Global Intelligence Desk Newsletter for Friday, Feb 10, 2006
from: IntelDesk.com Global Intelligence Desk Newsletter for Friday, February 10, 2006 Issue: 370 Today's open source intelligence (OSINT) report Latest News: Intelligence : Archive : US plans massive data sweep with secret ‘ADVISE’ system Abstract: Little-known data-collection system could troll news, blogs, even e-mails. Will it go too far? By Mark Clayton Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor February 09, 2006 edition The US government is developing a massive computer system that can collect huge amounts of data and, by linking far-flung information from blogs and e-mail to government records and intelligence reports, search for patterns of terrorist activity. The system - parts of which are operational, parts of which are still under development - is already credited with helping to foil some plots. It is the federal government's latest attempt to use broad data-collection and powerful analysis in the fight against terrorism. The core of this effort is a little-known system called Analysis, Dissemination, Visualization, Insight, and Semantic Enhancement (ADVISE). Only a few public documents mention it. ADVISE is a research and development program within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). What sets ADVISE apart is its scope. It would collect a vast array of corporate and public online information - from financial records to CNN news stories - and cross-reference it against US intelligence and law-enforcement records. The system would then store it as "entities" - linked data about people, places, things, organizations, and events, according to a report summarizing a 2004 DHS conference in Alexandria, Va. "We just don't know enough about this technology, how it works, or what it is used for," says Marcia Hofmann of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington. Posted by: Editor on 2006-02-09 13:05:05 Read More... Social : Archive : The Right Wing Press: How Conservatives Went Crazy Abstract: By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS Posted: CounterPunch.org February 9, 2006 (Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page and Contributing Editor of National Review.) What happened to a formerly conservative press to reduce it to political partisanship and warmongering? Specifically, I have in mind National Review and the Wall Street Journal editorial page. When I was associated with National Review, the magazine understood that the US Constitution and civil liberty had to be protected from government. It was not considered unpatriotic to take the side of the Constitution and civil liberty against a sitting government, even if the government were Republican. Some things were still more important than party loyalty. When I was on the Wall Street Journal's editorial page, the editorials were analytical and reformist. Sometimes we broke news stories. The page's attention to the Soviet Union was based on the rulers' aggressive posture and suppression of civil liberties. Today the editorial page is a fount of neoconservative war propaganda. All intelligence has vanished. Posted by: Editor on 2006-02-09 12:57:50 Read More... Operations : Archive : Report Says Number of Attacks by Insurgents in Iraq Increases Abstract: By JAMES GLANZ New York Times February 9, 2006 WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 — Sweeping statistics on insurgent violence in Iraq that were declassified for a Senate hearing on Wednesday appear to portray a rebellion whose ability to mount attacks has steadily grown in the nearly three years since the invasion. The statistics were included in a report written by Joseph A. Christoff, director of international affairs and trade at the Government Accountability Office, who testified before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee during a hearing on Iraq stabilization and reconstruction. The curve traced out by the figures between June 2003 and December 2005 shows a number of fluctuations, including several large spikes in insurgent activity — one as recently as October of last year. But while American and Iraqi officials have often pointed to the downward edges of those fluctuations as evidence that the steam was going out of the insurgency, the numbers over all seem to tell a different story, Mr. Christoff said. "It's not going down," he said. "There are peaks and valleys, but if you look at every peak, it's higher than the peak before." Posted by: Editor on 2006-02-09 12:56:49 Read More... Science : Archive : Statements of military, intel officials shed light on UFOs Abstract: Richard Dolan >From “UFOs and the National Security State” Posted: Keyhole Publishing, keyholepublishing.com Selected quotations about UFOs that appear in “UFOs and the National Security State,” by Richard Dolan The unidentified craft appeared to take efficient controlled evasive action. —FBI Memo, describing chase of UFO over the North Sea, 1947. The reported operating characteristics such as extreme rates of climb, maneuverability (particularly in roll), and action which must be considered evasive when sighted ... lend belief to the possibility that some of the objects are controlled ... —General Nathan Twining, Head of Air Material Command (AMC), 1947. I was called one afternoon to come to the Oval Office – the President wanted to see me.... I was directed to report quarterly to the President after consulting with Central Intelligence people, as to whether or not any UFO incidents received by them could be considered as having any strategic threatening implications .... —General Robert B. Landry, Air Force Aide to President Harry S. Truman. Army intelligence has recently said that the matter of ‘Unidentified Aircraft' or ‘Unidentified Aerial Phenomena,' otherwise known as ‘Flying Discs,' ‘Flying Saucers,' and ‘Balls of Fire,' is considered top secret by intelligence officers of both the Army and the Air Forces. —1949 FBI memo on UFOs. Posted by: Editor on 2006-02-09 12:50:59 Read More... Science : Archive : Evidence now exists for UFOs and extraterrestrial life Abstract: John B. Alexander, col., U.S. Army, ret. Posted: UFOEvidence.org The undeniable reality is that there are a substantial number of multi-sensor UFO cases backed by thousands of credible witnesses. In the physical domain there are many photos, videos, radar tracking, satellite sensor reports, landing traces including depressions and anomalous residual radiation, electromagnetic interference, and confirmed physiological effects. Personal observations have been made both day and night, often under excellent visibility with some at close range. Included are reports from multiple independent witnesses to the same event. Psychological testing of some observers has confirmed their mental competence. There are over 3000 cases reported by pilots, some of which include interference with flight controls. On numerous occasions air traffic controllers and other radar operators have noted unexplained objects on their scopes. So too have several astronomers and other competent scientists reported their personal observations. Many military officials from several countries have confirmed multi-sensor observations of UFOs. Posted by: Editor on 2006-02-09 12:50:03 Read More... Science : Archive : July 1952: UFOs over Washington, D.C., caught by radar, witnesses Abstract: The Washington Post July 28, 1952 Military secrecy veils an investigation of the mysterious, glowing aerial objects that showed up on radar screens in the Washington area Saturday night for the second consecutive week. A jet pilot sent up by the Air Defense Command to investigate the objects reported he was unable to overtake the glowing lights moving near Andrews Air Force Base. Air Force spokesmen said yesterday only that an investigation was being made into the sighting of the objects on the radar screen in the CAA Air Route Traffic Control Center at Washington National Airport, and on two other radar screens. Methods of the investigations were classified as secret, a spoken said. "We have no evidence they are flying saucers; conversely we have no evidence they are not flying saucers. We don't know what they are," a spokesman added. The same source reported an expert from the Air Technical Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton Ohio, was here last week investigating the objects sighted July 19. The objects, "flying saucer or what have you, appeared on the radar scope at the airport center at 9:08 PM. Varying from 4 to 12 in number, the objects appeared on the screen until 3:00 AM., when they disappeared. Posted by: Editor on 2006-02-09 12:48:56 Read More... Science : Archive : Why learn remote viewing? Abstract: Paul H. Smith President and chief instructor Remote Viewing Instructional Services, Inc. Many times since starting to teach controlled remote viewing commercially, I've been asked variations of the question "Why do people want to learn remote viewing?" or "What good is remote viewing?" I've thought about it for a long time, and have come to the following conclusion. Maybe people want to learn remote viewing for reasons similar to why others learn to skydive. There are of course a number of answers: It is useful in military and commando operations; it is handy for getting people to remote places to fight forest fires; it can be used to insert rescue personnel into certain emergency situations. Like skydiving, RV has its practical applications. Within its inherent limitations remote viewing has been used in intelligence collection, crime-solving, finding missing persons, market predictions, and--more controversially--space exploration. Posted by: Editor on 2006-02-09 12:46:21 Read More... : Archive : IntelDesk researcher, acting editor departs for other projects IntelDesk.com members, newsletter subscribers and visitors, For the past year, I have held the dual roles of research analyst and acting editor at IntelDesk.com. In these positions, I have tried to help provide a wide range of news and open source intelligence (OSINT) for a diverse audience of members, newsletter subscribers and visitors. Now, other responsibilities, duties and projects require me to give up my IntelDesk.com work. I am confidant that the leadership and staff of IntelDesk.com will continue providing a comprehensive and valuable news and OSINT platform into the future. If you are interested, please visit the home page of my novels, MISSION INTO LIGHT and LIGHT’S HAND, about a joint-service research team called the “Joint Reconnaissance Study Group” at: NavySEALs.com/community/members/ohio52 And, you can see my recent articles by searching the IntelDesk.com archives, and at: americanchronicle.com/articles/viewByAuthor.asp?authorID=496 Best wishes, Steve Hammons February 2006