Lai Xiaomin and China’s Anti-Democracy Narrative to the United States
With the execution of Lai Xiaomin of China Huarong Asset Management Co., China executed a subtle sword block and strike in the art of information war against the United States. Beijing’s leadership-level propaganda piggy-backs on decades’ long Russian intelligence narratives and memes marinating military, law enforcement, far right, and angry young men in the notion that…
US-Self-Sabotage: Energy Policy and Nord Stream 2
Bloomberg reports that Nord Stream 2 is again underway at a clip, with Russia pushing forward and Germany trying to proof the project against the Trump-led U.S. sanctions against our German NATO ally, friend, and fellow democracy. In 2014, Representative John Boehner and others argued that fast-tracked, increased U.S. LNG exports abroad would free global supplies…
Argument: Dynasties in U.S. Politics Present Security Vulnerabilities
Power families using their resources, names, and influence to repeatedly win or determine political offices can become de-facto dynasts to the detriment of U.S. national security. Much like software, firmware, or operating systems, such families are like programs running public offices with informational and other flaws that become well known and more vulnerable over time.…
Brief Discussion: Is It Treason for High Officers to Aid Nazism, Neo or Otherwise?
Listen Instead… The answer to the question of whether it is chargeable treason for U.S. high officers to aid Neo-Nazis in any form acting with hostility toward the United States in loyalty to the historic Nazi regime, I don’t know. A case could be made. Here are some preliminary thoughts worthy of discussion and further…
Breaking the Divisiveness Pickle
“The Social Dilemma” documentary offers a pithy insiders’ look at social media’s and search engine roles in the ‘divisiveness pickle’ felt by U.S. Americans, to use the baseball term also known as a “rundown” between bases. The false dichotomies in demagogic, agitation propaganda, and partisan narratives make “the pickle” an apt…
Covid19 Vaccine Influence in Latin America
Followup: This note adds context to discussions of ways to meet challenges to U.S. policies reversing autocratic digital influence in Latin America. Reports: Andres Oppenheimer wrote in the Miami Herald that the Trump Administration, as recently as late July, was not planning to supply Latin America with U.S.-developed vaccines while Russia and…
The Covid-Digital Storm: Authoritarian Influence on Latin America’s Digital Demographic
Purpose: To explore the digital demographic connection to reversing Russian and Chinese subversion of democracy and liberty in Latin America. Background Before Covid19 spawned a pandemic, Russia and China had been plying influence operations and digital authoritarianism to pressure Latin America’s governments, elections, nationalists, businesses, security biases, attitudes toward democracy, and…
“Toronto Today” New Disinformation Site in Larger War of Destabilization
The website “TorontoToday.net” posted disinformation that U.S. officials reassessed the cause of the 2020 wildfires in California and the Pacific Northwest from lightening to “coordinated arson” by Antifa. The 2020 wildfires started when storms generated severe lightening, igniting forests and woodlands under dry, hot, and windy conditions, as widely reported by…
Moscow Utilizes the Whipsaw
“They’ll send 80 million ballots to people — they have no idea where they’re going,” Mr. Trump said during his 94-minute speech. “Actually, they probably do have a pretty good idea where they’re going, and that’s our problem. They send 80 million ballots out, where are they going? Who do…
Germany’s Choice Shines a Light on Moscow’s Strategy
The Nord Stream gas pipeline deal between Russia and Germany could enter its own coma along with Russian dissident Alexey Navalny, in whose system German military physicians found the Soviet nerve agent Novichok. In light of Moscow’s continuing willingness to use state terror to get its way, Berlin should question what authoritarian strings…