Open Source Investigations

Thanks to those that have given compliments, offered advice or asked questions on how I get my information. Everything on this site can be used with my blessing if you just credit third party sites or sources. All my sources, tools, methods and information are shared here for free, and no credit is required by me for anything used even if you copy paste my words and claim them as your own. All I care about is the information awareness and having discussions or debate with aim to improve.

This is beyond a hobby, it's our reality too. Our only shot at not losing the last few freedoms we have is by working together to understand the forces conspiring against us, get informed, stop them and where necessary warn our friends.


I haven't included history, but you can click on the "Divide Et Impera" option from my "Sources & Citations" menu.

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1) Science

(There are too many here so they will link away from this page to avoid hangtime when loading.)

All the sources I have ever used in any post on science, physics, cosmology,  astrophysics, Astronomy,  particle physics, electromagnetism etc ( <=click link)

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ALL sources, papers and tools I use for Climate Change

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https://spaceweathernews.com/

HUGE assortment of free resources on solar physics, the ionosphere, forcing, our magnetic field and much more

✓  Nullschool Earth Comprehensive Interactive Tool  

Gorgeous imagery from earth.nullschool.net. Fully interactive animated version online at earth :: a global map of wind, weather, and ocean conditions

More info here

The active tool, as pictured below, is here

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2) Globalisation & Geopolitics 

Map the power with Oligrapher

Oligrapher is a tool for visualizing networks of influence using LittleSis Data.

LittleSis* is a free database of who-knows-who at the heights of business and government

(* opposite of Big Brother in case you are wondering as I was)

"We're a grassroots watchdog network connecting the dots between the world's most powerful people and organization"

✔ Paid for politicians

✔ Corporate fat cats

✔ Revolving door lobbyists

✔ Secretive Super PACs

✔ Elite think tanks

Digital Security Tips for Researchers. Ultimately these won't save you if you are a Julian Assange, but 99.9% of hacking or snooping will be repelled.

In this age of widespread surveillance, it's important to keep your research safe and secure from the prying eyes of governments and corporations. While most digital security tools are available for free, the trade off is that they require a change in your digital habits and in all honesty I don't use most of them anymore for that reason. This is simply to provide the option.

1) Take the time to master some essential personal security practices

These are the backbone of good digital security. They are a must for anyone, even those not conducting sensitive research.

• Use good passwords, two-factor authentication when available, and preferably use a password manager. I am terrible with this on all but 2 services because it's something I do so often (signing in)

• Encrypt your phones & laptops using full-disc encryption. In the event that your device is seized or stolen, this will protect the data on your hard-drive. You can do this for almost all devices including macs, PCs, and androids. Recent iPhones are already setup with full-disc encryption, but you can find more information about securing your iPhone here.

• Update your software and operating system regularly. Security vulnerabilities are being fixed all the time.

2) Surf the web safer while researching

Most research these days is done through an internet browser, and there's a lot you can do you improve the safety of your browsing.

• Avoid trackers and make your traffic more secure via chrome or firefox plugins: Privacy Badger and HTTPS-everywhere

• Concerned about the surveillance capabilities of your internet service provider? consider using a VPN or Tor while researching on the internet.

3) Communicate and share files securely

• Use encrypted chat programs such as signal, wire, or Off-the-record as an alternative to email.

• If you must use email (and who doesn't?), use an alternative provider such as riseup.net, protonmail, and resist.ca

• (You can email me at dwahts@protonmail.ch)

• To share files without going through google or dropbox, use OnionShare, Share.Riseup.net, or SpiderOak One

4) Learn more!

Developing good digital security practices takes time. These guides go more in depth about using these technologies. Read them and share them with your fellow researchers:

• EFF's Surveillance Self-Defense
• Security in a box
• Riseup.net's Security Guide
• My Shadow: Take control of your data
• Centre for Investigative Journalism - Information Security for Journalists
• Holistic Security Manual
• Library Freedom Project

Data Summary pulled from the little sis database at the time of posting this:

10,213,584	Citations
1,688,641	Relationships
285,951	People
122,737	Organizations
81,405	Business People
35,832	Businesses
20,658	Political Fundraising Committees
13,830	Academics
12,553	Lobbyists
11,189	Lawyers
11,139	Public Officials
10,306	Political Candidates
8,536	Private Companies
6,005	Elected Representatives
5,381	Other Not-for-Profits
5,306	Government Bodies
4,950	Media Personalities
4,335	Schools
3,476	Philanthropies
3,254	Public Companies
2,188	Individual Campaign Committees
1,958	Membership Organizations
1,868	Other Campaign Committees
1,747	Lobbying Firms
1,143	Law Firms
1,066	Industry/Trade Associations
738	Consulting Firms
706	PACs
674	Policy/Think Tanks
557	Public Intellectuals
503	Government-Sponsored Enterprises
489	Media Organizations
466	Cultural/Arts
387	Government Advisory Bodies
381	Political Parties
303	Labor Unions
292	Professional Associations
237	Academic Research Institutes
214	Social Clubs
205	Public Relations Firms
99	Elite Consensus Groups

A project of the Public Accountability Initiative. More about LittleSis. Read the disclaimer.

Pay Service worth considering 
If you want real economic data in extraordinary detail with fully explained methodology, consider shadowstats.com
It takes a tremendous effort to get this kind of data on your own, but the 175 USD annual subscription is a little steep for most people.

Setting the scene

There are rough seas ahead.  

Initially it will not be so apparent, not while I make few connections essential to make clear my intended basic premise, always open to moderation. It will also not be so apparent right now, while I establish principles that can be applied universally, and to which I can refer back to later on if a valid need to reference or challenge them arises.  

As themes develop and interconnect there will likely be increasingly provocative claims made and questions asked.  When emotions run high human beings tend to defend their statements because with the push of a button their words are suddenly cast into existence in the digital realm of cyberspace.  It’s so easy these days to put yourself out there, to put your image and reputation on the line, your public identity.  I don’t like my comments ripped apart by others especially for others to so easily witness. This will interfere with free processing of information because it invites in a sort of ego based agenda, like a vampire into your house that will suck the life blood from the process and leave only a shriveled husk of personal pride lying dead on the floor.

Now before I get into the really contentious stuff we need to set up a M.O. or define with reasonable fairness a few ground rules of engagement.  This will really be the only vaguely closed or defined aspect of the blog and I've designed them to make the content manageable, focused enough, and to remain clear enough so as to understandable by all.  I welcome suggestions are how to improve the method, I initially included the following text in red but have decided due to to feedback that it is not useful:but  I really don’t see the usefulness of long and rambling philosophical utterings involving metaphysical perspectives on themes that achieve precisely nothing useful or practical.

As Carl Sagan so sagely cautions, I don’t want my mind to be so open that my brain falls out.  This kind of intellectual posturing seems by design to be more useful as marketing tool for one’s brilliance and less useful for achieving set goals, especially if they are to be commonly understood.

There is also a very good case to be made about the clear meanings of words.  For example, I don’t think that, if after a long debate when possibly cornered by a sequence of logic, one should make a case about how “To me, when I say that I believe in god, I mean that god is nature, and the laws of physics”.  That is a subjective association and I put forward that it is not a useful connection to make in a shared forum unless clarified upfront. Even then I see it belonging more in the metaphysics realm; I question its communicative usefulness when there is already a very loaded understanding of a word such a “God”.  The phrase “The laws of physics” already exists and the word “nature” can have very general connotations if used incorrectly in specific context, such as in defining the nature of a deity, …. See what I mean?

Even more importantly for my objectives to be realized I think subjective evaluations should only be made in that context, IE as opinions qualified accordingly. The statement “That is wrong” is a useless judgment unless qualified, IE “That would be considered wrong by society/my mother/church/the judge”.  Even better might be “That is currently illegal”.

I think this depersonalized approach will put the focus on the content rather than the agenda’s of the individual.  I will do my best to abide by this code and I would relish being exposed for any conduct contrary to this commitment.  

Introduction

I have this crazy idea that we can solve pretty much all of our biggest problems.  I'm talking globally here, but I wouldn't exclude personal issues either.

If this is true, what the hell is stopping us?  I have a few ideas, others have different ideas.  Sometimes they clash and I want to work out exactly why that is and if it is avoidable and within the means of our biological nature and our currently defined psychology.

This blog will propose ideas that will be shaped by criticism and contribution. When enough themes have been explored, a completed body of work will emerge.  Make no mistake, boundaries will be tested, in some cases severely and there may be strong reactions.  Those reactions may even be the essential clues that I'm looking for.

The issues raised will eventually be (purposefully) highly provocative, but not provocative for the sake of provocation, I need to reasonably clear on that, and policed on that issue to be kept in line. In order to get the desired feedback I obviously require feedback from sources I consider my most valued perspectives, IE those looking to be free from attachment to baggage and sentiment that are not truly their own.  I may be privileged to uncover unexpected perspectives that I couldn't have imagined on my own.  I live in hope I guess I'll do my best to avoid the frauds out there, those who have already decided who they are and which values represent them.  I have little interest in dogma or predictable closed policies from the established social institutions and their political agenda's.  

Not giving them a mouthpiece in this space has less to do with fairness or open-mindedness and more to do with having limited time and scope to shape the material by filtering it through the perspectives I need the most because, rather than going around in closed dogmatic circles of pseudo logic, each of you may likely contribute something I need or do not already have.

In the meantime I want to raise a qualifier by way of an introduction:

Who are you? Who am I?

To be honest I don’t really know. I've never really been encouraged to find out, not beyond a token gesture at least, and I propose that neither have you.  When our parents and teachers tell us to go out there and find ourselves we now know through a myriad of self-help books and pop-psychology catch phrases on social media applied and recited without context, that what they really mean is go out there and choose a label.  The strange thing is that knowing this is not stopping most of us from going out there and doing exactly that.  

My ominous plan involves demonstrating without a shadow of doubt that none of us really knows terribly much about ourselves.  And that’s part of the reason for putting pen to paper in an attempt to explore the themes surrounding what defines us and how we identify ourselves to the world.  Who we think we are fundamentally influences our interactions with the world around us and filters our methods of getting in touch with our perceived values and morals.  Finding out who we really are will require shaking these foundations to their very core, and may even invoke a slight crises of identity along the way.  This crisis, for the truly free, can only open up possibilities that did not previously exist through some or other form of exclusion. Being free and open to new solutions, or solutions that already exist but seem alien to us, may be all that missing from many lives on planet earth.

I want each person reading to this to take my challenge, and when threatened or confronted with logic that doesn't resound, I want to hear your reasoning, justifications and suspicions with what I suggest as barriers to processing information freely.  It will not be easy.     

Exploring these connections has been a profound and awe inspiring journey for me personally, and I cannot complete it alone. That is still not the only reason I feel I have something external to offer the world.  If who we are, what our identity seems to be, truly  imposes limitations on our ability to think about all the important issues facing the world, then we will all agree that it needs to be addressed.  Once we have made a connection with a group, image or identity of any kind, our attachment to this notion of self requires re-enforcement in order to sustain a sense of belonging.  As long that remains important to us we will always need to process information available to us in life, the media, in church, parliament, at work, school or anywhere else, all within the broader description of what is required to sustain our identities.  In other words,...limited.

If it is possible to reject this notion of attachment to an identity that defines our value system  the ramifications are profound.  Help me find out.