Reliable Intel/Info During Crazy Times?

[goob469]

With Main Stream Media and Social Media being... well let's just say, being "themselves," where are you getting your reliable Intel? Maybe I'm being a pessimist but, I think the Derek Chauvin (George Floyd) trail, however it ends, coupled with a year-and-a-half of "lock downs" is a formula that does not lead to anything good (i.e. last couple nights in Brooklyn Center, MN). If we are lucky it will stay isolated to Minnesota; however, as we saw last year, that will most likely not be the case.

So, the question comes back around, we do we get reliable intel to stay one step ahead?

 

[rosejm]

 

[Magyars]

I have a number of right/conservative sites.
The first one I look at every morning is thelibertydaily.com
And FreeRepublc.com

 

[rooster]

With Main Stream Media and Social Media being... well let's just say, being "themselves," where are you getting your reliable Intel? Maybe I'm being a pessimist but, I think the Derek Chauvin (George Floyd) trail, however it ends, coupled with a year-and-a-half of "lock downs" is a formula that does not lead to anything good (i.e. last couple nights in Brooklyn Center, MN). If we are lucky it will stay isolated to Minnesota; however, as we saw last year, that will most likely not be the case.

So, the question comes back around, we do we get reliable intel to stay one step ahead?

Inside info is usually leaked on some of the Chan sites. Careful they are a cesspool though.

RT (Russian) and presstv (Iranian) usually pickup stories pretty quick that go against whatever propaganda info the gov is pushing. Take those with a grain of salt as well.

believe it or not I’m getting a lot of good and current info from ticktok. Lots of individual content creators on there amplifying stories that the mainstream media won’t touch with a 10 foot stick.

scotus blog has current and mostly unreported info on current ongoing s of scotus. They are seem pretty critical of the newest trend of shadow dockets.

I’m sure I have more but that’s all I can think of right now.

citizen app can be useful for tracking riots happening near your location but if you really want intel on the latest ongoings of the mob then the best way is to follow them on Twitter or better yet get on a distro list for planned events.

 

[JettaKnight]

If a web site has the word "true" (or "tru") in the name, it probably isn't.

 

[spencer rifle]

If a web site has the word "true" (or "tru") in the name, it probably isn't.

Brings to mind the old Margaret Thatcher quote:
"Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't."

 

[1nderbeard]

You can see a definite bias, but the Daily Wire usually has fairly honest reporting. They are not a pure journalism site (who is right now?), but have a defined right bias. They are also more of a national commentary.
But I've found them to be insightful - especially the podcasts. They are the counter to the left wing media bias.

 

[vzdude]

for personal posterity.

 

[GIJEW]

For a long time we've been in a situation like a subject of the USSR, tuning his radio between radio-free-America and pravda, and then trying to sift some truth out of it all.
I've found BlazeTV, The Daily Wire, and Tim Pool's podcasts to be informative. On the other hand, listening to lies from MSM can be informative, seeing the agendas their pushing and the lies they tell to do it.

As for local info...maybe a PD scanner and word of mouth?

 

[Leadeye]

For me it's limiting what's important to what you can physically see around you. Things that happen in the next state or some town on the west coast are really irrelevant except when voting in a national election. Focus first on those you love and are immediately responsible for and your close by environment.

In both cases near and far just "Go to the Winchester".

Have a pint or chamber a round.

 

[Usmccookie]

For me it's limiting what's important to what you can physically see around you. Things that happen in the next state or some town on the west coast are really irrelevant except when voting in a national election. Focus first on those you love and are immediately responsible for and your close by environment.

In both cases near and far just "Go to the Winchester".

You had me at winchester

 

[jsx1043]

Back in the old days, I was an intel analyst, both in public safety and in the private sector. Intel gathering takes a LOT of time. You will never find a truly unbiased source, (at least not anymore). All sources have some form of bias, the trick is to heavily research the sources and to see where their bias comes from.

I'm going to give a quick and dirty lesson on intel and assign an efficacy rating on various types of intel sources: on a scale of 1 -10, with 1 being absolutely untrustworthy, and 10 being considered to be completely verified information.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, obviously all of the political sites have a leaning. This information has to be understood while reading the text, with specific attention given to wording, syntax, quotes and sources (within the article/document). The left and right rile their readers up on purpose: it drives clicks and traffic (MONEY). These sites give a glimpse into the direction of political policymaking and issues within other jurisdictions, and often show "which way the wind is blowing." Facts are often hard to glean, with carefully scripted comments and deceptively edited videos to confirm a narrative. Efficacy rating: 6

Conspiracy theory sites attempt to drive the "truth" and rely on other sources of funding, so they have the quietest voices because they aren't solely relying on ad revenue. These sites are also worded very specifically to drive their narrative, and rely heavily on specific selection of confirming information to their theories. The goldmine in these sites is reading the comments and seeing how successfully the followers have been influenced. And for the lay analyst, these sites open up tons of networking opportunities and links to sources of information you didn't even know existed. Efficacy rating: 2.5

Social media sites are where most of the world receives its information. Normally they are regurgitated articles from news sites that are prompted to a social media user based on the platform's algorithm. (For anyone who doesn't know, you are being tracked and manipulated by your social media: they follow your every move, your likes/dislikes, and your information is available to anyone who buys it. The platforms all have A.I. processors that use your information to cultivate a specific feed for you based on the previous information.) Social media sites are basically a content aggregator for information. If you go through facebook and select every MSM page, political commentary page, conspiracy theory page and official government entity page, your feed will be absolutely bombarded with information (and the algorithm would probably implode like a Fembot at the sight of Austin Powers' sweet sexy moves and not know which to feed you). This would also give you a rounded, fairly-mainstream approach to gathering information. The caveat being is that, if you were to use social media as your ONLY source of intel (even from multiple sites,) then you're only scratching the surface because you're being fed information, rather than actively pursuing various sources, with different levels of veracity. Again, the comments are as equally informative as the article. The one true critically important and effective part of gathering intel within social media is monitoring activist groups. There is no shortage of information about mindset, plans, planning, training and events (scheduled protests, days of action, etc.). Efficacy rating: 4 (General intel gathering); 8 (for activist groups.)

Government resources are some of the best sources of information. Websites, links, white papers, news releases, studies and social media accounts are all chock-full of (fairly) unbiased information. Now, before I get taken to task on gubmint "bias," understand what I mean in this instance: a published report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on the amount of fatal crashes by clown cars running over grandmothers in rural Nebraska will have some pretty darned unbiased statistics and information... That being said, the illustrious word of our benevolent government cannot and should not be trusted without verification. The importance here is that there is valuable information out there that affects us in everyday life: the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the M1 Money Stock, Dept of Agriculture (USDA) yield reports, etc., all of which have economic implications for the country. The sum total of information gathered from government sources is usually reliable; but with any source that has skin in the game, the importance is to watch how the information is delivered and to watch for bias creep, I.E., the way the Fed changed daily reporting on the M1 Money Stock to a monthly report in a different format so that the insane amount of money being printed didn't "look as bad." Efficacy rating: 8

Message boards and forums... Well, if you're here, you know what a forum looks like: Generally they are interest-specific, and lean fairly heavily into the members for its politics and tone. It goes without saying that INGO is more conservative than say, the Socialist Rifle Association (Do they have a forum? You get the point.) Again, based on the members and their experiences and backgrounds, you can learn a lot about a specific subject, read posted links from other sources, and see what member's personal reactions are to news and information being discussed. Efficacy rating: 7

Smartphone Apps: Apps like Citizen are great for gathering real-time information on current public safety events in your city. (Side note: whoever is running Citizen is ate up on COVID, they push a lot of COVID updates that definitely appear to be fearmongering to me, IMO.) Telegram and others provide supposedly encrypted communication amongst groups. Harbor is a new app I just recently got that is a preparedness app, but I haven't been able to mess with it much. Groups like American Contingency use the Locals app to communicate. Some RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds can do a decent job of distributing real-time information, but they are usually based upon the source. Efficacy rating: +/- 7


So, that's the bare bones open-source intel sources. There are some more out there, but they are usually industry-specific and require subscriptions. Some key takeaways to remember:


1. Verify your source. Every scrap of information should be verified against multiple sources (veracity).

2. Think outside the box: Look for intel in EVERYTHING - conversations, comments online, links to articles, addendums, citations, etc.

3. Use bias to your advantage. Know that it exists and read between the lines.

4. Know that you have a personal bias and look at something from an alternate perspective.

5. Don't fall for a honeypot: If it's too good to be true, it probably isn't.



Side notes:

Reddit is actually a great source of information. Reddit users usually post short and sweet messages, so it's easy to read and not be overwhelmed. r/preppers: Did anyone else know that Lebanon (the country) is on the verge of collapse? I didn't. r/wallstreetbets: Fantastic, real-time info on the Gamestop short.

Seriously, get off of facebook, Twitter, Instagram and (God forbid) Tik Tok unless you are buying or selling something, chatting in a VERY private group, following meme pages, or just gathering intel. (And it would behoove you to set up a backstopped fake account to do so.)

Don't be afraid to listen to podcasts or search out various people on video hosting platforms. There are a TON of helpful videos, but there is just as much crap.

READ: Read silly fiction books. Read a religious text. Read the Constitution. Read Machiavelli. Read 1984, A Brave New World and Atlas Shrugged. Read Thomas Paine, CS Lewis, Frederick Douglass and Saul Alinsky. Intel gathering is not just about monitoring the present to predict the future, it's also about knowing the past.


But absolutely most important: DEVELOP A PLAN BASED ON YOUR INTEL. All of that information does nothing if you don't use it. Plan and prepare now, because we are in for a very bumpy ride.

 

[JettaKnight]

That's both unexpected for the thread, and very informative.

 

[jsx1043]

That's both unexpected for the thread, and very informative.

What was unexpected?

 

[JettaKnight]

What was unexpected?

Reading a post here that wasn't just, "I read what aligns with my preconceived notion."

 

[Tombs]

Places that are considered the "worst of the worst" on the internet.
+
A healthy amount of critical thinking skills and remembering to investigate a story's origin if it smells a little off.

If you lack the latter ability, you're not going to be able to glean reliable information from anywhere. Due to the fact that numerous government leaks, inside scoops, and other shenigans have went down on 4chan, I'll usually check for the latest intel there and back track its origins. There is a very very low signal to noise ratio for good information, but if something happens anywhere in the world, the first place you will hear about it is absolutely on 4chan.

If you're going after things that may delve into the conspiracy realm, all bets are off the majority of the time unless through many many different sources, and different news stories, can you piece together that same narrative. Usually you can, as I discovered with all of the nonsense in Ukraine.

For traditional old school news media (ONLY FOR US NEWS STORIES, NOTHING OUTSIDE OF INTERNAL ISSUES) I find RT to do the best job of delivering the factual story in briefest of terms. And they are FAST especially with mass shootings, or disasters.

 

[Keith_Indy]

Great info jsx1043

My daily reading list, I usually hear about most important things first from instapundit (I check it multiple times daily.) The rest of these are usually once or twice a day, more frequently if something major is happening that I'm interested in.

Aggregators:

Instapundit

Instapundit is a conservative blog for breaking news and commentary

pjmedia.com

Welcome

...

bonginoreport.com

News:

The Daily Caller

Today's entertainment gossip and chatter

dailycaller.com

Issues & Insights

issuesinsights.com

Just The News

Washington based JusttheNews.com covers events in the capital and is dedicated to Web and video journalism, podcasting and long-form nonfiction book publishing.

justthenews.com

One America News

www.oann.com

Newsmax.com - Breaking news from around the globe

Newsmax.com reports today’s news headlines, live news stream, news videos from Americans and global readers seeking the latest in current events, politics, U.S., world news, health, finance, and more.

www.newsmax.com

UnHerd | Ideas you won't hear elsewhere

Challenging the herd with new and bold thinking in philosophy, politics and culture.

unherd.com

 

[goob469]

Back in the old days, I was an intel analyst, both in public safety and in the private sector. Intel gathering takes a LOT of time. You will never find a truly unbiased source, (at least not anymore). All sources have some form of bias, the trick is to heavily research the sources and to see where their bias comes from.

I'm going to give a quick and dirty lesson on intel and assign an efficacy rating on various types of intel sources: on a scale of 1 -10, with 1 being absolutely untrustworthy, and 10 being considered to be completely verified information.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, obviously all of the political sites have a leaning. This information has to be understood while reading the text, with specific attention given to wording, syntax, quotes and sources (within the article/document). The left and right rile their readers up on purpose: it drives clicks and traffic (MONEY). These sites give a glimpse into the direction of political policymaking and issues within other jurisdictions, and often show "which way the wind is blowing." Facts are often hard to glean, with carefully scripted comments and deceptively edited videos to confirm a narrative. Efficacy rating: 6

Conspiracy theory sites attempt to drive the "truth" and rely on other sources of funding, so they have the quietest voices because they aren't solely relying on ad revenue. These sites are also worded very specifically to drive their narrative, and rely heavily on specific selection of confirming information to their theories. The goldmine in these sites is reading the comments and seeing how successfully the followers have been influenced. And for the lay analyst, these sites open up tons of networking opportunities and links to sources of information you didn't even know existed. Efficacy rating: 2.5

Social media sites are where most of the world receives its information. Normally they are regurgitated articles from news sites that are prompted to a social media user based on the platform's algorithm. (For anyone who doesn't know, you are being tracked and manipulated by your social media: they follow your every move, your likes/dislikes, and your information is available to anyone who buys it. The platforms all have A.I. processors that use your information to cultivate a specific feed for you based on the previous information.) Social media sites are basically a content aggregator for information. If you go through facebook and select every MSM page, political commentary page, conspiracy theory page and official government entity page, your feed will be absolutely bombarded with information (and the algorithm would probably implode like a Fembot at the sight of Austin Powers' sweet sexy moves and not know which to feed you). This would also give you a rounded, fairly-mainstream approach to gathering information. The caveat being is that, if you were to use social media as your ONLY source of intel (even from multiple sites,) then you're only scratching the surface because you're being fed information, rather than actively pursuing various sources, with different levels of veracity. Again, the comments are as equally informative as the article. The one true critically important and effective part of gathering intel within social media is monitoring activist groups. There is no shortage of information about mindset, plans, planning, training and events (scheduled protests, days of action, etc.). Efficacy rating: 4 (General intel gathering); 8 (for activist groups.)

Government resources are some of the best sources of information. Websites, links, white papers, news releases, studies and social media accounts are all chock-full of (fairly) unbiased information. Now, before I get taken to task on gubmint "bias," understand what I mean in this instance: a published report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on the amount of fatal crashes by clown cars running over grandmothers in rural Nebraska will have some pretty darned unbiased statistics and information... That being said, the illustrious word of our benevolent government cannot and should not be trusted without verification. The importance here is that there is valuable information out there that affects us in everyday life: the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the M1 Money Stock, Dept of Agriculture (USDA) yield reports, etc., all of which have economic implications for the country. The sum total of information gathered from government sources is usually reliable; but with any source that has skin in the game, the importance is to watch how the information is delivered and to watch for bias creep, I.E., the way the Fed changed daily reporting on the M1 Money Stock to a monthly report in a different format so that the insane amount of money being printed didn't "look as bad." Efficacy rating: 8

Message boards and forums... Well, if you're here, you know what a forum looks like: Generally they are interest-specific, and lean fairly heavily into the members for its politics and tone. It goes without saying that INGO is more conservative than say, the Socialist Rifle Association (Do they have a forum? You get the point.) Again, based on the members and their experiences and backgrounds, you can learn a lot about a specific subject, read posted links from other sources, and see what member's personal reactions are to news and information being discussed. Efficacy rating: 7

Smartphone Apps: Apps like Citizen are great for gathering real-time information on current public safety events in your city. (Side note: whoever is running Citizen is ate up on COVID, they push a lot of COVID updates that definitely appear to be fearmongering to me, IMO.) Telegram and others provide supposedly encrypted communication amongst groups. Harbor is a new app I just recently got that is a preparedness app, but I haven't been able to mess with it much. Groups like American Contingency use the Locals app to communicate. Some RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds can do a decent job of distributing real-time information, but they are usually based upon the source. Efficacy rating: +/- 7


So, that's the bare bones open-source intel sources. There are some more out there, but they are usually industry-specific and require subscriptions. Some key takeaways to remember:


1. Verify your source. Every scrap of information should be verified against multiple sources (veracity).

2. Think outside the box: Look for intel in EVERYTHING - conversations, comments online, links to articles, addendums, citations, etc.

3. Use bias to your advantage. Know that it exists and read between the lines.

4. Know that you have a personal bias and look at something from an alternate perspective.

5. Don't fall for a honeypot: If it's too good to be true, it probably isn't.



Side notes:

Reddit is actually a great source of information. Reddit users usually post short and sweet messages, so it's easy to read and not be overwhelmed. r/preppers: Did anyone else know that Lebanon (the country) is on the verge of collapse? I didn't. r/wallstreetbets: Fantastic, real-time info on the Gamestop short.

Seriously, get off of facebook, Twitter, Instagram and (God forbid) Tik Tok unless you are buying or selling something, chatting in a VERY private group, following meme pages, or just gathering intel. (And it would behoove you to set up a backstopped fake account to do so.)

Don't be afraid to listen to podcasts or search out various people on video hosting platforms. There are a TON of helpful videos, but there is just as much crap.

READ: Read silly fiction books. Read a religious text. Read the Constitution. Read Machiavelli. Read 1984, A Brave New World and Atlas Shrugged. Read Thomas Paine, CS Lewis, Frederick Douglass and Saul Alinsky. Intel gathering is not just about monitoring the present to predict the future, it's also about knowing the past.


But absolutely most important: DEVELOP A PLAN BASED ON YOUR INTEL. All of that information does nothing if you don't use it. Plan and prepare now, because we are in for a very bumpy ride.

Lot's of good info to sift through. Thanks!