The truth at any cost lowers all other costs — curated by former US spy Robert David Steele.
CALL FOR PAPERS 24th-25th March 2010
Two decades ago, the collapse of the Somalian government of Siad Barre coincided with the rise of a new vision of global order: liberal, democratic, capitalist and under the leadership of the United States. US troops entered Mogadishu in the same year that Francis Fukuyama pronounced the ‘End of History’. Today, such visions seem gone forever.
Challenge features 10 red balloons
By Doug Beizer Nov 04, 2009
A contest planned by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will challenge contestants to use the Internet to locate the 10 large red weather balloons the agency will place across the continental United States, DARPA officials announced last week. DARPA will put the balloons in publicly accessible locations and display them for one day during daylight hours. The first participant to identify the latitude and longitude of all the balloons will receive the $40,000 cash prize. The balloons will be positioned Dec. 5, DARPA officials said Oct. 29.
Phi Beta Iota: This is a no-brainer for Twitter–Graphics: Twitter as an Intelligence Tool
History is not as easy to understand as some might think, for the simple reason that history is a political and economic tool, and the history books are written to reinforce the status quo powers. In the United States of America, for example, the myth of Abraham Lincoln persists despite compelling evidence that he violated the Constitution and did not in fact free the slaves:
1. Constitutional scholars agree on the right of the South to seceed
2. Lincoln did not free the slaves in the north or west, only in the south
3. Lincoln is on record as stating that he did not want to free slaves in the south and did so only out of military necessity
4. Lincoln violated the Constitution in suspending habeas corpus; in conscriptng and Army for domestic attack; and in invading and occupying the South for twelve years.
Wealth and Reconcilation, Including Truth at Any Cost, Below the Fold
This interview is part of the Institute's “Conversations with History” series, and uses Internet technology to share with the public Berkeley's distinction as a global forum for ideas.
In this landmark work, the culmination of thirty years of systematic, comprehensive comparison of nineteen rich democracies, Wilensky answers two basic questions: What is distinctly modern about modern societies? In what ways are they becoming alike, and how do variations in types of political economy shape system performance? The book is being hailed as “a monumental work,” “an instant classic,” “a truly amazing accomplishment.”
U.S. Needs Hit Squads, ‘Manhunting Agency’: Spec Ops Report
Noah Shachtman November 3, 2009
CIA director Leon Panetta got into hot water with Congress, after he revealed an agency program to hunt down and kill terrorists. A recent report from the U.S. military’s Joint Special Operations University argues that the CIA didn’t go far enough (.pdf). Instead, it suggests the American government should set up something like a “National Manhunting Agency” to go after jihadists, drug dealers, pirates and other enemies of the state. . . . . . . .
Such a group wouldn’t just go after terrorists. “Human networks are behind narcotics trafficking, arms proliferation, piracy, hiding war criminals from authorities, human trafficking, or other smuggling activities,” Crawford writes. “Human networks also lie at the core of national governments, offering an increased potential to nonlethally influence state actors with precision. A robust manhunting capability would allow the United States to interdict these human networks.”
Continue reading “Journal: One Man – One Bullet on the Table”
I am saddened to report that John Guenther began guarding heaven's gates at 2030 on Oct 29, 2009.
His wife Gerrie Guenther told me to pass the word and that ceremonies and services were still in the planning stages. John will be cremated and his remains interred at Arlington, but as many know there is a scheduling issue on that process. As I know more I will pass it along.
John Guenther enlisted in the Marine Corps in January 1948. In September 1950 Corporal Guenther landed at Inchon with the Seventh Marines. In November and December, Sergeant Guenther was in the S2 during and in the Chosin Reservoir battle. He served other challenging/tough tours in Cuba, Vietnam, and East Germany. He was a great Marine who embodied the full measure and meaning of Semper Fidelis. John served more than thirty years in the Marine Corps and, upon retirement, continued to serve in a civilian capacity, rising to the civilian equivalent of BGen and serving as the Assistant Director of Marine Corps Intelligence.
Longer more detailed service history below the fold, and details on cards, service, and burial.
The Best Allies Money Can Buy
By Thomas L. Friedman
November 4, 2009
In 2008, notes Stanger, roughly 80 percent of the State Department’s requested budget went out the door in the form of contracts and grants. The Army’s primary support contractor in Iraq, KBR, reportedly has some 17,000 direct-hire employees there.
The U.S. military is now proposing a huge nation-building project for Afghanistan to replace its dysfunctional government with a state that can deliver for the Afghan people so they won’t side with the Taliban. I might be more open to that project if we had a true global alliance to share the burden of an effort that will take decades. But we don’t. European publics do not favor this war, and our allies will only pony up just enough troops to get their official “Frequent U.S. Ally Card” renewed. We’ll make up the difference by hiring private contractors.
Continue reading “Journal: Outsourcing Honor, Losing Common Sense”
