Review: Disinformation: Former Spy Chief Reveals Secret Strategy for Undermining Freedom, Attacking Religion, and Promoting Terrorism

3 Star, Asymmetric, Cyber, Hacking, Odd War, Information Operations, Misinformation & Propaganda
Amazon Page
Amazon Page

Ion Mihai Pacepa and Ronald J. Rychlak

3.0 out of 5 stars Walks, Talks, and Smells Like a CIA Publication, July 13, 2013

This book is being touted by Radio Liberty, a CIA subsidiary, and everything about it reeks of a CIA disinformation operation.

First, though, an acknowledgement. The Soviets, working largely through their more gifted satellite nations (Romania was not one of them, Romania belonged to the Pope and the CIA), did do disinformation, and very well. There is no finer book on this subject than that by Ladislav Bittman, THE DECEPTION GAME.

This book is an entirely different matter.

01 It's author is a known Vatican “fellow traveler” if not an agent of influence under discipline.

02 It's author walks, talks, dresses like, and gives off every appearance of being a CIA bureaucrat. While we believe him to be legitimate in so far as his past occupation (read his Wikipedia profile) — this guy appears to be one of CIA's “light” non-official cover officers.

03 The book's argument, that all of the USA's present troubles stem from a successful Soviet-era disinformation, is idiocy at best, outright lies and fabrication and deliberate disinformation at worst. Every other non-fiction book I have read and reviewed here at Amazon generally contradicts this book. The USA went in search of enemies, and created them. The Cold War was a creation of CIA and Lockheed and military flag officers all too eager to profit from war and push the edge of financial fraud.

On balance I do not recommend this book — CIA is already a waste of the taxpayer's funds — but recommend instead the book by Bittman and the nine books listed below.

Continue reading “Review: Disinformation: Former Spy Chief Reveals Secret Strategy for Undermining Freedom, Attacking Religion, and Promoting Terrorism”

Review (Guest): America’s Stolen Narrative: From Washington and Madison to Nixon, Reagan and the Bushes to Obama

5 Star, America (Founders, Current Situation), Congress (Failure, Reform), Crime (Corporate), Crime (Government), Democracy, Executive (Partisan Failure, Reform), Hacking, Impeachment & Treason, Justice (Failure, Reform), Misinformation & Propaganda, Politics, Power (Pathologies & Utilization), Public Administration, Voices Lost (Indigenous, Gender, Poor, Marginalized)
Amazon Page
Amazon Page

Robert Parry

5.0 out of 5 stars How we allowed the rightwing to get Away with falsely Re-writing American History, and thus steal the Nation's narrative, and wi, March 7, 2013

Herbert L Calhoun “paulocal” (Falls Church, VA USA) – See all my reviews

Sam Parry proves here in his book, “America's Stolen Narrative,” that he has his eye on the ball. For he sees that in large measure the decline in American civility, international prestige, much of today's governmental dysfunction, and the alarming and unaccountable shift to the right, has a lot to do with the way we have allowed the rightwing 24/7 media attack machine and the money that backs it, to get away with lying about and thus stealing and murdering our history.

By fiat they have been able to commandeer both the symbols of state and now through Gerrymandering, voter suppression and other such illicit stratagems, have also been able to take over the very machinery of government: Even when they lose elections and are out of power, as they are today, they still win as they are able to control the national narrative, the national agenda and has a newly elected President, with his national voter mandate so stymied that he cannot even make appointments or carry out the normal duties delegated to the presidency?

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Review (Guest): Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces

5 Star, Asymmetric, Cyber, Hacking, Odd War, Atrocities & Genocide, Civil Society, Congress (Failure, Reform), Corruption, Crime (Government), Culture, Research, Empire, Sorrows, Hubris, Blowback, Executive (Partisan Failure, Reform), Impeachment & Treason, Justice (Failure, Reform), Military & Pentagon Power, Peace, Poverty, & Middle Class, Politics, Power (Pathologies & Utilization), Public Administration, Security (Including Immigration), Threats (Emerging & Perennial), True Cost & Toxicity, Voices Lost (Indigenous, Gender, Poor, Marginalized), War & Face of Battle
Amazon Page
Amazon Page

Radley Balko

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read! July 1, 2013

By John J. Baeza

In his new book, Rise of the Warrior Cop, author Radley Balko provides a detailed history of our decline into a police state.

He works his way through this history in a sound way describing police raid upon police raid gone terribly wrong, resulting in a useless loss of life. He discusses police agencies that serve populations of only 1,000 people but receive federal funding for military-type weapons and tank-style vehicles. We have also seen a total disregard for “The Castle Doctrine” which has been held dear by our citizens since the colonial days. The “Castle Doctrine” is the idea that a man's home is his castle and a warrant signed by a judge is necessary to enter and search the “castle.” Balko cogently explains the reason for all of this: The war on drugs and the war on terror are really wars on our own people.

A profession that I was once proud to serve in has become a militarized police state. Officers are quicker to draw their guns and use their tanks than to communicate with people to diffuse a situation. They love to use their toys and when they do, people die.

Continue reading “Review (Guest): Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces”

Worth a Look: Books by Folk-Hero Farmer Joel Salatin

6 Star Top 10%, America (Founders, Current Situation), Best Practices in Management, Change & Innovation, Complexity & Resilience, Culture, Research, Economics, Environment (Solutions), Health, Intelligence (Public), Nature, Diet, Memetics, Design, Philosophy, Survival & Sustainment, True Cost & Toxicity, Worth A Look
Amazon Page
Amazon Page

Drawing upon 40 years' experience as an ecological farmer and marketer, Joel Salatin explains with humor and passion why Americans do not have the freedom to choose the food they purchase and eat. From child labor regulations to food inspection, bureaucrats provide themselves sole discretion over what food is available in the local marketplace. Their system favors industrial, global corporate food systems and discourages community-based food commerce, resulting in homogenized selection, mediocre quality, and exposure to non-organic farming practices. Salatin's expert insight explains why local food is expensive and difficult to find and will illuminate for the reader a deeper understanding of the industrial food complex.

Amazon Page
Amazon Page

From farmer Joel Salatin's point of view, life in the 21st century just ain't normal. In FOLKS, THIS AIN'T NORMAL, he discusses how far removed we are from the simple, sustainable joy that comes from living close to the land and the people we love. Salatin has many thoughts on what normal is and shares practical and philosophical ideas for changing our lives in small ways that have big impact.  Salatin, hailed by the New York Times as “Virginia's most multifaceted agrarian since Thomas Jefferson [and] the high priest of the pasture” and profiled in the Academy Award nominated documentary Food, Inc. and the bestselling book The Omnivore's Dilemma, understands what food should be: Wholesome, seasonal, raised naturally, procured locally, prepared lovingly, and eaten with a profound reverence for the circle of life. And his message doesn't stop there. From child-rearing, to creating quality family time, to respecting the environment, Salatin writes with a wicked sense of humor and true storyteller's knack for the revealing anecdote.

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Books By and With Robert Steele

00 Remixed Review Lists

Books by Robert Steele

First link is at Amazon; second link is free online.

De Jong, Ben, Weiss Platje and Robert David Steele (eds.) (2003). PEACEKEEPING INTELLIGENCE: Emerging Concepts for the Future. Oakton, VA: OSS International Press.

PEACEKEEPING INTELLIGENCE__web PDF (546 pages)

Steele, Robert David (2000). ON INTELLIGENCE: Spies and Secrecy in an Open World. Fairfax, VA: Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association.

ON INTELLIGENCE__web PDF (520 pages)

Steele, Robert David (2002). THE NEW CRAFT OF INTELLIGENCE: Personal, Public, & Political. Oakton, VA: OSS International Press.

NEW CRAFT OF INTELLIGENCE__web PDF (460 pages)

Steele, Robert David (2006). INFORMATION OPERATIONS: All Information in All Languages All the Time. Oakton, VA: OSS International Press.

INFORMATION OPERATIONS__web PDF (384 pages)

Steele, Robert David (2006). THE SMART NATION ACT: Public Intelligence in the Public Interest. Oakton, VA: OSS International Press.

THE SMART NATION ACT__web PDF (270 pages)

Steele, Robert David (2008). ELECTION 2008: Lipstick on the Pig. Oakton, VA: Earth Intelligence Network.

ELECTION 2008__web docs (200 pages)

Steele, Robert David (2010). INTELLIGENCE FOR EARTH: Clarity, Diversity, Integrity & Sustainability. Oakton, VA: Earth Intelligence Network.

INTELLIGENCE for EARTH__web PDF (300 pages)

Steele, Robert David (2012). THE OPEN SOURCE EVERYTHING MANIFESTO: Transparency, Truth & Trust. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books/Evolver Editions.

OSE @ Pirate Bay (At Your Own Risk)

Tovey, Mark (ed.) (2008). COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE: Creating a Prosperous World at Peace. Oakton, VA: Earth Intelligence Network.

COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE__web PDF (648 pages)

Review: The Assassination of JFK – Who Really Did It and Why

4 Star, Atrocities & Genocide, Capitalism (Good & Bad), Corruption, Crime (Corporate), Crime (Government), History, Impeachment & Treason, Intelligence (Public), Justice (Failure, Reform), Politics, Power (Pathologies & Utilization), Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy, Threats (Emerging & Perennial)
Amazon Page
Amazon Page

Craig Newman

4.0 out of 5 stars I hate electronic books, but worth considering, June 24, 2013

I've reviewed the major books on the JFK assassination and list them at the end of this review.

First off, since the table of contents is not in Look Inside the Book, where it should be, here is that bit:

Preface
1. The 1960 Campaign and Election
2. Vietnam and the CIA
3. The Conspiracy and the Global Elite
4. Oswald and his Part in the Conspiracy
5. Why Johnson was only a Part of the Conspiracy
6. The Real Reasons
7. Repercussions
8. Conclusion

The book asks and tries to answer a few questions about the Kennedy assassination that haven't been asked often enough even after nearly 50 years.

Questions like, “Why?”, “Who benefited?”, and “Why the major cover-up?”.

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Worth a Look: Science in the Private Interest: Has the Lure of Profits Corrupted Biomedical Research?

5 Star, Science & Politics of Science
Amazon Page
Amazon Page

Book Description:

Something has changed in the culture and values of academic science over the last quarter-century. University science is now entangled with entrepreneurship, and researchers with a commercial interest are caught in an ethical quandary. How can an academic scientist honor knowledge for its own sake, while also using knowledge as a means to generate wealth? Science in the Private Interest investigates the trends and effects of modern, commercialized academic science. This book dives unhesitatingly into some of modern science's messiest and most urgent questions. How did scientists begin choosing proprietary gain over the pursuit of knowledge? What effects have academic-corporate partnerships had on the quality and integrity of science? And, most importantly, how does this affect the public?

From The New England Journal of Medicine

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