Journal ISSN 1078-1935 – Page 2115 – Public Intelligence Blog

2012/12/042012/12/04

SchwartzReport: The Drugging of America Via Food — Enabled by the Loss of Intelligence and Integrity Across Whole of Government

07 Other Atrocities, Commerce, Corruption, Government

We're Eating What? The Drugstore in U.S. Meat.

Martha Rosenberg, AlterNet, 2 December 2012

Food consumers seldom hear about the drugs oestradiol-17, zeranol, trenbolone acetate and melengestrol acetate and the names are certainly not on meat labels. But those synthetic growth hormones are central to U.S. meat production, especially beef, and the reason Europe has banned a lot of U.S. meat since 1989.

Zeranol, widely used as a growth promoter in the U.S. beef industry, is a “powerful estrogenic chemical, as demonstrated by its ability to stimulate growth and proliferation of human breast tumor cells” similar to the “known carcinogen diethylstilbestrol (DES),”

Read full article.

Public Governance for the 21st Century — Click on Image to Enlarge

Phi Beta Iota: The ten high-level threats to humanity, eight of which are being ignored by most governments, include “Other Atrocities.” Normally defined as a mix of trafficking in women and children as well as body parts (with kidnapping and murder), we now include in “Other Atrocities” the willful corruption of governments that leads to the poisoning of entire populations; to the proliferation of genetic mutations in crops, animals, and humans; and to the wholesale increase of prevalent persistent disease such as asthma in poor kids living near highways.

2012/12/032012/12/03

Marcus Aurelius: New America Foundation Sucks Up – 10 [Paid For] Reasons a Woman Should Head CIA

Cultural Intelligence, Idiocy, Non-Governmental

Marcus-Aurelius-150x150 — Marcus Aurelius

Gag.

10 Reasons a Woman Should Head the CIA

By
Tara Maller,
New America Foundation blogged to CNN, November 21, 2012 |

A woman at the helm of the CIA wouldn't simply make another crack in the intelligence glass ceiling, it could effectively shatter it.

One of the most high-profile appointments President Obama will make in his second term is the director of the CIA. Here's a tip for the president: The time is ripe for the first woman to head the agency.

Choosing a woman isn't just about narrowing the intelligence community gender gap. It's also about drawing from the whole pool of talent to ensure the best national security apparatus and responding to Americans' apparent desire for more women in government. Here are the Top 10 reasons President Obama should name a woman as the next CIA director.

Continue reading “Marcus Aurelius: New America Foundation Sucks Up – 10 [Paid For] Reasons a Woman Should Head CIA”

2012/12/022012/12/03

Eagle: UK France May Pull Ambassadors from Israel Over Illegal Settlement Expansion — What Is USA Doing? NOTHING!

02 Diplomacy, 08 Wild Cards

Not being reported in US media…

UK, France may pull out envoys from Israel over settlement construction – reports

France and Britain are reportedly considering moves against Israel over Tel Aviv’s decision to expand settlement construction in occupied territories, diplomats told an Israeli newspaper. This may include recalling ambassadors for the first time.

This comes as Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the construction of thousands of new homes in Jewish settlements in the area known as E1, between Ma’aleh Adumim and Jerusalem – a step widely seen as retaliation for recognition of Palestine as non-member state by the United Nations.

“This time it won’t just be a condemnation, there will be real action taken against Israel,” a senior European diplomat told Haaretz daily.

The three European diplomats who spoke to the paper indicated that London and Paris were coordinating their moves against Israel, and have discussed the extraordinary step of recalling their ambassadors for consultations. The action, whatever it may be, could be implemented in the next few days.

“London is furious about the E1 decision,” one of the diplomats said.

The UN General Assembly has voted to upgrade Palestinians’ diplomatic status to a “non-member observer state,” thus implicitly recognizing a Palestinian state. This comes despite strong opposition from the US and Israel.

Phi Beta Iota: We missed the statehood aspect the first time Eagle posted on this.

2012/12/022012/12/03

Eagle: Israel Withholds Revenue Due to Palestine — So Why Is USA Not Withholding the Billions It Gives to Israel at Taxpayer Expense?

07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards

Israel withholds $120mn in Palestinian tax funds as revenge for UN vote

Israel has canceled the transfer of US$120 million collected in taxes on behalf of the Palestinian Authority in response to Palestine’s UN-bid, which saw it granted non-member observer status, thus implicitly recognizing the state.

The halted money, collected in taxes for the month of November, was scheduled to be passed on to the Palestinian Authority (PA), which constitutes a large percentage of the Palestinian budget, including paying the salaries of PA officials, Israeli media reported.

Now, instead, the money will be used to pay for the PA's debt to Israel's Electric Company.

The decision was made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz and announced during a weekly government cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

“This is a Palestinian provocation and an attempt to advance their state without recognizing Israel,” Steinitz stated.

Israel’s change of mind comes as a response to UN’s decision last week. The Palestinian bid was upheld with 138 votes in favor, nine against and 41 abstentions.

The new status allows the PA access to numerous UN agencies, and to the International Criminal Court at The Hague.

Also, following the status upgrade, Israel announced it will be building 3,000 new settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Read full article.

Phi Beta Iota: It is time for all grants to Israel from the US Treasury to be subject to recurring national ballot initiatives, with line item distinction.

2012/12/022012/12/02

Winsdlow Wheeler: Post-Downturn Pentagon to be UGLY…

Corruption, Government, Ineptitude, Military

WinslowWheeler Cropped — Winslow Wheeler

Two things seem clear to me: the Pentagon budget is going down, and pretty much no one in Washington wants to impose the three fundamental reforms needed to enable DOD to prosper in an era of lower budgets. I explain my point of view in a new article in Foreign Policy and below.

EXTRACT:

They are laying the groundwork for the same Pentagon as the one we have now, just at somewhat lower spending levels with several fewer programs — and more of the remaining ones funded at unrealistically lower levels than usual.

Quagmire on the Potomac

BY WINSLOW WHEELER | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

Amidst the many uncertainties and machinations in the negotiations in Washington on the “fiscal cliff,” a few things are beginning to emerge as certain. Among them: the defense budget will be going down. Another is that none of the parties to the negotiations is seeking the kind of change that the Pentagon must undergo to survive effectively, even prosper, under significantly reduced budgets.

The new, post-election reality of a declining Department of Defense (DOD) budget was signaled by a conglomeration of mainstream think tank pundits, Capitol Hill staffers from both political parties, industry and executive branch defense specialists, and retired military officers put together by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments: They opined on not whether the defense budget was about to decline significantly but on how to do it. (Some of them had some pretty horrible ideas; more on that later.) The new reality of less money for DOD was also made clear in a provocative summary of five different think tanks reports at Foreign Policy by Gordon Adams.

Continue reading “Winsdlow Wheeler: Post-Downturn Pentagon to be UGLY…”

2012/12/02

John Steiner: Julian Assange Strikes Back

Corruption, Government

In this hard-hitting piece, Assange offers a taste of Wikileaks-released documents that will curl your hair.

Two Years of Cablegate as Bradley Manning Testifies for the First Time

Julian Assange

Huffington Post, 29 November 2012

Thursday, November 29th, Bradley Manning testified for the first time since his arrest two and a half years ago in Baghdad. Today also marks the two-year anniversary of the first front pages around the world from Cablegate, an archive of 251,287 U.S. State Department diplomatic cables — messages sent between the State Department and its embassies, consulates and diplomatic missions around the world. In collaboration with a network of more than 100 press outlets we revealed the full spectrum of techniques used by the United States to exert itself around the world. The young intelligence analyst Bradley Manning was detained as an alleged source.

Phi Beta Iota: Headings are below, and the full article with all links is below the line.

A War on Terror
WikiLeaks and the Arab Spring
A Global Death Squad Consulting Firm?
Foreign Service Spies
Lobbying for Unaccountability — Manipulation of Judicial Process in Other Countries
Secret Agreements — Circumvention of the Democratic Process
The Realpolitik of Commercial Lobbying
Strategic Duplicity on Human Rights and Press Freedom
Thailand's Monarchy Exposed
US Aims to Reshare Global Views and Law on Intellectual Property and Copyright
Breaking the Monopoly on Influence

Continue reading “John Steiner: Julian Assange Strikes Back”