I like flying commercial.
It gets frustrating sometimes. Long lines, too short transfer times and the fact that airplanes eat my cell phones all put a damper on my fun quotient. For some reason, though, I still like it. I like the expensive crappy food. I like the feeling of takeoff. And I sleep like a baby in those narrow, cramped seats.
There’s another reason for me to like to fly. Since I fly out of Denver International Airport, the more I fly, the better the chances that I’ll be under those huge white pavilions when the world ends. When the Illuminati who really control the world take their refuge in the sixth underground level of the caverns beneath the Airport, I’ll just knock on their door. How could they refuse a guy with my disarming smile?
That’s right folks, it’s Way-out Wednesday, and today’s expose is a doozy. Before we take one more step, refresh your memory of this disclaimer:
DISCLAIMER: I make no guarantees about the accuracy (or lack thereof) of any of these posts, but true believers (or virulent skeptics) are welcome to discuss politely in the comments. Below statements do not represent my beliefs (necessarily), nor are they meant as an endorsement of any sort by Wingman NewsWire (unless I specifically say so).
It’s legally binding.
So what on earth am I talking about? Just this.
If you can’t be bothered to read the whole thing, here’s an overview:
Denver International Airport may or may not be run by the Illuminati, child-eating reptile-resembling aliens or a more sinister organization.
Why? Because it’s:
A: The largest airport in the United States (bigger than San Francisco proper).
B: The site of a mural which shows three dead minority women: a Native American, an African American woman, and a Jewish woman.
C: Has a network of fiber optic (not counting plain copper wire) cable that is longer than the Nile River.
D: The inside is supposedly invisible to infrared and RADAR detection.
E: Reportedly has 8 subbasements (who needs EIGHT basements?)
F: Is “the most inconvenient airport in America”, ranked by its distance from Denver proper.
And the Big One….
That’s a MASONIC SYMBOL that you see there, folks, with what looks like a KEYPAD above it! The entrance to the super secret catacombs?
One can only hope. Here’s a closer image.
Note the title beneath the date: New World Airport Commission. I rest my case.
That’s it for this week, folks! Here’s a compendium of links for further information:
“An Open Letter to the New World Order Denver Airport”
An article from Westword on the subject.
An almost reasonable account of the conspiracy.
Keep digging, and always- if you come across a conspiracy that you think needs airing, you can send it to me.
Send a congressman into space. There. It’s solved. So why do we need this?
From the site:
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will conduct the largest and most comprehensive counterterrorism exercise to date from Oct. 15-19 in Arizona and Oregon, and the U.S. territory of Guam. Top Officials 4 (TOPOFF 4) is the fourth in a series of congressionally-mandated exercises and involves various federal agencies as well as the governments of Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom…
TOPOFF 4 will involve more than 15,000 participants from all levels of government, international partners and the private sector in a full-scale, simulated response to radiological dispersal device attacks.
Our “premier terrorism preparedness exercise” is based on a dirty bomb threat? And has been based on a dirty bomb threat for the last 8 years?
I’m only halfway kidding. The United States has a lot of problems that, while they might not look as big as a “dirty bomb” going off, are a bit more pressing. Case in point: 11 September was not a radiological, chemical or biological attack.
Future devastating attacks will be “black swans” (as John Robb calls them in Brave New War), attacks coming out of left field that are cheap and unexpected and targeted at infrastructure. Why were the attacks of 11 September genius? Hijackings had been around for decades by that point. Dealing with them had become fairly old hat.
They were brilliant because they connected two things that people hadn’t connected before. Who thinks of turning an airplane into a guided missile? No one- until someone with great synthesis skills started turning over airplanes in their head.
The attacks on the Trade Center probably caused less casualties than a radiological attack would. Why was that message chosen then? Because it made people afraid to fly. Because no one was thinking about defending against that kind of attack. We’ve been preparing to respond to radiological emergencies for better than thirty years.
Wargaming programs like TOPOFF would be better off confronting “top officials” and first responders with something that they’ve never seen before. Hit them with something like an attack on a power plant, or an oil refinery, or a bridge. Attack the infrastructure. This isn’t a new idea- it’s been around since John Warden’s The Air Campaign and we used it to toss Iraq in DESERT STORM. Why do we assume that our enemies won’t be that smart?
The junta in Burma has killed more than ten of its citizens while they were involved in peaceful protests. This is a call to action and a statement of my solidarity with the brave ones.
And every pop hit for the last 35 years.
Welcome back to Way-out Wednesday , when we bravely venture into the realm formerly reserved for crackpots and Robert Ludlum. As always, please read carefully the following disclaimer:
DISCLAIMER: I make no guarantees about the accuracy (or lack thereof) of any of these posts, but true believers (or virulent skeptics) are welcome to discuss politely in the comments. Below statements do not represent my beliefs (necessarily), nor are they meant as an endorsement of any sort by Wingman NewsWire (unless I specifically say so).
We’ve already talked about just a few corporations controlling what we read and see on TV, but what if it was more sinister than that? What if- now bear with me, because this is a what if- what if one man, one single, solitary man with a creaky voice and a vaguely communist splash page was responsible for all of the music you listen to?! Watch the video below, and tell me it’s not scary.
Well? Yeah. That’s what I thought. Reason #3,713 to listen to music that’s off the beaten path.
Via Essays and Effluvia who got it from Super Deluxe.
If you’ve been following this blog you know that I’m writing an undergraduate thesis about the future of asymmetric warfare.
If this is your first time to this blog, I’m writing an undergraduate thesis about the future of asymmetric warfare.
I recently took my research prospectus to my course professor and he loved it- except for one part- the title! After thinking about it for a while, I’ve got to agree with him. The one I’ve got now is pretty clunky.
Here’s what I came up with: GLOBAL CONSPIRACIES OF ONE: ANONYMOUS, ISOLATED, COORDINATED TACTICS.
And here’s what my teacher and I tentatively agreed on in our sit-down: GLOBALLY INDIVIDUALIZED INSURGENCIES: OPERATIONS OF AND AGAINST ANONYMOUS, ISOLATED, COORDINATED AGENTS.
Kind of clunky, huh? Yeah, I’m not too hot on it either. So it’s time for a Wingman NewsWire first: a contest!
If you can come up with a title that:
A: I like
B: My professor likes
C: Describes the work
and finally
D: Isn’t utterly uncool
You’ll be getting a $20 AMAZON.COM GIFT CERTIFICATE. The contest will run until the end of October or until there’s a winner, whichever comes last.
For some more details about the paper, check out these posts.
This is the initial prospectus for my research project, which I mentioned here. As always, it is released under a creative commons license and I more than welcome your comments, questions and advice.
1. WORKING TITLE: Global Conspiracies of One: Anonymous, Isolated, Coordinated Tactics.
2. RESEARCH QUESTION: Is the National Security Organization optimized for combating widespread conspiracies which use cell isolation and anonymous communication?
3. PROBLEM BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE: Operations Security is the most important consideration for any combatant force today. This is especially true for asymmetric forces such as terrorist organizations or insurgencies. Organizational leaders try to minimize leaks by compartmentalizing forces into semi- or fully autonomous “cells”. Sometimes these cells owe allegiance to a philosophical leader in name only, operating on their own with no knowledge of any other cells. Occasionally, the name is the only thing these cells share—even end goals might differ between two “affiliated” groups. A conspiracy where one master cell, perhaps only one individual deep, manages hundreds or thousands of independently acting individuals, none of whom even know their partners exist, could have amazing security. This means great difficulty for organizations defending against this globally-individualized conspiracy. With the only mastermind using anonymizing technology to be indistinguishable from a friendly citizen, tracking down and preventing attacks could be nigh on impossible.
4. METHODOLOGY: Begin with a definition of the problem and its elements, including a brief primer on anonymizing technology, asymmetric combat, and terrorism. Continue with a literature review. Next discuss current terrorism and anti-terrorism model briefly, providing step-by-step process for prevention/defense. Then, discuss theoretical model and back it up with case studies, including Neurocam. Lay groundwork for technical feasibility with more detailed information on anonymizing technology. During theoretical model, show how it would defeat current anti-terrorism strategy point-by-point. Conclude with suggestions for a more effective model and recommendations for further research, including friendly use of this strategy.
As I mentioned before, the purpose of this paper is to “red plan” a method of organization and attack, and point out how the current security model is inadequate to fight it. I just picked up Robb’s Brave New War, which I have a feeling will influence the direction of this paper quite a bit. Just looking at it, he’s thinking along the same lines I am.
Like most, if not all, of the milestones I’ll post, this one has already been reviewed by my professor. The only thing he had to quibble about was the title- think you guys could help me?
Questions for Readers: Do you have books, journals or article you think I should read? Have you thought along these lines? Do you know of an organization which might be a case study of this sort of organization? Do you think you have a better title? If you’ve got anything that might be of ANY value whatsoever, post it to the comments! I look forward to discussing this with you.
Now this is a funny turn.
I knew there was something shady about that place. I guess this explains the Black Knights mascot. Don’t worry, America- November 3rd, the terrorists lose!
In all seriousness, this is a pretty lame move on Iran’s part. Tit-for-tat when we did basically the same thing, but I don’t see too many people clamoring to be part of Iran’s financial network. It’s just one more tick upward on the thermometer of U.S.-Iranian relations.
Okay, so I can’t honestly recommend a war with Iran (but who gives a toot about my opinion?). We’re stretched thin enough as it is, and we still have a lot of lessons to learn from this conflict. But if I could “report directly to General T. Michael Moseley”, pretty much the coolest guy to ever grace the USAFA stage and the man that’ll shake my hand when (if?) I graduate, I’d be stoked. If I could do it thinking up creative ways to fight a war, it’d be even cooler.
An aside: this isn’t really journalism- but then again, this isn’t really news. Anyone with half a brain could have told you that we would be preparing strategy for a war with Iran. Heck, we’re ready for war with Azerbaijan! Hands up if you’ve heard of Azerbaijan in the last two weeks. How about the last year?
We’re strategizing wars with just about anybody capable of picking up a stick. We’ve got to- that’s how we keep from having our asses handed to us.
Tsunetomo sez: “Win first, fight later.”
I finally found an excuse to link to an awesome blog that I’ve been reading avidly since I found out about it a few months ago. From an Anthropological Perspective, Dr. Marcus Griffin’s blog about his experiences as an embedded anthropologist under the “Human Terrain System“.
I talked about the importance of functioning infrastructure in a recent post. Dr. Griffin talks about it too, in a slightly different way.
I am tentatively thinking that a lack of communal social space is likely a hardship for urban Iraqis. The poorer neighborhoods that have closely spaced housing compounds and no courtyards may be experiencing greater anomie because the rubble and debris on top of and around their dwellings compound their lack of communal space.
I find this fascinating. We don’t often think about the psychic weight that a lack of community can cause, but how can people build a government when they can’t talk on the street, when they’re afraid to leave their house?
Trash may be removed from primary streets but that does not alleviate the social anxiety caused lack of functional space for group interaction within their own living areas. Bulk removal operations should be seriously considered to create usable social space denied residents as a result of kinetic operations.
Another unexpected consequence of our actions- every time we blow up a house, we create rubble, rubble that clogs up roads and makes travel and socializing difficult. When the trash sits around forever, it doesn’t exactly engender trust or faith in the government. Foreign Policy’s awesome feature “Seven Questions” talked to Toby Dodge a few days ago and the infrastructure question came up.
FP: Unless it can actually get into neighborhoods and provide necessary services, is there a future for the Iraqi government?
TD: I don’t think so. The fundamental cause of all these problems is the collapse of the Iraqi state. I was living in Baghdad in April 2003, and it was amazing to watch the institutions of the state disappear. You would see men running out [of buildings] with computers, then desks and chairs, then the plumbing and electrical wiring out of the walls. The state was dissembled, taken away, and put in people’s houses. And what the looters didn’t do, [Coalition Provisional Authority administrator L. Paul] Bremer’s de-Baathification did. It broke the institutional memory of the state.
On that basis, we don’t have a failing state or a collapsed state—we simply don’t have a state.
Both articles are worth a read and talk about other important issues. Consider yourself urged to check them out- and subscribe to Dr. Griffin’s blog!
Trackposted at Diary of the Mad Pigeon
So, I’m the anomaly. I’m at the Air Force Academy, I have perfect vision, and I don’t want to fly. I don’t want to be an astronaut. I want to stay right here on the ground and catch bad guys.
I have friends here who would kill me for my eyes and I have friends in ROTC who would kill me for the fact that the Academy receives a disproportionate amount of the pilot training slots each year. And since the accepted route into space is to fly here on Earth for a while, I’ve got some space geek friends who mourn my squandered opportunity as well.
But if it’s your eyes that are keeping you out of space, despair no longer! Threat Level reports that NASA has just announced LASIK is a legit surgery! Great news, since apparently 50% of the program applicants are denied because of crappy eyes.
So fare thee well, my visually-impaired, space-minded (not spacy-minded) friends. Get that vision fixed and you’ll be up in space before you can say “Robert Heinlein.”