The Coming Techno Apocalypse – New Dawn Imagine, if you will, a war in the near future. A war not fought between East and West. Not fought between nations, nor creeds nor races. A war fought brother to brother and sister to sister, father to son and mother to daughter. Tesh (technologists) against NonTesh (non-technologists). The Tesh, a tribe or caste intoxicated and socially validated through their umbilical connection to technology and the Meta/Hive Mind. The NonTesh are homeless, stateless non-people. This will be the Final War – man against machine and man against machine-man. Trapped by Techno-Blindness? The omniscient progress of technology brings with it many benefits – this is beyond serious doubt. Modern-era human society also appears rusted to the concept of progress – the idea that all technological advances are intrinsically positive whether immediate gains outweigh severe long-term deficits… or not. Big Data & Psychographic Profiling ‘Weaponized AI Propaganda Machine’ Predictive Policing Star Chamber ‘Justice’
US debates legalization of marijuana US debates use of marijuana and its effect on urban areas By Tony Favro, USA Editor* 10 May 2012: President Obama’s trip to Colombia in April 2012 threw a spotlight on America’s drug policy. The presidents of Colombia, Mexico, and Guatemala - countries that have seen limited returns for their inordinate sacrifices of human lives and financial resources to control the supply of illegal drugs - publicly chastised the United States for failing to curb its demand for drugs. The international focus on American drug policy has resurrected a debate within the US about the legalization of drugs, especially marijuana and how it may affect urban areas. The Obama administration has shifted US drug policy over the past three years away from its decades-old focus on jailing offenders to treatment and prevention. This is not enough for the presidents of Colombia, Mexico, and Guatemala, centers of the most sophisticated and violent operations for trafficking illegal drugs to the US.
Fred On Everything Examining the Firmware of War Date May 23, 2011 Patriotism is everywhere thought to be a virtue rather than a mental disorder. I don’t get it. If I told the Rotarians or an American Legion hall that “John is a patriot,” all would approve greatly of John. Of course the Japanese pilots who attacked Pearl Harbor were patriots, as were the German soldiers who murdered millions in the Second World War. Of course not. The pack dominates humanity. Packery dominates society. Fans. Such is their footballian enthusiasm that they will sometimes burn their own cities in delight at victory or disturbance at loss. It’s everywhere. Part of patriotism is nationalism, the political expression of having given up to the pack all independence of thought. Is this not literally true? The military calls the pack instinct “unit cohesion,” and fosters it to the point that soldiers often have more loyalty to the military than to the national pack. I need a drink.
The Era of the Drone Swarm Is Coming, and We Need to Be Ready for It Drone swarm technology—the ability of drones to autonomously make decisions based on shared information—has the potential to revolutionize the dynamics of conflict. And we’re inching ever closer to seeing this potential unleashed. In fact, swarms will have significant applications to almost every area of national and homeland security. Swarms of drones could search the oceans for adversary submarines. But while drones swarms represent a major technological advancement, unlocking their full potential will require developing capabilities centered around four key areas: swarm size, customization, diversity, and hardening. Swarm Size In general, the more drones in a swarm, the more capable the swarm. Media reports indicate that China has successfully tested a swarm of one thousand drones. There is little reason to believe swarm size could not continue growing significantly. Of course, the importance of swarm size will depend on the mission. Diversity Customization Hardening Image credit: DARPA
New WikiLeaks Cables Show US Diplomats Promote Genetically Engineered Crops Worldwide Dozens of United States diplomatic cables released in the latest WikiLeaks dump on Wednesday reveal new details of the US effort to push foreign governments to approve genetically engineered (GE) crops and promote the worldwide interests of agribusiness giants like Monsanto and DuPont. The cables further confirm previous Truthout reports on the diplomatic pressure the US has put on Spain and France, two countries with powerful anti-GE crop movements, to speed up their biotech approval process and quell anti-GE sentiment within the European Union (EU). Several cables describe "biotechnology outreach programs" in countries across the globe, including African, Asian and South American countries where Western biotech agriculture had yet to gain a foothold. Cables detail US efforts to influence the biotech policies of developed countries such as Egypt and Turkey, but France continues to stand out as a high-profile target.
How swarming drones will change warfare Image copyright Getty Images The swarm robots are coming and they could change the way wars are fought. In February, the defence secretary said "swarm squadrons" will be deployed by the British armed forces in the coming years. The US has also been testing interconnected, co-operative drones that are capable of working together to overwhelm adversaries. Low-cost, intelligent and inspired by swarms of insects, these new machines could revolutionise future conflicts. From swarming enemy sensors with a deluge of targets, to spreading out over large areas for search-and-rescue missions, they could have a range of uses on and off the battlefield. But just how different is "swarm" technology from the drones that are currently used by militaries across the globe? "If you imagine a football match, a coach isn't going to tell the players from the sidelines exactly where to run and what to do," says Paul Scharre from the Center for a New American Security think tank. Image copyright DARPA Birds and bees
Pentagon admits it has no photo evidence of Bin Laden's death (Includes interview) Pentagon officials recently disclosed to the Associated Press (AP) that they could not find any photo or video evidence to confirm that Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was killed in the Navy Seal raid in Pakistan a year ago. AP has submitted more than 20 requests for information surrounding the raid on Bin Laden’s Abbottabad compound to the U.S. Government under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). In response to the request for visual evidence of Bin Laden’s death, the Pentagon stated that it could not find any pictures or video footage of the raid itself or of Bin Laden’s dead body. It also told AP it could not locate any images of Bin Laden’s body that were taken on the U.S.S. Carl Vinson, the Navy aircraft carrier that reportedly lowered him into the sea after his death. Read more...
Machiavelli’s 27 Rules of War Niccolo Machiavelli is best known for The Prince, his guidebook on ruling an Italian city-state. But for a long time after his death, Machiavelli’s Art of War was better known and more influential (alongside his Discourses on Livy, both of which were written after The Prince but published before). (As an aside, the more famous Art of War is Sun Tzu’s but that text was not actually called Art of War and may not have been written by Sun Tzu – another matter for another time.) [widgets_on_pages id=2] Machiavelli’s Art of War takes the form of Socratic dialogue between the warrior Lord Fabrizio Colonna and Florentine nobles. Ryan Evans is the editor-in-chief of War on the Rocks. Image Credit: CC, Sailko