WASHINGTON — The Pentagon, trying to create a formal strategy to deter cyberattacks on the United States, plans to issue a new strategy soon declaring that a computer attack from a foreign nation can be considered an act of war that may result in a military response.
Phi Beta Iota: These people literally have no clue and are simply striving for budget share before Pentagon right-sizing gets underway. We absolutely guarantee that what the Pentagon and the US Intelligence Community do to their own employees every day (including forbidding thumb drives now) qualifies as a crime against humanity as well as an act of war. The USG is its own worst enemy in every possible sense.
Here are a few of the BIG lies used to support the status quo. What we need, rather urgently, is a counter-narrative
LIE 1. The earth is an open system with infinite supplies and sinks;
POSSIBLE TRUTH: Earth is a closed system, changes that used to take 10,000 years now take three, humanity is “peaking” the entire system.
LIE 2. Everything must be monetized;
POSSIBLE TRUTH: Money is an exchange unit and an information unit; in the absence of holistic analytics and “true cost” transparency, mony is actually a toxic means of concentrating wealth and depriving communities of their own resources (e.g. land).
LIE 3. The extreme unregulated free market is the only option for a modern economy;
POSSIBLE TRUTH: Information asymmetries and “rule by secrecy” have been clearly documented–the free market is neither free nor fair. A modern economy needs to be transparent, resilient, and hence rooted in the local.
Phi Beta Iota: There is a contest of personalities going on, in which Army officers and camp followers without integrity (Alexander, Burgess, Long) are winning out over Navy officers with integrity (McConnell, Blair, Mullen). The militarization of intelligence is Clapper's pathetically counter-productive technocratic dive over the cliff. What Obama has done is demonstrate that he is incapable of selecting subordinates who can deliver substance. He prefers unethical sychophants. His Administration lacks intelligence.
Here are some of the economic reforms that turned the horde of Genghis Kahn into a steamroller than flattened most of the world's kingdoms/empires.* He:
Delayed gratification. He banned the sacking of the enemy's camp/city until all of the fleeing soldiers, baggage, etc. were rounded up. This radically increased the loot accumulated and ensured it could be shared among all of the participants (he confliscated the wealth of those men that cheated by looting early).
Systematically shared the loot based on contribution and merit. He disregarded title or status and systematically rewarded loot to everyone in the horde that earned it (the traditional approach was to let a few take it all — sound familiar?). Of course, that fairness pissed off the nobility since they were used to backroom dealing and hereditary rights. However, the benefits of this system, were far greater than the costs. To wit: He cemented the loyalty of the men and was able to attract thousands to his banner for every noble lost.
Protected those that make sacrifices. For men killed in the campaign, he paid their share of loot to their widows/orphans posthumously.
*of course, the first unsaid lesson is: attack the places with the most loot.
The economic strategy of Genghis Kahn works well against any corrupt, top-heavy system (loot rich targets that are defended by nobility + serfs). Sounds somewhat similar to today's global economic formula. Of course, it's also important to view this simple but effective strategy as something apart from the figure that used it. For example, a decent/moral decentralized system that replicates this merit based approach could reproduce some of the success Ghengis had against the feudal holdings and petty tyrannies of today's marketplace.
Phi Beta Iota: Brother John raises the spectre of honorable leadership with integrity….that means no rule by secrecy, no earmarks, no back office deals. Ronald Reagan (thank you Peggy Noonan) had it right: the US Congress [and Executive] is no better than the Soviet Politburo. ALL “top down” elite systems have failed for lack of integrity (holistic informed analysis). Populism failed as well–bottom up mobs are no better than corrupt elites for different reasons. The combination of open information and honest crowds is ripe with potential. The leaders that enable and empower the public, while revealing the “true cost” of predatory capitalism, virtual colonialism, and unilateral militarism, will go down in history as the Epoch B Founding Fathers.
We, the unemployed, the underpaid, the subcontracted, the precarious, the young … demand a change towards a future with dignity. We are fed up of reforms, of being laid off, of the banks which have caused the crisis hardening our mortgages or taking away our houses, of laws limiting our freedom in the interest of the powerful. We blame the political and economic powers of our sad situation and we call for a turn.’
While those involved in Arab uprisings welcomed Obama's support, others were disappointed with his failure to apologize for US support for Middle East dictators
EXTRACT:
“Obama really had an opportunity to reshape and reframe the debate and … he gave it away,” says Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Center, adding that there was nothing distinctive or imaginative about the address. “This speech was an opportunity to say to Arabs, ‘We as Americans made mistakes, we did not support democratic aspirations as much as we should have, but we’re going to do better.’ Obama didn’t say that.”
Phi Beta Iota: The USG has no strategic analytic model, no strategy, and no concept for how to achieve Whole of Government and multinational eight-tribe harmonized non-zero (win-win) outcomes….because to do so would stop the co-option of the USG on behalf of the few at the expense of the many. Obama–and Clinton–confuse “strategic communication” with strategic intelligence, and they are bad at it.