around the cockpit and, instead of seeing the interior of the plane, see directly through the cameras at the world outside.

This computational capability is all run by a computer system called ALIS.

Continue reading “Penguin: Is the Pentagon Completely Corrupt? Yes — F-35 Totally Vulnerable to Electromagnetic Neturalization”

2014/02/18

NIGHTWATCH: India Begins Military Support for Afghanistan — Robert Steele Comments

01 Poverty, 02 China, 02 Diplomacy, 03 India, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 05 Iran, 06 Russia, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Terrorism, 10 Transnational Crime, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Drones & UAVs, Government, Idiocy, Ineptitude, IO Deeds of War, Military, Officers Call, Peace Intelligence

India-Afghanistan: Indian Minister of External Affairs Slaman Khurshid said on 15 February that India will provide helicopters to Afghanistan.

“We are giving them helicopters and we will be supplying them very soon,” Khurshid told reporters accompanying him on a day-long visit to the Afghan city of Kandahar, where he inaugurated an agricultural university built with Indian aid. “We also have been giving them some logistical support and we hopefully will be able to upgrade and refurbish their transport aircraft.”

Khurshid did not specify the number or type of helicopters to be provided to Afghanistan. Nor did he elaborate on transport aircraft contracts.

Continue reading “NIGHTWATCH: India Begins Military Support for Afghanistan — Robert Steele Comments”

2014/02/172014/02/17

Philip Giraldi: One Third Of US Military Chaplains Are Evangelical Subversives — Pat Tillman Murdered by Evangelicals in Afghanistan?

Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Idiocy, Military

Old Testament Armed Forces

Religious zealotry runs rampant in the U.S. military, and among those wishing to deploy it.

By PHILIP GIRALDI, American Conservative, February 12, 2014

Phi Beta Iota: Complete article below the line. This may be one of the most important articles ever posted here. Between financial corruption and religious treason, the US Government and military are hosed. Incompetence is the third leg.

Continue reading “Philip Giraldi: One Third Of US Military Chaplains Are Evangelical Subversives — Pat Tillman Murdered by Evangelicals in Afghanistan?”

2014/02/17

Mini-Me: Venezuela Expels Three US Officers for Subversion (“Visa Outreach”)

Government, Idiocy

Huh?

Venezuela tense ahead of dueling demonstrations

EXTRACT:

Maduro's government on Monday gave three U.S. Embassy officials 48 hours to leave the country, charging that the Obama administration is siding with opposition protesters.

Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said the senior U.S. consular officers were trying to infiltrate Venezuelan universities, the hotbed of the recent unrest, under the cover of doing visa outreach.

The three expelled officials — Breeann Marie McCusker, Jeffrey Gordon Elsen and Kristofer Lee Clark — all enjoyed the rank of second secretary, and two of them were vice consuls, Jaua said.

Read full article.

Phi Beta Iota: In 2013 the Charge d'Affairs Kelly Keideerling, Political Officer Elizabeth Hoffman, and Consular Officer David Moo were ordered to leave Venezuela, allegedly for causing power black-outs. There is no such thing as “visa out-reach.” Other than visiting US citizens in jail, consular officers are supposed to focus on issuing visas. As second secretaries they all have one prior tour. We have no doubt the Venezuelan government is quite certain that all three are CIA officers, and they probably have — with help from the Cubans — ample photographic and audio evidence of their non-consular activities.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/17/3941610/venezuela-chief-expels-us-officials.html#storylink=cpy

2014/02/172014/02/17

Berto Jongman: Germany, France to mastermind European data network – bypassing US

07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, Corruption, Government, Idiocy, IO Deeds of War, IO Impotency, Military

Germany, France to mastermind European data network – bypassing US

Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande will review plans to build up a trustworthy data protection network in Europe. The challenge is to avoid data passing through the US after revelations of mass NSA spying in Germany and France.

Merkel has been one of the biggest supporters of greater data protection in Europe since the revelations that the US tapped her phone emerged in a Der Spiegel news report in October, based on information leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Earlier, France learned from reports in Le Monde that the NSA has also been recording dozens of millions of French phone calls, including those of the French authorities. According to the report, in just one month between December 10, 2012 and January 8, 2013, the NSA recorded a total of 70.3 million French phone calls.

Continue reading “Berto Jongman: Germany, France to mastermind European data network – bypassing US”