La Russie continue de s’appuyer sur les antennes londoniennes de cabinets du groupe Omnicom pour gérer sa communication d’influence en Europe et aux Etats-Unis.
Selon un véritable jeu de “poupées russes”, les bureaux de Ketchum, Inc. et de Gavin Anderson à Londres coordonnent toutes les activités d’influence privées de la présidence russe et de Gazprom, sous-traitant en cascade à d’autres firmes contrôlées par le groupe de communication Omnicom (voir schéma). Dernier contrat en date, Ketchum vient de signer avec le cabinet de lobbying Alston & Bird basé à Washington, où le Kremlin emploie déjà le Washington Group et Integrated Solutions Group. Au Kremlin, le principal intermédiaire avec ces firmes est Dmitry Peskov, chef du service de presse du premier ministre Vladimir Poutine.
Ces sociétés de lobbying sont des relais indispensables pour défendre les positions russes dans la crise du gaz en Ukraine ; pour promouvoir l’adhésion de Moscou à l’Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC), pour laquelle la Russie milite depuis 1996 ; ainsi que pour gérer la réputation des dirigeants du Kremlin. Moscou sous-traite également des opérations de séduction pour attirer des investisseurs étrangers.
An Opec for gas?
Russia and Ukraine fell out over the price of gas, and people in eastern Europe suffered the consequences. But the dispute affects countries further down the pipeline – particularly in Europe, which seems unable to formulate its gas consumption policy
By Rafael Kandiyoti
[mondediplo.com]
The strange tale of Iran and Israel
The early Zionists never believed they would be accepted in the Arab world and pinned their hopes on the non-Arab periphery instead, particularly Iran. Israel reversed that policy by opening talks with a weakened Arafat in the early 1990s. But peace with the Palestinians did not happen and the ‘radicals’ grew more radical
By Alastair Crooke
[mondediplo.com]
Comment le virus Conflicker a paralysé les armées
Depuis deux semaines, les réseaux informatiques du ministère de la défense sont infectés par un virus qui a immobilisé certains systèmes d’armes, à l’instar des Rafale de l’Aéronavale – L’origine et les caractéristiques exactes de ce virus restent encore inconnues, mais la crise – dont Intelligence Online révèle l’ampleur – pose de sérieuses questions sur la sécurité des réseaux militaires français et leur capacité à faire face à une cyber-attaque d’envergure.
[intelligenceonline.fr]
- A tale of two airlines and their Facebook fiascos
- Where your identity is more likely to be stolen
[economist.com]
Shared by my friend Markus as seen on spiegel.de
What Nato failed to understand
Afghanistan: the neo-Taliban campaign
The attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad on 20 September, killing some 60 people, was compared to 9/11 in Pakistan and could be a turning point in the conflict in this region. President Bush has authorised ground operations against Taliban bases in Pakistan, which has now become the main theatre in the ‘war on terror’. Meanwhile, the neo-Taliban, operating an al-Qaida franchise there and in Afghanistan, have controlled the escalation of guerrilla resistance in a sophisticated military strategy based on the conduct of the Vietnam war. [mondediplo.com]
Pakistan: Hello al-Qaeda, goodbye America
MIRANSHAH, North Waziristan – With a truce between the Pakistani Taliban and Islamabad now in place, the Pakistani government is in effect reverting to its pre-September 11, 2001, position in which it closed its eyes to militant groups allied with al-Qaeda and clearly sided with the Taliban in Afghanistan. [atimes.com]
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
Taking their cue from the CIA, almost every branch of the American intelligence community now has specialists who deal with open source intelligence (OSINT). [intelligenceonline.com]
Troops’ manoeuvres left in club
The discovery at a Cornish nightclub of a computer memory stick with details of troop movements on it is being probed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). [news.bbc.co.uk]
From the Bruce Schneier blog:
Are the fire hydrants in your neighborhood turned on?
It didn’t have to happen. When the fire began, firefighters from around Rockwall County responded quickly. But when they went to hook hose to hydrant, there was no water. “These hydrants need to be cut off in a way to prevent vandalism or any kind of terrorist activity, including something in the water lines,” Hodges said.
NASA Discovers Computer Virus Aboard the International Space Station
Le dernier monde diplomatique est vraiment intéressant, depuis peu l’édition anglaise reproduit online les contenus de la print édition française, à lire…
The end of the American age of denial
Tom Engelhardt was born in the US in 1944. He didn’t expect to make it to 2008. He expected even less the way that history has worked out for his nation
Israel deliberately forgets its history
An Israeli historian suggests the diaspora was the consequence, not of the expulsion of the Hebrews from Palestine, but of proselytising across north Africa, southern Europe and the Middle East
Russia gets its act together By Serge Halimi
Do men or women make better leaders? From Economist.com
Relying on a network of lobbyists operating in leading Western capitals, Tbilisi emerged as the clear victor on the media front in its conflict with Moscow. (for intelligenceonline.com registered user only)
Russian pullout from Georgia ‘followed criticism on Facebook’
Political analysts were still reeling last night following the disclosure by sources within the Kremlin that Russia had only “buckled under pressure” when reviewing group membership statistics on the social networking website Facebook.
Doctors may soon have a new diagnostic tool in their kit bags
Everyone knows industry needs oil. Now people are worrying about water, too
Les « bidouilleurs » de la société de l’information
Défendre les citoyens contre les technologies menaçant leur vie privée, ou protéger la sécurité de systèmes informatiques pour le compte des militaires ? Dans un monde chaque jour plus technique, les compétences des hackers restent rarement inemployées…
Links: http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2008/09/MANACH/16226
If you feel like wasting some time: Shrinking the Nissan GT-R
Citing Poor Conditions, China Refuses To Send Delegation To Olympics
BEIJING—In an 11th-hour move that shocked the international athletic and political communities alike, the Chinese Olympic Team announced Wednesday that it will not be attending the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing due to “shocking, shameful, and ultimately dangerous environmental conditions” in the host city.
Russian Team blames poor scores on cheating by Georgia.
Many members of the Russian Georgia Invasion team are still hopeful of medals despite receiving low scores from a panel of International judges on the first day of action after the start of the Olympics. American head of the judges George Bush said; ‘They started well, but see, they put their foot over the line and obviously we have to look real close at that. We expected them to steady themselves, regain their concentration and sort themselves out, but nope, they just kept right on a-goin. And nobody’s gonna give them full marks for that.’
Hello again, I’m Vista
Microsoft hires a hot ad agency in an effort to improve its image
Miracle postponed
Silvio Berlusconi is struggling to put together an Italian solution for Alitalia
Fatale incidente stradale: muore Andrea Pininfarina
E’ morto in un incidente stradale alle porte di Torino Andrea Pininfarina; aveva 51 anni. Pininfarina era presidente e amministratore delegato della storica carrozzeria italiana, autrice di alcune fra le più belle auto di tutti i tempi. Vicepresidente di Confindustria durante la presidenza di Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, attualmente era membro del consiglio direttivo. Nel 2005 era stato nominato Cavaliere del Lavoro. Secondo le prime informazioni sembra che sia stato travolto da un auto nella località di Trofarello mentre viaggiava in moto. Facciamo le nostre più sentite condoglianze alla famiglia per questo tragico evento.
La Chine n’a pas respecté ses engagements
Pour justifier l’attribution des JO à la Chine en 2001, le Comité international olympique (CIO) avait argué d’une ouverture démocratique sans précédent dans ce pays. A quelques heures de l’ouverture de cet événement, une grande partie de la presse internationale ne cache pas sa déception.
Des détails embarrassants sur la libération des otages
La libération d’Ingrid Betancourt et de 14 otages a constitué un succès retentissant pour le gouvernement colombien. Mais la diffusion de certaines images de l’opération militaire réalisée le 2 juillet met en difficulté Bogotá.
Thousands of UK Passports Stolen
Anyone in search of a new identity in the coming years might find it easiest to opt for becoming British.
Exxon Breaks Profits Record, but Shares Fall
Buoyed by soaring oil prices, Exxon Mobil Corp. reported $11.7 billion in second-quarter profits, breaking its own record for the highest quarterly earnings in U.S. corporate history.
Energy Wire: PostGlobal at washingtonpost.com
Loan shark spotted off coast of Cornwall
Following a recent survey of marine wildlife off the coast of Cornwall police are investigating reports than an illegal money-lender, or ‘loan shark’, may have been sighted patrolling shallow waters in Newquay bay.
One of the best business around is to sell guns and weapons, but what for ? Simple, in a few years you will can remotely -long distance- destruct everything you want with a shot precision of 1cm. Then -like in the PS3 best seller games- big defence states offices will have surely some fun using the latest technology to blow up some terrorist home or dictator residences around, just for fun ? Is the joypad delivered with the game?
Here some informations on how, what, when and who, and guns, and weapons…and if you use Facebook do not miss What Weapon Are You? and discover what weapon you really are…
Armed and Dangerous? Why buying a gun is not a suicidal act by Steve Chapman
Americans often buy guns for self-defense, a purpose that now has Supreme Court validation. But according to advocates of gun control, those purchasers overlook the people who pose the greatest threat: themselves. Anyone who acquires a firearm, we are told, is inviting a bloody death by suicide. And How Gun Control Lost.
St-Louis (Missouri) – First Laser Gun Trials (intelligenceonline.com registered only)
Boeing Integrated Defense Systems has just begun trials of its Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) gun as part of its Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) program.
- Laser Blaster Gunships Closer to Flight Test
- Boeing Begins Firing High-Energy Laser Aboard Advanced Tactical Laser Aircraft
- The world’s biggest arms exporters.
- Et Tu, Florida?
- On Wall Street, a Rise in Dismissals Over Ethics
- Nasdaq bubble’s lessons linger
- TOYS ‘R’ US GOES FOR $6.6B
- SecureFlight Won’t Meet Deadline
- Grokster and StreamCast face the music
Intelligence on Iraq called ‘dead wrong’
The U.S. intelligence community was “dead wrong” about Iraq’s weapons arsenal in large part because of an outdated Cold War mentality and a vast, lumbering bureaucracy that continues to shackle dedicated and capable people…
Stupid White Men :
- Stiffer Sentence Sought for White Supremacist
More info about stupid white men (French)
- Coup de folie meurtrier d’un jeune Indien fasciné par Hitler
- L’Amérique néonazie ignorée depuis le 11 septembre
Secure Flight it’s a new system for screening airline passengers and is managed by The Transport Security Administration, an arm of the Department of Homeland Security. This software update will use government data bases, particularly that of the Terrorist Screening Center.
The last week’s appointment of Michael Jackson as deputy secretary for homeland security is a coincidence. As deputy secretary for transportation during the first Bush administration, Jackson set up TSA and initiated the CAPPS 2 program (Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-Screening Program).
Maybe he thinks you will have more fun at the airport after a rush with Halo !
Have a look the the “security guru” web site for more info.
UPDATE :
At end of 2004 the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has published an -free of charge !!! (is there people paying for Microsoft product update ?) – update of its CD-ROM that contains a suite of tools for handling digital fingerprint images. Fingerprint Image Software (FIS) is destined for the FBI (really ?) and Department of Homeland Security, is also distributed to other agencies as well as to the manufacturers of biometric equipment and software and to researchers.
Tim Berners-Lee, has been named Greatest Briton 2004, his personal Web page at The World Wide Web Consortium contains something about the most used file type such as Microsoft Office documents…
If you want to send an e-mail to the father of the Web you should know this before :
“Email is safe unless it contains programs. ”
What not to email ?
“Documents for Microsoft word, Excel, and possibly other Office programs; If you are sending text, please send it as plain text or HTML; If your email is sent from Microsoft Outlook, and contains an attachment, I will be more likely to discard it”…
Have a look to OpenOffice.org for a real and safer office suite.
To manage e-mail there is nothing better than Thunderbird.
For Web browsing try the best browser : Firefox
Update: Mac users, if you ever receive weird attachments with the name “winmail.dat.” : TNEF’s Enough
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said last week “You look around the world at potential trouble spots, Iran is right at the top of the list”. He maybe forgets about the 45 grave security lapses in 2004 in Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), one of the leading American nuclear weapon laboratories.
The National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) has just issued an invitation to tender to manage the LANL. Hope the new contractor will be more careful and the US Government more informed about his own nuclear development.
At this time the White House – communication – strategy is to fear the world with an easy and potential new enemy such as Iran. But it is difficult to imagine a U.S. military intervention in Iran for the next years.
Iran has many nuclear installations dispatched all over the country and it would be crazy to go there with guns and weapons to bring the famous “USA vision of democracy”.
Also Iran has just formed a new counter-espionage agency – named “Oghab 2″ (Oghab: punishment in Farsi) – designed specifically to protect its nuclear program from outside interference. It’s supervised by Yunesi, Iran’s intelligence and security minister.
A diplomatic approach will be the only way.
If not ? BOOM !
