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POPSAMERICA DIVIDED OVER WATERBOARDING OF CHILDREN Dick Cheney, added: "May I remind America that we are at war and war is brutal, it is ugly and it is wet. Who among us would not be willing to subject one four year-old girl to extraordinary rendition in order to save the lives of millions of other four year-old girls?
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POPSView on Systemic failure The near-calamity that resulted Christmas Day from a would-be plane bomber who reportedly underwent terror training with al-Qaida in Yemen makes us wonder whether the United States' intelligence and security agencies learned anything from Sept. 11.
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POPSObama cites intel failures in attempted airline attack U.S. President Barack Obama says the United States had enough information to uncover the plot to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day, but failed to put all the bits and pieces of intelligence together. Mr. Obama spoke after a long meeting with his Cabinet and national security team.
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POPSNOT EVERY WRONG IS A CRIME???WHAT???? Ralph McGeehee a 25 year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency enlightened us with this following paragraph from his 1983 book “Deadly Deceits,” which edifies a familiar pattern of deception that we have witnessed but we never understood. He stated the following about the CIA: READ at SOURCE.........
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POPSOverpopulation, finally The unpopular truth is that education only works if the educatee has the congenital intelligence to appreciate what’s being taught. We can train anyone to do just about anything, if there’s an immediate reward for it, like on the job training. But we can’t convince them it’s a good idea unless they have the brains for it. Every idea matches an intelligence level and above; if someone is below that level, the idea seems to them like magic, silliness or witchcraft and they ignore it when at home.
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POPSThe degrading effects of terrorism fears The survey has shown at the end of the article about the gathering of information process and about the investigation of Nigerian Muslim, is excellent and I agree with the majority also.
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POPSWars sending U.S. into ruin. Obama’s Afghan “surge” of 30,000 new troops will cost an additional $33 billion — more than Germany’s total defence budget. Military and intelligence spending relentlessly increase as unemployment heads over 10% and the economy bleeds red ink. America has become the Sick Man of the Western Hemisphere, an economic cripple like the defunct Ottoman Empire. The Pentagon now accounts for half of total world military spending. Add America’s rich NATO allies and Japan, and the figure reaches 75%. China and Russia combined spend only a paltry 10% of what the U.S. spends on defence. There are 750 U.S. military bases in 50 nations and 255,000 service members stationed abroad, 116,000 in Europe, nearly 100,000 in Japan and South Korea. Military spending gobbles up 19% of federal spending and at least 44% of tax revenues. During the Bush administration, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars — funded by borrowing — cost each American family more than $25,000.
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POPSReading List: 'The Perfect Swarm', 'The Superorganism', 'You Are Not a Gadget' Hive minds: bees, ants and humans on the internet. The Listen! link originates from the program To the Best of Our Knowledge from Wisconsin Public Radio (U.S.) Fascinating interviews, especially Jaron Lanier in segment 3. He said that Web 2.0 is creating a sadist society where conformity trumps individualism. He further defined Web 2.0 as an advertising monopoly and then apologized to Google, (a real example of conformity as in not biting the hand that feeds you). You have to be somebody before you can share yourself. - Jaron Lanier
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POPSWhy Ronald Reagan was the Greatest President of the 20th Century
Reagan had three parts to his genius. First, he was a visionary; he believed that people wanted freedom and would do well when more of it was given to them. Whether he was undermining the Soviets, challenging an unlawful union, or deregulating oil production he tried to move in a consistent direction of greater freedom and less government. According to Dinesh D’Souza, “Reagan’s greatness derives in large part from the fact that he was a visionary—a conceptualizer who was able to see the world differently from the way it was.” Reagan knew where he wanted to go: Jimmy Carter, by contrast, had multiple plans to create energy, to generate revenue, and to cut inflation. Often they were contradictory; all of them failed. Reagan was more consistent because he had vision: He knew where he wanted to go and how he wanted to get there. Second, Reagan had character, and in the eyes of America’s Founders, character was a necessary ingredient for greatness. Reagan stood for a set of ideas, and
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POPSSome great fun facts about Neanderthal man Archaeologists and anthropologists are redefining the way we have earlier understood about the life of our ancestors and many other things that had been discovered related to the ancient past.
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POPS Living Rubber Bridges It is incredible to see the bridges in Cherrapunji grow on their own, instead of being built. They are called ‘Living Bridges’ of Cherrapunji. Cherrapunji, in Meghalaya, India, is famous for the highest amount of rainfall in the world. It is not only the maximum rainfall that you witness here, but the place is adorned with amazing plants also, which leave you astonished. A local tribe in Meghalaya, called War-Khasis, realized the utility of the plant ‘Ficus elastica’ (a rubber tree that produces secondary roots from higher up in the trunk, steeping into the river beds or perching around the boulders), to grow bridges naturally.
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POPSThe Cure for Unemployment The author is comfortable with the idea that no man need be over paid and if paid wages low enough to support the desired profits of business, all men would be employed. The premise that a multimillion dollar corporation will negotiate the wages with individuals is ludicrous. Only in the face of Unionization has business ever negotiated wages with the ordinary working force. The suggested Free Competition for jobs is intended to support the idea than no minimum wage is too low. Let the market set the value. The market is naturally business administrators that get bonuses for increasing profits. I have a hard time reading a commentary founded in ignorance by people educated beyond their intelligence.
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POPSThe Christmas Bomber Speaks … Finally
The intelligence he possessed was perishable. Each moment that passed that he was not speaking meant lost counterterrorism opportunities. Every hour, every day, every week that went by gave them precious time to close bank accounts, e-mail addresses, phone numbers he knew about, and shut down training camps, safe houses, and other intelligence leads he could have given us. Terrorists he knew about have been put into hiding, and other leads that were hot in the days immediately following his capture have since gone cold. The mishandling of Abdulmutallab’s questioning is an intelligence failure of massive proportions. And it highlights the problem with the Obama administration’s approach to terrorist interrogation. The administration’s approach is built on a law-enforcement model unsuited for the challenges of the war on terror. Here is why: In law enforcement, interrogators generally question terrorists after an attack (or in the case of Abdulmutallab, an attempted attack)
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POPS MIRANDIZE FOREIGNERS? Republicans in Congress have been sharply critical of the decision to Mirandize Abdulmutallab. Also, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, FBI Director Robert Mueller, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and National Counterterrrorism Center Director Michael Leiter have all testified that they were not consulted in advance on the Christmas Day decision to tell the terrorist he had the right to remain silent. The administration filed an initial criminal complaint in federal court against Abdulmutallab on Dec. 26, the day after he was Mirandized. Later, on Jan. 6, the administration formally indicted Abdulmutallab.
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POPSWiring the Global Heart I believe the latest scientific research suggests that the heart is the seat of an intelligence which naturally has a very strong influence of the brain. There is a difference between Mind and Brain, as H.G Wells knew when he wrote about what he called the World Mind and the World Brain in the 1930s. After reading this article, it seems to me that a World Mind would comprise of a World Brain (language, abstraction, communications links) and the World Heart (feelings, intuition, soul-?) which is described so well in the clip. Withoiut both aspects of intelligence, this new cyber-consciousness will just be another step in humanity's withdrawal from the reality and the common consciousness of nature.
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POPSUS citizens may be murdered by their government WTF ? What about innocent until proven guilty ? I seem to remember western law has been based on protection from arbitrary punishment since The Magna Carta or there abouts. It`s particularly alarming as a top US military chap in Afghanistan said that most of their intelligence was `fantasy`. And people complain about Iran and Venezuela ?
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POPSSomeone is Lying About the Detroit Underwear Bomber Eric Holder, in writing, says he did. Someone is lying -- and an immediate investigation is needed. Eric Holder needs to be put under oath and questioned extensively about his side of this bizarre story. The safety of innocent Americans -- men, women and children -- hangs in the balance. more ..... Hat tip: Commenter Brian. Someone is Lying About the Detroit Underwear Bomber http://bit.ly/bxkOu2 http://directorblue.blogspot.com
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