/sectionb: ASSET
Posted on November 4th, 2024 – Comments Off on /sectionb: ASSET… in which Section B manage to secure a ride back to where all their troubles began, and (hopefully) one step closer to some answers about their predicament.
Posts Tagged ‘ spy ’
Rendezvous: intrigue
Posted on October 26th, 2024 – Comments Off on Rendezvous: intrigueA while back I wrote (with a leaning toward espionage) about a couple of books I’d been reading that highlighted the porous and permissive nature of Canada. I’d hoped to make this a preamble to other stories I was aware of but, at the time, didn’t feel that I’d sufficiently plumbed their depths for proper discussion. In other words, I knew of them but not enough about them.
Having now completed “The Soviet Spies” by Richard Hirsch I can say that I’ve done at least a little work to correct this oversight.
Long story short, it’s the 1940s and a GRU cipher clerk named Igor Gouzenko working in the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa goes rogue, making off with a bunch of files exposing the breadth and width of Soviet infiltration within North American politics, military, academia, research, industry, etc. His family is endangered, a bunch of roadblocks and nail-biting encounters follow, and eventually scandalous exposés and international drama ensue — standard spy pulp fiction fodder, except it happens to be true.
While I understand that there may be some disputes surrounding the accuracy of the following statement, the Gouzenko Affair is considered by many historians to be the unofficial start of the Cold War. This is where people like McCarthy got their (not entirely incorrect) ideas about a Red invasion and where movies like Russell Rouse’s wordless classic “The Thief” got their (sometimes literal) inspiration.
Naturally much of the Gouzenko backstory happened in Toronto and enough thorough detail is included in “The Soviet Spies” that I’m considering taking a tour of some of the conspirators’ homes and places of work. This attention to detail can get a bit tedious but the book manages to weave together detailed facts and timelines in a way that reads like a modern day (albeit wordy), spy thriller. Combining this with the history of places like Camp X adds even more intrigue to Canada’s post-war narrative.
This may all seem like a bit of nostalgia but with the current Canada-India diplomatic row, Canada-Russia diplomatic row, Canada-China diplomatic row, and undoubtedly a few others, the same sensational stories that were making headlines nearly seventy years ago are no less apropos today. In fact, the cloak-and-dagger nature of international diplomacy along with a resurgence of human intelligence gathering (HUMINT) and other old-school techniques seem to be more relevant in the modern era than ever.
In any event, if you get a whiff of similar themes in /sectionb then at least you’ll know where I ripped ’em off from.
/sectionb: OFNISID
Posted on September 13th, 2024 – Comments Off on /sectionb: OFNISID… in which it becomes obvious that sometimes things go sideways for Section B but sometimes they go downright backwards.
/sectionb: DISINFORMATION
Posted on August 13th, 2024 – Comments Off on /sectionb: DISINFORMATION… in which Section B finally make landfall and are immediately thrust into a sticky situation.
The price of security
Posted on July 30th, 2024 – Comments Off on The price of securityWith all of the state-level attention this lowly blog seems to be getting lately I’ve decided to maintain the trend of password-protected content. The extra step is regretful but necessary.
To view the “Secret agency research” post I just published simply use the following password (without quotes):
“|2e6eKah”
Protected: Secret agency research
Posted on July 30th, 2024 – Comments Off on Protected: Secret agency researchSection B: Criminal Organization
Posted on June 23rd, 2024 – Comments Off on Section B: Criminal OrganizationOn the one hand, “Criminal Organization” seems like a pretty harsh indictment. In the simultaneous contexts of Euro 2024 and Copa America 2024, however, it makes for an interesting opening.
Please don’t read too much into it though. I’m just pointing out a quirky search result.
First try
Posted on June 19th, 2024 – Comments Off on First tryIf you’ve watched, and listened to, the /sectionb shorts then you’ll probably recognize the musical motif but if not then maybe you’ll be experiencing it for the first time, in which case that’s maybe for the best.
This tune also happens to rather happily coincide with the 25th anniversary, more or less, of Lola rennt. If it sounds like the film may have been an inspiration for the track, that’s just pure speculation. Great movie though.
Good morning, China!
Posted on June 9th, 2024 – Comments Off on Good morning, China!First off, huge confession: I keep stats on this blog.
I like to see how many people are dropping by, what they’re looking at, and where they’re coming from. For quite a while the numbers have been pretty steady … a mix of visitors from around the globe who typically view a few pages per session. Occasionally I’ll get bursts of obvious bot activity but most of the time the site’s traffic looks like regular people just poking around and exploring.
For the last little while, however, I’ve been noticing a certain trend:
You get the idea. So what to make of this?
In my mind there are two main possibilities.
First, China is a big and populous country, the state hasn’t blocked my site (or people are breaking through), and TCL is simply gaining a bit of traction there. If the idea among readers is to gain some exposure to proper English then woe be to them, but I try to take interesting pictures from time to time so maybe that’s the allure. If that’s all there is to this then welcome, 中國人民!*
The second option is a little more sinister: the ostensibly Communist Chinese government has taken an interest in my site, scraping it for any and all content. It’s not as if I haven’t been critical of the Canadian government and its many tendrils, something I imagine the CCP’s domestic propaganda outfits may find appealing.
I suppose that I could also just be cynical and/or jaded. Maybe I’m just misreading the stats. It could also be that I’ve encountered bureaucracy and have scried the truth by gazing into its abysmal maw. Either way, I won’t be singing the praises of the Chinese government, or the Communist ideology any time soon. Socialism, no thanks. I have a few things to say about a few other systems too and if I ever I sing any of their praises, rest assured it’s been coerced.
* if this is wrong then it’s Google’s fault.
/sectionb: Brock Medic
Posted on June 8th, 2024 – Comments Off on /sectionb: Brock MedicLast and in many ways least among the agents of Section B, Medic was forced to face his lackluster existence and the attitude that accompanied it. When even his few meager accomplishments started circling the drain and his life started to fall apart, along came Rebekah and sealed his fate. He goes by Brock now.
Additional information on Brock is available on his page.
... with pictures
... with sounds
... with videos
... with opinions
... that's shorter
... that's longer
