Phi Beta Iota: In response to a recent request, we have provided the ordering information for the Golden Candle pins (roughly a dollar each in quantity) and have found an improved lower cost but much smaller (3″ versus 6″ diameter) Golden Candle Holder that we recommend should anyone wish to replicate the concept of the award for their own purposes.
Pin Source
To order the pins, communicate withPinSource and make reference to OSS.Net, Inc. prior orders. They already have the art and specifications for the master pin (the original) and the tribal pins with outer rings as follows:
Academic Gold; Civil Society Brown; Commercial Gray; Government Red; Law Enforcement Black; Military Olive Drab; Media Orange; Non-Profit UN Blue.
Click on Title to Read at Huffington Post and/or Comment.
My fellow Americans, I am honored to present to you my thoughts on restructuring and down-sizing the federal government along with a proposed Coalition Cabinet. Many of these names, while stellar, are conventional. I am asking each of you to put forward any suggestions for improving how we govern ourselves. I am strongly inclined to embrace your suggestions by joining your recommended candidates with these candidates to achieve a collective balance at every level of the government, one focused on restoring American the Beautiful.
As I indicated in my first post on 28 September 2010, I believe we must have three Vice-Presidents, one for the Commonwealth who shall be the Principal Vice-President; a second for Education, Intelligence, & Research; and a third for Global Engagement (changed from National Security to break the back of the military-industrial complex and the two ubber Services with no shame).
I am proposing for your public deliberation and consent, some consolidations as shown below–indented organizations are subordinate to, and will be represented on the Cabinet by, the principal organization. I have moved the Department of Commerce to serve under the Vice President for Global Engagement.
Here's my bottom line for our future: We the People are going to restore the Republic, re-instate the Constitution, balance the budget, and create a prosperous world at peace in which every citizen has a job with dignity and a sufficiency of income to raise a family. My first priority, if you do not spontaneously demand this before 2012, will be achieve Electoral Reform and then to create a Smart Nation.
I held a bi-partisan vote today, with me representing the Democratic Party while I represented the Republican Party. Strict ballot access controls ensured a unanimous outcome — the new Virtual President of the United States of America is Robert David Steele, or for Latinos, Roberto David de Steele y Vivas.
Over the next 45 days, on Tuesdays and Thursdays I will announce one critical policy decision, always in the context of a balanced budget and always with the public interest in mind — this is not going to be pretty, but 45 days from today, every American will be able to compare my virtual track record with the actual track record of those seeking re-election, or in the case of a tiny handful that overcame enormous obstacles, those seeking election for the first time.
Phi Beta Iota: Steele's posts will be buried among 5,999 other bloggers posting twice weekly. The search bar at Huffington Post works well. You can also, if you wish, click on the fan logo at this first point, to automatically receive an email alert with the exact URL for each additional post as it appears.
Click on Title to Read at Huffington Post and/or Comment.
I held a bi-partisan vote today, with me representing the Democratic Party while I represented the Republican Party. Strict ballot access controls ensured a unanimous outcome — the new Virtual President of the United States of America is Robert David Steele, or for Latinos, Roberto David de Steele y Vivas.
Over the next 45 days, on Tuesdays and Thursdays I will announce one critical policy decision, always in the context of a balanced budget and always with the public interest in mind — this is not going to be pretty, but 45 days from today, every American will be able to compare my virtual track record with the actual track record of those seeking re-election, or in the case of a tiny handful that overcame enormous obstacles, those seeking election for the first time.
Here is my first decision: America needs three Vice-Presidents, not one; a Vice President for the Commonwealth, who should be the Principal Vice President; a Vice President for Education, Intelligence, and Research; and a Vice President for National Security. I also reject the “winner take all” concept for naming my Cabinet, and will appoint a Coalition Cabinet in my next posting. When I run for actual election in 2012, all three Vice Presidents and all Cabinet members will be named 60 days prior to the election, and I will challenge my opponents to not only do the same, but to engage in cabinet level debates across the land, restoring the League of Women Voters as the honest broker of these debates. 30 days prior to Election Day, I will publish a balanced budget online, and I and my Cabinet will personally engage in a National Deliberative Dialog online, to ensure that before I am elected, my proposed balanced budget has the general approval of the entire voting public.
Education and restoration of the Republic will be my primary focus. If I fail, I will support Alaska, Hawaii, the Pacific Northwest, Texas, and Vermont in their growing demand for secession from the United States of America. The government we have today is out of control and out of touch; its time we flush the toilet we call the two-party tyranny.
Robert David STEELE Vivas Click Here to See Personal Page
ON INTEGRITY
1. Integrity is not just about honor–it is about wholeness of view, completeness of effort, and accuracy or reliability of all of the elements of the whole.
2. Industrial-Era Systems do not adapt because they lack integrity and continue to pay for doing the wrong things righter–the Pentagon is a classic example of such as system.
3. In the 21st Century, intelligence, design, and integrity are the triad that matters most. The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is the non-negotiable starting position for getting it right, and this is crucially important with respect to the sustainability of the Earth as a home for humanity.
Click on Image to Enlarge
4. Integrity at the top requires clarity, diversity, and BALANCE–it makes no sense for a Secretary of Defense to continue to screw over the 4% that take 80% of the casualties, spending 80% of the Pentagon budget on the 20% that do not take casualties (occupants of really big expensive things that do not actually go into harm's way).
5. Integrity can be compounded or discounted. It is compounded when public understanding demands political accountability and flag officers ultimately understand that they have sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution, not support the chain of command. It is discounted when flag officers are careerists, ascribe to rankism, and generally betray the public interest in favor of personal advancement.
6. Integrity is ultimately a natural attribute of large groups, and emerges from self-organizing over time. The Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom is one example; the break-up of the Balkans another; the pending secession of Hawaii and Vermont from the United STATES of America a third. Legitimate grievances give the aggrieved the moral high ground–this is a power no government can repress.
7. Universal access to connectivity and content is a means of accelerating both public access to the truth, and the power of the public to off-set “rule by secrecy,” which inherently lacks integrity across the board.
EXCUSES most commonly heard:
1) I work for the government, we serve the public, I consider myself part of the government, not part of the public, and indeed, choose not to vote or otherwise be active as a citizen.
2) The public elects the politicians, they appoint the leadership, serving the chain of command is how one serves the public.
RIPOSTE:
1) Citizenship trumps occupational role. Every employee is supposed to be a citizen first, a public servant second. They swear an oath to support and defend the Constitution, that includes a responsibility to protect the public from predatory government actions – the recent assassination of a US citizen without due process is a reprehensible example of what happens with uniformed officers and civil servants become morally disengaged.
2) Information asymmetries between the public and the government are such that a democracy demands whistle-blowers and open government. Rule by secrecy is a form of tyranny, a means of avoiding accountability, and ultimately a clear and present danger to the Constitution, the Republic, and the public interest. Because of their Oath, it can be said that government employees have a special responsibility to detect and confront fraud, waste, and abuse – and certainly to disobey and declare illegal orders and plans or programs inconsistent with the Constitution, such as wars not authorized by Congress, or assassinations not based on the rule of law.
In brief, all of our government employees have been “coping out” and failing to live up to their fullest potential as citizens and human beings. To be silent and complacent is to be a slave, not a citizen. Any employee of the government that fails to think about the Constitution and their role in defending the Constitution at every level on every day across every issue area, is failing to honor their Oath of office.
Phi Beta Iota: Sir Tim is on target but misses the critical point, which is that the Internet is already free, what is NOT free is the handheld device needed to access it. Earth Intelligence Network and its 24 co-founders are committed to the idea of free cell phones for the five billion poor, along with national call centers that educate them “one cell call at a time” while also providing access to the kinds of Internet application that the Grameen AppLab is creating.
Welcome LinkedIn connections, that is what we use to follow cool people and harvest their leads for Phi Beta Iota. Direct emails and invitations to comment or speak also encouraged.
Robert David Steele
