Category: Key Players

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Whither Egypt – and its Torturer Vice President

08 Wild Cards

Chuck Spinney Recommends....

Egypt: Exchanging a Dictator for a Torturer

By James Ridgeway, Mother Jones, Thu Feb. 3, 2011 8:30 AM PST

As for Suleiman, he looks to be a nasty piece of work.

Egyptian Protests Grounded in Decades of Struggle; Portend Regional Transformation

Max Ajl, Truthout, 03 February 2011

Egypt is throbbing with resistance. Cairo is cloven between the forces of revolution and those of counterrevolution. Hundreds of thousands of people – on Tuesday, February 1, well over a million – have been streaming each day into Tahrir Square, the largest plaza in the Arab world, located in the heart of downtown Cairo. Army tanks line the streets, helicopters and F16s buzz overhead, and pro-Mubarak demonstrators, many of them hired thugs, bloodied thousands of protesters yesterday in Tahrir and elsewhere. Yet the people keep pushing for Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak's unconditional ouster, and not just in Cairo. Alexandria has been convulsed, while Suez, a small city abutting the Suez Canal, has been riven with some of the fiercest street battles between the police and protesters, while workers there have gone on strike, demanding that Mubarak step down from his palace in Heliopolis. 

Read more….

Phi Beta Iota: The US appears naive and uninformed at this time.  This would have a much better outcome if there were a strategic game plan for pulling US forces out of the region, cutting all US military assistance to the region, and pushing Israel out of the US policy process while redirecting 50% of existing US assistance toward waging peace, the other 50% toward deficit reduction.  The sooner the US can achieve intelligence with integrity, the better for all.

See Also:

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extraterrestrial Readings….

08 Wild Cards, Cultural Intelligence, Earth Intelligence, History

Phi Beta Iota: Below the line are a number of books with links to their Amazon pages.  The most interesting point we drew from creating this list is that  the intersection of religion and science that is now occurring is coincident with the intersection of consciousness and extraterrestrial convergence.  The Mayans foretold a return or “first disclosure” of extraterrestrials in 2012–some religions believe 2012 will be a year of apocalypse.  We believe it will be a year of Awakening, enabling global public consciousness across all boundaries, in a manner never before achieved.

Continue reading “extraterrestrial Readings….”

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Underground world hints at China’s coming crisis

03 Economy, 05 Energy, 06 Family, 11 Society, 12 Water, Civil Society, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Government, Key Players, Peace Intelligence

Underground world hints at China's coming crisis

To understand how far ordinary Chinese have been priced out of their country's property market, you need to look not upwards at the Beijing's shimmering high-rise skyline, but down, far below the bustling streets where nearly 20m people live and work.

There, in the city's vast network of unused air defence bunkers, as many as a million people live in small, windowless rooms that rent for £30 to £50 a month, which is as much as many of the city's army of migrant labourers can afford.

. . . . . .

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Central Asia–Failed States in the Making

07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, Communities of Practice, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Peace Intelligence, Strategy
DefDog Recommends...

Central Asia: Decay and Decline

International Crisis Group Report 201 3 Feb 2011

Quietly but steadily Central Asia’s basic human and physical
infrastructure – the roads, power plants, hospitals and schools and the
last generation of Soviet-trained specialists who have kept this all
running – is disappearing. The equipment is wearing out, the personnel
retiring or dying. Post-independence regimes made little effort to
maintain or replace either, and funds allocated for this purpose have
largely been eaten up by corruption. This collapse has already sparked
protests and contributed to the overthrow of a government.

Read full report….

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Afghanistan, Israel, Egypt, USA–No Legitimacy

08 Wild Cards, Corruption
Chuck Spinney Recommends....

Anyone who thinks we ought to stay in Afghanistan and that the Afghanis want us to stay should carefully read and think about the information in this important report.

Chuck Spinney

King David's War

Petraeus has a new plan to finish the war: Double down on a failed strategy

David Hastings, Rolling Stone, 02/02/11  Read long analytic article…

Phi Beta Iota: Highly recommended long article that illuminates both the lack of intelligent strategy, operations, and tactics in Afghanistan, and the lack of ethical, informed, strategic leadership in Washington.

Two more recommended items  below the line…

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NIGHTWATCH on Egypt: Five Epiphanies

08 Wild Cards, Ethics

Egypt: Today was the day of Epiphany. In Tahrir Square, the atmosphere changed from euphoria to fear in less than 24 hours. The anti-government demonstrators were outnumbered and surrounded by pro-Mubarak supporters, trapped. They discovered that Army tolerance of their street displays also extended to the pro-Mubarak activists. The Army showed that it was strictly neutral, supporting neither side. Soldiers said they had no orders to move. This was the first epiphany.

There were four others.

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