I like Paul Daley's columns generally, but in his 'armchair general' piece in the Guardian, he disappoints somewhat.

While I agree with his views on national security when it comes to geopolitical affairs as they currently appear to be in the broad, I do not agree with his analysis in the detail.

Sure, Australian govts ought to demand high level strategic goals from its thinktank coneheads and ADF platform-happy wanks, goals which can be tweaked politically (in terms of contemporary Foreign Affairs agenda) rather than getting a mishmash of perceived threats and platforms of choice to deal with these. Foremost though, those strategic goals ought to be articulated in a way which discounts allied help.

In general, I agree with 'stand off' capabilities (in whatever form this might require) which also doubles as credible deterrence (the weaponry required might be said to be bleedingly obvious).

But Daley's whole article is premissed on false assumptions. Towit: "It is harder to capture ground (including sea and airspace) than it is to hold it. All aggressors must attack into the unknown, bringing their support with them. Defenders, by contrast, can fall back on to a known space and the provisions it can supply."

Read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/21/an-alternative-to-aukus-australia-strategic-defensive-approach

These assumptions just do not stand up to scrutiny. Look at history as far back as the Roman Empire or 1812 (just as Daley did to claim authority for his piece) and you will see it replete with examples of aggressors taking hold of 'the ground' with relative ease (at least initially) - the latest examples being Russia and China. While holding that gained territory is far from assured (in fact not assured and not easy at all).

Then there is the fact that today's intelligence collection and analysis has matured sufficiently for an aggressor to be confident enough to plan accordingly - Aggressors are no longer 'blind' though their leaderships might be but not for want of pertinent intelligence.

Australia being sparsely populated, its citizens, govt institutions, and defence establishmenst concentrated in or around large cities is easily targeted without having to put boots on the Continent (at least initially). One must remember that modern warfare is Total Warfare. Pin-point military strikes on military targets a la US is the norm for very limited campaigns only. Australia is also very vulnerable (360 degree access points in 4 dimensions) and 'defence in depth a la WWII Russia scorched earth strategy would utterly destroy Australia's capacity to resist an invasion of any kind (be it partial or complete) without external help. It's as simple as that.

I have not read Daley's book but if the assumptions he disclosed in his article are any indication of the book's work, I'm not sure it's worth the read.

#AusPol #AusDefence #ADF #ForeignAffairs #ThreatSpectrum #DefenceInDepth #MissileDefence #CredibleDeterrence #Allies #IndependentStrategy #NationalSecurity #geopolitcs #Strategy

@Ashedryden sure:

• be well rested and less stressed. Really! Immune systems perform better when the organism is well-rested, and worse when under stress conditions. Literally calm your system beforehand with meditation if you can?
• have your vitamins. Results for vitamins D and C vary from "no effect" to "protective" (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9864223/ for example), with clear evidence that low vitamin D can down-modulate immunity. Especially important for PoC in northern climes, folks who don't work outdoors, and similar. Maybe start supplementing vitamin D (through sun exposure or pills) a week+ ahead?
• nasal sprays and mouthwashes. There is evidence for both xylitol and iota-carrageenan giving protection against SARS-CoV-2. A nice review with links to actual research from this past summer: https://integrativewomenshealthinstitute.com/how-to-prevent-long-covid-summer-2024-update/
• UV light disinfection, aka Germicidal Ultraviolet. This is harder to access as most installations are for industry, but if you have time and energy perhaps you can DIY it or find a supplier.
• explicitly say "And if you want to come but are feeling sick, let us know, and we'll drop off a get-better goodie basket and a little gift!" or similar, so folks who are ill have motivation to not come.

You've already said you will ventilate and filter. Add more filters? HEPA is great but Corsi-Rosenthal boxes with MERV-13 filters are also highly effective, relatively inexpensive, and if made with computer fans, very very quiet. They can be totally DIY - there's even a song about it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XS-7vgThfQ !!! - , and various sellers have them available as kits or prefabbed, too.

Less likely to be useful:

• vaccinate 2-3 weeks prior to be at peak vax-induced immunity before waning
• PlusLife or RAT testing at the door
• free mask basket at the door. You sound perhaps willing to use an N95 but you indicated your guests wouldn't.

I hope some of those help! None of them will guarantee no infection, but when one must face such situations, the odds can be improved.

#SwissCheeseModel #AirborneAware #CovidCompetent #CovidConscious #COVIDcautious #SwissCheeseDefence #SwissCheeseDefense #DefenseInDepth #DefenceInDepth #COVIDIsNotOver #SARSCoV2 #COVID #COVID19 #CovidIsAirborne

@eff maybe consider physical security and wear elastomeric respirators, or N95s at least.

Attendees who leave port 23 open are mocked, compromised, honeypots, or all. Attendees who leave mouth and nose ports open are demonstrating situational unawareness.

#maskUp #security #swissCheeseModel #defenseInDepth #defenceInDepth

:youtube: #TheTelegraph

ℹ In the first episode of the second series of #DefenceInDepth, #DominicNicholls, #TheTelegraph’s Associate Editor, speaks to Lt Gen. Kyrylo #Budanov, #Ukraine’s head of #military #intelligence

In an exclusive interview, Gen. #Budanov says Western nations are providing “priceless” intelligence support locating the launch sites of russian missiles being fired at #Ukraine

https://youtu.be/Lv-cwK5WNwg?feature=share

#Telegraph #DefenceInDepth

'Pull Russia's poisonous teeth': Zelensky's war chief on Hitler, Putin & recruits | Defence in Depth

To mark the two-year anniversary of Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine, The Telegraph was given exclusive access with some of the most powerful figures in President Zelensky’s administration: Oleksiy Danilov, the overarching coordinator of the country's war cabinet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fxFRcrJfc4

#Danilov
#Ukraine #War #StandWithUkraine

@DeborahForPlus He should also threaten to prosecute families who kick children out or harm them in retaliation for being trans or gender non-conforming. Its helpfulness will necessarily be limited compared to enforcing a no-outing policy on genuine institutions with real bureaucracies and, often, lawyers, but, hey, that's often the case with #DefenceInDepth .

I used to have a sail boat. One of the most important #safety rules in sailing is "don't sail on a schedule".

What this means is that if you have a destination & a deadline, you will override safety signals (like weather) & travel in unsafe conditions due to deadline pressure. This is how serious accidents happen while sailing.

Planning for sailing puts an emphasis on having a checklist that includes having situational awareness of issues like boat condition, charts, & weather by explicitly checking the marine weather forecasts.

Also you have to be prepared to bail on your destination & schedule if the safety signals change. You have to know where your closest port is to seek shelter if a storm arises.

It occurred to me that the #airbornePrecautions equivalent is "don't be task focused on a deadline".

The need to get a task done by a deadline causes you to lose situational awareness, & accept risk that you would not otherwise accept if you thought your safety plan through ahead of time.

This is exacerbated by the total lack of a danger signal in society right now. No mitigations visible. Out of sight, out of mind.

This bit me yesterday getting a vaccination from an unmasked pharmacist in a small room. I took a risk I should not have, because I lost situational awareness under the drive to get the task done. I never would have accepted that risk in my pre-thought out safety plan. But it just popped up in the middle of the task, & I let it slide because I wasn't situationally aware.

Now, ofc I was wearing #P100 #elastomeric so the risk here is relative due to #DefenceInDepth. My event was ocular exposure during high water mark for community transmission, not being maskless. But it is not a risk I would have taken in a pre-thought through safety plan.
And that's the big deal now. Every little ordinary task needs a safety plan.

It's frustrating. It's exhausting.

When it goes wrong, when the safety signals change, when you get off plan, you have to be prepared to "bail". Halt a task, walk out, cancel, reschedule. Find a safe port in the new storm.

I should have refused entry with a maskless pharmacist. Cancelled, requested accommodation & rescheduled.

This is a kind of risk "velocitization" that happens. I am getting velocitized into one-way masking even during high #community #transmission periods. Everyone else but me unmasked is the new normal.

This is how accidents happen - a bunch of little issues leading to an unwanted, unplanned outcome.

#SARS2 #sarscov2 #COVID19 #riskManagement #risk

My #PPE regime

#N95 outdoors
#P100 elastomeric indoors
#HEPA for long duration indoors
#Ocular protection when #sars2 weather is bad & density is high
#CO2 monitor to assess risk level

#CovidIsNotOver #WearARespirator #RespiratorsWork #DefenceInDepth

@mathieu @loke A second factor of authentication is something you have and should be separate from the device you're trying to authenticate on. A password manager really doesn't meet the requirement IMO. Also the device itself should authenticated to the network. #defenceindepth

Building barriers doesn’t matter that much when a threat can teleport into the core infrastructure. However, creating multiple layers by using various techniques requires the threat actor to show how he would traverse the barriers (his techniques). This, increasing his risk of detection.

Result would be a modest set of behavioral indicators when encountering cyber operations.

In my opinion this is a better way to view this concept in the cyber domain. Changing views will also change the way we build these barriers, with logging for instance.

#defenceindepth #traceability #architecture #physical #logical