News & commentary by Dave Maxwell. Edited and published by Daniel Riggs.
1. Lab leak is the 'most credible' source of the coronavirus outbreak
2. Nashville’s Big Bomb Was a Very Rare Device, Experts Think
3. Pandemic could multiply terror threat's reach and cause mutations
4. Mapped: The Top Surveillance Cities Worldwide
5. Opinion | Horrified by the Blackwater Pardons
6. SolarWinds hack may be much worse than originally feared
7. I’m a former CIA agent: Iran was behind Lockerbie and should be made to pay
8. Targeted Killings Are Terrorizing Afghans. And No One Is Claiming Them.
9. Retired generals aren't supposed to lead the Pentagon: Here's why
10. Dave Barry’s Year in Review 2020
1. Lab leak is the 'most credible' source of the coronavirus outbreak
Daily Mail · by Abul Taher · January 2, 2021
Information (intelligence? or just "credible theory" as he says) from Matt Pottinger.
Lab leak is the 'most credible' source of the coronavirus outbreak
China lab leak is the 'most credible' source of the coronavirus outbreak, says top US government official, amid bombshell claims Wuhan scientist has turned whistleblower
- Donald Trump's Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Pottinger spoke
- Mr Pottinger told politicians leak is emerging as 'most credible source' of virus
- He claimed the pathogen may have escaped through a 'leak or an accident'
2. Nashville’s Big Bomb Was a Very Rare Device, Experts Think
The Daily Beast · by SpyTalk · January 1, 2021
What was the motive? But the type of explosive does seem troubling. But I will leave it to the demolition experts (including 18Cs) to assess.
Excerpt:
“Accidental thermobaric explosions are not uncommon—for example, when a house explodes because of a natural gas leak. But IED-makers haven’t tried to stage them deliberately, up to now, Williams says, because too many things have to go right.
That’s why investigators must be eager to locate Warner’s proving ground, and also any internet sources he studied as he was building a timer and ignition mechanism that enabled him to blow up a Nashville city block, and himself, at 6:30 a.m. on Christmas Day.”
3. Pandemic could multiply terror threat's reach and cause mutations
straitstimes.com · by Zakir Hussain · January 2, 2021
Excerpts:
“Twenty years after the Sept 11, 2001 terror attack by Al-Qaeda on the United States and the discovery of regional terror network Jemaah Islamiah (JI), there is a need to be alert to three broad trends on the terror front.
One, a resurgence of traditional terror organisations like JI.
Two, a spike in radicalisation as people spend more time online.
Three, new mutations of terror.”
4. Mapped: The Top Surveillance Cities Worldwide
visualcapitalist.com · by Avery Koop · January 1, 2021
Graphics and charts at the hyperlink. Some fascinating data.
5. Opinion | Horrified by the Blackwater Pardons
The New York Times · by Michael Posner and Meg Roggensack · January 1, 2021
We should all be horrified but this FBI agent has the inside knowledge to know what really went on.
6. SolarWinds hack may be much worse than originally feared
The Verge · by Kim Lyons · January 2, 2021
A troubling excerpt, though I am confident we will learn from our mistakes - the problem is our adversaries are "learning organizations" and they are unlikely to use the same TTPs for the next hack.
“The Times reports that early warning sensors that Cyber Command and the NSA placed inside foreign networks to detect potential attacks appear to have failed in this instance. In addition, it seems likely that the US government’s attention on protecting the November elections from foreign hackers may have taken resources and focus away from the software supply chain, according to the Times. And conducting the attack from within the US apparently allowed the hackers to evade detection by the Department of Homeland Security.”
7. I’m a former CIA agent: Iran was behind Lockerbie and should be made to pay
blogs.timesofisrael.com · by John Holt · January 3, 2021
Well I am sure Mr. Holt had no say in the headline as he was not a CIA "agent." I cannot vouch for the veracity but this goes against the conventional wisdom which I had thought was accurate since 1988.
8. Targeted Killings Are Terrorizing Afghans. And No One Is Claiming Them.
The New York Times · by Fahim Abed and Thomas Gibbons-Neff · January 2, 2021
There seems to be no limit to the complexity of Afghanistan.
9. Retired generals aren't supposed to lead the Pentagon: Here's why
Salon· by Dwight Stirling · January 3, 2021
Excerpt:
“When it came to the Constitution, the Founders specifically prescribed civilian control over the military by assigning the president the role of commander-in-chief while giving Congress the power to set the military's rules and budget.
Also the power to declare war lies with Congress as does the authority for establishing the rules for governing the military (UCMJ).
But I wonder how a retired General as SECDEF puts any of those responsibilities at risk or puts civilian control of the military at risk. He does not usurp any of these responsibilities for authorities. And I do not think General Austin is a MacArthur. I am not sure that is really a sound argument.
That said, I do not think a General is any more or less qualified to be SECDEF that a non-career military officer. I question the decision based on the political capital President-elect Biden has to expend for successful confirmation. Is he worth the cost?”
10. Dave Barry’s Year in Review 2020
The Washington Post · by Dave Barry
Now that hindsight really is 2020 (I could not resist borrowing that), it is time to read Dave Barry's reflections.
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"Those who know the rules of true wisdom are baser than those who love them. Those who love them are baser than those who follow them."
- Chinese Proverb
"What is the fruit of these teachings? Only the most beautiful and proper harvest of the truly educated - tranquility, fearlessness, and freedom. We should not trust the masses who say only the free can be educated but rather the lovers of wisdom who say that only the educated are free."
- Epictetus
"A Prince need trouble little about conspiracies when the people are well disposed, but they are hostile and hold him in hatred, then he must fear everything and everybody."
- Machiavelli