“The FBI interrogators knew nothing about how science is done, and they saw routine academic activities as criminal. (…) The charges against me were not only false, they were laughable.”
Physicist Xiaoxing Xi — Temple University 2020 Andrei Sakharov Prize
Professor Xiaoxing Xi, of Temple University, is a 2020 recipient of the APS Andrei Sakharov Prize.
April 27 2021 — The FBI is harassing innocent Chinese-American scientists and this ongoing witch-hunt could have disastrous consequences for U.S. fundamental research. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
“I cannot talk about the 2007 incident. It is classified. I risk incarceration. I have a family.If you are contemplating whistleblowing … you’re going to sit there and say, ‘If I go through that system, it will not end well for me. I’m going to lose my career and I’m going to be financially devastated.’”
Former CIA John Reidy
July 30 2021 — This year marks the 243rd anniversary of America’s first whistleblower law, passed unanimously on July 30th, 1778 during the height of the American Revolution. The law was passed after ten whistleblowers reported wrongdoing and abuses committed by a superior officer in the Continental Navy. The first Congressional celebration of National Whistleblower Day took place in the U.S. Senate Kennedy Caucus Room on July 30th, 2015. Every year since, the National Whistleblower Center has held an event on Capitol Hill to celebrate whistleblowers. Follow on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
“Richard Sorge’s brilliant espionage work saved Stalin and the Soviet Union from defeat in the fall of 1941, probably prevented a Nazi victory in World War II and thereby assured the dimensions of the world we live in today.”
American writerLarry Collins
“Richard Sorge was the best spy of all time.” Tom Clancy
November 7 2022 — On October 18 1941, Richard Sorge was arrested in Tokyo. He was hanged on November 7 1944, at 10:20 Tokyo time in Sugamo Prison. A number of famous personalities — from General Douglas MacArthur to James Bond’s father and former MI6 Ian Fleming — considered him one of the most accomplished spies. Chief Prosecutor Mitsusada Yoshikawa — the Japanese who led the prosecution and obtained Sorge’s death sentence — wrote that he never met a greater man. Richard Sorge is proof that one spy can alter the History of our world. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
“Cretton [Real name : Swiss Inspector Hans Knaus] expressed his concerns (…) The first was that the CIA had planted the chip [PT/35(b)] in the wreckage found at Lockerbie.
[Detective Superintendant (SIO) Stuart] Henderson and I told him this thought had also crossed our minds. Neither of us believed the CIA or any government official would do such a thing, but we had discussed the possibility.”
Richard Marquise FBI Agent Lockerbie investigation
July 27 2020 — On December 21 1988, N739PA — the Boeing 747 aircraft operating the transatlantic leg of Pan Am Flight 103 — broke up in flight over Scotland. All 243 passengers and 16 crew died as well as 11 residents of Lockerbie. This horrific crime has been called the world’s biggest unsolved murder.
The three Lockerbie judges wrote [Court Opinion] :
[1] At 1903 hours on 22 December 1988 Pan Am flight 103 fell out of the sky. The 259 passengers and crew members who were on board and 11 residents of Lockerbie where the debris fell were killed. The Crown case is that the cause of the disaster was that an explosive device had been introduced into the hold of the aircraft by the two accused whether acting alone or in concert with each other and others.
[2] It is not disputed, and was amply proved, that the cause of the disaster was indeed the explosion of a device within the aircraft. Nor is it disputed that the person or persons who were responsible for the deliberate introduction of the explosive device would be guilty of the crime of murder.
Pan Am Flight 103 disintegrated in flight over Lockerbie on December 21 1988 — not December 22 — because of a massive structural failure due to well-known issues of metal fatigue in section 41 and 42 of the Boeing 747, not because of an explosive device.
Perhaps, someone should have written a foreword to the court opinion. I would suggest the following warning: “This verdict is based on a fictional story. Any similarity with real events or characters is purely coincidental.”
In this final chapter, I would like to expose some of the characters who certainly played an important role in one of the greatest cover-up in modern history. One should never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity, but, as Einstein argued, don’t rule out malice! Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”
Donald Trump Presidential candidate July 27 2016
July 27 2023 — On July 27 2016, Donald Trump crossed the Rubicon when he called on Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails. From that instant on, Trump was at war with the CIA. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
“This story is demented and broken on so many levels, it is quite difficult to know where to begin, even. Here we have an excellent Wikipedia administrator who has been victimized by lunatic conspiracy theorists, a private person who has absolutely no relation to the wild stories that this article promulgates. Slashdot, you have been trolled.”
Jimmy Wales Wikipedia co-founder (July 26 2007)
July 26 2023 — On this day (July 26 2007) sixteen years ago, OMNI (Ohmy News International) published a piece regarding suspicious edits made to certain articles on Wikipedia. As I was researching a story on the Lockerbie tragedy, I noticed that some information regarding a Palestinian terrorist group had been erased. Upon closer inspection, I came to the conclusion that Intelligence Agencies were editing sensitive information on Wikipedia. I was not wrong. PS: Jimmy Wales never apologized. The CIA issued the usual Glomar response… Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
“It is striking to note the similarity of the ‘scientific’ evidence discovered by the FBI’s Tom Thurman in both the Lockerbie and UTA cases. Of the tens of thousands of pieces of debris collected at each disaster site, one lone piece of printed circuit was found and, miracle of miracles, in each case the fragment bore markings that allowed for positive identification: MEBO in the Lockerbie case and TY in the case of UTA Flight 772. Despite the common findings of the DCPJ, the DST and the Prefecture of Police crime laboratory, Judge Bruguière chose to believe Thurman, the expert in fabricating evidence.”
Pierre Péan African Manipulations
July 25 2019 — Pierre Péan, one of the greatest French investigative journalists, died Thursday July 25 2019. He was 81. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
“There was sufficient grounds to suspect a criminal device on that plane. I am convinced that the investigation was improperly done.”
Retired RCMP Tom Juby Arson investigator assigned to the Swissair file
“Le Peintre” (The Painter), by famed artist Pablo Picasso, was lost in the crash of Swissair Flight 111 off Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on Sep 2, 1998.
September 2 2020 — On September 2 1998, Swissair Flight 111 hit the water off the hamlet of Peggy’s Cove (Nova Scotia) killing all 229 passengers and crew on board instantly. According to the plane’s manifest, Flight 111 was also transporting a diamond from a Nature of Diamonds exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, one kilogram of other diamonds, about 4.5 kilograms of other jewellery, 49 kilograms of cash, and a multimillion-dollar version of Picasso’s Le Peintre. None of these was ever recovered. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
“I am pleased to announce that I have invited the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Bill Burns, to serve as a member of my Cabinet.”
President Joe Biden (July 21 2023)
U.S. President Joe Biden looks at the Memorial Wall as he is introduced to speak by Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns at CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia, U.S., July 8, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
July 23 2024 — On Friday, President Joe Biden elevated CIA Director William Burns to his Cabinet. As a Cabinet member, Burns will serve alongside Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, whose office sets direction for the entire U.S. intelligence community. If History is any guide, this is a mistake. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
“In the long run, the most unpleasant truth is a safer companion than a pleasant falsehood.”
Theodore Roosevelt
July 22 2023 – As you know, I took a long time off. I needed to work out a few things. In recent weeks, many readers wrote to me because they were worried, and they wanted to know if I was well. I was really moved by your letters.
Rest assured that I have not been idle. Quite the contrary… Most importantly, I came to the conclusion that this blog is useful, perhaps more so than ever before. And therefore, I am glad to tell you that I will return to blogging. Slowly, but surely…
Intel Today 