Category: Journal ISSN 1078-1935

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Journal: Reich Whines Because Gore & Obama Took the Bribe, Now Democrats Realize They Were Theater

11 Society, Civil Society, Commercial Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence, IO Secrets, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth
Full Story Online

Published on Friday, October 8, 2010 by Robert Reich's Blog

The Secret Big-Money Takeover of America

by Robert Reich

Not only is income and wealth in America more concentrated in fewer hands than it’s been in 80 years, but those hands are buying our democracy as never before – and they’re doing it behind closed doors.

Hundreds of millions of secret dollars are pouring into congressional and state races in this election cycle. The Koch brothers (whose personal fortunes grew by $5 billion last year) appear to be behind some of it, Karl Rove has rounded up other multi-millionaires to fund right-wing candidates, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is funneling corporate dollars from around the world into congressional races, and Rupert Murdoch is evidently spending heavily.

No one knows for sure where this flood of money is coming from because it’s all secret.

Read the entire article….

Phi Beta Iota: The FACTS are that Al Gore took the bribe offer delivered by Warren Christopher to roll over and play dead on the Florida high crimes and misdemeanors, and then Barack Obama took the bribe to receive $300 million still unaccounted for dollars in order to “play” President.  What is happening right now is–we hope–the last act in the theater of democracy.  It is time to flush both criminally irresponsible parties down the toilet, carry out Electoral Reform, and get back to being a Republic Of, By, and For We the People–respecting the Constitution and if necessary demanding the wholesale resignation of the Supreme Court Justices that confirmed corporate personality.

See Also:

Review: The Best Democracy Money Can Buy

Review: Selling Out

Review: Grand Illusion–The Myth of Voter Choice in a Two-Party Tyranny

Review: Running on Empty–How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It (Paperback)

2008 ELECTION 2008: Lipstick on the Pig

Review: Threshold–The Crisis of Western Culture

Review: Shooting the Truth–The Rise of American Political Documentaries

Review DVD: The AMERICAN Ruling Class

Review: Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth

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NIGHTWATCH Extract: Russia, Venezuela, Economy, Arms

06 Russia, 07 Venezuela, Strategy

Venezuela-Russia: Russia does not plan to cut military-technical cooperation with Venezuela, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev said on 15 October Interfax reported. He spoke at a press conference following talks with Venezuelan President Chavez. Medvedev called changes in the economic sphere “very serious and of a tectonic character,” and includes nearly all sectors of mutual interest. This includes real investment, primarily in the energy sector, he said.

Prime Minister Putin announced that Russia has sold 35 tanks to Venezuela. That is enough to equip a Russian-style battalion.

NIGHTWATCH Comment: Chavez justifies a more than $4 billion arms spending spree since 2005 based on the threat of a US attack. He intends to purchase Kilo-class submarines and S-300 air defense missiles. Russia canceled its longstanding contract for similar missiles with Iran. A major concern is that Venezuela will be a conduit for Russian arms to reach Iran because of the closeness of Chavez' connection with Ahmadi-Nejad in opposing the US.

NIGHTWATCH KGS Home

Phi Beta Iota: What is really important about the above is the Russian reference to “tectonic character” of the economic shift.  Neither the Russians nor the Chinese are stupid, and they will murder, kidnap, and/or torture Wall Street executives and their families if selected “corrections” are not made.  The era of US “empire” is not only over, the irresponsibility of the last eight years has deprived the USA as a whole of a more measured transition.  In Latin America, the USA has disgraced itself and lost a century of opportunity.

See Also:

Journal: $750 Billion Wall Street Scam, Russian Anger, Chinese Intent, We are NOT Making This Up!

Review: Open Veins of Latin America–Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent

Review: SAVAGE CAPITALISM AND THE MYTH OF DEMOCRACY–Latin America in the Third Millennium

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Journal: iPhone and iPad Spread Disease

02 Infectious Disease, 07 Health

Full Story Online

Your iPhone and iPad Make Me Sick!

Your iPhone or iPad can get me sick around this time of year. That’s because it’s flu season, and every time you sneeze into your hands and wipe it all over your touch screen device, you could be passing on a virus when you decide to share it with someone else. So unless you’re immunized for the season and you keep a small bottle of Purell with you at all times, I’ll be checking out your gaming high scores from afar, thank you very much. I don’t need your Angry Birds to give me swine or bird flu.

Phi Beta Iota: The full story is a very professional concise account with integrated quotes from solid sources.  We have read elsewhere that the hotel telephone is the single greatest disease vector when traveling.  Tip of the Hat to Marc.

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Journal: Exoskeletons for Disabled People

07 Health, Academia, Gift Intelligence, YouTube

Short Video

Berkeley Bionics: Introducing eLEGS

About eLEGS

Phi Beta Iota: This is an inspiring story in the context of unlimited wealth and no attention to the needs of the five billion poor–another example of multi-million dollar innovation for the one billion rich when the five billion poor need a two dollar fridge or a single shirt that can shed rain.  This is also a hugely impressive example of how good Berkeley is getting at propaganda–this is one of the slickest academic shorts we have ever seen.  The beneficiaries are rightfully estactic but the question must be asked: what could this investment of talent and money have done for millions who would then create infinite wealth to allow for a hundred of these advanced projects to flourish?

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“TapIt” Water Bottle Refilling Network in NYC

12 Water, Maps, Mobile

TapIt water bottle refilling network was founded in 2008 to give New Yorkers free access to clean sustainable water on the go. Café owners sign up as ‘partners’ to provide tap water to those who carry a reusable bottle. Partner locations are easy to find using our search and mapping features (PC or Smartphone) or by downloading ‘TapIt Water’ from the iPhone App store. For those with limited access to technology, printable city maps can be downloaded and stickers can be found on café windows.

Comment: This has been added to this 45 page table of water resource hyper-links with a description for each link.

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Journal: 2005 Seminal Work Ignored to This Day…

03 Economy, 05 Energy, 09 Justice, 10 Security, 11 Society, 12 Water, Academia, Analysis, Budgets & Funding, Government, InfoOps (IO), Intelligence (government), Politics of Science & Science of Politics, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Reform, Research resources, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy
Book Page

DefDog Recommends...

Authors:
By Members of the 2005 “Rising Above the Gathering Storm” Committee; Prepared for the Presidents of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine
Authoring Organizations

Description:

In the face of so many daunting near-term challenges, U.S. government and industry are letting the crucial strategic issues of U.S. competitiveness slip below the surface. Five years ago, the National Academies prepared Rising Above the Gathering Storm, a book …
Read More

Reviews:

“Five years ago, these authors provided foresight. Now, their vision answers a national imperative.”

– American Chemical Society President Joseph S. Francisco, Ph.D.

Read More

Phi Beta Iota: This book was ignored by successive Administrations of both of the “top two” parties, just as Peak Oil, Peak Water, and Infectious Disease warnings were ignored by previous Administrations in the 1970's.  The title of the OSS conference, “National Security & National Competitiveness: Open Source Solutions,” sought to communicate both the objective and the method.    The US Government is uninformed and nearly comatose with respect to anything remotely associated with strategic objectives and intelligence-driven policy.

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Journal: That Should Be Classified….

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Terrorism, Cultural Intelligence, Government
DefDog

I continue to hear military and civilian IC folks belittle Open Source.  I passed this around to show them what can be done and all I get is the response, “this should be classified”.  They cannot believe it is from purely open source data…..link provided due to size of document…

The Haqqani Network: From Pakistan to Afghanistan

Key Findings

The Haqqani network, which has the backing of elements within the Pakistani security establishment, is one of Afghanistan’s most experienced and sophisticated insurgent organizations.

Although the Haqqani network is officially subsumed under the larger Taliban umbrella organization led by Mullah Omar and his Quetta Shura Taliban, the Haqqanis maintain distinct command and control, and lines of operations.

Siraj Haqqani, the son of the famous anti-Soviet fighter Jalaluddin Haqqani, is the current leader of the Haqqani network. Siraj is more extreme than his father and maintains closer ties to al-Qaeda and other foreign extremists in Pakistan.

The Haqqani network maintains a safe haven in North Waziristan, Pakistan, across Afghanistan’s southeastern border. The Pakistani Army has consistently refused to launch a military operation in North Waziristan despite the presence of al-Qaeda senior leadership.

Elements within the Pakistani security establishment continue to view the Haqqani network as a useful ally and proxy force to represent their interests in Afghanistan. To this end, Haqqani forces have repeatedly targeted Indian infrastructure and construction projects in Afghanistan.

The Haqqani Network Afghanistan Report #6 October 12, 2010 Jeffrey Dressler .  . Haqqani_Network.pdf

Phi Beta Iota: It is now known that Pakistan successfully fooled the most experienced CIA officers in the world, leading them to believe for decades that the Pakistani ISI elements dealing with the Taliban were “renegades” whose misbehavior was not sanctioned by the government.  We now know that every move, every word was sanctioned, and we now can calculate that at least half of the money from CIA intended for Afghanistan was siphoned off to fund Pakistani priorities and private bank accounts.  If CIA cannot figure this out while it is happening, why should we trust them to figure anything else out?  A major reason CIA did NOT know what it needed to know was because then and now it refuses to actually deal in depth with anyone lacking clearances or US citizenship.  The one decent initiative CIA had, apart from Project GEORGE, was the Global Futures Partnership.  Both died in infancy.  Nothing has changed.

See Also:
noble gold