SodaStream

SodaStream USA, inc

NORDVPN

nordvpn

Microsoft Store

Microsoft Microsoft

Florsheim Shoes

10% off Florsheim with code: LNK10

Stacy Adams

Stacy Adams

Budget Pet World

Get in the Spooky Spirit! 20% Extra Discount + Free Shipping on Everything

Friday, July 31, 2009

Monday Morning Quaterbacks

Maybe it's just me. But has anyone else noticed, everything this President says or does, gets second-guessed? I did not notice the frequency of such "Monday Morning Quarterbacking" from the previous administration until the wheels began to come off the wagon. One reason for that is, the last guy spent so much time on a ranch clearing brush, or smacking a golf ball, he could never give you a straight answer to a serious question. So in essence, we blew him off as "not a sharp knife". This really tells me much about the people that do such second-guessing. If they have all the answers, how come they don't run for that office?

The reason these second-guesser's will never run is because, the majority of the time they open those collective traps, they are wrong. So it's very easy to sit back and pretend that you have all the answers to any given situation. The reality is, no person in their rational mind can "predict" how any given situation will turn-out. So when the President walks out of the White House and says; my what a beautiful day. You can bet there is someone out there claiming it is not.

If you haven't heard, or saw the new attack on the health care issue, I'm willing to bet, it will sicken, or enrage you. Now all of a sudden the lying machine is claiming this "Plan" will kill the elderly. That statement is so vile on so many levels, it is truly repulsive. Talk of this nature truly reflects the ugly viciousness of some of these elected representatives true nature. They lied to their constituents that they will go to Washington to get them roads, better schools, health care, jobs, and anything else that will better their communities. Now that the people elected them, they now see this is clearly not going to happen. All they care about is their own agenda to empower themselves. That's such a shame. I truly hope the constituents have learned a valuable lesson. Next time you vote for someone that claims they will help you, make sure they do. Tell them to stop lying, and help the President get those roads, better schools, health care, and jobs. Tell them to stop this fake outrage over a birth certificate, by a person that wasn't even "BORN" here. And finally, tell them to stop taking money from the same insurance company that is denying you the surgery, MRI, and treatment you truly need.

Now should you decide to re-elect these Monday Morning Quarterback's, you will only get more of nothing, and plenty of ugly viciousness.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Homes not priced to sell to low-income :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Politics

Homes not priced to sell to low-income :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Politics

Shared via AddThis

Okay we know this really isn't a news flash. As crooked as this city is, no person should even act like this is a big shock. Yet the very interesting question that comes to mind is; why haven't any of these people come under indictment?

Where are the people in the city law department? One would think they would review this program first, once something that really smelled popped-up. And for that matter, what about the Cook County Prosecutor, the States Attorney, and the U.S. Attorney? Just look at how long this so-called program has been in-place. Yet none of these entities inquired about the practice.

The unspoken word in this country is: there is no profit to be taken from poor people, just labor. Financial institutions will not lend to the poor unless they can jack-up rates. They claim the poor is, and shall always be, a big risk. They use this logic to justify theft, so they can continue to live a lavish lifestyle.

We all know evil, lust and greed only goes so far. It always comes to an end of the road scenario. Evil, lust, and greed never will reign supreme over the just. So to all that think they are getting away with something, think again. Sooner or later, you will be brought to justice.

But then again, it's just a theory.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

A Poll Here A Poll There

What's the deal with the weekly Polls now that there is a New President in office? Most of us don't recall seeing this during the last administration. The only major poll I've witnessed during that time, was the one asking; "Who would you like to have a beer with." Only after the "crisis after crisis" befell the last administration, only then did you see polls asking about "approval vs. disapproval." Now with the new administration only a little over six (6) months in office, we seem to be under siege with a poll every week. This brings one to wonder, who are these people being polled? Or for that matter, are they really polling people, or just winging it? You know, just making stuff up. Makes you wonder.

If these so-called "Pollsters" are "going-out" and asking "Real People" these questions on health care, economy, personality, and approval vs. disapproval, where's the list? How do they do it? Do they call them? Do they go door to door? Who are these people? Are they the "same" people asked the same question in a different form? Or do they actually use different people from all walks of life? That's a question we appear to never get an answer. So I took the liberty to ask one of the premier polling institutions that very question. Yes, you guessed right, Rasmussen. In this new age of technology, I did what any person with a computer would do. I fired off an e-mail and am waiting on a response.

Once and if they reply, I'll share that information with you.

Cops now allowed to shoot drivers? :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Michael Sneed

Cops now allowed to shoot drivers? :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Michael Sneed

Shared via AddThis

Oh Great. I can see all the wounded, God forbid killed, innocent bystanders now. Oh I also forgot, a new batch of lawsuits.

Well, on this stroke of genius, I guess we will have to wait and see how this turns out. So people, get your handy cameras ready.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Police use Taser on deaf and disabled man :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Nation

Police use Taser on deaf and disabled man :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Nation

Shared via AddThis

Okay now let's see if this gets any airtime on the 24/7 News Cycle. If this isn't the most "Stupid" act a person can do, I have no idea. Did this/these officers not have the training to recognize this person was or is disabled? Did not the store owner/employees recognize this person was physically impaired?

Actions such as this is above and beyond reason. There is no rational excuse for such behavior. Police are trained to recognize different behavior patterns. What was so hard about sliding a mirror under the door, to see if the person responded to knocks and voices?. This is truly inexcusable, and the possibility of criminal charges should be deeply considered.

Again, this is extremely inexcusable. Now once again let's see how much play this receives on the 24/7 News Cycle.

Hot Damn

What the TV news is NOT reporting is:

1. The FBI was advised of this organ traffciking
ring SEVEN YEARS AGO by a totally credible source
(a university professor) and it's MUCH larger than
a single potential transaction.

2. Law enforcement in Brazil and South Africa acted
immediately on the information and went after the criminals.

3. This was not just organ dealing. It was organ
stealing. Impoverished people were flown in and
told if they didn't go through with the deal, they'd
be shot. Some had no idea the details of what they'd
agreed to.

Organs were "bought" for $10,000 and re-sold for
$150,000 and more.

It took the FBI SEVEN YEARS to get themselves in gear
and get an indictment.

Is this Some Bull Or What? Another episode of things you don't see on the 24/7 News Cycle. Go Figure.

http://whatreallyhappened.com/content/big-new-jersey-bust-what-theyre-not-saying

Monday, July 27, 2009

Media Madness

Christ please give these people something better to talk about. As we all know there are much more important things going on all over this beautiful planet. Nevertheless, when we turn on the infamous "Boob-Tube", we can't help but feel like a boob. The endless repeat of nothing news, is nearly enough to drive one to the brink of insanity. The Cambridge Police have released the "911 Tapes", along with the recorded dispatch of the incident at the inarticulate professor's home. The 24/7 News Cycle is going through them with the "fine-tooth comb", for anything to exploit. So far, they haven't found any "bombshell's" as of yet. But you can bet once they do, it will get played until you can't take it anymore.

Other than that, people are still losing jobs, homes, and the wealthy continue to play the system for more and more money. Our congressional representatives can't figure out a health care bill to help everyone, yet we already have systems in place (Medicare & Medicaid) that do work. Well, works sometimes when the greedy doesn't get the chance to skim money from them. And then there are the gangs, drug peddlers, and users running amok throughout communities. What will it take to get the 24/7 News cycle to get on these stories? No ones knows for sure, but at these current trends, things will escalate. Certain things always get worse before they get better. Maybe that is the route this country must take. So in the meantime, let us use the technology we have at our disposal, and get on the 24/7 News cycle to get their sleeves rolled-up, get those hands dirty, and give us some real investigative old-fashioned journalism for a change.

But then again, it's just a theory.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

A New Wave

Time is soon running out for the "Old Guard". You know who they are? The people in power holding a Nation back from the brink of new and exciting change. The "Information Revolution" has already begun, catching many asleep at the switch. People in power can now be sought out with the simple click of a mouse. So why are those of the "Old Guard" so shocked, that more and more everyday, ordinary people, are not going to buy that old argument of fear?

The most dangerous person in the world, is an educated individual. These are the ones that use ration, to determine their life-course. So when you see people on television i.e. politicians, theologians and the like, telling bald-faced lies to us everyday people, we have a unique ability to tell them to "Bugger-Off". I know, I'm trying to keep it clean. Yet these same people continue to just keep lying to all of us. Take the subject of Health Care. The "Old Guard" tells us the government will take control. We know for a fact that is a total lie. You see the problem is, things will be the same as normal, only for those that currently do not have health insurance, will soon have it. And that is a good thing. It brings competition to the "Un-Free Market". Now that is a term everyone should be aware of also.

The advocates of the "Free Market economy/society almost destroyed California's economy. You remember the "Rolling Blackout's"? You also may remember "Enron" and the part they played in the fleecing of California. Well the same people (different faces) are at it again. AIG, record profits, J.P. Morgan Chase, record profit. So where does that leave the rest of America? Right back at square one. No health care for the uninsured, no decent rise in wages. So the next time you see or hear the "Old Guard" telling you we can do this or that, "Bugger-Off is the best thing to say.

They are the ones afraid of change. They like things to stay the same. But here is their downfall. We see them. We hear them. We know they are for nothing to help society, but make and take money from all of us. We know this, so now is the time to encourage them to take a hike, and never return. It will be difficult for them, you know how they just love the spotlight. Hell I'm just sitting back waiting on them to drop the infamous "N"-Word at one of their town-hall meetings. You know it's coming.

But then again, that's just a theory.

Friday, July 24, 2009

The Double Standard Part 2

Well I warned you. The "Double Standard" is in full swing with the 24/7 News cycle. All the so-called experts, reporters/journalist (if you want to call some of them that), and my favorites, the pundits, are chiming in with their worthless dribble. You have to give it up for people like Liz Cheney, and Lou Dobbs. Who would ever think that a college education could produce such major stupidity? I guess some people have never heard of the "Code of Silence" amongst professions, in particular law enforcement, that will stand together no matter the outcome of any given situation.

So yes, there will always be two, and sometimes several sides of a story. But you can guarantee money, that something was indeed said, to "tick" that professor off. Nevertheless, the endless dribble of the real forces behind this unfortunate saga, is the pundits stoking the racial flames. These people use the 24/7 cycle to rile up the people who lack tolerance, and understanding. They feed on any racial strife no matter the topic. Most of you have heard or seen, the preposterous hate-mongers questioning the citizenship of the President. A convicted felon was on a cable news show, and was still unconvinced, after seeing and holding a "copy" of the Presidents "Certificate of Birth", refused to accept it as legitimate. I find that strange, since that is one of several documents needed to get a passport.

So what drives people to such insidious lengths, to denounce the legitimate, democratically elected (for a change) holder of the highest office in the nation? That's simple to answer. It is race. There is no other valid reason for such behavior. Liz Cheney should be ashamed of herself for not denouncing the people behind it, along with those idiotic Congressional Representatives behind a resolution to make a "Birth Certificate" a requirement to become President. I would suggest they come up with an alternative "Health Care Plan", since they don't seem to be interested in serving their respective constituents. And then there is Lou Dobbs, insidiously suggesting that the President is an un-documented worker. One would think, with the history this country has when it comes to race relations, such comments, lack of denunciation, and extremely stupid resolutions floating around Congress, never look appealing to people of reasonable intelligence.

I remember that old battle cry of the racist. "This is America, if you don't like it, leave it". Boy funny how "what goes around comes around". So for the bigots, racist, and uneducated degree holding pundits, you now have a President of African-American decent. Get use to it, get over your ugly insidious remarks, and do something decent with your lives. Also don't forget, Racist come in all colors. And to myself, that's never a good thing.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

The Double Standard

Well you knew it was just a matter of time when all the bias and pent-up racial animosity would finally spill over. With the invention of the infamous 24/7 News cycle, which in layman's terms means; we have nothing to really report. The misinformation campaign has begun. A very inarticulate professor is arrested in his home, for what a neighbor/passer-by thought was a home invasion. When the police arrive, the inarticulate professor has finally gained access inside, and that is where all the controversy begins.

I love all the pundits and gun-jumpers that chime in with their worthless 2 cents that they consider God's Law. Anyone with a Brain will tell you no matter the situation or circumstance, there isn't a cop on the planet earth that will ever, ever admit to any wrongdoing. And that includes, even if you have the incident on videotape. So until the inarticulate professor comes on the 24/7 cycle, we will never know what initiated his outburst. Nevertheless, we can always do like the pundits and gun-jumpers. Let's say the officer barged in and demanded the inarticulate professor to get his hands up. Naturally the cop will yell such commands because he/she is not certain if this may become a life-threatening situation. That's their job. Let's say the inarticulate professor states this is his/her home. Now we all know what comes next. The request for identification, once complied with, the matter should become quickly resolved. Sounds reasonable right?

Nevertheless, it just did not go down that way. Something must have been said to make an individual with a PhD become so belligerent. If only one was that proverbial fly on the wall, I think the conversation went a little something like this: Officer this is my home, my front door was stuck, and the driver was helping me gain entry. The officer responds; yeah right, like I'm going to take your word, show me some identification before I believe you. The inarticulate professor responds; Why? because I'm Black I have to be lying to you? Officer responds; Yes.

I also bet there may have been some really choice words that officer used to rattle that inarticulate professor. I should know of such incidents, for I have witnessed them happen to friends, family, and associates. Some by White officers, and some by Blacks, regardless of gender. I worked, a very long time ago, for the Chicago Police Department's Central Booking Section. Having such experience, gives an individual a much better perspectives on these issues. Yet, here's our President getting "duped" to give his 2 cents by saying: "The Cambridge Police Department acted stupidly". The misinformation campaign is in full swing by attempting to pit Blacks against Whites once again by playing the Presidents "sound-bite" on the 24/7 News cycle. If any of you that read this, please watch any of those 24/7 shows, and make note of the number of Black or Minority people weighing in on this topic. On a side note; I watched the Imus in the Morning program today, and the producer of the show, was making an attempt of distorting what may or may not have went down with this incident. The show then had a "Right-Wing" conservative radio host opine with his so-called take. Then, finally, reason must have prevailed. One of the Black personalities was asked of his thoughts on the incident. The producer did not say one word after the Black man gave his take on the situation. No big surprise there. When your wrong and just want to use race as your agenda, you will always lose.

Maybe they should at least do like a former Mayor here and move into a minority community. Maybe then they will know how that barmaid felt when that other cop was captured on video beating and kicking her. And she was White. How quickly they forget.

But then again, that's just my theory.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Millions cut from education initiatives :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Education

Millions cut from education initiatives :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Education

Shared via AddThis

Another Good Reason To Legalize and Tax Pot. This will never happen if States Had this additional Revenue. Look, if Micheal Phelps can win Gold Medals, don't you think something is wrong with this stupid law?

County might let pot smokers off easy :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Politics

County might let pot smokers off easy :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Politics

Shared via AddThis

Hey it's a step in the right direction. Just ask yourself, how many people are killed by pot smoking drivers? None. I'm all for the legalization, and taxation of pot. It will add revenue to the States, Cities, Counties, and Villages. This can be a benefit to hire more police, fire, and other essential personnel.

Any person against such legislation, is for nothing more than keeping jails packed with minorities. These people get paid big bucks by certain groups to keep communities oppressed.

Tax it, Legalize it, add More Police with the revenue.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Austin's No. 1 nothing to be proud of :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Mary Mitchell

Austin's No. 1 nothing to be proud of :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Mary Mitchell

Shared via AddThis

I guess I'm not alone in calling for more severe sentencing guidelines when it comes to criminals using illegally obtained guns to lay siege to communities. Something has to change with the way society deals with this issue. Should a criminal know they will serve some very serious hard time behind bars, my bet is they will think twice.

To the Illinois Legislature, Get Tough on the Sentencing Guidelines with respect to gun violations Now.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Nine shot within four hours on West Side :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Chicago Crime

Nine shot within four hours on West Side :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Chicago Crime

Shared via AddThis

Just yesterday a note was posted about such behavior, and you see the end result. Our nation's youth needs to wake up and smell the coffee brewing. Actions like these can only bring a rational person to several conclusions. Either these kids just don't care about human life, or they see no way out of this vicious cycle. There is a way out. Put the guns down and go back to school. Get that education you will truly need, in order to succeed. Youth of the nation, you have to make this choice. We can only do so much because we need you (youth) to wake up and stop this madness. You have the power to make a difference in your lives, and the people you affect.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Our Nations Youth

Should any of the youth of this nation happen upon this message, I would truly hope that you pass this along to all your friends, family, and acquaintances. It is basically a simple request to stop the violence you reap upon your communities. For years we have seen you drop-out of school, and proceed to join gangs, sell and or use drugs, and murder, maim, and wound the innocent.

Would you not agree, that as you grow in years that it may be time to leave this madness behind, and continue your education? Would you not agree to go ahead and learn that skill, or trade you've always dreamed of doing?. Of course you would agree that those are fine endeavors to pursue. The only problem stopping you from these fine goals; is you. Although no person in their respective right mind will ever admit there are programs in place to prevent you from becoming a success, there is a manifesto written centuries ago, that applies to all minorities. The drop-outs, the gangs, and the drug sales and use, do not discriminate. They are designed to do only one thing. Destroy communities. The "Willie Lynch Letter" was aimed at Blacks during its time, but can be applied to any ethnic group in our modern world.

Gangs are in your communities to divide and conquer, just as drugs and guns are used to achieve the end result. So to our nations youth, do you not think it is time to really stop destroying yourselves, friends, family, and acquaintances? Are you not sick and tired of making Mothers cry for the loss of a child with vast potential? If you are ready to stop this madness, I ask that you read a copy of this infamous letter, and see how it applies to your neighborhoods, villages, and communities.

Remember this applies to all young minorities struggling to achieve a dream.


Please Read and Think:

http://www.daveyd.com/willlynch.html

I thought this was the most appropriate time for ALL OF US to re-read, remember and NEVER FORGET, the speech given by Willie Lynch a slave owner who over 300 years ago devised a plan to help keep Black people divided...

Gentlemen:

I greet you here on the bank of the James River in the year of our lord, one thousand seven hundred and twelve. First , I shall thank you, the gentlemen of the of the colony of Virginia, for bringing me here. I am here to help you solve some of your problems with slaves. Your invitation reached me in my modest plantation in the West Indies where I have experimented with some of the newest and still the oldest method for control of slaves. Ancient Rome would envy us if my program is implemented. As our boat sailed south on the James River, named for our illustrious KING JAMES, whose BIBLE we CHERISH, I saw enough to know that our problem is not unique. While Rome used cords or wood as crosses for standing human bodies along the old highways in great numbers, you are here using the tree and the rope on occasion.

I caught the whiff of a dead slave hanging from a tree a couple of miles back. You are losing valuable stock by hangings, you are having uprisings, slaves are running away, your crops are sometimes left in the fields too long for maximum profit, you suffer occasional fires, your animals are killed, Gentleman,...You know what your problems are; I do not need to elaborate. I am not here to enumerate your problems, I am here to introduce you to a method of solving them.

In my bag, I have a fool proof method for controlling your slaves. I guarantee everyone of you that if installed it will control the slaves for at least three hundred years. My method is simple, any member of your family or any OVERSEER can use it.

I have outlined a number of differences among the slaves, and I take these differences and make them bigger. I use FEAR, DISTRUST, and ENVY for control purposes. These methods have worked on my modest plantation in the West Indies, and it will work throughout the SOUTH. Take this simple little list of differences and think about them. On the top of my list is "AGE" but it is only there because it starts with an "A"; The second is"COLOR" or shade; there is INTELLIGENCE, SIZE, SEX, SIZE OF PLANTATION, ATTITUDE of owner, whether the slaves live in the valley, on a hill, east or west, north, south, have fine or coarse hair, or is tall or short. Now that you have a list of differences, I shall give you an outline of action- but before that, I shall assure you that DISTRUST IS STRONGER THAN TRUST, AND ENVY IS STRONGER THAN ADULATION, RESPECT OR ADMIRATION.

The black slave, after receiving this indoctrination, shall carry on and will become self-refueling and self-generating for hundreds of years, maybe thousands.

Don't forget you must pitch the old black VS. the young black males, and the young black male against the old black male. You must use the dark skinned slaves VS. the light skin slaves. You must use the female VS the male, and the male VS, the female. You must always have your servants and OVERSEERS distrust all blacks, but it is necessary that your slaves trust and depend on us.

Gentlemen, these kits are your keys to control, use them. Never miss an opportunity. My plan is guaranteed, and the good thing about this plan is that if used intensely for one year the slave will remain perpetually distrustful.

-WILLIAM LYNCH-1772

The letter above is one of the major problems of the African-American race today. And with this knowledge we as a race can and will over come. So with this letter still in your mind I ask that you enlighten someone else and send this letter to as many brothers and sisters. We as a race must start somewhere in learning our problems what better place than the document that started the destruction of our MOST POWERFUL RACE!!!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Exclusive: Conservative group offers support for $2M - Mike Allen - POLITICO.com

Exclusive: Conservative group offers support for $2M - Mike Allen - POLITICO.com

Shared via AddThis

Man this has to be illegal. Talk about blackmail, extortion, or what? So let me get this straight. FedEx refused to pay, so these greed merchants sided with UPS. No wonder "conservatives" are far worse people. They have no conscious, no soul, and definitely no morals.

Kids enjoy summer camp -- with an atheist kick :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Nation

Kids enjoy summer camp -- with an atheist kick :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Nation

Shared via AddThis

It is just funny how "Adults" will go to any length to push an agenda on children. It really doesn't matter if it's race, religion, or any other societal issue. I say just let them grow up, go to school that teaches "Education", and eventually they (kids) will decide what to do with the rest of their lives.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Amid layoffs, 911 workers rack up overtime :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: City Hall

Amid layoffs, 911 workers rack up overtime :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: City Hall

Shared via AddThis

This kind of stuff makes you wonder about how the Mayor is running his administration. They lay-off people, not bothering to check if some of them have the skills to assist other departments that need help to reduce "overtime cost".

One employee rakes in $23,000 + alone in the month of March. Yet this Mayor wonders why he's facing budget deficits. They have 38, yes count them, 38 vacancies in this one department alone. One would think to find out if any of these laid-off employee's had the necessary skills to go over there and lend a hand.

But then again, it's just a theory.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Things You Don't See

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20090710/index.htm


National Security Inspectors General Release Critique of Warrantless Surveillance Program

For more information contact:
Meredith Fuchs - 202/994-7000

Washington, DC, July 10, 2009 - Today’s release of a report by several agency inspectors general reinforces the National Security Archive’s argument in our Freedom of Information Act lawsuit that the Justice Department should declassify and release the legal justifications for the surveillance program authorized by President Bush after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

The new report from the inspectors general of the Department of Defense, Department of Justice, Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence, criticizes the OLC memoranda that were used to justify warrantless surveillance of US citizens, several of which remain secret and are subject to the Archive’s lawsuit. The IGs state that there were “deficiencies” in the OLC memos, drafted by Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo, and that the memos “raise[d] serious concerns” at DOJ because they omitted analysis of key cases and legal provisions and were not subject to the ordinary “rigorous peer review process.”

According to Archive General Counsel Meredith Fuchs, “The IG report shows why it is important to release the underlying legal opinions to the public so we don’t make the same mistakes again.”

The National Security Archive, along with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), filed a FOIA lawsuit in 2006 seeking records related to the warrantless surveillance program, including relevant OLC legal opinions. In November 2008, 10 of those opinions were submitted to District Judge Henry Kennedy for in camera review after the court held that the government had not sufficiently justified withholding the opinions in their entirety. The case is pending Judge Kennedy’s review.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Chicago city union OKs concessions :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: City Hall

Chicago city union OKs concessions :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: City Hall

Shared via AddThis

You would think with all the dues these employee's pay, their Union Board would go out and shop around for affordable Health Insurance for its members, instead of giving loans to the Mayor's family members.

Friday, July 10, 2009

A Short Burts Of Thoughts

Okay, maybe it is just little old me. Nevertheless, I'm finding myself becoming more and more annoyed with the "holier than thou crowd". You know those people that say you're going to "burn" if you don't change your ways. Well lately these same people (bad choice of description)never practice what they preach. That "do as I say, and not as I do" gang, seems to remind me of the old "Pharisees and Sanhedrin" of ancient times. You might remember them, when a certain person threatened their way of life. They conspired to have that person brutally beaten, and nailed to a cross.

As you look around you these days, with the advances in technology, and nearly instantaneous video, these "twins" of ancient times continue to lie, and deceive people. If you haven't noticed, they now feel much better about such lies and deceit, by using a "different" terminology. You know, like that phrase they used to exclude kids from a swimming pool, sheepishly dubbed "different complexion". Or the outright blatant vocabulary use by people like Newt Gingrich and Tom Tancreado. Nevertheless, this "holier than thou crowd", relentlessly will never apologize for the usage of such language, or actions. They insist that they know better, and everyone else is dead wrong.

You have heard them scream from the top of their collective voices about the sanctity of marriage, yet continue to break their own vows, and scar their wives and children for life. They use the media to spread their message of hate, distrust, and outright lies about people attempting to repair the damage they have done to this country. They never accept responsibility for their actions. They just stand in-front of a camera and say; I'm sorry. Or, refuse to apologize. We have all heard the saying that "people fear change". But change happens all the time. We change our looks, age, attitudes, and surroundings all the time. Yet when we use racism, religion, or just plain hatred as an excuse to prevent change, we fall back to the days of the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin. Hopefully this time around, the people attempting to fix what is broken, can do it without getting nailed.

But then again, that's just a theory.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

News You Don't See

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB177/index.htm





Rumsfeld's Roadmap to Propaganda

Secret Pentagon "roadmap" calls for "boundaries"
between "information operations" abroad and at home
but provides no actual limits as long as US doesn't "target" Americans

National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 177

For more information contact:
Kristin Adair / Thomas Blanton
202 994 7000

Posted - January 26, 2006
In the news
"File shows US 'psychological operations' concerns"
By Will Dunham
Reuters
January 27, 2006

"Planted Articles May Be Violation: A 2003 Pentagon directive appears to bar a military program that pays Iraqi media to print favorable stories"
By Mark Mazzetti
Los Angeles Times
January 27, 2006
"Pentagon Document Shows Messages Boomerang"
By Robert Burns
Associated Press
January 26, 2006




Washington, D.C., January 26, 2006 - A secret Pentagon "roadmap" on war propaganda, personally approved by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in October 2003, calls for "boundaries" between information operations abroad and the news media at home, but provides for no such limits and claims that as long as the American public is not "targeted," any leakage of PSYOP to the American public does not matter.

Obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the National Security Archive at George Washington University and posted on the Web today, the 74-page "Information Operations Roadmap" admits that "information intended for foreign audiences, including public diplomacy and PSYOP, increasingly is consumed by our domestic audience and vice-versa," but argues that "the distinction between foreign and domestic audiences becomes more a question of USG [U.S. government] intent rather than information dissemination practices."

The Smith-Mundt Act of 1948, amended in 1972 and 1998, prohibits the U.S. government from propagandizing the American public with information and psychological operations directed at foreign audiences; and several presidential directives, including Reagan's NSD-77 in 1983, Clinton's PDD-68 in 1999, and Bush's NSPD-16 in July 2002 (the latter two still classified), have set up specific structures to carry out public diplomacy and information operations. These and other documents relating to U.S. PSYOP programs were posted today as part of a new Archive Electronic Briefing Book.

Several press accounts have referred to the 2003 Pentagon document but today's posting is the first time the text has been publicly available. Sections of the document relating to computer network attack (CNA) and "offensive cyber operations" remain classified under black highlighting.

Rumsfeld's Roadmap to Propaganda
National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 177
Edited by Kristin Adair
Posted - January 26, 2006

The Information Operations Roadmap, a 30 October 2003 document approved personally by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, "provides the Department with a plan to advance the goal of information operations as a core military competency" and "stands as an another example of the Department's commitment to transform our military capabilities to keep pace with emerging threats and to exploit new opportunities afforded by innovation and rapidly developing information technologies." The plan was developed by an oversight panel led by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Resource and Plans) and representatives from the Joint Staff, Office of the Secretary of Defense, and Special Operations Command, among other organizations.

The Roadmap was personally approved by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.



The Roadmap presents as one of its key assumptions the importance of Psychological Operations (PSYOP), particularly in wartime: "Effectively communicating U.S. Government (USG) capabilities and intentions is an important means of combating the plans of our adversaries. The ability to rapidly disseminate persuasive information to diverse audiences in order to directly influence their decision-making is an increasingly powerful means of deterring aggression. Additionally, it undermines both senior leadership and popular support for employing terrorists or using weapons of mass destruction." The military defines PSYOP generally as "planned operations to convey selected information and indicators to foreign audiences to influence the emotions, motives, objective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of foreign governments, organizations, groups, and individuals."

The Roadmap has been cited in the media several times (see James Bamford, "The Man Who Sold the War: Meet John Rendon, Bush's general in the propaganda war," Rolling Stone, November 17, 2005; Stephen J. Hedges, "Media use backfires on U.S.; Many ask if Pentagon altered information to make case for war," Chicago Tribune, December 11, 2005.) [see references], but has not previously been released to the public. The document calls on DOD to enhance its capabilities in five key Information Operations (IO) areas: electronic warfare (EW), PSYOP, Operations Security (OPSEC), military deception and computer network operations (CNO).

In light of recent media coverage of alleged propaganda activities by the military in Iraq, the Roadmap gives as one of its recommendations the need to "Clarify Lanes in the Road for PSYOP, Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy." The U.S. government is legally prohibited from conflating these operations by targeting PSYOP activities--intended for foreign audiences--at the American public. 22 U.S.C. § 1461 (Smith-Mundt Act), which created the United States Information Agency (USIA) in 1948, directs that information about the United States and its policies intended for foreign audiences "shall not be disseminated within the United States, its territories, or possessions." Amendments to the Smith-Mundt Act in 1972 and 1998 further clarified the legal obligations of the government's public diplomacy apparatus and several presidential directives, including Reagan's NSD-77 in 1983, Clinton's PDD-68 in 1999, and Bush's NSPD-16 in July 2002 (the latter two still classified), have set up specific structures and procedures, as well as further legal restrictions, regarding U.S. public diplomacy and information operations.

President Clinton's secret Presidential Decision Directive (PDD-68), issued on April 30, 1999, expanded public diplomacy and public affairs operations beyond USIA and the Department of State to include all agencies and set out the objective of IPI "to synchronize the informational objectives, themes and messages that will be projected overseas . . . to prevent and mitigate crises and to influence foreign audiences in ways favorable to the achievement of U.S. foreign policy objectives." (PDD-68 also cautioned against using the new information operations to influence the American public, but recognized the potential for "backwash" of IPI information to the United States and so called for coordinated domestic and foreign public affairs operations to synchronize foreign policy messages.

The newly-released Information Operations Roadmap, with the goal of expansion and central coordination of Pentagon PSYOP and public diplomacy operations, also recognizes the legal conundrum presented by the use of overseas propaganda in the information age. But while the document recognizes the need for boundaries-referred to as "[l]anes"-between U.S. public diplomacy and foreign propaganda, it fails to provide any such limits:

"The likelihood that PSYOP messages will be replayed to a much broader audience, including the American public, requires that specific boundaries be established for PSYOP. In particular:

The discussion of the relationship between public diplomacy and IO neither cites the applicable legal restrictions nor institutes specific guidelines, but references only the "intent" of the U.S. government in "targeting" either foreign or domestic audiences:

By means of recommendations for enhancing PSYOP capabilities, the oversight panel directed "improvements . . . to rapidly generate audience specific, commercial-quality products into denied areas" and a "focus on aggressive behavior modification at the operational and tactical level of war." Additionally, the Roadmap cites improved military support to public diplomacy efforts and support for "active public affairs programs that influence foreign audiences" as vital components of the new IO strategy.
Documents
Note: The following documents are in PDF format.
You will need to download and install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view.

Document 1: Department of Defense, Information Operations Roadmap, October 30, 2003, Secret [Excised].
Source: Freedom of Information Act request

Document 2: Joint Publication 3-53, Doctrine for Joint Psychological Operations, September 5, 2003.
Source: http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/new_pubs/jp3_53.pdf

Document 3: National Security Decision Directive NSDD-77, "Management of Public Diplomacy Relative to National Security," January 14, 1983.
Source: Freedom of Information Act request.

Document 4: Reorganization Plan and Report, Submitted by President Clinton to the Congress on December 30, 1998, Pursuant to Section 1601 of the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, as Contained in Public Law 105-277.
Source: http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/pdd/pdd-68-dos.htm

Document 5: Presidential Decision Directive PDD-68, "International Public Information (IPI), April 30, 1999 [Classified].
Source: Summary from Steven Aftergood, Federation of American Scientists, http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/pdd/pdd-68.htm, citing IPI Core Group Charter, obtained by the Washington Times (Ben Barber, "Group Will Battle Propaganda Abroad," Washington Times, 28 July 1999).

Document 6: National Security Presidential Directive NSPD-16, July 2002 [Classified].
Source: Summarized in Power Point presentation on Information Warfare, Florida International University, 2004, http://www.fiu.edu/~apodaca/Information%20Warfare%20Lecture.ppt


REFERENCES

James Bamford, "The Man Who Sold the War: Meet John Rendon, Bush's general in the propaganda war," Rolling Stone, November 17, 2005, available at http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/store/_/id/8798997.

Stephen J. Hedges, "Media use backfires on U.S.; Many ask if Pentagon altered information to make case for war," Chicago Tribune, December 11, 2005.

Col. Sam Gardiner (USAF, Ret.), "Truth from These Podia: Summary of a Study of Strategic Influence, Perception Management, Strategic Information Warfare and Strategic Psychological Operations in Gulf II," October 8, 2003, also available at http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/whispers/documents/truth_1.pdf.

Ltc. Susan L. Gough, "The Evolution of Strategic Influence, U.S. Army War College Strategy Research Project," April 7, 2003, also available at http://www.fas.org/irp/eprint/gough.pdf.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

More Things You Don't See One The News

The Secret Sentry Declassified

Declassified Documents Reveal the Inner Workings
and Intelligence Gathering Operations of
the National Security Agency

National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 278

Posted - June 19, 2009

For more information contact:
Matthew Aid - (202) 994-7000

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB278/index.htm

Related postings

National Security Agency Releases History of Cold War Intelligence Activities

Out of the Black: The Declassification of the NRO

U.S. Reconnaissance Satellites: Domestic Targets

Space-Based Early Warning: From MIDAS to DSP to SBIRS

Secrecy and U.S. Satellite Reconnaissance, 1958-1976

The National Security Agency Declassified

The Spy Satellite So Stealthy that the Senate Couldn't Kill It

The Gulf of Tonkin Incident, 40 Years Later

The NRO Declassified





Washington, D.C., June 19, 2009 - Declassified documents confirm that prior to the launch of the first spy satellites into orbit by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) in the early 1960s, the Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) collected by the National Security Agency and its predecessor organizations was virtually the only viable means of gathering intelligence information about what was going on inside the Soviet Union, China, North Korea, North Vietnam, and other communist nations. Yet, for the most part, the NSA and its foreign partners could collect only bits and pieces of huge numbers of low-level, uncoded, plaintext messages, according to Archive visiting fellow, Matthew M. Aid, who today posted a collection of declassified documents obtained for his new book The Secret Sentry on the Archive’s Web site.

* The Secret Sentry discloses that the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 was far from the first time when U.S. government officials, including senior military commanders and the White House, “cherry picked” intelligence information to fit preconceived notions or policies and ignored intelligence which ran contrary to their expectations. The Secret Sentry and the documents posted today show that widespread manipulation of intelligence also occurred during the Korean and Vietnam Wars for example, when Washington ignored intelligence on Chinese intervention in Korea, resulting in catastrophic consequences. [See Document 9 and Document 21]

* The Secret Sentry also details how since the end of World War II, constant changes in computer, telecommunications, and communications security technologies have been the most important determinants of NSA’s ability to produce intelligence. NSA has oftentimes found itself behind the curve in terms of its ability or willingness to adapt to technological changes, with delays and bureaucratic inertia causing immense harm to the agency’s ability to perform its mission. [See Document 16, for example]. As a result, during the past four decades NSA has dramatically increased the amount of the raw material that it collects, even while it has produced less and less intelligence information. According to Matthew Aid’s informed sources, during the Reagan administration in the 1980s, NSA processed, analyzed, and reported approximately 20 percent of the communications traffic it intercepted. Today, that number has dropped to less than 1 percent. For example, during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, NSA was unable to process 60 percent of the Iraqi messages it intercepted, while the U.S. military SIGINT units participating in the invasion processed less than 2 percent of the Iraqi military communications traffic that they intercepted.

Today’s posting of 24 documents consists of a selection of reports and memoranda prepared by NSA officials concerning the role played by Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) in selected military conflicts and crises, a number of classified internal histories written by NSA historians on key events in the agency’s past, and a selection of declassified articles from NSA internal journals.

Archive Visiting Fellow Matthew M. Aid obtained the documents while conducting research for his new book, The Secret Sentry: The Untold History of the National Security Agency (Bloomsbury, 2009). For the National Security Archive, Aid has edited a comprehensive set of declassified documents on the history of the NSA and its predecessor organizations from 1945 to the present, which ProQuest will publish later this year.


The National Security Agency
Edited by Matthew M. Aid

From its headquarters at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, the National Security Agency (NSA) today controls a massive 60,000+ person intelligence organization with an annual budget estimated at over $10 billion, making it the largest spy agency in America and probably the world. NSA’s power and influence within the U.S. intelligence community has grown without interruption since it was created in November 1952, thanks in large part to the agency’s ability to consistently produce copious quantities of reliable intelligence information on a vast array of subjects from around the world (Document 5). And despite the agency’s much publicized recent troubles, SIGINT continues to be the single most important intelligence source available to the President of the United States. As of September 2001, NSA was producing 60 percent of all the material that was to be found in President George W. Bush’s daily intelligence summary, the President’s Daily Brief (Document 4).

But at the time of its birth in November 1952, declassified documents show that NSA was struggling just to survive in a period that a CIA official would later describe as “the Dark Ages of American cryptology." (Note 1) The nascent 7,600-person agency was striving against significant odds to establish itself on a firm footing, build up its intelligence gathering networks aimed at the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China, and trying to provide intelligence information for the U.S. military forces fighting in Korea (Document 2, Document 13).

Nowhere were NSA’s problems more evident than in the Korean War, which eventually degenerated into a bloody stalemate pitting U.S. and United Nations forces against the significantly larger Chinese and North Korean militaries. (Note 2) Despite some significant early successes against North Korean communications during the first year of the war (Document 7, Document 23), by the fall of 1952 NSA’s ability to provide meaningful intelligence declined markedly because North Korean and Chinese forces had systematically improved their communications security practices and procedures, reducing NSA’s SIGINT effort to whatever could be picked up from monitoring the enemy’s low-level walkie-talkie communications.

The Korean War also revealed one of the inherent problems afflicting all intelligence agencies--what to do when policymakers and military commanders refuse to heed the intelligence you provide because it conflicts with their own preconceived notions. For example, in the summer and fall of 1950, General Douglas MacArthur stubbornly discounted the SIGINT being sent to him showing an alarming increase in the size of Chinese forces based in Manchuria opposite Korea. By October 1950, the information derived from SIGINT and other intelligence sources overwhelmingly indicated that the Chinese intended to intervene militarily in the Korean War. General MacArthur and Washington ignored all of the indicators, with disastrous consequences (Document 21). In the end, NSA’s experience in the Korea War was not a happy one. A former NSA historian would later write that in Korea “There were successes and there were failures, but the failures tended to overshadow the successes” (Document 22).

NSA’s survival during the dark days of the 1950s was largely due to the efforts of two men. The first was Lt. General Ralph J. Canine, who served as director of NSA and its antecedent, AFSA, from 1951 to 1956. The combative Canine is today credited with lifting NSA out of the chaos that it found itself in by November 1952, and, in the span of four short years, making NSA a top-flight SIGINT organization and a force to be reckoned with inside the U.S. intelligence community (Document 8, Document 18). The second person responsible for NSA’s success during the 1950s was President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who proved to be a critically important supporter of the agency. NSA was repeatedly investigated during the 1950s by a series of panels, all of whom issued highly critical reports about the agency’s health and future prospects (Document 11). But Eisenhower, believing implicitly in the vital importance of the agency and its intelligence product, beat back all attempts by these committees to scale back or alter NSA’s efforts. In retrospect, it is doubtful that NSA would have survived the decade of the 1950s but for Eisenhower’s behind-the-scenes support and encouragement (Document 12).

The agency’s top target throughout the Cold War was the Soviet Union, which consistently ate up more than half of NSA’s collection and analytic resources between 1945 and 1989 (Document 6). The public is generally familiar with the significant successes by NSA’s cryptanalysts in breaking the codes used by Soviet intelligence operatives during World War II, an effort that has become known to history as the Venona decrypts (Document 1). But once the Moscow realized that the U.S. and Britain were breaking its codes, in the fall of 1948 the Soviets changed all their ciphers. It took three decades before Washington regained a degree of access to high-level Soviet communications. Nevertheless, the agency’s SIGINT efforts proved to be critically important in helping the U.S. intelligence community monitor the rising threat posed by the Soviet Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) program (Document 17), which was the highest priority collection target during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Another high priority operation during the 1960s was NSA’s collection efforts aimed at the Soviet’s manned and unmanned space program (Document 21). NSA was also involved, albeit indirectly, in the CIA’s famous Berlin Tunnel Operation, which was not discovered by the Soviets until 1956 (Document 14).

NSA’s performance during the Vietnam War (1961-1975) was marked by a number of notable successes on the battlefield (Document 15, Document 19), which were credited with being instrumental in helping U.S. forces in Southeast Asia win a series of battles against the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces. (Note 3) But NSA was also involved in a number of costly intelligence failures in Vietnam, such as the agency’s mishandling of intelligence during the Tonkin Gulf Crisis of August 1964 (Document 9), which led to America’s full-fledged entry into the Vietnam War.

By the early 1970s, with U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War winding down to its tragic climax, NSA found that it had to dramatically revamp itself in order to handle a series of new technological advances in the computer and telecommunications fields, which were threatening to severely impair the agency’s ability to perform its mission (Document 16). NSA also had to restructure its SIGINT collection efforts to encompass a host of new transnational targets, such as economic intelligence and monitoring the rising threat posed by international terrorism (Document 10).

Throughout its history, a series of catastrophic events have damaged NSA’s codebreaking efforts. One of the worst of these events occurred in January 1968, when North Korean naval forces seized the U.S. Navy spy ship USS Pueblo while it was engaged in an intelligence collection mission off the east coast of North Korea. Within weeks of the loss of the ship, many of NSA’s top intelligence sources in North Korea and elsewhere in the Far East suddenly went off the air (Document 3). After the seizure of the Pueblo, the North Korean government published an expose on the ship’s mission, with a few pages reproducing some of the captured documents (Document 24).



Documents
Note: The following documents are in PDF format.
You will need to download and install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view.

Document 1: Extracts from Robert Louis Benson and Cecil J. Phillips, History of Venona (Ft. George G. Meade: Center for Cryptologic History, 1995), Top Secret Umbra, NSA FOIA.

Document 2: Thomas L. Burns, The Origins of the National Security Agency U.S. Cryptologic History, Series V, Vol. 1 (Ft. George G. Meade: Center for Cryptologic History, 1990), Top Secret, NSA FOIA.

Document 3: Robert E. Newton, The Capture of the USS Pueblo and Its Effect on SIGINT Operations, U.S. Cryptologic History, Special Series, Crisis Collection, Vol. 7 (Ft. George G. Meade: Center for Cryptologic History, 1992), Top Secret Umbra, NSA FOIA.

Document 4: David A. Hatch, Presidential Transition 2001: NSA Briefs a New Administration (Ft. George G. Meade: Center for Cryptologic History, 2004), Top Secret/COMINT/X1, NSA FOIA.

Document 5: National Cryptologic School, On Watch: Profiles From the National Security Agency’s Past 40 Years (Ft. George G. Meade: National Cryptologic School Press, September 1986), Top Secret Umbra, NSA FOIA.

Document 6: Frank B. Rowlett, Recollections of Work on Russian, February 11, 1965, Top Secret Dinar, NSA FOIA.

Document 7: Unknown Author, SIGINT in the Defense of the Pusan Perimeter: Korea 1950, date unknown, Unclassified with Top Secret Copse attachment, NSA FOIA.

Document 8: Jacob Gurin and deleted, “Ralph J. Canine: Profile of an Unforgettable Personality,” Cryptologic Spectrum, Vol. 1, No. 1, Fall 1969, For Official Use Only, NSA FOIA.

Document 9: Robert J. Hanyok, “Skunks, Bogies, Silent Hounds and the Flying Fish: SIGINT and the Gulf of Tonkin Mystery, 2-4 August 1964, Cryptologic Quarterly, Vol. 19, No. 4/Vol. 20, No. 1, Winter 2000/Spring 2001, Top Secret/COMINT/X1, NSA FOIA.

Document 10: Robert J. Hanyok, “The First Round: NSA’s Effort Against International Terrorism in the 1970s,” Cryptologic Almanac, 50th Anniversary Series, November-December 2002, Top Secret/COMINT/X1, NSA FOIA.

Document 11: David A. Hatch, “Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes?,” Cryptologic Almanac, 50th Anniversary Series, February 2003, Top Secret/COMINT/X1, NSA FOIA.

Document 12: David A. Hatch, “DDE & NSA: An Introductory Survey,” Cryptologic Quarterly, Vol. 23, Nos. 1-2, Spring/Summer 2004, Top Secret/COMINT/X1, NSA FOIA.

Document 13: George F. Howe, “The Early History of NSA,” Cryptologic Spectrum, Vol. 4, No. 2, Spring 1974, Secret, NSA FOIA.

Document 14: William T. Kvetkas, “The Last Days of Enigma,” Cryptologic Almanac, 50th Anniversary Series, March-April 2002, Top Secret/COMINT/X1, NSA FOIA.

Document 15: Major James S. Rayburn, USMC, “Direct Support During Operation DEWEY CANYON,” Cryptologic Spectrum, Vol. 11, No. 3, Summer 1981, Secret Spoke, NSA FOIA.

Document 16: Richard C. Raymond, “Challenge to Sigint: Change or Die,” Cryptologic Spectrum, Vol. 1, No. 13, Fall 1969, For Official Use Only, NSA FOIA.

Document 17: Unknown author, “Early History of the Soviet Missile Program (1945-1953), Cryptologic Spectrum, Vol. 5, No. 3, Summer 1975, Secret, NSA FOIA.

Document 18: Unknown Author, “From Chaos Born: General Canine’s First Charge to the NSA Workforce,” Cryptologic Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 2, Summer 1987.

Document 19: Unknown author, “Operation Starlight: A Sigint Success Story,” Cryptologic Spectrum, Vol. 1, No. 34, Fall 1971, Secret, NSA FOIA.

Document 20: Unknown author, “Stonehouse: First U.S. Collection of deleted [Space] Signals,” Cryptologic Spectrum, Vol. 5, No. 4, Fall 1975, Secret, NSA FOIA.

Document 21: Guy R. Vanderpool, “COMINT and the PRC Intervention in the Korean War,” Cryptologic Quarterly, Vol. 15, No. 2, Summer 1996, Top Secret Umbra, NSA FOIA.

Document 22: Thomas R. Johnson, “American Cryptology During the Korean War: Opening the Door a Crack,” Studies in Intelligence, Vol. 45, No. 3, 2001, Unclassified, CIA FOIA.

Document 23: Richard A. “Dick” Chun, A Bit on the Korean COMINT Effort, 1971, Secret Spoke, NSA FOIA.

Document 24: Les Actes D’Agression Declares de L’Imperialisme U.S. Contre Le Peuple Coreen: Les matériaux concernant les actes d’agression du , vaisseau-espion de l’armëe d’agression de l’imperialisme americain avant fait profondement intrusion dans les eaux territoriales de la Républicque Populaire Démocratique de Coree [Acts of Aggression Declared by American Imperialism Against the Korean People: Materials concerning the aggressive acts of American imperialism’s armed spy ship, Pueblo, and its deep intrusion in the territorial waters of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea] (Pyongyang: Editions en Langues Etrangeres, 1968) [Excerpts]



Notes

1. This period in NSA’s history is well covered in Thomas R. Johnson, American Cryptology during the Cold War, 1945-1989: Book I: The Struggle for Centralization, 1945-1960 (National Security Agency: Center for Cryptologic History, 1995), Top Secret Umbra, http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB260/index.htm

2. A good general overview of the role played by SIGINT in the Korean War can be found in David A. Hatch and Robert Louis Benson, The Korean War: The SIGINT Background, U.S. Cryptologic History, Series V, Vol. 3 (Ft. George G. Meade: Center for Cryptologic History, 2000), Unclassified, http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/declass/korean_war/sigint_bg.shtml. For an example of a major SIGINT success during the Korean War, see Jill E. Frahm, So Power Can Be Brought Into Play: SIGINT and the Pusan Perimeter, U.S. Cryptologic History, Series V, Vol. 4 (Ft. George G. Meade: Center for Cryptologic History, 2000), Unclassified, http://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/center_crypt_history/publications/sigint_and_pusan_perimeter.shtml.

3. The most detailed single-volume account of NSA’s successes and failures during the Vietnam War can be found in Robert J. Hanyok, Spartans In Darkness: American SIGINT and the Indochina War, 1945-1975 U.S. Cryptologic History, Series VI, Vol. 7 (Ft. George G. Meade: Center for Cryptologic History, 2002), Top Secret/COMINT/X1, http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/cryptologic_histories/spartans_in_darkness.pdf.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Online Date Sites: Hook Up Anyone?

We all have seen them on television, the Internet, and heard them on the radio. They have exploded on the scene, walking hand in hand with the Internet. Call them what you please, dating, hook-ups, or find your soul mate. Nevertheless these sites may be no more than a legal way for prostitution to flourish. Like many of you, I heard some very interesting stories from people that use such sites, almost on a daily basis to satisfy their carnal needs.

It really doesn't matter the preference that you seek. There are people on these various sites ready, willing, and able to accommodate those lucky singles every fantasy. The astounding thing that I've been informed of, is the fact the same people are on there every single day. Now this astounding fact brings to mind how many of these people are actually practicing safe, or natural sex. One would think with the alarming rates of infectious disease that are prevalent in society today, the people would "slow their role" by making themselves available on a daily/nightly basis.

You must keep in mind, that I will not mention any site by name. But I'm sure you have heard of the one that got a little heat from local district attorneys. Anyone can just do a simple search, of any preference, and links will magically appear to numerous sites. It doesn't discriminate by race, or lifestyle. Naturally some even ask (so I'm told) members to state if they are "professional".

It would not make my jaw drop to the floor, to see a new site entitled "One Night Stand". That would just make my day. Now just by chance, I checked go daddy, and 1nightstand is back ordered, but you can buy 1nightstand online.

What a world. I've heard the phrase, "pimping ain't easy". But some of these sites make it seem too easy.

But then again, that's just my theory.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Looking Back

The best reasons, the military should launch attacks on foreign soil


As for being a veteran of the US Army, this opinion may appear slightly jaded. Regardless of the mistakes of the previous administration, the military should always be on a high state of readiness. So, as to the question of whether to use the military or not, the answer is an emphatic yes! Osama bin Laden and his followers launched an attack on this country while hiding in Afghanistan. Prior to attacking, a diplomatic mission went there. The Taliban refused to turn the responsible party over, so they may be face justice for their horrible crime against this nation. For the simple fact diplomacy did not work, retaliation was the appropriate alternative.

A situation prior to this would be Pearl Harbor. Even though we were dealing arms to the allies, via the “Lend-Lease Act” That attack was another reason for a military response. Surely to send troops into battle is a very hard burden to bear. Nevertheless, it is a decision that sometimes requires decisive action. Many of us strongly disagreed with the decision to go into Iraq. Why you ask? Well, we had this no fly zone in the north and south. Moreover, you can bet there were spy planes over there also. Therefore, how anyone could misread the intelligence from there is a bit suspect. Anyone could rant forever about the Iraq situation, but it is a done deal. Therefore, with that as one’s own reasons for using the military, again yes, we should use them. Should any country, or entity decides to attack us again, (and we all hope never) it will not be something you would want to see on CNN.

Unlike the Vietnam conflict, where we had adviser's there first, and then troop deployments after the French withdrew. We had no interest whatsoever in the affairs of that country. Why did we escalate it? There are many theories out there. One being it was what the defense contractor’s and generals wanted. Before President Eisenhower left office, he warned the American people to beware of the “Military-Industrial Complex.” Just look at the antics of Halliburton and the other companies with the “No-Bid Contracts.” Sorry got off on a rant. Well these are some of the reasons for why we should use are military when attacked. It is ones best hope you found this little conversation informative.


Thank You

Frankie C. Jenkins

Thursday, July 2, 2009

The Truth Is Finally Coming Out

Saddam Hussein Talks to the FBI:
Twenty Interviews and Five Conversations with "High Value Detainee # 1" in 2004

National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 279

Edited by Joyce Battle
Assisted by Brendan McQuade

Posted - July 1, 2009

For more information contact:
Joyce Battle - 202/994-7145

In the news

"Hussein Pointed to Iranian Threat"
By Glenn Kessler
The Washington Post
July 2, 2009

"Saddam denied al Qaeda ties till the end"
By Eli Lake
The Washington Times
July 2, 2009

"FBI says Saddam's weapons bluff aimed at Iran"
By JoAnne Allen
Reuters
July 2, 2009

"FBI Releases Details of 2004 Talks with Saddam Hussein"
Voice of America
July 2, 2009

"FBI releases summaries of interviews with Saddam Hussein"
USA Today
July 2, 2009

"Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein bluffed about WMDs fearing Iranian arsenal, secret FBI files show"
By James Gordon Meek
New York Daily News
June 24, 2009

Related postings

PR Push for Iraq War Preceded Intelligence Findings
"White Paper" Drafted before NIE even Requested

U.S. Military Hoped for Virtually Unlimited Freedom of Action in Iraq
Drafting of U.S.-Iraq Security Agreement Began Nearly Five Years Ago

The Record on CURVEBALL
Declassified Documents and Key Participants Show the Importance of Phony Intelligence in the Origins of the Iraq War

TOP SECRET POLO STEP
Iraq War Plan Assumed Only 5,000 U.S. Troops Still There by December 2006

Post-Saddam Iraq: The War Game
"Desert Crossing" 1999 Assumed 400,000 Troops and Still a Mess

New State Department Releases on the "Future of Iraq" Project
New Documents Provide Details on Budgets, Interagency Coordination and Working Group Progress

Saddam's Iron Grip
Intelligence Reports on Saddam Hussein's Reign

State Department experts warned CENTCOM before Iraq war about lack of plans for post-war Iraq security
Planning for post-Saddam regime change began as early as October 2001

CIA Whites Out Controversial Estimate on Iraq Weapons
Main Subject of Today's Senate Intelligence Report Remains Largely Secret

The Saddam Hussein Sourcebook
Declassified secrets from the U.S.-Iraq relationship

Eyes on Saddam
U.S. overhead imagery of Iraq

Shaking Hands with Saddam Hussein
The U.S. tilts toward Iraq, 1980-1984

Iraq and Weapons of Mass Destruction

Operation Desert Storm: Ten Years After
Documents shed light on role of intelligence, stealth technology and space systems in the Gulf War



http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB279/index.htm






Washington, D.C., July 1, 2009 - FBI special agents carried out 20 formal interviews and at least 5 "casual conversations" with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein after his capture by U.S. troops in December 2003, according to secret FBI reports released as the result of Freedom of Information Act requests by the National Security Archive and posted today on the Web at www.nsarchive.org.

Saddam denied any connections to the "zealot" Osama bin Laden, cited North Korea as his most likely ally in a crunch, and shared President George W. Bush's hostility towards the "fanatic" Iranian mullahs, according to the FBI records of conversations from February through June 2004 between Saddam and Arabic-speaking agents in his detention cell at Baghdad International Airport.

The former Iraqi leader, when asked about his accomplishments, listed social progress for the people of Iraq, a temporary truce with the Kurds in the early 1970s, the nationalization of Iraq’s oil in 1972, support for the Arab side during the 1973 Middle East war with Israel, and after that, for the remaining 30 years of his rule, simple survival – through a devastating eight year war with Iran that he had launched, and a 12-year sanctions regime imposed on his people after another war that he began. During the interviews he repeatedly contests FBI evidence and the neutrality of his interlocutors – which one of them finds ironic, given the record of peremptory Iraqi justice under Saddam’s governance. He selectively outlines recent Iraqi history and acknowledges some mistakes, including the destruction without U.N. supervision or verification of some of Iraq’s WMD arsenal left over from the 1980s.

During the interviews Saddam refutes some examples of what he views as myths, like his purported use of body doubles. Instead he says that to evade his enemies he never used the telephone and traveled constantly from one dwelling to another (he describes the farm where he was captured in a “spider hole” as the same place where he took refuge after a failed 1959 coup attempt.)

He takes personal responsibility for ordering the launching of SCUD missiles against Israeli targets during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, because he blamed Israel and its influence in the U.S. for “all the problems of the Arabs”, but denies that his purpose was to draw that country into the conflict and to divide Washington from its Arab allies. He provides details on the lead-up to the war, reporting that during a January 1991 meeting former Secretary of State James Baker told Saddam’s foreign minister that if Iraq did not comply with U.S. conditions “we’ll take you back to the pre-industrial stage.”

Saddam’s historical recollections include his ascendancy within the Ba’athist party in 1968 and 1969; his disappointment after the Iran-Iraq war with Arab governments for their lack of gratitude for Iraq’s “saving all of the Arab world” from occupation by Iran; details about the 1991 Persian Gulf war; and the post-war Shi’a uprising in Iraq’s south, which he characterizes as “treachery” instigated by Iran.

Not included in these FBI reports are issues of particular interest to students of Iraq’s complicated relationship with the U.S. – the reported role of the CIA in facilitating the Ba’ath party’s rise to power, the uneasy alliance forged between Iraq and the U.S. during the Iran-Iraq war, and the precise nature of U.S. views regarding Iraq’s chemical weapons policy during that conflict, given its contemporaneous knowledge of their repeated use against Iranians and the Kurds.

This series of interviews also does not address chemical warfare in Kurdish areas of Iraq in 1987-1988, although an FBI progress report says Saddam was questioned on the topic. One interview, #20, is redacted in its entirety on national security grounds, although it is not clear what issues agents could have discussed with Saddam that cannot now be disclosed to the public.

The interviews and conversations were led by George L. Piro, one of an exceedingly small number of FBI agents who spoke Arabic. The agency expected that Saddam would feel rapport with Piro and develop a sense of dependency. During the interviews Piro hears Saddam out but is often openly skeptical of the former leader’s recollections. The agent does, however, assert with confidence that the U.S. side had information that Iraq was maintaining or developing a WMD capability and cites “evidence” of continuing contact between Iran and al-Qaeda, seemingly implying an operational relationship.

Saddam does not provide comfort to his interlocutors on these matters, refuting any notion of collaboration with al-Qaeda, or of a remaining WMD capacity, and in reality the charges, meant to win public support for the invasion of Iraq, were collapsing while the interviews were underway. Investigators from the CIA, operating freely in occupied Iraq, failed to uncover any credible supporting evidence for the U.S. claims, and ultimately President Bush himself acknowledged that “most of the intelligence turned out to be wrong.”

One of the last interviews in the series ends on a valedictory note, after Piro listens to a poem that Saddam had written. The former president of Iraq is “done,” Piro says, “his life is nearing its end,” and other detainees are blaming him for all of Iraq’s many mistakes. Saddam is fatalistic and acknowledges reality. His interviews with Piro ended soon thereafter, and on December 30, 2006, he was hanged, amid the taunts of the political enemies who carried out his execution.


Read the Documents
Note: The following documents are in PDF format.
You will need to download and install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view.

1. FBI Form, January 1, 2004
2. Interview Session 1, February 7, 2004
3. Interview Session 2, February 8, 2004
4. Interview Session 3, February 10, 2004
5. Interview Session 4, February 13, 2004
6. Interview Session 5, February 15, 2004
7. Interview Session 6, February 16, 2004
8. Interview Session 7, February 18, 2004
9. Interview Session 8, February 20, 2004
10. Interview Session 9, February 24, 2004
11. Interview Session 10, February 27, 2004
12. Interview Session 11, March 3, 2004
13. Interview Session 12, March 5, 2004
14. Interview Session 13, March 11, 2004
15. Interview Session 14, March 13, 2004
16. Interview Session 15, March 16, 2004
17. Interview Session 16, March 19, 2004
18. Interview Session 17, March 23, 2004
19. Interview Session 18, March 28, 2004
20. Interview Session 19, March 30, 2004
21. Interview Session 20, May 1, 2004
22. Casual Conversation, May 10, 2004
23. Casual Conversation, May13, 2004
24. Casual Conversation, June 11, 2004
25. Casual Conversation, June 17, 2004
26. Casual Conversation, June 28, 2004
27. [Excised] IT-Iraq, March 21, 2004

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Off The Beaten Path Part 3

You must admit, greed is the king when it comes to humanity. Without greed, we lowly humans might not know what to do with ourselves. Imagine you are single, and just purchased a twenty-four bedroom, sixteen bathroom, mansion, along with fourteen vehicles. I thought the entire point of being single, is to live a life free of family, and commitment. Why on earth would a single person need all that house? To move his/her family back in? That kind of greed defeats the purpose of being single. Yet greed influences people single, or married to seek such extravagance. People have done such acts of extreme extravagance through-out history, only to witness such material possessions vanish as quickly as obtained. This is the power of greed. It blinds, misguides, misinforms, and deceives.

The shear power of greed has always been the downfall of many men, and nations. Ladies take heart, it also has caused many downfall's for you also. Unbridled greed has destroyed many a relationship. It has broken and destroyed many families. Yet it still remains the driving force of its followers to capture. Greed affects all walks of life. Greed is also color-blind. Greed does not pick and choose its victims. The people intentionally, or unintentionally seek it out. The reach of greed is astounding. It travels across globe, seeking the professional (no matter the occupation), all the way down to a drug dealer, or user. Greed drives nations to kill, subjugate, and oppress other nations. Greed drives local neighbors to compete, or out-do one another in a quest of obtaining material things. Henceforth its blinding and misguiding influence.

Greed is also the driving force in this nations current economic dilemma. An entire nation was misinformed, and deceived into obtaining homes that they soon quickly realized they could no longer afford. How can one afford a home with so much uncertainty of the employer they thought would always be there? Greed led the manufacturing might of this country to foreign soils in search of "cheaper labor" to fatten a corporations bottom line. Yes, good old fashioned greed has destroyed many a nation, and people. It continues to wind its way through-out all levels of society. Even your church, synagogue, mosque, or whatever the belief system you hold dear, greed will always be there when you seek it. That (seeking) is the key important factor to know about greed. It is there, waiting on us to beckon its service to us.

But then again, it's just a theory.

Military.com

Popular Posts