Journal ISSN 1078-1935 – Page 2096 – Public Intelligence Blog

A 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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2012/12/262013/03/13

Worth a Look: Books on Improving Intelligence Analysis

Intelligence (Government/Secret), Worth A Look

This book on intelligence analysis written by intelligence expert Dr. Stephen Marrin argues that scholarship can play a valuable role in improving intelligence analysis.

Improving intelligence analysis requires bridging the gap between scholarship and practice. Compared to the more established academic disciplines of political science and international relations, intelligence studies scholarship is generally quite relevant to practice. Yet a substantial gap exists nonetheless. Even though there are many intelligence analysts, very few of them are aware of the various writings on intelligence analysis which could help them improve their own processes and products. If the gap between scholarship and practice were to be bridged, practitioners would be able to access and exploit the literature in order to acquire new ways to think about, frame, conceptualize, and improve the analytic process and the resulting product. This volume contributes to the broader discussion regarding mechanisms and methods for improving intelligence analysis processes and products. It synthesizes these articles into a coherent whole, linking them together through common themes, and emphasizes the broader vision of intelligence analysis in the introduction and conclusion chapters.

The book will be of great interest to students of intelligence studies, strategic studies, US national security, US foreign policy, security studies and political science in general,as well as professional intelligence analysts and managers.

Comment and Nine Other Linked Books Below the Line

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2012/12/252012/12/26

Worth a Look: Routledge Companion to Intelligence Studies

Intelligence (Government/Secret), Intelligence (Public), Worth A Look

The Routledge Companion to Intelligence Studies provides a broad of the growing field of intelligence studies, acting as a relection of the state of the art of the subdiscipline.

Focusing on the origins, practice and nature of intelligence studies, this Companion features essays by an array of international experts. It first explains the generic lessons of intelligence – what it is, how it is collected, and how it is processed. It then dedicates sections to the evolution of intelligence; to key episodes in modern history; and to contemporary and future threats. The importance of these three sections is to highlight how our understanding of ‘intelligence' has been shaped by the nature of the ‘threat'. A final section offers a comparison of national intelligence systems from around the world, grounding the book in an international context and opening up Western readers to accounts of hitherto fairly unexplored countries such as China, South Africa and Japan.

This Companion will be essential reading for students of intelligence studies and strategic studies, and highly recommended for students of defense studies, foreign policy, cold war studies, diplomacy, and International Relations in general.

Rob Dover is senior lecturer in International Relations and Director of Taught Postgraduate Programmes at Loughborough University. He is author of The Europeanization of British Defence Policy 1997-2005 (2007) and co-author, with Goodman, of Spinning Intelligence (2009).

Michael Goodman is a senior lecturer in the Department of War Studies at King's College London. He is author of Spying on the Nuclear Bear: Anglo-American Intelligence and the Soviet Bomb (2008), and co-author of Spinning Intelligence: Why Intelligence Needs the Media, Why the Media Needs Intelligence (2009).

Claudia Hillebrand is a lecturer in the Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth University.

Contents:

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2012/12/252012/12/25

Yoda: Online Education Takes Big Step

04 Education

First step, this is.

2013 Outlook for the Growth and Demand of Online Education

by Online School

All major online colleges and universities report astounding increases in the number of students enrolling in online school certification and degree programs. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, a prominent online magazine source of educational information for university administrators and faculty members, higher learning institutions have announced a nearly 25 percent increase in online enrollment over the past four years—the highest percentage recorded to date. With an apparent shift towards online education away from traditional classroom instruction predicted to shape the educational environment of 2013, the demise of “brick and mortar” schools will inevitably be a decisive factor shaping the future of online schools and the students who attend them. As the quality of online education continues to improve and adapt to the rapidly changing technology exemplifying the digital world, students will be able to experience a stunning variety of teaching platforms capable of enhancing as well as accommodating all individual learning styles and standards.

PRESS RELEASE

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2012/12/252012/12/25

Marcus Aurelius: Maryland Traffic Cameras Caught Out — Issuing Tickets to Cars at Full Stop

Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Ineptitude, Law Enforcement

I'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

By Michael S. Rosenwald

TheWashingtonPost, Dec 14, 2012 03:32 PM EST

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2012/12/252012/12/25

SchwartzReport: The Truth is a Stake in Monsanto’s Heart — If It Had One — and If Public Had a Brain

Commerce, Corruption, Earth Intelligence

Cancer of Corruption, Seeds of Destruction: The Monsanto GMO Whitewash

F. William Engdahl – Centre for Reseaerch on Globilization

Here is the latest on the GMO trend. It is not a happy story.

EXTRACT:

The study was also done with the highest number of rats ever measured in a standard GMO diet study. They tested also ‘for the first time 3 doses (rather than two in the usual 90 day long protocols) of the Roundup-tolerant NK603 GMO maize alone, the GMO maize treated with Roundup, and Roundup alone at very low environmentally relevant doses starting below the range of levels permitted by regulatory authorities in drinking water and in GM feed.” [1]

Their findings were more than alarming. The Seralini study concluded, ‘In females, all treated groups died 2–3 times more than controls, and more rapidly. This difference was visible in 3 male groups fed GMOs…Females developed large mammary tumors almost always more often than and before controls; the pituitary was the second most disabled organ; the sex hormonal balance was modified by GMO and Roundup treatments. In treated males, liver congestions and necrosis were 2.5–5.5 times higher. This pathology was confirmed by optic and transmission electron microscopy. Marked and severe kidney nephropathies were also generally 1.3–2.3 greater. Males presented 4 times more large palpable tumors than controls…” [2]

Phi Beta Iota: At root this website is dedicated to one general and two specific propositions. General: the truth at any cost lowers all others costs. Specific: there is a market for the truth; and the five billion poor are the center of gravity for the truth as a public good.

2012/12/242012/12/24