Category: Politics of Science & Science of Politics

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Pentagon Pathology: Follow the Money

03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 10 Security, 11 Society, Budgets & Funding, Commerce, Corporations, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Intelligence (government), Law Enforcement, Military, Misinformation & Propaganda, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth, Officers Call, Policy, Politics of Science & Science of Politics, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy, Technologies, Waste (materials, food, etc)
Andrew Cockburn's essay in The Pentagon Labyrinth is titled “Follow the Money.”  There are a lot of people who will say that is an undignified way to assess America's national security apparatus; they might even say that Cockburn's focus is cynical.  I would personally venture to guess that a disproportionate number of those saying so are doing rather well – thank you very much – in that same national security apparatus.  Or, they plan to do so in the foreseeable future.

Cockburn summarizes his argument in a interview in the ongoing series conducted by Federal News Radio.  Chris Dorobek of the DorobekInsider Show interviews Andrew Cockburn.

Following the money and understanding why that is important is key to comprehending why the Pentagon, Congress, the manufacturers, and the think-tanks behave the way they do.  After all, as Cockburn says in the DorobekInsider interview, why do you think the manufacturers put all those ads in the Washington Metro system.  They're not there for the area's teachers or the local sports teams' fans.

But there is much more to following the money than just that.  Cockburn explains fully in his essay in The Pentagon Labyrinth: 10 Short Essays to Help You Through It. He addresses perhaps the most powerful and recurrent theme underlying contemporary defense community behavior.  Read Cockburn's essay.  Download the book free.

Have a comment?  Pro or con?  We welcome a public debate.
_____________________________
Winslow T. Wheeler
Director
Straus Military Reform Project
Center for Defense Information

Phi Beta Iota: INTEGRITY.   One word.  The one word not spoken at the Pentagon by anyone above the rank of Major.  You don't make Colonel, and you do not advance as a General, without drinking the kool-aid and “going along” with systemic corruption.  Our shame–our continuing shame–is a burden on the Republic.

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Food Industry’s Erin Brockovich–Unhealthy Truth

01 Agriculture, 03 Economy, 06 Family, 07 Health, 07 Other Atrocities, 11 Society, 12 Water, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence, Collective Intelligence, Commerce, Corporations, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Earth Intelligence, Ethics, Government, InfoOps (IO), Methods & Process, Misinformation & Propaganda, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth, Politics of Science & Science of Politics, Strategy, Waste (materials, food, etc)
John Steiner

From John and Margo

All we can say is do watch this!

Patriotism on a Plate
February 2011 TEDx Austin talk.

Robyn shares her personal story and how it inspired her current path as a “Real Food” evangelist. Grounded in a successful Wall Street career that was more interested in food as good business than good-for-you, this mother of four was shaken awake by the dangerous allergic reaction of one of her children to a “typical” breakfast. Her mission to unearth the cause revealed more about the food industry than she could stomach, and impelled her to share her findings with others. Informative and inspiring.

Amazon Page

Robyn authored The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food Is Making Us Sick and What We Can Do About It. A former Wall Street food industry analyst, Robyn brings insight, compassion and detailed analysis to her research into the impact that the global food system is having on the health of our children.  She founded allergykidsfoundation.org and was named by Forbes as one of “20 Inspiring Women to Follow on Twitter.” The New York Times has passionately
described her as “Food's Erin Brockovich.”

Follow Robyn O'Brien on Twitter

Phi Beta Iota: Across all twelve “policy” domains from agriculture to water, with food cutting across all  domains ans especially Family, Health, and Society, we are seeing the emergence of public intelligence in the public interest.  What we are not seeing (yet), is the integration of “true cost” information as a core element that must be available to the public; and the integration of all that we can know about each domain in isolation, into a larger “360 degree” strategic analytic model for getting a grip on how we live and how we spend.

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Public Intelligence Forensics: Atomic Untruths

03 Environmental Degradation, 05 Energy, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Proliferation, 10 Security, 11 Society, Advanced Cyber/IO, Commerce, Corruption, Earth Intelligence, Government, Media, Military, Misinformation & Propaganda, Peace Intelligence, Politics of Science & Science of Politics, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy

Amazon Page

The Atomic Cafe: Lampooning America’s Nuclear Obsession

What vintage bomb survival suits have to do with Dr. Stragelove and Richard Nixon.

The recent tragedy in Japan has triggered a tsunami of terror, founded and unfounded, about the potential risks of nuclear reactors.

While there are people better equipped than us to explain the precise implications of the situation, we thought we’d put things in perspective by examining the flipside of these dystopian fears: The exuberant optimism about nuclear power in mid-century America.

Continue reading “Public Intelligence Forensics: Atomic Untruths”

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Catholic Church Getting Serious About “Truth”

11 Society, Advanced Cyber/IO, Civil Society, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, History, InfoOps (IO), Politics of Science & Science of Politics, Strategy

VATICAN-PHILOSOPHY Mar-22-2011 (360 words) With photos. xxxi

Vatican says church philosophy studies must combat suspicion of truth


Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski talks about new norms for the ecclesiastical studies of philosophy. (CNS/Alessandro Serrano, Catholic Press Photo) 

 

 

 

 

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When training priests and educating students in philosophy, the Catholic Church must combat a widespread sensation that there really is no such thing as permanent, objective truths, a new Vatican document said.

Because so many students are influenced by the cultural suspicion of truth, the Vatican said it will require an extra year of study before a student can earn a church-recognized bachelor's degree in philosophy.

Read complete Vatican story….

Phi Beta Iota: Something very important is happening within the Catholic Church.  The Most Holy Father Benedict XVI is a “convergence Pope” and moving on multiple fronts.  He is seeking to reconcile religion with science; philosophy with theology; logic with pastoral direction.  In short, His Holiness is deepening and elaborating on initiatives begun by Pope John Paul II, to include pro-active inter-faith and pro-active science and religion summits.  Faith matters.  History matters.  Science matters.  There is something happening here that is potentially a revolution in global human evolutionary psychology.

See Also:

Continue reading “Catholic Church Getting Serious About “Truth””

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Best of HAARP

07 Other Atrocities, Articles & Chapters, Blog Wisdom, Misinformation & Propaganda, Politics of Science & Science of Politics, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy, Technologies

2011 11 11 What is HAARP–Did HAARP Cause Japanese Disaster? (VIDEO Benjamin Fulford)

2010 05 05  Are We in a HAARP “Earthquake War?” (Before It's News)

2010 01 15  13 reasons to suspect HAARP caused Haiti quake (Ethericplane)

2007 01 12  What's Killing the Birds? (John Lewis)

2004 Estimated Take This HAARP and Shove It (Includes “Real” HAARP at Fox AK)

2003 02 11 HAARP and Spaceship Columbia (Marshall Smith)

2000 12 15  What Is HAARP?  How It Looks and Sounds! (Marshall Smith)

2000 11 00  HAARP a Climate Change Weapon (Michel Chossudovsky)

2000 06 27 The Unauthorized History of HAARP (Marshall D. Smith)

1999 Estimated  Background of the HAARP Project (Dr. Rosalie Bertell)

See Also:

Bernard Eastlund (Weather Modification Lead)

YouTube HAARP Collection (Serious to Spacey)

Prison Planet Forum on HAARP

HAARP Seismic

Dan Eden (HAARP Monitor/Author)

Benjamin Fulford (HAARP Monitor/Author)

 

Below the Line: A Cautious Observer Comments & a Total Slam on Benjamin Fulford

Continue reading “Best of HAARP”

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Pentagon Contractors Baby Gaga on Steroids

03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 10 Security, 11 Society, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Corporations, Corruption, Government, Military, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth, Officers Call, Peace Intelligence, Politics of Science & Science of Politics, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Strategy, Technologies, Waste (materials, food, etc)
Richard Wright

There is no doubt that, Pentagon Labyrinth is a first rate piece of work.  However it did fail to mention an additional factor in defense procurement costs that is often overlooked and that is the need to subsidize U.S. defense industry giants such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop-Grumman and General Dynamics. This also explains the over elaborate use of sub-contracting since the boutique sub-contractors used by the defense giants often produce key components for weapon systems so also must be given a portion of the subsidies. Boeing is the only major defense contractor that even makes a pretense of also dealing in commercial aircraft.  Lockheed, Northrop, and General Dynamics along with their networks of sub-contractors are virtually entirely dependent on government contracts or contracts from the government’s foreign clients for their continued existence.

Continue reading “Pentagon Contractors Baby Gaga on Steroids”

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21st Century Magic? Or 1950’s Idiocy on Steroids?

07 Other Atrocities, Advanced Cyber/IO, Corruption, Government, Law Enforcement, Methods & Process, Military, Officers Call, Politics of Science & Science of Politics, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy, Technologies

Richard Wright

This is a follow up to that 13 February Spinney piece on predicting the future, DARPA as Poster Child for Out of Control Budget. It belongs to the category of “we don't make this stuff up.”  Speaking of this category, I think this latest incident in Pakistan (CIA contractor shoots two Pakistanis in broad daylight, CIA SUV going to his aid runs down a Pakistani motorcyclist) ought to be a signal to disestablish CIA.

Phi Beta Iota: FATAL FARCE just keeps on growing.

Algorithm: in computer terms, a finite set of coded instructions directing a computer to solve a specific problem or execute a specific process.

The term ‘algorithm’ is a prosaic word that has taken on an almost occult meaning to hosts of middle and senior managers in the intelligence and military sectors of the U.S. National Security Establishment.

It appears that anyone claiming to have developed an ‘algorithm’ to solve any of the many issues facing those sectors will find a receptive audience and usually a wad of cash to pursue development of that program.

Continue reading “21st Century Magic? Or 1950's Idiocy on Steroids?”