News & Analysis
DB Briefs: The Code War / It's All Washington's Fault / US Army's Alcohol Problem / Mubarak Trial Begins
Countries Brace for The Code War
Repeated and constant cyber attacks against the United States have turned the country's assessment of national security threats on its head. Just five years ago, the CIA was mostly worried about physical threats like bombings or chemical warfare. But now, the CIA thinks cyber attacks have the second greatest potential for national destruction behind only a nuclear attack. ... "Cyber will be part of any future conflict – whether it's a nation state or terrorism," said Cofer Black, former director of the CIA's counterterrorist center, at the Black Hat cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas. ... Cyber espionage poses a great threat since it gives the nations sponsoring the attacks a leg up in diplomacy, business competition and, should a conflict arise, warfare. – CNN Money
Dominant Social Theme: We need another government committee to crack down on the Internet and ensure America stays safe from terroritsts.
Free-Market Analysis: Can't you hear the barrage of fear-based propaganda that is about to be hoisted upon the American voter by establishment politicos and mainstream media outlets: We need to act now or your computer is toast. Your bank's computer will be toast. The computers running the air traffic control system while you are cruising at 30,000 feet will be toast. The computers at the hospital where your mother is having heart surgery will be toast. The whole country will be just one big basket of computoast... unless the government steps in to spend... and regulate all Internet servers... and require you to install civil defense software on your computer. You'll comply, because you wouldn't want to be seen helping the terrorists. We predicted that this sort of fear-based assault would begin sooner than later as the Internet continues to expose the agenda of a Money Power intent on establishing global governance. People are awakening to undertstand what money is and what it is not. They can see how the financial elite uses their deceitful world-spanning enterprise of central banks – administered by the Bank for International Settlements – to enslave people under yokes of debt. They can see how mainstream media is complicit in aiding and abbeting the whole process – in fact controlled by the very same elite. They can see the Hegelian dialectic in play when their bought-and-paid-for Congressional puppets get together to "play." The Internet poses a threat to be sure, but not the one they will try and sell to the American people so that Obama can get his Internet Kill Switch. (Watch DB video on this here.) The structural control centers the elite worked so hard at establishing (pre-'Net era) are all in danger of imminent collapse. The Internet Reformation, like Protestant Reformation inspired by the Gutenberg press some 500 years ago, is a truth driven knowledge revolution. The war will be against truth media, not "cyber-terrorists."
How Washington Took the U.S. to the Brink
The world's largest economy was headed toward an unprecedented default, and all Washington wanted to talk about was the manner in which the president had left a room. A White House meeting in mid-July between President Barack Obama and congressional leaders had ended with sharp words as Obama clashed with the brash Republican House majority leader, Eric Cantor. Now Cantor was back on Capitol Hill, dishing details to a scrum of reporters – a shift from the terse, vague statements that usually followed such meetings. "He said to me, 'Eric, don't call my bluff. I'm going to the American people with this,'" Cantor said in his Southern drawl. "I was somewhat taken aback."
Republican aides filled in the gaps. Obama had "stormed out of the room," one said. At the White House, aides pushed back. One official demonstrated to reporters exactly how Obama had ended the meeting – lightly pushing his chair back from the table, standing up deliberately, walking away calmly. "He didn't storm out. He just got up and walked into his office," one said.
INSIDERS UNITE
As the deadline drew closer, the two sides abandoned a series of efforts to reach agreement, searching for the right combination of policies and personalities to get a deal done. In the end, it fell to two consummate Washington insiders to prevent the talks from collapsing.
A Reuters examination of the months-long showdown over the debt ceiling found that:
* Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell emerged as critical players in the final stretch of the talks, as theirs was the only cross-party relationship built on decades of trust.
* Despite a belief among many rank-and-file Republicans that the government could muddle through a default, party leaders never doubted the Treasury Department's warnings that economic catastrophe was a real possibility if they didn't reach a deal by August 2.
* Although House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, the top U.S. Republican, was eager to strike a bold deal with Obama, it was ultimately necessary for Boehner to distance himself from the White House to convince his House Republicans to back the final deal.
* The business community played an important behind-the-scenes role, with two White House foes – Wall Street and the Chamber of Commerce – rallying support for a compromise backed by Obama. – Reuters
Dominant Social Theme: Despite the noise they make, the political elites supported by Wall Street and Big Business will always do the right thing in the end. Yes, there is plenty of rhetorical rough-housing, sometimes more than the public likes. But it's all sportsmanlike competition for the honor of serving the public good. When the chips are down, establishment members will coalesce and do the right thing for America / Free World / Mankind.
Free-Market Analysis: Baloney! This "debt-ceiling-charade" has been extensively discussed over the past few days here at the Daily Bell, so we won't dwell on this one too much. Other than to say, the script was set long in advance and there was never any doubt that the Federal Reserve would be inflating the money supply on behalf of the taxpayers with the approval and authority of their Congressional leaders. It just stinks. However maintream media chooses to roll out the storyline, the simple truth of the matter is that the "wise leaders" running America's political process are just bit players in a deceitful game – one that enriches them for their efforts and decimates America's middle class and what's left of the US economy in the process. And as Peter Schiff points out in his video interview with Judge Andrew Napolitano, there is a strong possibility that this $2.4 trillion increase will not even suffice to see America through the 2012 presidential election. (Watch interview here.) Price and wage inflation will undoubtedly follow this massive increase in monetary inflation – expect gold and silver continue to trend higher as the dollar heads to the fiat-money graveyard to join all of its predecessors.
Army Hiring More Counselors for Alcohol Abuse
The army is increasing its staff of substance abuse counselors by about 30 percent to help the rising number of troops with alcohol problems. "One of the largest challenges in maintaining health is addressing issues of substance abuse by our soldiers ...The number of troops abusing alcohol has roughly doubled in the last five years as soldiers go through the stressful cycle of training, serving in the wars, readjusting to home life and then doing it all over again months later," Dr. Les McFarling, head of the army's substance program, said in an interview. ... Some 13,000 soldiers were treated for substance abuse last year, all but about 1,900 for alcohol and the rest for drugs like marijuana and cocaine, McFarling said. He said officials have found no direct link between the abuse and the number of deployments some soldiers have served. But "a typical thing for somebody coming back if they're having troubles adjusting or PTSD (post-traumatic stress syndrome), is to have a glass of wine before you try to go to sleep ... or two, or three," McFarling said. "It's a socially acceptable way of dealing with stress." – AP
Dominant Social Theme: What some call the horrors of war is a problem manageable by therapeutic intervention.
Free-Market Analysis: You are going to hear stories about what happens inside a person who is taught to kill and mutilate as a matter of routine and to keep killing and mutilating day after day. The psychological toll is real, but it's part of the cost of keeping America safe, or so we are told. Fortunately, the experts, the professionals, know how to deal with problem... and the government is going to spend whatever it takes to see that the job gets done. The bottom line is this, the US military-industrial complex is busily interfering the backyards of countries all over the world, killing innocent people in the process of "spreading democracy." These missions have nothing to do with national defense and everything to do with creating puppet regimes that will passively agree with globaist demands and the imposition of a new world order – to be administered by the UN, IMF, World Bank, ICC, NATO, et al. America is being used by global Money Power as the "bad boy on the block" to administer the force necessary to pave the way for this to happen and the American taxpayers have been sold on a ficticious enemy as a means to galvanize their support. The Internet Reformation is exposing the weaknesses in the power elite plot. As a result of this ongoing military offensive that's been contributing to the dollar's demise, the US is completely busted – both financially and morally. The soldiers themselves are still human beings with normal emotions and consciences, many of who undoubtedly thought they were helping to do the right thing, at least initially. It is no coincidence that among US military personnel, Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is growing in popularity. However, a shift of conscience can be cured by simply having another drink and a line of blow ... yeah right.
Bed-ridden, Caged, Egypt's Mubarak Goes on Trial
An ailing, 83-year-old Hosni Mubarak, lying ashen-faced on a hospital bed inside a metal defendants cage with his two sons standing protectively beside him in white prison uniforms, denied charges of corruption and complicity in the killing of protesters at the start of his historic trial on Wednesday. The spectacle, aired live on state television, was a stunning moment for Egyptians. Many savored the humiliation of the man who ruled with unquestionable power for 29 years, during which opponents were tortured, corruption was rife, poverty spread and political life was stifled. After widespread skepticism that Egypt's military rulers would allow one of their own – a former head of the air force – to be prosecuted in front of the world, the scene went a long way to satisfy one of the key demands that has united protesters since Feb. 11, when Mubarak fell following an 18-day uprising. – AP
Dominant Social Theme: No one is above the law.
Free-Market Analysis: This story invites you to look past the heavy-handedness of government and take consolation in the thought that those who abuse power inevitably pay a price. Don't buy it. Yes, some dictators and kleptocrats come to a bad end (usually only after years of building a mountain of bodies and accumulating a mountain of cash). But most don't. By playing the democracy game, most high-level politicians dodge the dictator label. And by sharing the loot judiciously, they position themselves to enjoy what they keep until the natural end of their days. The Mubarak family is just on the wrong end of the steal-curve. Who said that installing democracy was all roses anyway?
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Editor's note: While we have introduced this new "Daily Bell Briefs" feature into the Daily Bell, it is not to the exclusion of our traditional format of presenting full-length news analysis. Over the next couple of weeks, the DB elves will be enjoying a much needed summer vacation. Following such, both the new "Briefs" and the traditional "Staff Reports" will be published on a daily basis. The Daily Bell Briefs are not a new format that replaces the old, simply an addition to our ever expanding mission of advancing free-market thinking around the world. Thanks for joining us.
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Posted by Zenbillionaire on 08/05/11 03:42 AM
"a typical thing for somebody coming back if they're having troubles adjusting or PTSD (post-traumatic stress syndrome), is to have a glass of wine before you try to go to sleep ... or two, or three,"
Jack Daniels. Not just for breakfast anymore.
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Posted by Zenbillionaire on 08/05/11 03:35 AM
"The war will be against truth media, not "cyber-terrorists.""
The War On Code. Yep. It was inevitable. We'll have Government Issued Code. Clean, Trustworthy and American. Code that wouldn't cross the street to talk to a hooker. Code that knows what's good for your bank account, your country and your mind. Code that knows when you are sleeping, knows when you're awake. Knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!
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Posted by Col on 08/04/11 03:46 PM
C'mon people, wakey wakey hand off snakey you're missing all the fun!
Global stock markets slump on eurozone debt fears
Click to view link
ECB offers more loans to banks and keeps rates on hold
Click to view link
New IMF head Christine Lagarde faces finance deal probe
Click to view link
Japan government and central bank intervene to cut yen
Click to view link
This last one is a must read, It's like a God Damned Survivalists Wet Dream.
Viewpoint: Yen is heading for a currency collapse
Click to view link
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Posted by Col on 08/04/11 03:28 PM
QUOTE DB "You'll comply, because you wouldn't want to be seen helping the terrorists." /QUOTE
"We don't want the smoking gun to be a Toasty Smelling Blue Hazy Mushroom Cloud over Silicon Valley."
--Condis Crystals Rice Bubbles, Sept. 8, 2002
Snap Crackle & Pop!
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Posted by John Danforth on 08/04/11 01:50 PM
"First let me say that I don't "get" your #1."
Ha, I just caught on to that one!
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Posted by Adam on 08/04/11 01:28 PM
(@DB webmaster: What's up with the RSS feed? thedailybell com / rss xml)
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Posted by SoCal fellow on 08/04/11 12:48 PM
Enjoy your vacation, staff and elves. You most certainly have earned it!
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Posted by Summer on 08/04/11 12:16 PM
'They can see how the financial elite uses their deceitful world-spanning enterprise of central banks - administered by the Bank for International Settlements - to enslave people under yokes of debt.'
You said it, ain't that the truth! Unfortunately, the debt trap will bring the US down as the Soviet Union before it.
'When the chips are down, establishment members will coalesce and do the right thing for America / Free World / Mankind... Free-Market Analysis: Baloney!'
Funny! ;) They always seem to sing from the same hymn sheet!
'The Internet Reformation is exposing the weaknesses in the power elite plot. As a result of this ongoing military offensive that's been contributing to the dollar's demise, the US is completely busted - both financially and morally. The soldiers themselves are still human beings with normal emotions and consciences, many of who undoubtedly thought they were helping to do the right thing, at least initially.'
Excellent observation. Evil spreads by acceptance of, or turning a blind eye to, evil/immorality and the necessity of implementing of justice for peace. Sad that everyone pays some price for this.
'The Mubarak family is just on the wrong end of the steal-curve. Who said that installing democracy was all roses anyway?'
True. I wait for the day when the blood on Bush, Blair, and other collaborators' hands will be paid for... I'm consoled by the thought that whether in this life or the next, they will face justice for murderous war-games of tactical advantage.
Reply from The Daily Bell
Thanks!
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Posted by Bluebird on 08/04/11 12:03 PM
Re: counselling for troops. War is a hopeless evil that never stops killing, even after the men leave the military. I know we would be shocked at just how many of these brave men never recover from the horrors. We hear what we are allowed to hear, but it does not scratch the surface. Many vets wind up on the street and are simply listed as "homeless". Some can never recover from the nightmares that stay with them through waking, as well as sleeping hours of every day. Everytime I hear a story of yet another man in the news who dies in police standoffs, I wonder if they were vets.
Some years back, my step-son who was one who could not be brainwashed effectively in the military, and started showing alarming signs. I could not convince him to seek psychological help, and I was unable to help him myself. His "real" parents were too busy telling him he was a "man" and to seek help was a sign of weakness. He was married with three small children and could no longer function. He wanted to exit the world, but he wanted his wife and kids to go with him. He was hoping for a police standoff in which he would feel "justified" in ending all their lives. When I heard it had gotten so bad that he was holding a gun to the head of his small children, making them beg for their life, I knew it had gone too far. But his wife was told if she called police, they would all die. So I simply walked into the house and said, "come kids, we are going for some food". I loaded the mom and kids in the car,(and he knew we would) and just kept on going. That night he put a gun to his head and we buried him in a little country cemetary a few days later. I sure loved that boy/man as my own son. I still cry at his memory. Some would (and have) call him a coward. But some people just cannot deal with the evil of "wars". No one will ever hear he was in the military. He was never in the news. I wonder how many just like him we never hear about?
I get so many emails promoting this rape of the world and asking me to pass it along. I delete. Stop the killing!!!!
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Posted by rossbcan on 08/04/11 11:39 AM
"DB elves will be enjoying a much needed summer vacation"
The elves are having too much fun, on a daily basis, exposing and running roughshod over elite frauds and machinations.
Such fun (pest control) is addictive and, doubt that elves are capable of fully dropping their interests during vacation.
In fact, they will just be girding their loins for the next set of net epiphanies and game changers, with liberal party favors.
Cheers!
Reply from The Daily Bell
OK, we admit it... we're addicted, but it isn't always fun.
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Posted by Abu Aardvark on 08/04/11 11:28 AM
DB: "Over the next couple of weeks, the DB elves will be enjoying a much needed summer vacation"
I see. The poor dwarfs have to stay at home, hammering away "Daily Bell Briefs", while allegedly exhausted elves go rinsing their pointy ears in seawater.
Dwarfs, don't let the naughty elves get away with this discrimination. Never submit to blackmail!
Reply from The Daily Bell
You are correct as one elf is sitting in the airport between flights reviewing posts and watching the US stock market collapse today.
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Posted by rossbcan on 08/04/11 11:09 AM
"solutions which would justify their existence"
...do not and cannot exist. Deal effectively with aggressors, after the fact, in a decisive manner such that "crime does not pay" plus compensate victims at criminal's expense AND: problem solved - absolutely ZERO need for "pre-emptive" defense or "problem solvers" who create the "neccessity" for their own sorry, parisitical existance.
This is an aspect of action precedes consequence reality. Until an action and consequence actually occurs, the speculative possibilities regarding the future are near infinite, bound only by the laws of physics. It is within this speculative "potential reality", paranoid realm that states and their cronies rationalize their sorry, extremly harmful and toxic to mankind in general "existance".
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Posted by rossbcan on 08/04/11 10:49 AM
The problem with "guidelines" is that they can be rationalized away and constitute entrapment and moral hazard. You act / choose according to the law, as written and are faced with hypoctitical behavior from the courts, due to "interpretation".
The trap is: "Trust us, we are JustUS" and when the facts and law argue contrary to judicial "opinion" and you point it out, you are decreed in "contempt of court" (but, not contempt of law, just contemmpt of the rationalizing idiot on the bench who values their opinion more than proven fact).
TRUST ME, I have "been there done that", far too many times and, remain as unrepentent (and contemptuous) as ever. You will not find this truth in any book.
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Posted by amanfromMars on 08/04/11 10:29 AM
Hi, rossbcan,
Marriage is a business ..... and very lucrative for any number of businesses and the legal "profession", and for the legal "profession, especially so whenever the partnership breaks down and/or passionate desires wander to greener pastures.
And regarding "Q - What do "problem solvers" with a forceful monopoly with the ability to identify, frame "problems" and present a "restricted" set of solutions, in an environmment where they produce NOTHING to rationalize their existance and staggering resource consumption WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE?
A - More "problems", so, they create them. " ..... surely what they WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE are solutions which would justify their existence and staggering resource consumption, because now are there not serious questions being raised as to their effectiveness in providing security and prosperity? As you have implied, are they being increasingly seen and recognised as being the cause of most problems, and that is not smart at all.
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Posted by amanfromMars on 08/04/11 10:10 AM
"Therefore, don't you think the CIA can get info from anyone there about anything?" ..... Well of course they could, Merridth80, I never ever have suggested or implied otherwise, although I would boldly say that they don't and/or can't and that is a deepening and widening problem for them presently, and is also clearly indicative of a lack of necessary intelligence in that particular, peculiar field. And there are other nations/societies/people, who have been into intelligence services for command and control of assets and riches, from long before even America was born, and would be light years ahead of any modern capitalist opposition and competition in the genre.
Here is an interesting, novel development? ..... Click to view link ..... which is bound to be a right royal humdinger of a spooky affair.
And the rest of your post is amazing and renders me speechless and full of wonder at the lack of intelligence and insight in the world and how clearly it can be so easily displayed.
"They will never be able to keep up with the honest man on a technical level, and when they discover how the last thing he invented works, they will not realize that he is already two levels of comprehension ahead of them. The more complicated a contraption is, the more failure points it has and the easier it is to completely foil it with the simplest logic." ..... Posted by John Danforth on 08/04/11 09:08 AM
Oh, at least already two levels of comprehension ahead of them, JD, and most probably a great deal more. The corollary of the complicated contraption is that the simplest of perfect machines are the most difficult and probably impossible to better.
"Generally the ones who presume to think they control everything cannot handle anything more complicated than a light switch, and they should not even be trusted with that." ...... Generally, yes, I might wholeheartedly agree. However, there are always notable exceptions to the rule which can advance understanding to new levels, and may even completely change the game to be played, and great games being played.
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Posted by rossbcan on 08/04/11 09:58 AM
should point out:
"greatest potential for national destruction"
...is from the enemies within, barbarians, not only past the gate, but controlling the gate and all domains within, so long as they have "consent or tolerance of the serfs" (no opposition).
The entire national security establishment is a bunch of paranoid psychopaths, creating their own problems. Do as Pogo: "I have seen the enemy and, it is us"
All else is projection of their own paranoid psychosis on others. In fact, the long term consequences of this insane mindset and, damage done will shortly make this self perpetrating state of affairs true: THEY ARE OUT TO GET YOU, because, YOU ARE A THREAT.
It is an axium of problem solving: If you don't want problems, don't create them. If you're in a hole, stop digging and start climbing.
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Posted by dotti on 08/04/11 09:56 AM
Oh. I think I just got it!!!
Depends?
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Posted by dotti on 08/04/11 09:55 AM
John, thanks for your reply.
First let me say that I don't "get" your #1. Is it something that you can air in polite company--like that (sometimes LOL) here at DB?
My fear is not of the so-called Code War. it is of the underlying threat that I see in it as a promotion. It is only the beginning of a new meme? Our hopes for the Internet Reformation could be brought to a screeching halt. Right now we have DB as a source of information and as a forum; it would be quite a setback to have that taken away. And I see that as a possibility if the PE see the Internet as a threat to their goals.
They have stampeded the herd as evidenced by the sheer terror they induced over the "spectre of default of the USA for the first time in history!" It was not a pretty picture and I daresay ended the way they wanted it to.
I hope that I am "somewhere else" at my little haven in Appalachia.
Definitely good advice. Just don't know about the "Personal absorbent products"! Perhaps you are talking about the aforementioned "crying towel". And yes, sometimes I do cry when I'm angry.
Off to do more packing and cleaning.
Thanks for your posts.
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Posted by dotti on 08/04/11 09:45 AM
Re: "Treasuries are the ultimate instrument of destruction of the American economy."
Good one, John!
Treasuries are to the American economy as alcohol to the alcoholic.
Thanks for your post.
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Posted by rossbcan on 08/04/11 09:43 AM
Spooks: "But now, the CIA thinks cyber attacks have the second greatest potential for national destruction behind only a nuclear attack."
Q - What do "problem solvers" with a forceful monopoly with the ability to identify, frame "problems" and present a "restricted" set of solutions, in an environmment where they produce NOTHING to rationalize their existance and staggering resource consumption WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE?
A - More "problems", so, they create them.
In analyzing any conflict, the key question is: who aggressed (initiated force/fraud) first?
No matter how much victims are demonized for their defensive reactions, their basic "right to life" compells them to mount a proportional defense.
This is no different than the gay marriage issue: The legal "profession" opening up a new and lucrative market for "gay divorce". Truth is, marriage is a consensual partnership, no different than any other "division of labor" free association that anyone can freely CHOOSE. The "terms of association" are set by the parties, not the state.
So, "cyber security" is apparently the new meme to defraud us by the expense and, the latest attempt to harness, restrict and control the ad-hoc anarchy (peaceful) of the free flow of fact, knowlege and ideas on the internet. Elites are TERRIFIED, their MSM collective lobotomy is rapidly being undone, by knowlege of reality and their true nature.
So, if our free choice can no longer be controlled by ignorance of alternatives, where does that leave those who would enslave us?
History is very clear what happens to tyrants (and civilizations) who resort to the only alternative: forceful compulsion. Painful, but they ALWAYS LOSE. Once organized coercion is destroyed, freedom (and civilization) flourishes UNTIL some other group achieves "control", due to lack of vigilence (and dissent) of the intellectually / morally aware.
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