ArmyBlood

And more of my paranoid fears seem to come to pass:

According to the Sunday Times, “A leaked MI5 document says that undercover intelligence officers from the People's Liberation Army and the Ministry of Public Security have also approached UK businessmen at trade fairs and exhibitions with the offer of 'gifts' and 'lavish hospitality.' The gifts — cameras and memory sticks — have been found to contain electronic Trojan bugs which provide the Chinese with remote access to users' computers.”

via Can you trust Chinese computer equipment? | ITworld.

Now what was it called when Nancy Pelosi accused the CIA of being less than truthful?

The CIA today was accused of lying to Congress and covering up its role in the deaths of two innocent Americans, a mother and her infant daughter, at the hands of the CIA and the Peruvian Air Force nine years ago.

via ‘Justice Denied’ in CIA Shootdown of Missionaries – ABC News.

Just in case there was some extra tax money someplace, or a sensible person in the Tripe Department at the Pentagon:

Over the weekend, the Missile Defense Agency released news of another failed intercept test. And no, the interceptor didn’t fail to lift off or fly off course. This time, the tracking radar that wasn’t up to scratch.

via Missile Defense Test Flops as U.S. Unveils New Strategy | Danger Room | Wired.com.

R or D in charge, missile defense continues to be the worst idea ever (well, maybe except for this) and, no matter how much integrity or common sense our leaders pile on the smoking heap of fail that is, they can’t even fake this one.

I am not really in favor of demonizing any foreigners, much less our neighbors to the south that do so much for us. But, I’ll sign onto this with a wink, if it will convince more Americans to find time during their busy days to donate blood and plasma to blood donor centers and these pay for play places, to get them off of my Soldier’s backs.

Increase in plasma donations raises several concerns
As more Mexicans opt to donate their plasma in exchange for extra cash, some Americans are expressing concern that novel pathogens that might be in Mexico could enter the U.S. plasma supply. The industry and regulators, however, said that the same safety measures in plasma collection are being undertaken in the border as in any other location and that there has been no known case of disease transmission through plasma products in more than 10 years. Another issue being raised is the high price of the products developed from donated plasma — a single plasma donation worth $30 could result in a pharmaceutical product worth at least $300.  New York Times, The (12/5)

One of the most balanced articles I’ve read about the effect of donating locally to support operations elsewhere. If everyone was donating when they could, the blood supply (and money supply to helping organizations) would be fat and easy on all.

Perhaps few assumed their blood donations would arrive in Killeen, Texas, but realized the trickle-down effect of stepping up during a time of national crisis. Any donations locally would relieve the stress of transporting and supplying blood to the affected region.

National disasters can, then, impact local supplies.

via Our opinion: Local blood donors respond to tragedy » Times Record News .

Ms. Anti-Gun control shoulda-woulda-coulda Suzanna Hupp throws her two cents in on the shootings at Fort Hood, since no tragedy is enough to make the GunGod nuts shut up.

Suzanna Hupp, a former state representative whose parents were among the Killeen Luby’s massacre victims in 1991, said allowing soldiers on base to carry arms would not prevent attacks like Thursday’s, but would likely reduce the damage.

via Fort Hood assault prompts variation on typical gun control debate – PoliTex.

Sure, Mrs. Hupp – that’s just what we would need, 100 Soldiers with guns in their pockets, shooting in all different directions and running out of the building with guns in hand. I’m sure that it would make it so much easier for the cops to shoot the right person as they run out of the SRP site.

IAVA board member Leslie Gelb has a great article on Madame Secretary of State in the U.S.’ most widely read magazine.  As if the upbeat stories about her weren’t enough, he describes in detail how we are getting our money’s worth from this dedicated public servant.

“We’re going to work you to death,” Hillary Clinton promised me with a laugh. She was taking me—and PARADE’s readers—along on a typical day in the life of the U.S. Secretary of State

via 24 Hours With Secretary of State Hillary Clinton | Parade.com.

Not a good night for the buccaneers:

NAIROBI, Kenya | Somali pirates attempted to storm the French navy’s 18,000-ton flagship in the Indian Ocean after mistaking it for a cargo vessel, the French military said Wednesday.

via Pirates mistakenly attack French navy flagship – Washington Times.

Here’s an inspiring set of photos posted by Al Rodgers on Kos – don’t miss ‘em.  My favorite is below:

Daily Kos: Tehran Street Photos — On the Brink.

Les Gelb makes a nice analysis of the difficulty in getting intelligence in the latest Parade magazine.   Read the whole article in PARADE Magazine | Does President Obama Need a Better CIA Spy Network? 

The Soviets had all the intelligence their hearts desired during the Cold War with double agents like Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen. These U.S. spies knew our secrets and helped keep Moscow in the power competition against America. We had no comparable agents. Still, the Soviets lost the Cold War hands down. They had better intelligence, but we had a much better country. (emphasis mine)

His point is solid and gels one of those thought patterns that tickle me until something happens or someone explains it properly.  Master Gelb doesn’t beat us over the head with it but the other side of the coin is that we may not be able to discern all secrets or predict the future but we can maintain our values and the ideals that make us what we are.  If we abandon those values in the interest of an amorphous intel report we may not get or guess the information we need but we will have weakened the underlying fundamental values we were intending to defend.