September 2009 – Page 11 – Public Intelligence Blog

This lengthy piece is organized as follows:

1) Chuck Spinney on how our partisan “leaders” are disconnected from reality and leading us over a cliff, with reference to John Boyd.

2. An extract and link to the always brilliant CounterPunch where David Michael Green discusses the core issue: Can America be salvaged?

3. A Phi Beta Iota editorial commentary on Thomas Kuhn (The Structure of Scientific Revolutions), Robert Steele (Paradigms of Failure, Data Pathologies), and Howard Zinn (A Power Governments Cannot Repress).

CHUCK SPINNEY: The article in Counterpunch by David Michael Green, “Can America be Salvaged?” is an brilliant expository argument describing what are in effect the destructive outcomes of self-referencing/incestuously amplifying OODA loops that are becoming ever more disconnected from reality.

Continue reading “Journal: Spinney, Boyd, Green, Kuhn on “Can America Be Salvaged?–Public Intelligence Aspects””

2009/09/182009/09/20

Journal: Missile Defense as a Metaphor

Collaboration Zones, Communities of Practice, Ethics, Key Players, Policies, Threats

The Obama Administration means well, no question about it. They simply do not know what they do not know, and no one within the US Intelligence Community appears capable of speaking truth to power.

The truth that needs to be spoken is that Washington lacks both integrity and intelligence (as in thoughtful holistic decision-making). Washington lacks a strategic analytic model, it lacks a commitment to eradicating the ten high-level threats to humanity (terrorism is ninth, a traffic accident, nothing more), and it lacks a process for harmonizing budgets and behavior across twelve core policy domains as illustrated below.

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2009/09/182009/09/18

Journal: How Many CIA’s and How Threatening is the CIA to the Lives of Leon Panetta and Barack Obama?

Analysis, Budgets & Funding, Government, Leadership-Integrity, Methods & Process, Peace Intelligence, Policies, Policy, Reform, Strategy, Strategy-Holistic Coherence, Threats, Threats

We were surprised this morning to learn that Ray McGovern, a CIA veteran whose credibility we respect, is saying that Leon Panetta and Barack Obama may be treating CIA with kid gloves for fear of being assassinated by the “insider” CIA that itself fears criminal prosecution for the death of over 100 detainees in CIA custody. Food for thought. Read McGovern's thoughts at The Media Consortium, “Ray McGovern Warns of ‘Two CIA's.'”

There are two sides to this matter. How many CIA's? Does CIA assassinate U.S. citizens including leaders?

Continue reading “Journal: How Many CIA's and How Threatening is the CIA to the Lives of Leon Panetta and Barack Obama?”

2009/09/182009/09/18

Journal: Health Policy Fundamentals

07 Health, Policy, Reform

Below is a simple illsutration of what a proper national health policy should address.

Health Policy Fundamentals — Printable Powerpoint Slide (1997-2003) with Notes

This illustration is freely available under Creative Commons non-commercial license except that media outlets are gladly given a waiver and may make free use with attribution to “Phi Beta Iota, Public Intelligence Blog.”

Below is a simplified question and four-point answer that any serious person should be able to comprehend.

Continue reading “Journal: Health Policy Fundamentals”

2009/09/17

CENTCOM Week in Review Ending 17 September 2009

Uncategorized

Hot Topics

AA: New tape from al-Qaeda leader bin Laden released 09/14/09

AE: TALON Laser-Guided Rocket Team completes first guided test flights 09/14/09

AE: UAE confession was ‘under duress' 09/14/09

AF: Afghanistan's Other Front 09/16/09

AF: Al Qaeda calls for foreign civilian kidnappings in Afghanistan 09/16/09

EG: Egypt Defends Killing of Migrants Trying to Cross Into Israel 09/15/09

IQ: Baghdad Green Zone attacked during Biden visit 09/15/09

IR: Iran opposition leaders to attend anti-Israel rally 09/16/09

KG: Kyrgyzstan: Headquarters of the Frontier Service Will Move South 09/17/09

OM: Oman urged to loosen media control 09/17/09

TJ: Islamic Party Leader In Tajikistan Says He Supports Secular System 09/15/09

UZ: “Uzbek militants are becoming very active in Waziristan” – Senator … 09/16/09

YE: Yemen Considers Saudi Routes to Deliver Aid for Displaced in North 09/12/09 Continue reading “CENTCOM Week in Review Ending 17 September 2009”

2009/09/172011/10/22

Journal: Race, Class, Money & Truth

Collaboration Zones, Communities of Practice, Ethics, Policies, Policy, Reform, Strategy, Threats

In keeping with our new-found commitment to focus on public intelligence and leave political reform to others, this commentary provides an overview of the political scene (including political commentary from journalists lacking any independence), and concludes that what is missing from our national dialog are integrity and public intelligence.

First, the political “terrain” of ideological conviction, borrowing from Michael Crane with permission.

As best we can tell, there is not a single think tank free of ideological conviction andall are also lacking in full access to all relevant sources of information, to serious processing power, and to multi-cultural analytics.

The two-party tyranny is “running on empty” and has effectively destroyed the center, where ideas should meet, and also greatly extended the chasm between those in power (the power of the purse and the day to day operations of government) and those with knowledge (generally in the private sector, generally not being listened to by the so-called “intelligence community” that thrives on expensive secrets at the public's expense (double-entendre).

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2009/09/162009/09/16

About: Practical Philosophical Containment

About the Idea

From: Kent C. Myers, Ph.D.

To: Robert Steele

Subj: Focus of Effort

You will do more for political reform by staying out of it and making public intelligence really work.

You are facilitating a process of public intelligence. You can be a zealous advocate of the public intelligence process, and you can seed the process with sample content, but you are subject to its rules. You, as the facilitator, are especially responsible for demonstrating appropriate behavior. You must show no bias, other than a bias toward evidence, consideration of the alternatives, and continued learning.

Continue reading “About: Practical Philosophical Containment”