Mr. President, you’re about to be beaten by a dead man.  That’s got to hurt.

Colonel John Boyd has been often labeled as the father of modern airpower, the reinventor of the military and many other labels in the military, economics and business.  His visible presence can be seen in a simple theory called the OODA Loop.  Here is a Wikipedia synopsis:

Boyd hypothesized that all intelligent organisms and organizations undergo a continuous cycle of interaction with their environment. Boyd breaks this cycle down to four interrelated and overlapping processes through which one cycles continuously:

• Observation: the collection of data by means of the senses

• Orientation: the analysis and synthesis of data to form one’s current mental perspective

• Decision: the determination of a course of action based on one’s current mental perspective

• Action: the physical playing-out of decisions

• Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Boyd_(military_strategist)

One of Boyd’s nicknames was ’30 second Boyd’, because none of his dogfights, as an advanced flight instructor, against students, lasted longer than 30 seconds.

This was translated to me in my Infantry Officer days as ‘if you can come to a decision and act faster than your enemy, you win’.

Mr. President, your opponent, Vladimir Putin, has a plan. He is executing his well thought out plan precisely.  Made up Russian news stories give him ample excuse to invade Crimea to protect ethnic Russians.  Anonymous friendly soldiers mysteriously appear to protect Crimea. Mysterious people disconnect communications cables in Crimea. Only Russian reporters are allowed to report from Crimea.  Nobody reveals the big story, although we all know you are masterminding everything.

Mr. President, as long as Vlad maneuvers inside your decision cycle, and the whole world sees and knows this, you are powerless and it shows.  One move a day is what he seems to be allowing you. You need to move twice as fast.  Identify who is slowing you down and move on.  Move faster and more decisively or you are going to lose East Ukraine next.

By Tim Nudd

March 25, 2014, 2:56 PM EDT

Well, this is hilarious on a few different levels.

Stock video provider Dissolve has taken the text of Kendra Eash’s brilliant advertising takedown, “This Is a Generic Brand Video,” originally published by McSweeney’s, and set it to actual stock video clips.

The company explains: “The minute we saw Kendra Eash’s brilliant ‘This Is a Generic Brand Video’ on McSweeney’s, we knew it was our moral imperative to make that generic brand video so. No surprise, we had all the footage.”

The results, narrated by Dallas McClain, are outstanding. You’ve seen all of this footage in ads from major brands. It’s everywhere. And it’s great that a stock video house would so gleefully celebrate the soul-sucking manipulations for which its offerings are generally used.

Watch below, and have a great self-hating rest of your afternoon.

via Everything You Hate About Advertising in One Fake Video That’s Almost Too Real | Adweek.

By Wells Bennett and Benjamin Wittes

Tuesday, April 1, 2014 at 12:01 AM

I was stunned to read a blog stating that YuliaTymoshenko had quit the race for the President of Ukraine.  I was mystified, therefore,

Yulia Tymoshenko

when a fairly notable news site also picked up the story.

Those stories were published only two days after the Guardian re-emphasized Tymoshenko’s resolve to run for President of Ukraine.

Then it hit me.  Russia’s disinformation machine is on overdrive.  24/7/365, anything to deter a democratic election, anything to cast doubt on a free and objective electoral process in the Ukraine, anything to promote a reason for Russian troops to ‘be invited’ to invade Ukraine.

In the United States, we are mostly insulated from news stories from outside the US.  Except for the Malaysian Airline 370 ongoing mystery and ongoing search.  For the most part Putin barely registers on our ‘give a crap’ meter and Ukraine is some beautiful country beside the Black Sea which used to have this paradise called Crimea.  I’ll give you odds that 95% of Americans couldn’t even locate the Black Sea on a map.  98% might even be closer to the truth.

So why should most Americans give a crap about Russian disinformation, misinformation and lies?

The typical American response would be along the lines:  because we’re the good guys.  *cough*  Oh, yes, most boys in the US watch Superman, who represents “Goodness, Justice and the American Way”.

As a part of the bigger picture, the American way is based on “the truth”.  We absolutely expect our news stories to be truthful.  ”Fair and Objective” is probably a better description, but if something is bad, we expect to hear ‘it’s bad’.

So when Russia Today (RT), ITAR-TASS, Voice of Russia and Ria Novosti all publish the exact opposite from what we read on the Washington Post, New York Times, BBC, VOA and other Western news sources, Westerners get confused.  How could the stories be so diametrically opposed?   Information Warfare, plain and simple.  A story line was created which roughly parallels the truth and Russian “news” sources must align with the official plot.

I owe you, dear reader, a synopsis of yesterday’s Ria Novosti Press Conference held jointly between the National Press Club and their Moscow studio.  One phrase.  One phrase helped me understand the huge disparity between Western Truth and Russian Truth.  Thank you, Ria Novosti.  Stay tuned.

Yesterday I attended a Ria Novosti Press Conference in the National Press Club in Washington DC.  I wanted to hear and see Russian leaders give their version of how the situation in Ukraine came to be.   Here is a list of the Russian officials, however only two appeared and I could not see anything in English to tell me who actually appeared:

• Victor Ivanov, Russian Drug Enforcement Administration Chief (TBC)
• Sergei Markov, Director, Institute of Political Studies
• Vladimir Sungorkin, Editor-in-Chief, Komsomolskaya Pravda (Russian largest circulation daily)
• Sergei Zheleznyak, Vice-Speaker of the Duma

Up until now I have read articles from a wide variety of Russian, Ukraine and Western news sources.  I viewed countless videos, many from Russian sources.  This would be my first experience with actual Russian officials making statements and responding to questions.  As a result I have determined there are two parallel story lines for the situation in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Story

A Western timeline starts out with Ukrainian protests against the democratically elected President, Viktor Yanukovych, from the Donetsk Oblast in far Eastern Ukraine, next to Russia.  From Wikipedia:

Yanukovych first ran for president in 2004, but the Ukrainian Supreme Court nullified and ordered a re-run of the initial second-round ballot electing him, which was fraught with allegations of fraud and voter intimidation amid widespread citizen protests and occupation of Kiev’s Independence Square in what became known as the Orange Revolution. Yanukovych lost the court-ordered second 2004 presidential run-off election to Viktor Yushchenko.

Yanukovych served as prime minister for a second time from 4 August 2006 to 18 December 2007 under President Yushchenko.

Yanukovych was elected president in 2010, defeating Yulia Tymoshenko. November 2013 saw the beginning of a series of events that led to his ouster as president.^[1][2][3] Yanukovych rejected a pending EU association agreement, choosing instead to pursue a Russian loan bailout and closer ties with Russia. This led to popular protests and the occupation of Kiev’s Independence Square dubbed “Euromaidan” by young pro-European Union Ukrainians. In January 2014 this developed into deadly clashes in Independence Square and in areas across Ukraine as Ukrainian citizens confronted the Berkut and other special police units.^[4] In February 2014, Ukraine appeared to be on the brink of civil war, as violent clashes between protesters and special police forces led to many deaths and injuries.^[5][6][7]Yanukovych claimed on 21 February 2014 that after lengthy discussions he had reached an agreement with the opposition.^[8] However later that day he fled the capital for Kharkiv, travelling next to Crimea and eventually to southern Russia.^[9]

After this point the West’ story is one of a Soviet style dictator thrown out of office by a popular uprising, in a revolution of sorts.  It is at this point where the Ukrainian government is in the process of holding elections to determine the next leader (May 25th, 2014).  According to Ukrainian sources, Russian provacateurs, it is believed aided by Russian Special Forces, are attempting to destabilize Ukraine and incite reasons for the Russian army to invade in order to restore peace and protect ethnic minority Russians.  At this point of time Ukraine is more stable than Russia in February 1917.

The Russian Story

During the Ria Novosti Press Conference, one of the Russian officials said a very poignant phrase: “over a series of months, Ukraine descended into the Stone Age”.  

This is the unnamed Russian official.  If someone can identify him, this will be exceedingly helpful.

The “descended into the Stone Age” quote is very important, this implies there is no government in place, no leadership, no modern processes and everything is in chaos.  This, we know, is not true.

The second reason this is important, is that any and all repercussions against ethnic Russians may be blamed on Ukrainian lack of leadership, which would cause an atmosphere of chaos.  I am aware of only one attack against ethnic Russians and it was immediately after the Crimea was de facto surrendered to Russia and I blogged about it here.

There are multiple other story lines as a result of the Russian alternate truth and I will continue to share those.

The Rest of the Press Conference

At the start of the question and answer period in press conference , the US News and World Report reporter asked about a shipment of aid sent to Ukraine.  Somehow this was lost in translation and the respondent started going off about the US ships in the Black Sea.  Everybody in the audience knew there was a problem with the translation and the USN&WR reporter interuppted him and asked the question again.  The Russian said “Okay, but I would like to answer the other question first” and proceeded to speak about the ships in the Black Sea.  It was an obvious hatchet job meant to embarrass the US for “increasing the tensions”.  No mention of Russian forces streaming into Crimea and no mention of Russian forces on the Ukrainian border.  By the way, Putin agreed to withdraw some forces from the border, but as of today none have moved.  Source, here.

The next respondent said the cutest thing, also totally unbelievable.  ”We just want to protect the people”.  Excuse me, my allergies are kicking up.  It sounded like he said *bullsh***.

The next question came from the New York Times, Moscow office and it was about how Ukraine appeared to moving closer to the West, was this the reason for the incursion?  The Russian response?  ”Countries have a right to move in the direction of their choosing.  Yanukovych would have signed the agreement…”  Pardon me?  That was the agreement with Russia which the Ukrainian people disagreed with because it moved them away from the EU, that was the cause of the popular uprising.

The reporter from The Globalist, in Washington DC, asked under which conditions would Russia move towards war, particularly with the US?  The word continued stuck out like a sore thumb when the answer was: ‘Continued terrorist attacks, illegal government remaining in place… ‘

A second respondent answered:  ”disarm illegal military groups”.   This struck me especially hard because Ukraine just approved a measure calling for a cessation to illegally armed militants.  Also, the so-called Crimean Self-Defense Group was illegal under Ukrainian law, but now that they’re Russian, who knows?

Later in the press conference they were speaking about the Maidan snipers and said “The persons responsible for the sniper attacks are investigating the sniper attacks, “many evidences to that”. I thought this was very powerful because there have been strong allegations that Russian Special Forces snipers or at least Russian trained snipers were mostly responsible for the attacks on hundreds in the Maidan.

For the most part I have never actually witnessed more people talk about nothing for more time, in my life.  The Press Conference lasted 90 minutes, including Q&A but I’ll be darned if I heard more than ten words not straight out of the press releases.

Conclusion

It was almost difficult at times to hear what was being shared as news but it was a tremendous relief the speakers could toe the party line so well.  I appreciate the Russian perspective and I look forward to hearing more in the future.

I truly thank the RussiaHouse.org for their part in setting up this press conference and to Ria Novosti for their part in setting up the speakers.

A woman and her daughter watch television during a discussion on the proposal of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the use of Russian armed forces in Ukraine in parliament in Moscow on March 1.

By Robert Coalson

March 05, 2014

Getting the real story of what is going on in Ukraine is hard enough. And the Russian media seems intent on making it even harder.

With Russian forces controlling Crimea and with Moscow contemplating further military action in Ukraine, Russian media and leading political figures have been shrill in their denunciations of “fascists” in Kyiv and their claims of anti-Semitic incidents, of attacks on ethnic Russians in the eastern reaches of Ukraine, and of floods of beleaguered refugees streaming across the border into Russia.

But much of this information is demonstrably false, emerging from unsourced media reports, then making its way into the statements of Russian politicians, and even into Western media reports. Events are echoing the 1997 U.S. film “Wag the Dog,” in which spin-doctors use the media to whip up support for a nonexistent war.

“This is how wars get started. As they say, ‘truth is the first casualty of war’ and we are really seeing that with the way Russia is handling this,” says Catherine Fitzpatrick, a writer and translator who has been live-blogging events in Ukraine for Interpretermag.com. “I think they are really irresponsible. They are inciting a lot of hatred and whipping up a lot of panic. People in places like Kharkiv are watching Russian TV. They may be watching also local TV, but they are dependent on Russian TV and a lot it is not checking out.”

via Russia Wags The Dog With Ukraine Disinformation Campaign.

Presenter Dmitry Kiselev condemns US over Ukraine on his show Vesti Nedeli

By Stephen Ennis

BBC Monitoring

Russian state TV presenter Dmitry Kiselev has a reputation for extravagant tirades demonising the West, stigmatising homosexuals and portraying Ukraine as a country overrun by violent fascists.

He also has the unusual distinction, for a journalist, of being targeted by EU sanctions – imposed in the wake of Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

Mr Kiselev delivered another of his anti-Western diatribes in the 30 March edition of Vesti Nedeli (News of the Week), his flagship current affairs show on the official channel Rossiya 1.

Millions of Russians rely on the main state-owned TV channels for their news.

‘Radioactive ash’

With dainty, almost balletic hand gestures and the faint trace of an ironic smile on his lips, Kiselev asks with mock concern “what’s up” with Barack Obama. The US president’s ratings, he says, are on the slide, while Russian President Vladimir Putin’s continue to rise.

Turning to another camera, he goes on to denounce the US for trying to spread revolution with “terrorists” in Syria and “fascists” in Ukraine. “They shamelessly spy on everyone, wanting to control the world, but they suffer one defeat after another,” he concludes.

It was a typical Kiselev performance, if not quite a vintage one. Two weeks earlier, he had mocked what he said were President Obama’s waning powers, as symbolised by his greying hair, before boasting that Russia was the only country “genuinely capable of turning the USA into radioactive ash”.

via BBC News – Dmitry Kiselev: Russia’s chief spin doctor.

Russia Clamps Down Further On U.S. International Media

APRIL 4, 2014

The Broadcasting Board of Governors has condemned a recent decision by Russian authorities to cut off all remaining radio transmissions by U.S. international media in Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, visits the headquarters of “Russia Today” TV channel in Moscow, Russia, (AP Photo/Yuri Kochetkov, Pool)

In a one-sentence letter dated March 21, Dmitry Kiselev, the director of the information agency Rossiya Segodnya (Russia Today), stated that “we are not going to cooperate” with the BBG’s request to continue a long-standing contract for broadcasting on Russian soil.   Effective at the end of March, this decision removes the last vestige of Voice of America programming – including news in Russian and English-language lessons – from a local frequency in Moscow (810 AM).

“Moscow has chosen to do the wrong thing and restrict free speech,” said BBG Chairman Jeff Shell. “This is a fundamental value shared by many countries around the world.  The BBG will continue to reach audiences in Russia through digital platforms and via satellite transmissions.”

via Russia Clamps Down Further on U.S. International Media.

US Food Aid Is Already Being Sold on Black Market Websites in Ukraine

Written by

MEGHAN NEAL

@meghanneal

meghan.neal@vice.com

April 2, 2014 // 03:40 PM EST

Image: Wikimedia

About a month after Russian troops invaded and annexed Crimea, the US government is offering economic support to Ukraine to help stabilize the country during the crisis. Congress approved a $1 billion loan to the former Soviet republic yesterday, and over the weekend the US sent 300,000 food rations as aid to the Ukrainian military.

The rations, called MREs for ready-to-eat meals, began rolling into Kiev over the weekend, and before the last of the shipments had even entered the country, enterprising Ukrainians had started selling the food packets on the black market.

via US Food Aid Is Already Being Sold on Black Market Websites in Ukraine | Motherboard.

When a friend forwarded a link to a story about Ukraine, I read this phrase: “where propaganda flows like a river”.  I had to smile.  He knows I love that stuff.

I’ve been reading of pro-Russian flag waving rallies in Ukraine and I have to wonder, why now?  Are they really that popular?  Where were they a few months ago?  Why would they possibly love Russia that much?  Sure, neat people, cool culture and the women are gorgeous (I still have to see photographic proof – hint), but why love Russia?  The vodka is okay, they keep changing leaders and one day they’re communists, the next day they’re not, and then back again…

When you’re out of work and somebody offers you money to wave a flag, it’s money.  A Russian flag?  Why not?

I do not know how strong the popular support for Russia really is in East Ukraine.  I do not know how many people really trust the Russians in East Ukraine.  I don’t know if they all want to drive Ladas, but whatever floats your boat…

But what I do know is that someone is hiring out of work Ukrainian miners to look like there is much more support in Ukraine for Russia than is true.  Who would do this?  Think Russia.  You’re getting warmer…

If you don’t believe me, read this.

By Zhanna Byezpyatchuk and Daisy Sindelar

Russian television shows Vitaliy Kryvosheyev, who identifies himself as the head of a nationalist group called the Ukrainian National Union, and claims he was taking his instructions directly from Ukraine’s Security Service.

April 05, 2014

KYIV — Kyiv has grown accustomed to accusing the Kremlin of using lies and disinformation to depict Ukrainians as violent neo-Nazis bent on destroying ethnic Russians.

So when Russian media reported on April 4 that the Federal Security Service (FSB) had arrested 25 Ukrainian citizens for terrorist intent, it seemed like just the latest fabrication of convenience.

Now, however, Ukrainian journalists are reporting that at least some of Russia’s claims are true — and that at least three of the alleged suspects actually exist and are being held in detention.

The three men — Vitaliy Kryvosheyev, Artyom Holovko, and Kirill Pilipenko — were shown on Russian TV reports, allegedly giving testimony about the group’s intent to carry out terrorist acts in seven Russian regions in the days before Crimea’s referendum on Russian annexation.

Kryvosheyev can be seen identifying himself as the head of a nationalist group called the Ukrainian National Union, and makes the startling claim he was taking his instructions directly from the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU). The report alleges the men were also working closely with Right Sector, the armed nationalist group that is a target of particular Kremlin vitriol.

Speaking to media in Ukraine, family members said they were shocked by the Russian allegations and that the men had traveled to Russia for work. “My son left for a job, and now they’re calling him a saboteur!” Kryvosheyev’s father, Sergei, told “Komsomolskaya pravda Ukraine.”

Relatives of Kryvosheyev, 27, and Holovko, 32, say both men traveled by bus from Kharkiv to Russia on March 14 to work for a branch of a Ukrainian photography company. They vanished almost instantly. Holovko’s brother, Stepan, said the bus driver later told his family that the two men were detained shortly after crossing the border, with police referring to them as members of Right Sector.

Several sources confirmed Kryvosheyev’s ties to the Ukrainian National Union, but denied any connection to Right Sector. Dmytro Yarosh, the head of Right Sector, said the group “did not send any representatives to Russia.”

Pilipenko, a 25-year-old electrician in Nikopol, reportedly left Ukraine a week earlier for a similar job in the city of Elista in the republic of Kalmykia. InfoResist, a Ukrainian investigative and military-security site, quoted Pilipenko’s wife, Svitlana, as saying she last spoke to him on March 15.

It remains to be seen how Ukrainian officials will react to the development. The SBU on April 4 rejected the Russian media reports as “nonsense,” and  Foreign Ministry spokesman Yevheniy Perebyynis said Russia had refused to present Ukraine with any information about the detainees, including their identities.

“The Russian side is unwilling to disclose information about these people, and that leads us to think that maybe this is yet another Russian provocation aimed at destabilizing the situation in Ukraine,” he said.

via Ukraine Scrambles For Details On Three ‘Terrorists’ Held In Russia.

Okay, guys.  Here is a compilation, from WordPress, who hosts my blog, of all the countries that have people who read this blog regularly.  This is just from the past month, prioritized by number of visits.

Screen Capture from WordPress April 7, 2014

Notice, there are good guys and bad guys.  Yesterday on Facebook, in a pro-Russian discussion group about Ukraine, someone kvetched (that’s Yiddish by the way) at me for calling a certain country a ‘former good guy’.   Listen folks, if you are going to actively target the United States, in either an Information War or using Cyber attacks, you’re probably not a good guy.  If you sense a certain hesitancy for tourists to come to your country, there might be a reason why.  If your citizens live in fear of speaking their mind, you’re probably not on my preferred list of countries.  If you are scared of the truth, especially of your citizens reading opposing perspectives, you’re probably a bad guy.  You prefer zombies, mindless creatures who toe the party line.  I don’t.  I will write about your country at some point.

For my friends who correspond with me, thank you.  You live all over the world, some in parts of the world actively threatened by the bad guys. Some of you live in those bad or contested areas and contact me using secure email or circumvention technology.  Thank you.  Your friendship means a lot to me, your safety means even more.

For my readers who do not contact me: why not?  Leave me a comment and then I’ll have your email address – if it’s real.  If you’d like me to write to you or want a certain topic covered, write me a comment!

For those of you who prefer to leave spam or just want to attack me, your comment will be marked spam and *poof*, they disappear.  My blog, my rules.  I invite civil discussion.  You know, like polite conversation.  I love opposing views, just keep it civil.

I especially love tips about information warfare, about disinformation most of all.  Cyber attacks and cyberwar are good, also.  But I don’t want to hear about the latest exploit, the latest tiny hack, unless it might have global implications or huge policy effects.

Keep it coming, folks. Thank you!

Country
United States
Sweden
Finland
Canada
United Kingdom
Germany
Netherlands
Russian Federation
Australia
Ukraine
Belgium
France
Italy
India
Romania
Singapore
Norway
Philippines
Switzerland
Poland
Turkey
Czech Republic
Japan
Brazil
Pakistan
Greece
Malaysia
Thailand
Indonesia
Estonia
Israel
Colombia
Hungary
Austria
Serbia
Nigeria
South Africa
Croatia
Bulgaria
Denmark
Portugal
Belarus
Spain
United Arab Emirates
Slovakia
Hong Kong
Mexico
Ireland
Republic of Korea
Viet Nam
China
Kuwait
Taiwan
Macedonia, the Former Yugoslav Republic
Nepal
Georgia
Slovenia
Latvia
Lithuania
Algeria
New Zealand
Egypt
Chile
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Iceland
Malta
Qatar
Argentina
Mongolia
Kenya
Saudi Arabia
Lebanon
Paraguay
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ethiopia
Maldives
Guam
Oman
Botswana
Morocco
Swaziland
Ghana
Iraq
Venezuela
Tunisia
Brunei Darussalam
Namibia
Uzbekistan
Gibraltar
Trinidad and Tobago
Sri Lanka

Inciting comments under pro-Russian material which otherwise would unlikely earn this much support comes very often from IP addresses which can be traced back to Czech domestic intelligence and counter-intelligence service. This is nothing new, administrators often confirm this in private.

I just received the most beautiful set of PowerPoint slides from a friend, illustrating the cyber conflict in and against Ukraine.

But I can’t show you just yet.

But it’s sweet.

It’s worth waiting for.

I just wanted to tease you.

I’ll be back in eight hours.

“Mounting rifts evident among opponents of Russia”

Iran’s believability factor = zero

The rest of the article, here, by IRIB Worldwide, purports that different parties from the West, opposed to actions by Russia over Ukraine, disagree about future actions against Russia.

Oh. My.  Goodness.   Even if the article hadn’t originated from an official propaganda arm of Iran, the story would still be suspect.  As it is, IRIB has a horrible reputation and it truly is the little brother of PressTV and such.

When I read through the article, however, one of the first, and therefore most major, justifications for the article is that the head of the European Space Organization does not want to sever ties with the Russian Space Organization, like NASA did.  For the space program, this is a major issue.  For the rest of the world, apologies, but space programs are not on most people’s list of issues to discuss.  At least not this week.  Your issue does not carry the weight necessary to support the title.

Only after that are sanctions against Russia mentioned.  “Intensification of sanctions”.  “Not inclined as such”.  “Compromise with Russia”.  “Adoption of détente policies”.  Why thank you, IRIB.  This is the democratic process by which the West examines the options and, through negotiations and compromise, determine the course of action they want to pursue.  We realize this is a foreign process to Iran since 1979, please pay attention so we don’t need to explain this again.  No, that is not a slam, Iran.  Really.

Here in the United States we are quite accustomed to these headlines.  Many newspapers are biased towards the Democrats and headlines often highlight the growing split among Republicans, the increasing chasm in positions among the conservatives, and the decreasing synergy in those from the right.  This is an illusion, purposefully built, to act as a red herring intended to divert attention from the issue of discussion.  In this case, Russia’s attempt at a soft takeover of Ukraine.

An analogy might be the teacher assigning you a paper on the history of the United States and the naughty student completing a paper on pirates.  Fun to read but you will receive a failing grade.

Iran. Fail.