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: Matt Damon on Politics — Game is Rigged
Corruption, Government, Ineptitude
Leftwing 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.
Continue reading “Marcus Aurelius: Matt Damon on Politics — Game is Rigged”
Jerry Boykin: Benghazi — Focus on Failure of DoD to Rescue with Comment & Links by Robert Steele
Corruption, Government, Ineptitude, Military
BOYKIN: Congress asking the wrong questions on Benghazi
Lack of military response should be top issue
Washington Times, 26 December 2012
“Iknew wherever I was that you thought of me and that if I got in a tight place, you would come — if alive.” This statement was contained in a letter dated March 10, 1864, written by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman to Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. It expresses an ageless ethos among warriors, especially those within the U.S. military. The commitment to come to the aid of fellow Americans in times of duress and danger has always been one of the foundations of America’s fighting forces. Yet that appears to have changed on Sept. 11, 2012, in Benghazi, Libya, when no effort was made to respond to the calls for help by U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and his CIA team at the U.S. Consulate facility.
Why was there no attempt to save the lives of the ambassador and his colleagues, beyond sending an unarmed drone to observe their demise? The congressional committees investigating the events in Benghazi seem to have focused on the Sunday talk-show statements of Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, who blamed the attack on an obscure anti-Islam video made by a relatively unknown man in California.
Marcus Aurelius: CIA Self-Destruction Continues…
Government, Idiocy, IneptitudeCIA's Secret Security Group Emerges From Shadows
High-risk assignments draw many from U.S. Special Forces
By Greg Miller and Julie Tate
The rapid collapse of a U.S. diplomatic compound in Libya exposed the vulnerabilities of State Department facilities overseas. But the CIA’s ability to fend off a second attack that same night provided a glimpse of a key element in the agency’s defensive arsenal: a secret security force created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Two of the Americans killed in Benghazi were members of the CIA’s Global Response Staff, an innocuously named organization that has recruited hundreds of former U.S. Special Forces operatives to serve as armed guards for the agency’s spies.
The GRS, as it is known, is designed to stay in the shadows, training teams to work undercover and provide an unobtrusive layer of security for CIA officers in high-risk outposts.
. . . . . . . .
Bodyguard details have become so essential to espionage that the CIA has overhauled its training program at the Farm — its case officer academy in southern Virginia — to teach spies the basics of working with GRS teams.
. . . . . . . . .
“They don’t learn languages, they’re not meeting foreign nationals and they’re not writing up intelligence reports,” a former U.S. intelligence official said. Their main tasks are to map escape routes from meeting places, pat down informants and provide an “envelope” of security, the former official said, all while knowing that “if push comes to shove, you’re going to have to shoot.”
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Marcus Aurelius: Army Spreading Troops Around Africa?
Ineptitude, MilitaryA broad concept that illuminate the fact that Special Operations Forces are not available for such duties.
Army plans to shift troops to U.S. Africa Command
Aims for quick crisis response
U.S. Africa Command, the military’s newest regional force, will have more troops available early next year as the Pentagon winds down from two ground wars over the past decade, Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, Army chief of staff, told The Washington Times.
As part of Gen. Odierno’s Regionally Aligned Forces concept, about 1,200 soldiers will deploy to Africa as early as March in an effort to place troops strategically around the globe to respond quickly to sudden challenges in hot spots such as Libya and to develop ties with the people and officials in host countries.
“It’s about us moving towards a scalable, tailorable capability that helps them to shape the environment they’re working in, doing a variety of tasks from building partner capability to engagement, to multilateral training to bilateral training to actual deployment of forces, if necessary,” Gen. Odierno said in an interview.
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Marcus Aurelius: Maryland Traffic Cameras Caught Out — Issuing Tickets to Cars at Full Stop
Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Ineptitude, Law EnforcementI'm am an opponent of speed cameras and red light cameras. Following two articles, about a local case where a driver stopped at a light and doing zero mph gets charged by a red light camera for doing 38 mph, makes the case, IMHO. This may be the one time in 10,000 where the equipment and people screw up. It could be the one time in one hundred million. No matter. If any single element of this case is as reported, IMHO it justifies Federal intervention via statute or Constitutional amendment to prohibit use of these unattended surveillance devices anywhere, for any purpose, within US National territory. Every contractor and the Balto PD officer involved should also be terminated. Seem like overkill? I disagree.
Speed camera nabs car stopped at light
TheWashingtonPost, Dec 14, 2012 03:32 PM EST
