London Conference on Somalia – “Talk, Talk, Talk” February 24, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in Industry News, Uncategorized.Tags: Chris Mark, London Conference on Somalia, mark consulting group, Piracy & Maritime Security, security
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On February 23, 2012 the London Conference on Somalia was held. The conference brought together representatives from 40 different nations including US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. The impetus for the conference was not solely piracy rather the idea that Somalia, as a failed state, may become the Worlds’ largest safe haven for Islamic extremists. As stated: “For two decades politicians in the West have too often dismissed the problems in Somalia as simply too difficult and too remote to deal with,” British Prime Minister David Cameron told the summit. “Engagement has been sporadic and half-hearted. That fatalism has failed Somalia. And it has failed the international community too.” While the nations came together to talk about the future of Somalia, it seemed to have a familiar ring harkening back to 1991-1994. “In many ways, I think I was more confident before the summit,” said researcher, and Somali specialist Anyimadu at Chatham House. “All this emphasis on security and talk of airstrikes — there’s a real risk we will simply repeat the mistakes of the past.”
Published Articles: – “Geopolitical Context of Piracy” February 24, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in Industry News, Piracy & Maritime Security, Uncategorized.Tags: Dr. Heather Mark, geopolitical context of piracy, Maritime Security, markconsultinggroup.com, Piracy & Maritime Security, pirate as a rational actor, security
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UPDATE: The company that published the articles contacted Heather and has agreed to pull the articles off their website. This is good news and shows that the copany is interested in ensuring their readers get original work from the original author. In an interesting twist, the company representative stated that, when asked, the party who submitted the articles stated “unequivocally” that it was their work. Considering that the company pulled the articles, Heather has a PhD and background in defense, and political economy, and has published over 100 articles, scores of whitepapers, research briefs and other material as well as possessing the original whitepaper from which it was taken, I think the readers are savvy enough to know the actual author of the work. It certainly seems unlikely that a person who has never published a single article or other document would embark on something as complex as: “the Geopolitical Context of Piracy” for their first foray into writing.
Two years ago my wife, Dr. Heather Mark wrote a whitepaper on the Geopolitical Context of Piracy that has since been broken into its component sections and published verbatim as 4 different articles without any form of attribution to her. She was contacted by the organization that published the articles today to ask about her work and attribution. To assuage any concerns that it is indeed her sole work and not anybody else’s work here is a copy of the whitepaper. “Understanding Modern Piracy; Geopolitical and Regulatory Considerations”….the first section is titled: “Geopolitical Considerations”, the next section is titled: “Current Anti-Piracy Efforts”. Heather is a brilliant person and a tremendous righter writer (thanks to Heather’ brother Bill for pointing this out;). There are times that I certainly would like to “borrow” her work and claim it as my own. I would certainly appear smarter and more informed than I actually am. As professional writers (yup, we actually get paid to write;) it is disturbing when someone uses your work without attribution.
Kudos to the company for maintaining the integrity of its service and evaluating the content and writers.
Help4Sydney.org – Help a Former Marines’ Daughter February 8, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: dravet, epilepsy, help4sydney.or sydneyagainstdravet.com, sydney, sydney michaels
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Sometimes we need to deviate from the usual discussion on risk and security. Today is one of those days. As many of this blogs’ readers are former military, I thought it prudent to pass this on.
An old friend of mine from the Marines has a daughter that is very sick. She has what is known as Dravet’s Syndrom which is a very, very severe form of epilepsy that is, unfortunately, incurable. As the father of a 2 year old myself, I am heartbroken for the family. Please visit the site and watch the video about Sydney and learn a bit about Dravet’s Syndrome.
If you feel compelled, please donate to help the family with their medical bills or pass the link on through facebook or some other means. The more traffic we get the better. Thank you in advance for your help!
Randy Abbott’s Apology & Paralysis February 3, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: 1st Recon, Apology, disability, Fake, Paralyzed, randy abbott, Recon, sniper, Stolen Valor, Surfer
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On August 23, 2014 this blog received comment on the post titled “Randy Abbott – Paralyzed Surfer who was robbed..” from Mr. Randy Abbott. In the apology he says simply:
“Mr. Mark, I personally want to apologize to you for being dishonest and lying about what I did in the military. I apologize for dishonoring you and all other Recon Scout/Snipers with my actions and dishonesty. I do not know how to reach out to all of them, I’m asking if you could please pass on my message of apology for my dishonesty and lying.”
This apology is consistent with other apologies Mr. Abbot has provided to ThisAintHell and the WoundedTimes Blog. After Mr. Abbott’s exposure, numerous people contacted me, and others, with stories related to his “charity” The View from 42 and other items. Investigation into the View from 42 shows demonstrated that it was not an existing not-for profit charity.
While Mr. Abbott has acknowledged he lied about his military service and while it has been discovered that The View from 42 is not a recognized (by either the IRS or state of California) Non Profit charity, I do not dispute that Mr. Abbott is disabled. I have received numerous communications from people very close to Mr. Abbott questioning his disability that have remained unpublished. The reasons are simple. 1) I am not a doctor and cannot speak to any form of paralysis, and 2) as the father of a special needs child, I would not propose to question someone else’ disability.
My objective with the post was simply to question Mr. Abbott’s claims of being a Marine Corps Scout/Sniper, Reconnaissance Marine and Combat Veteran. This, I felt, was a matter of public interest as Mr. Abbott had made statements and allowed numerous articles, news reports and other media to make claims of being a Scout/Sniper as well as other things. As can be seen from the post on ThisAintHell where he was exposed for lying about his service, the statement above, as well as his apology posted here, and here, Mr. Abbott admitted he lied. Given Mr. Abbott’s admitted lies about his military service it is certainly seems understandable to me if people were to question any other claim made by Mr. Abbott.
Want your company profiled on the blog? January 27, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.add a comment
GlobalRiskInfo.com will be expanding. We will be adding company profiles for security organizations. The companies will be listed on the company profiles page. It is an easy, and solid way to increase your online presence and best of all….IT IS FREE!!
If you are interested in submitting a profile for your company, please shoot me an email and I will give you the specs. chris(at)markconsultinggroup.com or cmark435(at)gmail.com.
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