Brain, Damaged: Army Says Its Software Mind Is ‘Not Survivable’

Published August 8, 2012 | By Iowadawg

Soldiers utilize Distributed Common Ground System-Army, or DCGS-A, operations center at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Photo: U.S. Army

It’s the backbone of the U.S. Army’s intelligence network in Afghanistan. And, according to the Army’s own internal testers, it’s a piece of junk: difficult to operate, prone to crashes, and extremely hackable.

The $2.3 billion Distributed Common Ground System-Army, or DCGS-A, is supposed to serve as the primary source for mining intelligence and surveillance data on the battlefield — everything from informants’ tips to drone camera footage to militants’ recorded phone calls. But after a limited test in May and June, the Army Test and Evaluation Command concluded that the system is “Effective with Significant Limitations, Not Suitable, and Not Survivable.”

DCGS-A was already the subject of considerable controversy in the military community. Since 2010, a network of Marines, Special Operations Forces, and intelligence officers has been waging a guerrilla operation to supplant the system with rival software from the Silicon Valley start-up Palantir. In response, bureaucrats from the Army’s planning directorate blasted those officers as Palantir stooges. A report recommending the purchase of Palantir servers was mysteriously rescinded, and all copies were ordered destroyed.

The heads of the House Oversight Committee have already begun looking into the DCGS affair. This latest damning evaluation, written in a brutally harsh August 1 email by Army Test and Evaluation Command chief Maj. Gen. Genaro Dellarocco (.pdf), isn’t exactly going to quell the controversy. The email was first obtained by the Washington Times.

Read more HERE. And yes, do check out the rest of this site!

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Bacon. Nutella. Awesome!

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One site to read daily: AllGov

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Why So Many Israeli Cyber Commandos

As the U.S. has worked more closely with Israeli Cyber War organizations (an effort that apparently produced Stuxnet, Duqu, and several other more powerful Cyber War weapons), the Americans were impressed that Israel, a country with less then three percent of the U.S. population, could create Cyber War teams equal, and sometimes superior, to what the United States has. Israel does this by using a recruiting system it has long used to find quality recruits for elite combat and intelligence units. Back in the 1990s, Israeli leaders realized that the Internet would probably quickly develop into another battlefield. So commando recruiting was expanded to find recruits for new Cyber War organizations. There are now over a dozen of these, nearly all of them secret (as in even their names are classified). These small teams serve various military, intelligence, and other government organizations. It’s believed that there are only a few hundred hackers involved and many of them are in these jobs for only a short time (often to take care of their military service obligation). Most of these Cyber War experts go on to careers in the many Israeli software companies and are available to return to the military (as part of their reserve obligation) for short periods to help out with Cyber War operations.

MEDIA AND CONGRESS-CRITTERS REMAIN MUM ABOUT RACE RIOTS!

via WND:

It’s one of the least reported and most alarming trends in recent years the mainstream media and politicians won’t talk about: The rise of black mob violence in U.S. cities across the nation.

The startling wave of brutality leaves behind battered victims while media and political figures consistently downplay the severity of the attacks.

That’s the focus of the book, “White Girl Bleed A Lot,” by author Colin Flaherty, who is also a radio host, former speech writer for the first black chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and a special correspondent for WND.

In a radio interview with WND’s Greg Corombos, Flaherty explained why he has been documenting this surge in mob violence.

“I started hearing about what the newspapers were calling ‘flash mobs’ and teenagers walking around downtown Philadelphia,” he said. “It happened over and over. I looked at YouTube, and what I saw on YouTube was totally different than the antiseptic version I read in the newspaper.

“What I saw on YouTube was a race riot, several of them – large crowds of black people running down the streets of downtown Philadelphia, beating people up, hurting people very badly, pulling people out of cars, going into restaurants, stealing stuff, destroying property. Then I realized it was happening all over the country, not just in places like Philly, but in Baltimore, New York and all these big places and small places, like Peoria, Ill., or places you wouldn’t expect it, like Seattle and Portland.

“I wrote the book for one reason: to convince the deniers that we have an epidemic of racial violence in this country, and we have to recognize it.”

Flaherty admitted he doesn’t know what caused the outbreak of violence. In fact, he said he doesn’t even try to explain or solve the problem. He said he simply informs Americans of the wave of violence the mainstream media either downplay or refuse to report.

“When I say racial violence, I’m really focusing on the criminals/predators, not the victims,” Flaherty explained. “I’m not trying to get into the minds of the predators. I’m just saying when hundreds of black people march down the streets of Philly or Cleveland or New York or Boston, Peoria, Milwaukee, Seattle, Portland … 70 cities, when this happens over and over and over – hundreds of incidents in the last two or three years – and it is exclusively a black phenomenon, that’s why I call it racial violence.”

He argued that admitting the facts in these cases would force liberal activists and politicians to admit decades of racial policies have been unsuccessful.

“They’re hoping to avoid people like me asking one question. … After 50 years of affirmative action, racial quotas, preferential hiring and all this race-conscious behavior, they don’t want somebody like me to look at them and say, ‘How is that working out for you?’”

Flaherty also explained why he focuses on mob violence by blacks in particular: “When people call me and ask that question, I say, ‘If you have an example of white mobs or Asian mobs preying on helpless black people, a link or a video, if you have one of these that is not reported, please let me know, because this is so overwhelmingly a black phenomenon.”

He added, “Guess what: Black leaders know this. Black people know this. White people know this. You know who goes really crazy on this topic? It’s not black people. It’s white liberals. They’re the ones who go nuts when I talk about this.”

Found HERE (interesting site to read often)

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Thanks to Judicial Watch, we now know that the Obama White House was colluding with at least one federal agency, probably more, to support the Occupy movement by allowing them to stay on federal property despite it being a violation of the law:

WASHINGTON EXAMINER – Documents obtained by Judicial Watch confirm that somebody in the White House told officials with the General Services Administration (GSA) to “stand down” and not arrest Occupy Portland protestors who may have broken the law last year.

Former GSA Public Buildings Service Commissioner Robert Peck told a senior Department of Homeland Security official that the federal housekeeping agency had been instructed by the Obama White House to go easy on the Occupy protestors.

In a Nov. 6, 2011, DHS/National Protection and Programs Directorate Chief of Staff Caitlin Durkovich asked GSA’s Peck if it was true that his agency had asked Federal Protective Service officials not to take action against the Occupy Portland protestors.

“Yes, that is our position,” Peck responded. “It’s been vetted with our Administrator and Michael Robertson, our chief of staff, and we have communicated with the WH [White House], which has afforded us the discretion to fashion our approach to Occupy issues…The arrests last week were carried out despite our request that the protesters [sic] be allowed to remain and to camp overnight…”

The Occupy Portland protestors had been protesting for several days on GSA-owned property in the Portland area. Eleven of the protestors had chained themselves to a railing in a downtown Portland park. A week before the Peck email, Portland police, some dressed in riot gear, had arrested more than two dozen Occupy Portland protestors.

The Obama White House denied on multiple occasions during the Occupy protests last year that anybody in the Obama administration had given aid or encouragement to the demonstrations, many of which erupted into public and private property destruction, arrests for drug dealing and prostitution and public health violations. …

“We now have a new GSA scandal – one that involves the Obama White House,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “These documents clearly show that federal agencies colluded with the Obama White House to allow the Occupy Wall Street protestors to violate the law with impunity. These documents tell us that the GSA and DHS can’t be relied upon to protect federal workers or property.”

(via PJ Tatler)

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Stanely Kurtz wrote a fantastic article today connecting Obama’s leftist New Party membership and endorsement to his opposition to Clinton’s Welfare Reform bill. And it echos into the present with a great deal of relevancy:

NRO – In 1996, the year President Bill Clinton signed the welfare reform bill, Obama became a member of a leftist third party called the New Party. The Obama campaign denied this in 2008, and continues to deny it today, although contemporaneous documents now definitively prove it. The core purpose of the New Party was to pull the country to the left of the Clinton Democrats. Opposition to the welfare reform act virtually defined the New Party’s position.

The most important plank in the New Party’s platform was a guaranteed minimum income for all adults, regardless of whether they worked. In 1996, when Obama joined the party and gained its endorsement, candidates had to speak up in favor of the party platform to seal the deal. Obama also knew and had personally discussed the goals of the New Party with the party’s national leader, Joel Rogers, who was preoccupied with the guaranteed minimum income provision. …

…It matters that Obama has historically been on the far-left side of liberal on this issue. Obama was willing to go so far as to join a leftist third party at the very moment when Clinton signed onto work requirements for welfare. Opposition to Clinton’s position was at the heart of Obama’s move. That leftist background goes a long way toward explaining why Obama would risk stirring up a national controversy over changes to a welfare reform bill that the public was happy with.

Much of the debate over the claims in Romney’s new ad hinge on what you think Obama’s long-term intentions for welfare reform actually are. Either you believe the president when he and his representatives say that this change to the work requirements is just a tiny tweak that doesn’t mean much, or you believe conservative policy experts like Robert Rector, who say that all that talk is a smokescreen for an attempt to gut the core of the 1996 bill.

To resolve this conflict, voters need to form a judgement about Obama’s long-term intentions. And to make that decision, Obama’s leftist history on this issue is pertinent information. In short, the president’s past matters, as the Romney campaign itself pointed out when it raised his 1996 statements in opposition to welfare reform. Have a look at what else Obama was doing that year, and the point becomes stronger still.

READ MORE HERE, including how Acorn head Wade Rathke fits into this equation.

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It’s only August but the Congressional Budget Office is predicting the United States will see another $1 trillion deficit before we hit October. The federal government has posted $1 trillion deficits every year since President Obama took office and the Democrat controlled Senate hasn’t passed a budget in more than 1100 days. No budget means not knowing how much is being spent. In 2008, the deficit was less than $500 billion. The national debt stands at nearly $16 trillion.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Tuesday estimated that the federal budget deficit stands at $975 billion through July.

This guarantees that the deficit for fiscal 2012, which ends Sept. 30, will be above $1 trillion.

The deficit through the first 10 months of 2011 came to $1.1 trillion, $125 billion more than through the first 10 months of this year.

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Threat Alerts in 2012 Europe

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent events in Libya and have therefore raised their security level from “Miffed” to “Peeved.” Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to “Irritated” or even “A Bit Cross.” The English have not been “A Bit Cross” since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from “Tiresome” to “A Bloody Nuisance.” The last time the British issued a “Bloody Nuisance” warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.

The Scots have raised their threat level from “Pissed Off” to “Let’s get the Bastards.” They don’t have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from “Run” to “Hide.” The only two higher levels in France are “Collaborate” and “Surrender.” The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France’s white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country’s military capability.

Italy has increased the alert level from “Shout Loudly and Excitedly” to “Elaborate Military Posturing.” Two more levels remain: “Ineffective Combat Operations” and “Change Sides.”

The Germans have increased their alert state from “Disdainful Arrogance” to “Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs.” They also have two higher levels: “Invade a Neighbour” and “Lose.”

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from “No worries” to “She’ll be alright, Mate.” Two more escalation levels remain: “Crikey! I think we’ll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!” and “The barbie is cancelled.” So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.

A final thought: Greece is collapsing, the Iranians are getting aggressive, and Rome is in disarray. Welcome back to 401 BC.

by John Cleese – British Writer, Actor, Tall Person and friend of an Irish saint

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Behind-The-Scenes TV Photos That Will Mess With Your Mind

Upgraded: Minesweeper, in the latest updates to Windows 8

Ignored: The Sikh temple shooting, compared to the Colorado movie theater shooting

Cray: Ben Bernanke, who thinks student loans are not a problem

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Primetime is not good news for CNN lately. Amidst having its least watched month in primetime in two decades in May and the lowest rated month in total viewers in 10-years in April, CNN has now hit a 20-year all time primetime weekly low. The latest fall came during the week of July 30 to August 5, 2012.

Both primetime hosts Anderson Cooper and Piers Morgan were on full time duty that week, with no substitutes. The decline was among total viewers and the key 25-54 demo. During the week of July 30 to August 5, Piers Morgan Tonight at 9 PM averaged 314,000 viewers overall, with a mere 81,000 in the 25-54 demo, according to Nielsen. That average is the lowest week Morgan has had since he took over Larry King’s spot on January 17, 2011.

During the same time slot over on Fox News, Sean Hannity averaged 1,749,000 total viewers and 324,000 in the 25-54 demo. On MSNBC, The Rachel Maddow Show averaged 933,000 total viewers that week, with 271,000 in the key demo.

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Did you notice that great can of SPRITE?