Category: 07 Other Atrocities

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Journal: Death of a Hostage, End of Empire

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Terrorism, 10 Security, Military, Officers Call
Marcus Aurelius Recommends

Linda Norgrove: how the rescue operation was bungled (Telegraph UK)

U.S. Navy Seal may have killed hostage (Telegraph UK)

British hostage killed during rescue bid (The Hindu)

Aid worker Linda Norgrove was close to freedom, Afghan tribal elders claim (Telegraph UK)

We can’t rely on American intelligence, so why entrust hostages’ lives to U.S. forces? (Tehran Times)

The purveyor of the “suicide vest” story should be named and questioned about what he hoped or expected to achieve by his lie.

Linda Norgrove (RIP)

Phi Beta Iota: It is with such sadness that we contemplate the demise of the US Government and US Armed Forces as effective vehicles for prosperity at home and peace abroad.  A careful reading of all of the stories make it clear that “the system” failed at every level from the utterly stupid operational helicopter raids hampering elder negotiations down to the man that threw the grenade that killed the hostage.  The death of Linda Norgrove and the lie that was immediately concocted are a fitting epitaph to Empire.  We pray that 2012 brings us a restored US Congress and an honest President who can pick honest Cabinet officials who can actually act in the public interest.  This is not about individual honor or intent–INTEGRITY is much more complex than that.  This is about restoring the Constitutional integrity of the United STATES of America, and ending the inherent corruption at every level of the US Government (and Wall Street) in which humans don't matter and profits take precedence over potency.

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Reference: Republican “Pledge to America” Hyperbolic Hypocritical Crap Surpassed Only by Nancy Pelosi’s Ignorance of the Constitution

07 Other Atrocities, 11 Society, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Misinformation & Propaganda, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy
Empty Image
Fact-Checking and More

The “Pledge to America” is largely hyperbolic hypocritical crap.

See Instead:

Prefaces (Steele, Sanders, Atlee, Hartmann, Seagraves)

Chapter: Paradigms of Failure

Election 2008 Chapter: The Substance of Governance

Election 2008 Chapter: Legitimate Grievances

Election 2008 Chapter: Candidates on the Issues

Election 2008: Balanced Budget 101

Election 2008 Chapter: Call to Arms, Fund We Not Them

2008 Chapter: Annotated Bibliography on Reality

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Journal: Food Addiction–Could It Explain Why 70 Percent of Americans Are F

01 Agriculture, 03 Economy, 06 Family, 07 Health, 07 Other Atrocities, 11 Society, Analysis, Civil Society, Commerce, Corporations, Government, Misinformation & Propaganda, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth
Mark Hyman, MD

Mark Hyman, MD

Practicing physician

Posted: October 16, 2010 09:04 AM

Food Addiction: Could It Explain Why 70 Percent of Americans Are Fat?

Our government and food industry both encourage more “personal responsibility” when it comes to battling the obesity epidemic and its associated diseases. They say people should exercise more self-control, make better choices, avoid overeating, and reduce their intake of sugar-sweetened drinks and processed food. We are led to believe that there is no good food or bad food, that it's all a matter of balance. This sounds good in theory, except for one thing…

New discoveries in science prove that industrially processed, sugar-, fat- and salt-laden food — food that is made in a plant rather than grown on a plant, as Michael Pollan would say — is biologically addictive.

Read entire story…

Phi Beta Iota: This is a HUGE story that merits more emphasis at The Huffington Post.  It is a perfect example of a newly-discovered “true cost” of the industrialization of agriculture which IS a contradiction in terms.  It is a perfect example of government complacency, ignorance, and ultimately irresponsibility.  This is precisely what public intelligence in the public interest is about.

See Also:

Worth a Look: Book Reviews on Corporate & Transnational Crime

Worth a Look: Book Reviews on Corporate Lack of Integrity or Intelligence or Both

Worth a Look: Book Reviews on Elite Rule

Worth a Look: Book Reviews on Middle Class

Worth a Look: Book Reviews on Poisons, Toxicity, Trash, & True Cost

Worth a Look: Book Reviews on Poverty

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Journal: Time to ShitCan the FCC and Go Open Spectrum

03 Economy, 04 Education, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 11 Society, Collective Intelligence, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Corruption, Government, Open Government, Politics of Science & Science of Politics, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy, Standards, Technologies, True Cost

DefDog Recommends...

November 30th, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) could
potentially engage in one of the largest federal power grabs we have ever
seen.

At the FCC’s November meeting – note the coincidental date of choice,
AFTER the impending election – three unelected bureaucrats (of five) could
simply vote themselves rulers of 1/6th of our entire economy – the
information and technology sector.

Meaning the Internet that you currently enjoy – that has been a marvel of
economic and information innovation and success – will be subject to vast
new governmental regulations.  You didn’t elect these people – but they
are on the verge of electing themselves Internet overlords.

November 30th Could Be the Day the Government Seizes Control of the Internet

by Seton Motley

November 30th, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) could potentially engage in one of the largest federal power grabs we have ever seen.

locked-computer

After two years of this Presidential Administration and this Congress, that is saying an awful lot about an awful lot.

And what’s worse, the FCC would be doing it without Congress weighing in.  At the FCC’s November meeting – note the coincidental date of choice, AFTER the impending election – three unelected bureaucrats (of five) could simply vote themselves rulers of 1/6th of our entire economy – the information and technology sector.

See Also:

Huffington Post Blogs on FCC & Internet

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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:
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Journal: WikiLeaks Losing Funding Channel, Plot Thickens

07 Other Atrocities, Civil Society, Military, Peace Intelligence

Full Story Online

WikiLeaks says funding has been blocked after government blacklisting

Founder Julian Assange hits out at decision by Moneybookers, which collects the whistleblowing website's donations

The whistleblowing group WikiLeaks claims that it has had its funding blocked and that it is the victim of financial warfare by the US government.

Moneybookers, a British-registered internet payment company that collects WikiLeaks donations, emailed the organisation to say it had closed down its account because it had been put on an official US watchlist and on an Australian government blacklist.

Read Full Story….

Phi Beta Iota: This is interesting at multiple levels and requires further investigation.  As best we can tell, WikiLeaks is not subject to US secrecy REGULATIONS and US laws do not apply–if anyone knows differently, please let us know.  We believe Moneybookers when they say the US Government did not call on them.  This reeks of lawyers with too much power over simple business decisions.  We do not trust WikiLeaks management to be completely honest.  Finally, it is not possible to censor information once it is out.  As John Perry Barlow said so famously at OSS '92, “The Internet interprets censorship as an outage, and routes around it.”

Continue reading “Journal: WikiLeaks Losing Funding Channel, Plot Thickens”

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Journal: Green Party Candidate Swarmed by Police

07 Other Atrocities, Civil Society

Green Party Candidate Ejected

POSTED: 6:11 pm PDT October 12, 2010
UPDATED: 6:56 pm PDT October 12, 2010

Before Tuesday's gubernatorial debate at Dominican University of California, Green Party candidate Laura Wells was escorted away by security outside of the hall where the event was set to take place.

Watch the video….

Tip of the Hat to Christina Tobin at Facebook.

Phi Beta Iota: US citizens still living with the delusion that they live in a democracy need to be reminded that there are 65 political parties in America, and a two-party tyranny.  The final nail in the coffin of US “democracy” was the disenfranchisement of the League of Women Voters by a “Commission” consisting of the Republican and Democratic parties.  They did this because the League wanted to ask questions not revealed in advance, and wanted to include third, fourth, and fifth party candidates.  In our view, no organization that hosts a political event with two or more candidates should be allowed to exclude ANY legitimate candidate, and certainly not the Greens, Reforms, Libertarians, and Independents.

noble gold