Public Intelligence Blog

Josh Kilbourn

Chris Martenson: “We Are About To Have Another 2008-Style Crisis”

EXTRACT:

There really is no choice for Greece but to leave the euro, and the sooner, the better. Even then, there is a lot of hardship coming their way. But in my estimation, that’s better than the imposed austerity that is a guaranteed torture chamber. The institutions that avoided taking losses on their Greek debt on the first pass through, due to their preferred status in the process (the ECB among them), are almost certainly going to eat big losses this time, perhaps a full 100% of them.

Long article, many links, worth a full read.

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Who? Mini-Me?

Huh?

Militia Groups

The Problem:  The depth of hostility which divides the United States is clearly evident to any observer of the ongoing political campaigns. What’s more worrisome, however, is the possibility that this conflict could escalate beyond the violence threshold. In this context, the Southern Poverty Law Center’s recent report on “patriot” groups and militia activity is quite troubling. It reveals that increasing numbers of people feel so alienated from society that they have essentially given up hope of working within the system. When we further consider the recent FBI report indicating that extremist groups have been recruiting military personnel, we have even more cause for concern.

Explosive Growth of the “Patriot Movement” and Militias

When things are not going well, until you get the truth out on the table, no matter how ugly, you are not in a position to deal with it.

Who? Mini-Me?

Huh?

Greeks Bank Run; Lines Form at ATMs; Nearly $1 Billion Withdrawn in Past Week

Without a government for the last eleven days, and amid mainstream discussion of a Euro Zone exit, the Greek people are realizing that the economic and political system as they know it is rapidly descending into chaos.

With massive jobless rates that have forced many into bartering to survive, and facing credit destruction across the entirety of the country that has led to shortages of critical supplies like life saving medicines, those with any money left at national banks are taking the desperate step of withdrawing as much of their savings as they can from a banking system on its last leg.

This is what it looks like when a populace plagued with uncertainty finally loses trust in the credibility of their country’s leadership and financial system.

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Who? Who?

This interview overall undoubtedly has misconceptions, self-inflated bravado, gross exaggerations and so forth, but if the last statement he utters is true about people coming to them, even to a significantly lesser degree than he indicates, the world-ruling elites might be quaking ever-so-slightly, but involuntarily, in their boots. And much more so if indeed insiders are giving Anonymous the “keys to the kingdom,” the passwords into it.

Insider tells why Anonymous ‘might well be the most powerful organization on Earth

EXTRACT:

Q. What’s next for Anonymous?

A: Right now we have access to every classified database in the U.S. government. It’s a matter of when we leak the contents of those databases, not if. You know how we got access? We didn’t hack them. The access was given to us by the people who run the systems. The five-star general (and) the Secretary of Defence who sit in the cushy plush offices at the top of the Pentagon don’t run anything anymore. It’s the pimply-faced kid in the basement who controls the whole game, and Bradley Manning proved that. The fact he had the 250,000 cables that were released effectively cut the power of the U.S. State Department in half. The Afghan war diaries and the Iran war diaries effectively cut the political clout of the U.S. Department of Defence in half. All because of one guy who had enough balls to slip a CD in an envelope and mail it to somebody. Now people are leaking to Anonymous and they’re not coming to us with this document or that document or a CD, they’re coming to us with keys to the kingdom, they’re giving us the passwords and usernames to whole secure databases that we now have free reign over. … The world needs to be concerned.

Read full article.

Phi Beta Iota:  01  Any system built by humans can be hacked by humans.  02  A system’s security is heavily dependent on the legitimacy of the system owner in the eyes of those using the system.

See Also:

Journal: Reflections on Integrity UPDATED + Integrity RECAP

The Search for Security: A U.S. Grand Strategy for the Twenty-First Century

Who? Who?

WATCH THIS. 12 year old Canadian girl on banksters and debt

This little girl is simply amazing. She must have some pretty awesome parents. In a concise and clear way she explains the problem of national debt in language that anyone can understand.

VIDEO (5:26) from GodLike Productions

Phi Beta Iota:  Going viral, and rightly so.

See Also:

Matt Taibbi: GRIFTOPIA – RECAP

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Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia and Bahrain discussed a political union at a meeting in Riyadh on 13 May. The arrangement under discussion would allow Bahrain to retain its seat at the United Nations, but the two states would merge foreign relations, defense and economic policy, according to press sources. The details have not been released.

Bahrain’s Prime Minister, the Army Chief of Staff and the Foreign Minister – all members of the al-Khalifa royal family — have stated their support for the union.

Comment: The King of Bahrain and the royal family are Sunni Muslims who govern a population of mostly Shiite Muslims. Thus, the news that a union with Saudi Arabia is under discussion has prompted widespread criticism that Saudi Arabia intends to make Bahrain a vassal state so as to keep the Shiites disenfranchised and subjugated.

On the other hand, the limited information in the public domain suggests Bahrain’s administration of internal affairs will not be changed by the union proposal. Bahrain, by itself, is not defensible against an Iranian attack or subversion, but in a union arrangement with Saudi Arabia it would not be alone.

Saudi King Abdallah has warned Iran repeatedly against meddling in Arab affairs. This union is consistent with his policy decision to stop Iranian meddling in Arab countries as well as the spread of Shi’i Islam which the Sunnis consider a heresy.

One advantage of the union would be that it would bypass tricky conditions attached to US foreign military sales. Conditions of the sales include that US military equipment can only be used for defense, cannot be resold without US permission and cannot be used outside the recipient country without US permission. Under a union arrangement, the Saudis would not need to consult the US before sending Saudi forces equipped with US tanks and armored personnel carriers back to Bahrain, unless they chose to.

NIGHTWATCH KGS Home

Phi Beta Iota:  It is entirely possible that Saudi Arabia is moving to a whole new level of global diplomacy, information-sharing, military alliances, and economic entanglements (DIME).  Qatar is similar to Bahrain in multiple ways.  Below is a map of the Sunni – Shi’ite spread.  A religious war is brewing, not just Sunni – Shi’ite, but Pentecostals against Islam, Jews against everyone, Catholics in a panic, and so on.  We say it again:  counter-intelligence generally, and religious counter-intelligence specifically, is the ONE 21st Century aspect of the craft of intelligence that must continue to be secret and that must *explode* in the near-term.  Note:  within the eight “tribes” or communities, we include religion and labor organizations within the Civil Society tribe.  The others are academic, commerce, government at all levels, law enforcement, media, military, and non-government/non-profit.

See Also:

Graphic: Muslim Sunni – Shi’ite Distribution (Global)

2012 PREPRINT AS SUBMITTED: The Craft of Intelligence

DefDog

I often ask folks who the Afghan hates the most. The most common answer, the Russians….that is not true.  It is the British and it is reminded to them in their flag:

The current Afghanistan flag is contained three solid colors such as black, red and green and each color represents a different page in the history of Afghanistan.

The black represents the 19th century era when Afghanistan was occupied and did not have independence. The red color means blood shed and fights for independence and the green means the independence achieved as well as hope and prosperity for the future. This three stripe flag was designed during King Amanullah Khan after he returned from a visit of Europe in 1928.

Also, a couple of articles from NPS…..

2012-05-14 Comparing USSR and US Losses in AF

2012-05-14 Deja Vu 22 Years After USSR Quits US Follows

Patrick Meier

Joining the Qatar Foundation to Advance Humanitarian Technology

Big news! I’ll be taking a senior level position at the Qatar Foundation to work on the next generation of humanitarian technology solutions. I’ll be based at the Foundation’s Computing Research Institute (QCRI) and be working alongside some truly amazing minds defining the cutting edge of social and scientific computing, computational linguistics, big data, etc. My role at QCRI will be to leverage the expertise within the Institute, the region and beyond to drive technology solutions for humanitarian and social impact globally—think of it as Computing for Good backed by some serious resources.  I’ll spend just part of the time in Doha. The rest of my time will be based wherever necessary to have the greatest impact. Needless to say, I’m excited!

My mission over the past five years has been to catalyze strategic linkages between the technology and humanitarian space to promote both innovation and change, so this new adventure feels like the perfect next chapter in this exciting adventure. I’ve had the good fortune and distinct honor of working with some truly inspiring and knowledgeable colleagues who have helped me define and pursue my passions over the years. Needless to say, I’ve learned a great deal from these colleagues; knowledge, contacts and partnerships that I plan to fully leverage at the Qatar Foundation.

It really has been an amazing five years. I joined the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) in 2007 to co-found and co-direct the Program on Crisis Mapping and Early Warning. The purpose of the program was to assess how new technologies were changing the humanitarian space and how these could be deliberately leveraged to yield more significant impact. As part of my time at HHI, I consulted on a number of cutting-edge projects including the UNDP’s Crisis and Risk Mapping Analysis (CRMA) Program in the Sudan. I also leveraged this iRevolution blog extensively to share my findings and learnings with both the humanitarian and technology communities. In addition, I co-authored the UN Foundation & Vodafone Foundation Report on “New Technologies in Emergen-cies and Conflicts” (PDF).

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NUCLEAR FAMINE: A BILLION PEOPLE AT RISK

Global Impacts of Limited Nuclear War on Agriculture, Food Supplies, and Human Nutrition

Ira Helfand, MD
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
Physicians for Social Responsibility

Credits and Acknowledgements
The publication of this briefing paper was made possible
thanks to the generous financial support of the Swiss Federal
Department of Foreign Affairs.

Executive Summary

Over the last several years, a number of studies have shown that a limited, regional nuclear war between India and Pakistan would cause significant climate disruption worldwide.

Two studies published this year examine the impact on agricultural output that would result from this climate disruption.  In the US, corn production would decline by an average of 10% for an entire decade, with the most severe decline, about 20% in year 5. There would be a similar decline in soybean production, with, again, the most severe loss, about 20%, in year 5.

A second study found a significant decline in Chinese middle season rice production. During the first 4 years, rice production would decline by an average of 21%; over the next 6 years the decline would average 10%.

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Who, Me?

Phillip Knightley: When is a terror threat not a terror threat? Let’s ask a man called Felix…

All intelligence services rely on convincing the public there is a monster at large waiting to grab them