01/22 Open Thread: January 22 saw the creation of The Central Intelligence Group, now the CIA

We are getting ready to head out on yet another multi-week adventure in the near future. This means that I need to write, post and schedule a whole bunch of OTs for the period of my absence, as well as some to bridge the gap between now and the start date. This means, among other things, that you shuldn't expect too much from them and will need to provide content as well as commentary yourselves (as if you don't already, heh). So, here we go ...
The CIA's birthday; truly a dark, dark day in history. This is a horrible insult to vultures, but I needed a pic.
ODDS & ENDS
Last week I opened with commentary and an article about government agencies here and elsewhere oficailly and formally slandering lefties and greenies as akin to terrorists and asserting that they need to be watched, reported and feared. I led into an article in The Guardian. Guess what? The Guardian also reports that US listed climate activist group as ‘extremists’ alongside mass killers
A group of US environmental activists engaged in non-violent civil disobedience targeting the oil industry have been listed in internal Department of Homeland Security documents as “extremists” and some of its members listed alongside white nationalists and mass killers, documents obtained by the Guardian reveal.
The full linked article also discusses the attempts by the government-corporate-corporatist partnership to criminalize dissent and demonstrations.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/13/us-listed-climate-ac...
Also from the Guardian, we learn that
Scientists use stem cells from frogs to build first living robots. The describe said robots and their creation and then note that the work is being funded by DARPA, of course. Specifically -
The research is funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s lifelong learning machines programme, which aims to recreate biological learning processes in machines.
Ya know, just to learn about machine learning, it would never by part of DARPA's goal to develop more and better bioweapons, especially not ones that could reproduce ...
( https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/jan/13/scientists-use-stem-cell... )
Even the NYT made my inbox, with Who Signs Up to Fight? Makeup of U.S. Recruits Shows Glaring Disparity ( https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/us/military-enlistment.html?utm_sourc... ) Those of us of a certain age tend to think, uh, yeah, old news, but this time there is a bit of a twist. The article explores how More and more, new recruits come from the same small number of counties and are the children of old recruits. Uh, huh. Maps and all. We're looking at clusters of multigenerational military families in multigenerational military enclaves of a sort. This bodes ill, at least to some extent, for attempts to shut down wars, warmaking and the MIC, and has a potential to become a variant of the threat that a standing, professional military always presents. Some military officials find it unsustainable, but is that good or bad?
Meanwhile, ars Technica has a story that has direct bearing on the matter. It’s the network, stupid: Study offers fresh insight into why we’re so divided.( https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/01/its-the-network-stupid-study-off... ) And, no, they'e not talking about the internet, or tv network, at least not specifically. They'e talking about the human, social networks those one lives, works and talks with, those in one's social "neighborhood". For the military families above, it is pretty clear from the NYT article that the recruits' networks are largely populated with prior recruits. In a similar fashion, the ars Technica article talks about a study that was done on social perception bias.
Social perception bias is best defined as the all-too-human tendency to assume that everyone else holds the same opinions and values as we do. That bias might, for instance, lead us to over- or under-estimate the size and influence of an opposing group. It tends to be especially pronounced when it comes to contentious polarizing issues like race, gun control, abortion, or national elections.
The thing is, that out interpersonal networks often (usually?) tend to reinforce this today. Among things noted in the study was that
"People who were surrounded by people similar to them think that their group is larger than it really is, and people who have more diverse social circles think their group is smaller than it really is," Galesic told Ars. "These biases are exaggerated with the relative size of the majority and minority groups."
Food for thought, yah? We can take that a step further with the unaccounted for fact that "Harbinger Households" also seem to cluster. BoingBoing tells us the basics about them here: ( https://boingboing.net/2019/12/03/harbringer-of-doom.html )
"Harbinger households": neighborhoods that consistently buy products that get discontinued, buy real-estate that underperforms, and donate to losing political candidates
It seems that there are individuals, groups of individuals, clusters and even zip codes such that the purchasing preferences are statistically good indicators of a product or brand's demise. These are the folks who bought Edsels, smokeless cigarettes, virtual boys, Apple Lisa and Harley Davidson Perfume. They voted for Alf Landon, used yogurt shampoo and drank Billy Beer. If you can find some of these folks, who have steadily and steadfastly bought dreck that is rapidly taken off of the market, watch them, and when they all run out to jump on some new bandwagon, go and short the product's manufacturer. This sounds like a fantasy, but seemingly isn't --
In "The Surprising Breadth of Harbingers of Failure (Sci-Hub mirror)", a trio of economists and business-school profs build on a 2015 "Journal of Marketing Research" paper that claimed that some households' purchasing preferences are a reliable indicator of which products will fail -- that is, if households in a certain ZIP code like a product, it will probably not succeed. The original paper calls these "harbinger households."
The BoingBoing article points us to the newer, follow-up study from 2019, which you can find here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0022243719867935 . That source requires that you purchase to read, but the abstract (bait) is itself a good quick read and summary of the findings. As of yet, nobody quite knows how to explain these findings, or what as yet unknown factor(s) causes this behavior, let along the clustering of those susceptible to it. No doubt an mba and job in a marketing firm await those who ferret out the answers.
Title Image is torac_up_close
It's an open thread, so have at it. The floor is yours
.

Comments
DARPA funding
living robot experiments
using frogs
oh my
biological programming
what could possibly go wrong?
ribbitt
Thought is the wind, knowledge the sail, and mankind the vessel.
-- August Hare
Good mornin' QMS, you can say that again, or maybe
bree kee kee ki, iirc (Aristophanes). Thanks for the great prose poem.
Have a great one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
So now DARPA is becoming, or has already become, the N.I.C.E.?
(The N.I.C.E. = the National Institute for Co-ordinated Experiments, in C. S. Lewis’s novel That Hideous Strength)
George Orwell’s review of That Hideous Strength, published in 1945 mere days after the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki:
https://apilgriminnarnia.com/2015/08/17/orwellonths/
Good morning lot, thanks. Rever read that or any other Lewis
after being apprised of his penchant for exactly what Orwell decries with a particular slant:
After working through Tolkien, I became curious about Lewis' Narnia trilogy and was informed of its theological bent, as well as his, and decided to take a pass.
From the review, it seems that N.I.C.E. might fit DARPA very well, however,
have a good one.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Lewis can be very Anvilicious
and it's up to each reader to decide how much of that they are going to put up with. (Even Tolkien got annoyed with it at times, and he and Lewis weren't that far apart in their basic opinions.)
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
Good afternoon Maven. Thanks ever so much for "Anvilicious"-
new one for me, and one that I'm pretty sure I will find plenty of use for.
have a good one.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Use it in good health! Careful, though —
— watch out, or TV Tropes will ruin your vocabulary.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Anvilicious
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/JustForFun/TVTropesWillRuinYourVo...
Bernie Rises to Top of CNN Poll
Polls for Breakfast! Since it's CNN, add 5 pts. to Bernie's numbers. Look at the drop in the enthusiasm for Warren among her supporters! We'll be seeing a lot more photos of her shaking hands with and even hugging Bernie.
Good morning Wally. Thanks for the poll numbers. I see
Biden is still in the running, how sorry is that. Ah well.
have a great one.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Krystal Slays on CNN
Krystal pretty much always knocks my socks off but her appearance here on CNN (first time?) is absolutely remarkable. And she steadfastly notes, while the other talking heads tries to sputter "Not true," that the new CNN poll shows that Bernie is now ahead among POC.
" If you only listen to cable news...
Sure, you'll think nobody likes Bernie". Ha! She snuck that jab at CNN while on CNN!
Although, she might as well said " If you only listen to cable news you'll believe anything".
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Good morning, el,
thanks for the good stories and links, in a hurry this morning, will return later.
RIP Terry Jones of Monty Python https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-51209197
Good morning smiley. Yeah, Alas, poor Terry ...
Saw that myself.
Have a great one.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
The CIA needs to be broken apart
...along with the FBI, and restructured to promote peace.
Take a look at their long history of crimes...
http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/CIAtimeline.html
This piece concludes...
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Good morning Lookout. You said it. It has probably been true
since their creation.
Thanks for the link and quotation and thanks for reading.
have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
SIZZLE: New Social Security Bernie ad airing now in Iowa, etc
Seems Bernie is ratcheting up and broadening his offensive scheme and taking square aim at Biden in behalf of older (and younger) voters, g'nabbit! I don't think there's any wiggle room for him to apologize for this one:
Excellent, thanks.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Just these few paragraphs explains clearly why
ameriKans can't have things you know like SS, M4A, free college modern infrastructure etc.etc.etc.
EDIT: added link
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/bush-obama-and-trump-have-all-routinel...
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
Heh, good morning gg. Your blockquote should be morning
headlines on all US media, but, of course, isn't and won't be. Gotta love this line, artfully bolded above:
Thanks for bringing that to the party, and, of course, for reading.
have a good one.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
manipulating public opinion
the figures you reference have no indication
of the costs involved in psy-ops.
Yeah, no doubt they lie us into paying for wars of choice.
Let's see some congressional committee break that egg.
What it costs to mis-appropriate the truth.
In dollars and sense
Thought is the wind, knowledge the sail, and mankind the vessel.
-- August Hare
Aren't they part of it?
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
not sure the accounting methods
pentagon and intel expenditures are not intended
to be transparent
a few billion in black ops get lost
somehow in amongst obfuscation
and classifried secret expenditures
doubt there is a line item named propaganda
Thought is the wind, knowledge the sail, and mankind the vessel.
-- August Hare
There is, though, at least one for propaganda, named something
else, of course. Be that as it may, there are so many propaganda arms, that there cannot be a unified budget for that, just many mini-budgets.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Geez whatamess. Sorry about all the typos, think I got most
of them now.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Good morning, el ~~
Another bane of our existence is the CIA. The spooks are worried about their jobs and their kickbacks. They, and the FBI, should not be reorganized as peace departments. Their only hope is complete dismantlement. They are bad for American health.
Have a great hump day!
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Good morning RA, you have got that sooo right. The bane
of our existence indeed. I would quibble about one thing:
I would make that "bad for world/global health".
have a good one.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Yes. Tulsi is a courageous woman and a fighter!
Tulsi Gabbard sues Hillary Clinton for $50M over 'Russian asset' remark
I admire and respect this woman. Let's hope she wins.
https://www.euronews.com/live
some more from Kyle Kulinski
[video:https://youtu.be/GFePsZaeCCQ]
https://www.euronews.com/live
I didn't know about that, thanks for the info. IANAL, and
really, really don't at all recall the rules for this type of thing, but, generally, one cn libel/slander a public figure, which is good for Hillary, because the "merely telling the truth" defense is unavailable to her, since that was a blatant lie. What I'm super unclear is how "malice" enters into the equation, specifically, does it override the public figure exemption. In that case, it could get to be fun, since Hillary is over-the-top malicious except when she is trying to get something out of somebody.
have a good one.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
The Department of Homeland Security
Let's really talk about extremists measures. Targeting environmental groups who have a constitutional right to free speech is just another thuggish tactic our government uses to protect their benefactors. The DHS can suck on donkey dicks.
Sorry for saying that EL, but that just steams my ass.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Good afternoon Anja. Why don't you tell us how you really
feel. Tee Hee.
have a good one.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Torture guy James Mitchell defends waterboarding at Guantanamo
So far I could only find two articles in the German press:
https://www.t-online.de/nachrichten/ausland/id_87202844/cia-psychologe-v...
https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/foltermethode-waterboarding-...
The Berlin-based, Green and alternative-left newspaper Taz.de — whereby I’m one of around 18,000 members of the co-op that owns and publishes it — sometimes shows such a selective disinterest in stories like this I find myself wondering to what degree its editorial staff has been infiltrated by the CIA.