Stratfor (short for Strategic Forecasting) is not some secret, exclusive operation. Anybody can subscribe to them. You can even get free reports via email. They offer analysis on issues that are global in scope - security, energy, economics, politics, whatever. And, oh yeah, they actually admit it when they get an analysis wrong or didn't see something coming.
I've been a subscriber to the service for several years now. I don't work for an energy company or a multinational corporation. I am an individual who wishes to get rational, pragmatic insights on issues that concern me - and I want minimal bullshit in my insights.
IMO, I think these guys do a reasonable job - way better than FOX, CNN, or the standard networks. During the Iraq war, when all the major networks were cheerleading, these guys were trying to determine what may have been motivating that sequence of events; speculating about potential ways the war would be carried out; counter-strategies from Iraq; impacts of the war on the regional and global balance of power. They're not liberal, they're not conservative, they're not libertarian. They are essentially a private intelligence service.
The point of this rant is that Stratfor does good work. I subscribe to them because they try to provide an informed, dispassionate perspective that is currently absent from the mainstream news networks. And it pisses me off that some jackasses would hack them.
Slashdot Mirror
Stratfor (short for Strategic Forecasting) is not some secret, exclusive operation. Anybody can subscribe to them. You can even get free reports via email. They offer analysis on issues that are global in scope - security, energy, economics, politics, whatever. And, oh yeah, they actually admit it when they get an analysis wrong or didn't see something coming. I've been a subscriber to the service for several years now. I don't work for an energy company or a multinational corporation. I am an individual who wishes to get rational, pragmatic insights on issues that concern me - and I want minimal bullshit in my insights. IMO, I think these guys do a reasonable job - way better than FOX, CNN, or the standard networks. During the Iraq war, when all the major networks were cheerleading, these guys were trying to determine what may have been motivating that sequence of events; speculating about potential ways the war would be carried out; counter-strategies from Iraq; impacts of the war on the regional and global balance of power. They're not liberal, they're not conservative, they're not libertarian. They are essentially a private intelligence service. The point of this rant is that Stratfor does good work. I subscribe to them because they try to provide an informed, dispassionate perspective that is currently absent from the mainstream news networks. And it pisses me off that some jackasses would hack them.