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Regrettably, I’ll be a few days late in town for this event, but I’ve already weighed in to some extent. The bottom line is that you can be a competent, serviceable and respected (in some quarters at least) reporter on the national security / intelligence beat and never have to worry about fielding the “aid…
No, not the NSA: The first thing that came out of our mouths when we heard that Google is working on a system that listens to what’s on your TV playing in the background, and then serves you relevant adverts, was “that’s cool, but dangerous”. The idea appeared in Technology Review citing Peter Norvig, director…
More of the NGIC WMD report, courtesy of Politics Central.
If you are a GI Forum member I’ve got a new poll up about the potential for near term attacks in the US. If you’re not a member please consider signing up and joining the fun.
Evan Kohlmann of the CT Blog steps into my wheelhouse: The United States is gradually losing the online war against terrorists. Rather than aggressively pursuing its enemies, the U.S. government has adopted a largely defensive strategy, the centerpiece of which is an electronic Maginot Line that supposedly protects critical infrastructure (for example, the computer systems…
There is a big difference between politicizing intellience and pointing out that there may be precious little intelligence to politicize. Fred certainly has his views, but whatever they may be the fact remains that US intelligence has a hell of a time going after hard targets like Iran. Identifying gaps and – in light of…
If Web readers in Britain were intrigued by the headline “Details Emerge in British Terror Case,” which sat on top of The New York Times’s home page much of yesterday, they would have been disappointed with a click. “On advice of legal counsel, this article is unavailable to readers of nytimes.com in Britain,” is the…
The federal research agency in charge of countering emerging terrorist threats such as liquid explosives is so hobbled by poor leadership, weak financial management and inadequate technology that Congress is on the verge of cutting its budget in half. The Homeland Security Department’s Science and Technology Directorate has struggled with turnover, reorganizations and raids on…
(Pardon the long post, but after week of fishing I’ve got a jonesing . . .) Senior U.S. intelligence officials meeting in Denver on Monday (8/21) revealed new measures to try to fix the nation’s ailing intelligence system, which insiders say leaves the government overloaded with data but unable to answer key questions. One leader…
A shameless plug for my old boss: Still, Donavan Lewis, chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency’s threat analysis division, wants the United States to think more about long-term trends. “China has shifted its dependence away from the United States to [countries such as Malaysia and South Korea], while our dependence on them has grown,”…
JackBe, provider of enterprise solutions that integrate SOA and AJAX to deliver the next generation of rich Internet applications, announced Phase I delivery of a Web-based intelligence briefing solution for the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). Powered by JackBe’s NQ Suite AJAX software platform, the application will be showcased at the DNI’s “Information Sharing Conference…
I can’t help myself . . . A tiny software company has been tapped by the new U.S. spy chief to lead a “tremendous leap forward,” in technology and policy that will enable the sharing of sensitive information between intelligence agencies and state and local law enforcement and other first responders. The project aims to…
For those of an Ichthyological bent, the scores as of EENT Friday were: Walleyes 0, Me 1Largemouth Bass 0, Me 1Smallmouth Bass 0, Me 3Pumpkinseeds 0, Me 4Perch 0, Me 2 And I noticed while I was gone that: The Army has figured out that there is more to Jean Larteguy’s poem than another piece…
All of these plots, successful and otherwise, contradict a prevalent theory in counter-terrorism circles that all the skills necessary to conduct a successful attack can be learned in the comfort of a terrorist’s own home. This paradigm is based on the belief that internet technology has removed the need for terrorist training camps by creating…
They gathered anxiously that first October morning, the 50 members of the class of “06-01,” the first of 750 new agents-in-training who will graduate from the FBI Academy this year. Long article that is worth the read. Anyone who has gone through military, para-military or police training can sympathize and empathize to a certain degree.…
Two 13-year-old boys have turned themselves in to the police after a fire destroyed a seven-story heritage building in central Sydney. Around 100 firefighters were required to extinguish the flames, and an exclusion zone is expected to remain in place for a week, displacing at least 70 residents. While the two boys are assisting with…
A missile strike on a medical clinic in Dnipro, eastern Ukraine, has resulted in at least two deaths and 23 injuries. The injured individuals, including two young boys, were taken to hospitals, with three in serious condition. Ukrainian authorities reported shooting down 17 missiles and 31 drones launched from Russia, targeting various locations including Dnipro,…
A rare shooting and stabbing rampage occurred in Nakano, Japan, allegedly carried out by the son of a local government official. The suspect, Masanori Aoki, was arrested on suspicion of killing a police officer, a woman, and injuring several others. The incident has caused great anxiety in Japan, a country with strict gun control laws…
After reaching a deal to swap prisoners, a Belgian aid worker imprisoned in Iran for over a year is on his way back to Belgium, while an Iranian diplomat has been released from Belgium and is returning to Iran. The aid worker, Olivier Vandecasteele, was received by Belgian soldiers and diplomats in Oman before undergoing…
Scientific American reports that: We are on the cusp of learning far more about the projected icy situation of the moon’s permanently shadowed regions, or PSRs. Multiple nations are eying the moon’s south pole with research teams plotting out how and where to explore the bottoms of the sun-shy features. In some circles, however, there…
Malaysia has confiscated over 2,000 Swatch watches due to concerns over their LGBTQ+ connotations. The authorities cited the rainbow-colored strap of the watches as a symbol associated with the LGBTQ+ community. The move has sparked criticism from human rights activists who argue that it violates freedom of expression and contributes to discrimination against the LGBTQ+…
Germany has summoned the Turkish ambassador over a press freedom dispute. The move comes after Turkey’s President Erdogan criticized a German media outlet for an article that was critical of him and his government. Germany’s Foreign Ministry expressed concerns over the threat to press freedom and demanded an explanation from the Turkish government. Read more:…
ArsTechnica reports that: Nvidia’s announcement of the GeForce RTX 4060 series last week broke the pricing trend set by every other RTX 4000-series card released so far: The 4060 Ti is launching at the same price as its predecessor, and the 4060 is actually getting a small price cut. For more see: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/05/review-nvidias-399-rtx-4060-ti-is-mostly-a-step-forward-but-only-a-small-one/ Our assessment: watch this…
A fire in a school dormitory in Guyana has claimed the lives of at least 20 people, according to officials. The blaze occurred at a private boarding school in the country’s capital, Georgetown. The victims include students and staff members who were unable to escape the burning building. The cause of the fire is yet…