warrenellis + war 151
ISIS is using IP addresses the UK sold to Saudi Arabia
december 2015 by warrenellis
IP addresses being used by ISIS and traced by teenage computer hackers back to the UK’s Department for Work and Pensions are likely to be among those sold to Saudi Arabian telecoms companies this year, the British government has claimed.
crime
comms
war
december 2015 by warrenellis
Army Terminology and Military Symbols
december 2015 by warrenellis
Military terms and symbols that are used by the U.S. Army have been compiled in an updated reference manual, along with acronyms and abbreviations. See ADRP 1-02, Terms and Military Symbols, December 2015.
Intended to foster a common vocabulary, the manual can also help outsiders to interpret distinctive Army expressions and patterns of speech.
The manual devotes several chapters to “military symbology.”
war
symbols
Intended to foster a common vocabulary, the manual can also help outsiders to interpret distinctive Army expressions and patterns of speech.
The manual devotes several chapters to “military symbology.”
december 2015 by warrenellis
Russia 'busts satellite spy ring': space commander
april 2015 by warrenellis
""Very recently, specialists of the department of space intelligence centre uncovered a newly created group of space satellites... made for radio-technical reconnaissance of equipment on Russian territory," said the commander of Russian Space Command, Oleg Maidanovich."
space
war
pol
april 2015 by warrenellis
Preparing for Trench Warfare in Ukraine - The Intercept
april 2015 by warrenellis
"The conditions are rough, but not dismal, and reflect the battalion’s motto, “Nobody But Ourselves,” a nod to the reality that Ukrainians — and particularly members of this volunteer battalion — have to rely on their own resources to defend their country."
pol
war
april 2015 by warrenellis
United Nations investigates claim of ISIS organ theft - CNN.com
february 2015 by warrenellis
"The United Nations is looking into claims that ISIS -- already considered the wealthiest terrorist group on record -- may be harvesting organs from slain civilians and gaining financial benefits by trafficking the body parts, officials said Wednesday."
war
med
february 2015 by warrenellis
Spy agencies fund climate research in hunt for weather weapon, scientist fears | Environment | The Guardian
february 2015 by warrenellis
"A senior US scientist has expressed concern that the intelligence services are funding climate change research to learn if new technologies could be used as potential weapons."
war
weather
eco
february 2015 by warrenellis
Core77 / Clever Bulletproofing System Based on Marbles and Legos
february 2015 by warrenellis
"Their latest solution, Soft Armour, is both fascinating and sadly needed. It's a system of bulletproofing structures, and potentially vehicles, by means of modular boxes that are filled with what look like ceramic marbles. Check out how it works:"
tech
war
security
february 2015 by warrenellis
Exploiting the Robocaller Gap - Global Guerrillas
february 2015 by warrenellis
"Here's an interesting US systempunkt -- a systempunkt is the point in a big network where even a small attack would cause the entire network to fail. This systempunkt would enable a prepared individual the unique ability to shut down a large part of the US without shedding a drop of blood."
war
tech
comms
february 2015 by warrenellis
Is it Really Better to be Dead than Blind? | Just Security
january 2015 by warrenellis
"Late last year, the U.S. Navy announced that it’s $40 million laser weapon is finally ready for combat aboard the special operations staging ship USS Ponce. The laser, which “zaps and burns” at the cost of just 59 cents a shot, is designed for use against aircraft and small ships which “cannot outrun” the concentrated beams of light."
weapons
war
pol
crime
january 2015 by warrenellis
Secretive Mexican police unit questioned over 3 murdered Americans | Fox News Latino
october 2014 by warrenellis
"The men threatened witnesses not to talk and identified themselves as members of the Hercules Group, an elite security unit newly formed by the mayor of Matamoros, Leticia Salazar, in charge of protecting her."
war
pol
mexico
october 2014 by warrenellis
Yoda Has Left the Building
october 2014 by warrenellis
"In fact, when Marshall argued that an arms race with the Soviets was inevitable, he meant there was no choice as long as the two countries existed. For example, remember that picture of Marshall, Wohlstetter, and friends, palavering late into the night? They were discussing "recovery" models -- as in, whether the United States or Soviet Union would recover more quickly after a nuclear war, gaining a head start in the inevitable rearmament race. Remember that joke in Dr. Strangelove about the "mine shaft gap"? That was, in fact, what Marshall was discussing."
war
pol
october 2014 by warrenellis
My Night With Afghanistan's Only Female Warlord, Commander Pigeon | New Republic
october 2014 by warrenellis
"my guide, a young Afghan named Sharif Sahak, showed me a photograph of the country’s only known female warlord, Bibi Ayisha, nom de guerre: Commander Pigeon. It was late 2013, the Americans were preparing to leave, and Sharif had heard that the commander was training a new militia of female jihadists to fight the Taliban. In the photograph, she looked to be about 200 pounds and 60 years old. A large woman with black eyes made small by folds of skin. A beaked nose protruded from a wide flat face. She held her machine gun against her bosom like a bouquet of roses."
war
october 2014 by warrenellis
Ebola Is the ISIS of Our Apocalyptic Fantasies | VICE News
october 2014 by warrenellis
"The issue is not whether the Islamic State is a ridiculous analogy for Ebola — of course it is. The real problem is that highly complex geopolitical situations are being reduced in the Western popular imaginary to apocalyptic fantasies. In isolation, the end-times anxieties attached to both the rise of the Islamic State and the spread of Ebola have been unfounded — little wonder that combining the paranoias produced an absurd effect on screen."
cult
war
extinction
october 2014 by warrenellis
Satanic panic: how British agents stoked supernatural fears in Troubles | UK news | The Guardian
october 2014 by warrenellis
"British military intelligence agents in Northern Ireland used fears about demonic possessions, black masses and witchcraft as part of a psychological war against emerging armed groups in the Troubles in the 1970s, a study says."
war
cult
psyops
october 2014 by warrenellis
Blinding them with science: Is development of a banned laser weapon continuing? | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
september 2014 by warrenellis
"Some laser dazzlers—supposedly intended for dazzling alone—are powerful enough to cause serious eye damage. Already, soldiers are taught not to fire when an intruder is too close, because of the laser’s power. One version, the Meyers’ 250 milliwatt LA9 dazzler, even has a built-in radar that shuts off the laser beam if it detects someone less than 41 meters away, or what is considered its nominal ocular hazard distance (NOHD), in which the beam is intense enough to cause eye damage. "
war
weapons
september 2014 by warrenellis
The US military is spending $2.9 million to develop a soft robot suit for soldiers | The Verge
september 2014 by warrenellis
"As announced today, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has issued a $2.9 million contract to researchers at Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering to develop a flexible robotic exoskeleton that can be worn by soldiers — and eventually civilians — to make them stronger and more resilient. The suit could even help people with mobility issues and paralysis to move again."
war
tech
bodymod
september 2014 by warrenellis
The future Army grenade could kill enemies hiding behind walls - The Washington Post
september 2014 by warrenellis
"“Small Arms Grenade Munitions” would double the lethality of the grenades against enemies who are “in defilade,” meaning they are using obstacles or barriers to shield themselves from harm, Army officials say."
war
september 2014 by warrenellis
Stone-tipped spears lethal, may indicate early cognitive and social skills
august 2014 by warrenellis
"The authors also posit that the manufacture of the stone-tipped spears may represent the origin of new cognitive and social development in our human ancestors. Working memory (the ability to hold attention to multiple tasks in order to collect, prepare and combine different kinds of raw materials into a weapon), and constructive memory (the ability to imagine and plan for future tasks), were mental capacities required for tipped spear construction. In addition, since a stone-tipped spear is a skill likely to have been learned by being passed from generation to generation through social or group learning, stone-tipped technology is evidence of the evolutionary impact of "cumulative culture.""
history
war
weapons
august 2014 by warrenellis
The Isis leader's vision of the state is a profoundly contemporary one | Jason Burke | Comment is free | The Observer
august 2014 by warrenellis
"What Baghdadi has done is fuse the political Islamists' aim of seizing state power with the neo-traditionalists' more global vision to create a recognisable if rough-edged state that is simultaneously supposed to be a launchpad for greater expansion. This unprecedented combination is a powerful one."
pol
war
august 2014 by warrenellis
Juliet Marine's Ghost Boat Will Be Hard Sell to U.S. Navy - Businessweek
august 2014 by warrenellis
"Four propellers positioned at the front of the tubes are powered by the two 2,000-horsepower engines. They pull the craft and, with the help of air funneling down through the struts, create a gas bubble around each tube—an effect known as supercavitation that can reduce drag by a factor of 900. In short, Ghost makes a bubble and flies through it."
war
stealth
august 2014 by warrenellis
BLDGBLOG: Emergency Exit
august 2014 by warrenellis
"Marketed as a tool for urban warfare with—wouldn't you know it—handy civilian uses on the side, the SkySaver system's goal is to let you escape from, say, a building siege or a hotel fire. "
design
war
crime
august 2014 by warrenellis
BBC News - Mong La: Myanmar's lawless region where anything goes
august 2014 by warrenellis
"Special Region Number Four - also known as Mong La - is one such strip of land on the border between China and Myanmar.
It has existed entirely outside central government control for more than 25 years."
cities
pol
war
It has existed entirely outside central government control for more than 25 years."
august 2014 by warrenellis
Blacklisted: The Secret Government Rulebook For Labeling You a TerroristThe Intercept
august 2014 by warrenellis
"The rulebook, which The Intercept is publishing in full, was developed behind closed doors by representatives of the nation’s intelligence, military, and law-enforcement establishment, including the Pentagon, CIA, NSA, and FBI. Emblazoned with the crests of 19 agencies, it offers the most complete and revealing look into the secret history of the government’s terror list policies to date. It reveals a confounding and convoluted system filled with exceptions to its own rules, and it relies on the elastic concept of “reasonable suspicion” as a standard for determining whether someone is a possible threat."
pol
surveillance
spook
war
crime
august 2014 by warrenellis
Australian Army embraces social media in Future of Land Warfare report | Crikey
august 2014 by warrenellis
“By 2025 we may face adversaries with scientifically enhanced cognitive capacity. The land force will need to develop a better understanding of enhancing human capabilities with, for example, improved human-machine interfaces or better fusing of technology with biology … Physical and cognitive enhancements such as ‘exosuits’ or long-lasting stimulants need to be considered in the context of amplifying performance.”
war
bodymod
tech
august 2014 by warrenellis
Messages in the Deep - Builtvisible
july 2014 by warrenellis
"Below, you’ll find an interactive map charting the growth of the modern fibre optic network between 1989 to the modern day, and including cables to be completed in the next few years. You can select a country to see all connections to and from that nation, or specify a provider to see the parts of the network owned by that company."
comms
spook
war
july 2014 by warrenellis
Government agents 'directly involved' in most high-profile US terror plots | World news | theguardian.com
july 2014 by warrenellis
"Nearly all of the highest-profile domestic terrorism plots in the United States since 9/11 featured the "direct involvement" of government agents or informants, a new report says."
war
july 2014 by warrenellis
As caliphate declared, Iraqi troops battle for Tikrit | Reuters
june 2014 by warrenellis
"Alarming regional and world powers, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed universal authority when it dropped the local element in its name and said its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as leader of the Islamic State, was now caliph of the Muslim world - a mediaeval title last widely recognized in the Ottoman sultan deposed 90 years ago after World War One."
pol
war
june 2014 by warrenellis
Privacy under attack: the NSA files revealed new threats to democracy | Technology | The Guardian
may 2014 by warrenellis
"What if every book for the past 500 years had been reporting its readers at headquarters?"
surveillance
pol
comms
war
crime
may 2014 by warrenellis
Sorrow in the Balkans | Virtual Vita Nuova
may 2014 by warrenellis
"Sorrow never stops in the Balkans. It’s the favorite topic, the inspiration, the poetic lament. It’s the history."
war
writing
may 2014 by warrenellis
Putin and Open Source Warfare - Global Guerrillas
may 2014 by warrenellis
"Of course he is. Who sold him on the approach? Apparently, he has an advisor called Vladislav Surkov who is a science fiction writer."
war
fiction
may 2014 by warrenellis
Armed Russian robocops to defend missile bases - 23 April 2014 - New Scientist
may 2014 by warrenellis
"Last month, Dmitry Andreyev of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces announced that mobile robots would be standing guard over five ballistic missile installations. These robots can detect and destroy targets, without human involvement. Russia, it seems, is taking the lead in a new robotic arms race."
robots
war
may 2014 by warrenellis
BBC News - 'Killer robots' to be debated at UN
may 2014 by warrenellis
"Autonomous weapons systems cannot be guaranteed to predictably comply with international law," Prof Sharkey told the BBC. "Nations aren't talking to each other about this, which poses a big risk to humanity."
robots
war
may 2014 by warrenellis
BBC News - Ukraine refuses Russian demand for advance gas payment
may 2014 by warrenellis
"Russia's energy ministry said Ukraine had missed a deadline to pay debts worth $3.5bn and that all gas sent from June will have to be paid in advance."
war
energy
may 2014 by warrenellis
How Al-Qaeda Uses Crypto Post-Snowden (Part 1)
may 2014 by warrenellis
"Following the June 2013 Edward Snowden leaks we observe an increased pace of innovation, specifically new competing jihadist platforms and three (3) major new encryption tools from three (3) different organizations – GIMF, Al-Fajr Technical Committee, and ISIS – within a three to five-month time frame of the leaks."
tech
comms
spook
war
may 2014 by warrenellis
Repeating crossbow - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
april 2014 by warrenellis
Archaeological evidence of the earliest repeating crossbow from Tomb 47 at Qinjiazui, Hubei Province has been dated to the 4th century BC, during the Spring and Autumn period.[2] However, its invention is commonly attributed to Zhuge Liang (181–234 AD), a strategist of the Three Kingdoms period; Zhuge Liang improved the design of the repeating crossbow, and made a version which shot two to three bolts at once and was used in massed formations. For this reason, it was named after him.[citation needed] Other repeating crossbows fired as many as 10 bolts before exhausting the magazine.[3]
war
weapons
april 2014 by warrenellis
Picatinny Arsenal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
march 2014 by warrenellis
"After World War II, Picatinny refocused its efforts on developing new weapons and munitions. Its support to the American forces in Korea included an improved bazooka and an illuminating rifle grenade. In periods of peace, the arsenal made important contributions to progress in the areas of radar, pyrotechnics, missiles, time fuzes, and nuclear munitions (including the M65 Atomic Cannon 280mm howitzer known as Atomic Annie)."
war
weapons
guns
march 2014 by warrenellis
Open the Future: Watching the World through a Broken Lens
march 2014 by warrenellis
"This is not a dilemma without a solution, however. Professional Foresight (aka Futurism) also went through a period where specialists would offer up a single prediction of a certain future. In more recent decades -- arguably since Hermann Kahn's On Thermonuclear War in 1960, but more generally since the advent of Shell-derived Scenario Planning in the 1990s -- futurism has been more comfortable with uncertainty, and more willing to offer multiple rival forecasts of possible outcomes instead of singular, certain predictions. Multi-scenario foresight has evolved various iterations since then, but they all come down to a core idea: you can't predict the future, but you can see the shape of different possible futures."
future
pol
war
march 2014 by warrenellis
Transnistria: The Next Crimea?
march 2014 by warrenellis
"For its part, Russia can use its staging ground in Transnistria to exert continued pressure on Ukraine through Odessa, a major Ukrainian seaport. Protests here have mirrored protests in Ukraine as a whole, with contingents of both pro- and anti-Russian demonstrators taking to the streets."
war
pol
march 2014 by warrenellis
Can We Avoid a Surveillance State Dystopia? - Charlie's Diary
february 2014 by warrenellis
"Yearly reminder: unless you're over 60, you weren't promised flying cars. You were promised an oppressive cyberpunk dystopia. Here you go."
war
pol
comms
intel
spook
february 2014 by warrenellis
Island of Terror: Don't Get Mad, Get Murderous
february 2014 by warrenellis
"Britain’s own The Angry Brigade took a gentler approach, trying to avoid hurting anyone if possible but, ultimately, they proved to be utterly ineffectual and got caught and imprisoned, so it was not a massively successful policy. I’m glad that they didn’t kill anybody, of course, but they might have got further if they had."
pol
crime
war
february 2014 by warrenellis
Taking Down Silicon Valley's Electrical Grid with Rifles? - Global Guerrillas
february 2014 by warrenellis
"Last year, one or two people shot up a electrical substation in central California that fed Silicon Valley. As is usual in this type of attack, it was successful yet nobody was arrested or hurt -- which makes attacks like this easier to recruit for and easier to repeat."
war
crime
february 2014 by warrenellis
China Conducts First Test of New Ultra-High Speed Missile Vehicle | Washington Free Beacon
january 2014 by warrenellis
"Hypersonic weapons use cutting edge technology for flying and maneuvering at ultra-high speeds in space and air. Future weapons will include powered and unpowered hypersonic vehicles fired from the last stages of ICBMs and submarine missiles, and from the bomb-bays of strategic bombers. Hypersonic cruise missiles and surveillance drones also are expected."
war
january 2014 by warrenellis
Why Syria Is the Most Dangerous Place To Be a Journalist
december 2013 by warrenellis
"For the second year running, more journalists have been killed in Syria than anywhere else in the world, according to a report released Monday by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). In 2013, 29 were killed there in the course of reporting; in 2012, the grim toll reached 31."
war
crime
december 2013 by warrenellis
Reconciliation – The New Inquiry
december 2013 by warrenellis
"...torturers expressing their disappointment in the tortured. This disappointment quickly becomes anger. What is the matter with these blacks? The tortured act troubled, it is observed. They consistently fail to live up to the hopes the torturers have for them."
war
crime
december 2013 by warrenellis
Two-Decade Review Yields History of Covert Action in Congo
december 2013 by warrenellis
"“At the same time, based on authorization from President Eisenhower’s statements at an NSC meeting on August 18, 1960, discussions began to develop highly sensitive, tightly-held plans to assassinate Lumumba. After Lumumba’s death at the hands of Congolese rivals in January 1961, the U.S. Government authorized the provision of paramilitary and air support to the new Congolese Government….”"
war
crime
spook
intel
december 2013 by warrenellis
Karl reMarks: The incredible story of how Putin used secret KGB chess tactics to outwit the US
november 2013 by warrenellis
In the KGB for example, only agents promoted to the prestigious X2, nicknamed the steel professors
THE STEEL PROFESSORS
spook
pol
war
THE STEEL PROFESSORS
november 2013 by warrenellis
ISVG - Welcome to the VKB
november 2013 by warrenellis
violent extremism knowledge base
war
pol
intel
november 2013 by warrenellis
The Global Elite’s Favorite Strongman - NYTimes.com
september 2013 by warrenellis
Isaias Afewerki, Eritrea’s president, was a charming and progressive leader at one point in his career, but he has since shunned Western aid, locked up dissidents in underground shipping containers and turned his country into the North Korea of Africa. Significantly, all these men were rebel leaders who fought their way up from the trenches to the presidential suite.
TREES
war
september 2013 by warrenellis
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