Collaboration Zones – Page 1018 – Public Intelligence Blog

Top 5 ways to achieve an open and informed world

Thinking about World Press Freedom Day earlier this month, I found myself asking: why does it matter? One of the key messages of this annual event is that freedom of the press, and by extension, expression, is more than just an important right. It is also central to creating informed, open societies.

An informed society is one where citizens have the resources, education and skills to access and participate in the free flow of reliable and useful information through a diverse range of platforms and media organizations that empower them to make considered decisions about their economic, social and political lives.

Like so many of today’s challenges, it’s easier to identify examples of what isn’t working than what is. Every year, organizations like Freedom House and Reporters Without Borders release statistics and examples of governments that are clamping down on free speech, or placing restrictions on expression. In much of their research, there is a correlation between dictatorial or authoritarian regimes and a lack of open discussion.

And yet even in supposedly more liberal countries, freedom of speech does not guarantee a properly informed society. Social media provides a platform on which anyone can share their views, but recent cases have shown that this isn’t always a good thing. Just look at the aftermath of the Boston bombings, where false information was spreading across Twitter, and crowd sourcing websites like Reddit identified innocent people as criminals. Soon after, the Associated Press Twitter feed was hacked, causing a stock market fall after pranksters announced an attack on President Obama.

It’s clear, then, that having the right resources and access to information is still not enough for an informed society to flourish. People need to have the skills to be able to navigate this new media landscape. How do we stay informed in a world where our traditional media and tools for doing so are declining or even collapsing? Conversely, how can we exploit the new media, and capitalize on its promise to keep societies better informed? What should governments, corporations, civil society and the media industries themselves do?

Ultimately, an integrated approach will be needed, since every stakeholder stands to benefit from a truly informed society. There are five dimensions and corresponding principles for achieving an open and informed world.

Continue reading “Berto Jongman: 5 Ways to Achieve Open Informed World”

2013/05/23

SchwartzReport: Growing Global Challenge to Monsanto GMO Greed

01 Poverty, 03 Environmental Degradation, 07 Other Atrocities, Commerce, Corruption, Earth Intelligence, Government

I take this to be good news about bad news. Finally, the reality of Monsanto is beginning to be understood. There is nothing new here; it will all be familiar to regular SR readers. (See: The Great Experiment: Genetically Modified Organisms, Scientific Integrity, and National Wellness. But this essay puts it all into one package and, I think, you will be able to see why I believe Monsanto is an evil corporation.

The common problem we face is the power of concentrated wealth and monopolistic corporate interests. This has created a crony capitalist economy that uses government to further enrich the wealthy at the expense of the people, often threatening our basic necessities for life. A clear example of this is found in the behavior of the chemical and seed corporation, Monsanto.Monsanto threatens the world's food supply; this is a major challenge of our era. This struggle is central to the global ecosystem, economy and energy crises. Monsanto also pushes poisonous chemicals into the environment and promotes agricultural practices that exacerbate climate change.

Monsanto's actions truly affect each of us. They put their profits over the need for healthy foods, diverse seed supplies and the stability of the agricultural economy. They employ a variety of tools to control access to seeds and aggressively push genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and toxic chemicals despite serious safety concerns about them. And they accomplish this with great help from the US government.

When President Obama appointed a Monsanto lobbyist, Michael Taylor, as the “food czar” (officially the deputy commissioner for foods) – avoiding the Senate confirmation process, which would have brought public attention to the appointment – it was one more example of how corrupted both parties have become by corporate influence.

A global grassroots movement is building to challenge Monsanto as more people realize that we are in a struggle for our survival. May 25 is a global day of action against Monsanto taking place in hundreds of cities and 41 countries. Monsanto must be stopped before its unfettered greed destroys our health and environment. We urge you to join the effort to stop Monsanto.

Monsanto: A Threat to Public Health and the Environment
Continue reading “SchwartzReport: Growing Global Challenge to Monsanto GMO Greed”

2013/05/222013/05/22

29 May 2013 1000-1200 NDU DC Dr. Walter Dorn, Peacekeeping Technology for the Protection of Civilians

Advanced Cyber/IO, IO Deeds of War, Peace Intelligence

Peacekeeping Technology for the Protection of Civilians

The goal of the forum is to increase awareness of peacekeeping technologies and how they are being used in practice. While much attention has been given to providing the UN with helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Dr. Dorn emphasizes the importance of basic tools such as smart phones, night vision goggles, video surveillance, and tethered balloons. The forum will include two panels of experts to explore how the UN and African militaries might go about pilot projects to make use of these innovations.

Keynote Address by: Dr. Walter Dorn, Author of Keeping Watch: Monitoring Technology and Innovation in UN Peace Operations and editor of the forthcoming

Panelists Include:
Colonel Thomas Dempsey, African Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS)
Dwight Raymond, Peacekeeping and Stability Operations institute (PKSOI)
Sarah Williamson, Protect the People (PTP)
David Rogers, MobileGov
Alison Giffen, Stimson Center

Wednesday, May 29, 2013, Time: 10:00am-12:00pm
National Defense University, Lincoln Hall Room 3305, Ft. McNair, Washington, D.C.

This is a part of the TIDES Speaker Series. Please RSVP to Nelly Mobula 202-685-1971 nelly.mobula@ndu.edu
or register online at: http://www.ndu.edu/CTNSP/Event_Registration/register.cfm

DOWNLOIAD PDF FLYER FOR LOCAL BULLETIN BOARD:
NDUMay29 PeacekeepingTechnology_29May2013

2013/05/222013/05/22

Stephen E. Arnold: Search and Business Intelligence “Merge” But Nothing New — with Comment by Robert Steele

#OSE Open Source Everything, Collective Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence, Earth Intelligence, Peace Intelligence

Are Search and Business Intelligence Merging?

Wrong tense. Search has been sucked into business intelligence as a subordinate or utility function.

Consultants and “experts” suggest that search and business intelligence are converging. Information Builders, based in New York City, suggests that the alleged convergence looks like two equally-sized markets merging like a math book’s illustration of a Venn diagram. The picture is symmetrical and appears to make sense. In my opinion, the presentation of “worlds’ merging” in an orderly manner is misleading at best and downright silly at worst.

. . . . . . . .

In the somewhat untidy worlds of search and business intelligence, not much has changed. Terminology and the fervent belief that new phrases will solve information problems is more important than tackling more fundamental, less zippy issues.

We have entered an era of same old, same old, and there is no turning back. The problem of computational limits force systems to work as they have for many years. The methods and the math is the same. The content types and the marketing lingo are different.

Continue reading “Stephen E. Arnold: Search and Business Intelligence “Merge” But Nothing New — with Comment by Robert Steele”

2013/05/222013/05/22

Michelle Monk: Chinese Plant Compound Wipes out Cancer in 40 Days, Says New Research + Innovation and Technology Repression RECAP

07 Health, Commerce, Corruption, Design, Earth Intelligence, Government, Innovation, Knowledge

Chinese Plant Compound Wipes Out Cancer in 40 Days, Says New Research

A little-known plant with a truly bizarre name is now making headlines as a cancer killer, with the compound of the plant vanishing tumors in mice with pancreatic cancer.

Known as the ‘thunder god vine’ or lei gong teng, the Chinese plant is actually integrated into Chinese medicine and has been used for ages in remedying a number of conditions including rheumatoid arthritis.

According to the new research out of the University of Minnesota’s Masonic Cancer Center, the thunder god plant compound led to no signs of tumors after a 40 day period — even after discontinuing the treatment. Published in the journal Science Translational Medicine and funded by the National Institutes of Health, even the scientists working on the project were stunned by the anti-cancer properties of the compound. Known to contain something known as triptolide, which has been identified as a cancer fighter in previous research, it is thought to be the key component that may be responsible for the anti-tumor capabilities.

Study leader and vice chairman of research at the Cancer Center explained to Bloomberg how he was blown away by the effects of the simple plant:

“This drug is just unbelievably potent in killing tumor cells,” he said. – See more.

And just like with numerous other powerful substances like turmeric and ginger, mainstream science is still slowly confirming what many traditional practitioners have known for their entire lives. This is, of course, due to the fact that there is simply no money for major corporations in researching the healing powers of natural herbs and compounds such as the compound found in the thunder god vine. Turmeric and ginger, for example, have been found to be amazing anti-cancer substances that are virtually free compared to expensive and dangerous cancer drugs.

Nevertheless, the Big Pharma sponsored corporate scientists have managed to ignore these spices as much as possible. In fact, they have even been caught time and time again faking thousands of studies to fraudulently demonstrate the supposed value of pharmaceutical drugs pushed by major pharma juggernauts — many of which are later forced to pay millions in fines which only slightly stack up against their billions in profits.

Profits that are threatened by the many real studies that were performed by scientists examining the rejeuvenating power of cheap ingredients like turmeric, which has been found by peer-reviewed research available on PubMed to positively influence over 590 conditions.

Continue reading “Michelle Monk: Chinese Plant Compound Wipes out Cancer in 40 Days, Says New Research + Innovation and Technology Repression RECAP”

2013/05/222013/05/22

David Swanson: Connecticutt Takes First Step Toward Peace Economy

Civil Society, Commerce, Ethics, Government, Peace Intelligence

Connecticut Advances Conversion from War to Peace Economy

The Connecticut legislature has sent to the governor to sign a bill that would create a commission to develop a plan for, among other things:

“the diversification or conversion of defense-related industries with an emphasis on encouraging environmentally-sustainable and civilian product manufacturing. On or before December 1, 2014, the commission shall submit such report to the Governor and, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to commerce.”

The commission “shall Advise the General Assembly and the Department of Economic and Community Development on issues relating to the diversification or conversion of defense-related industries” among other things.

Read the full text.

According to Peace Action, sponsor State Senator Toni N. Harp from New Haven has said,

“The proposed Futures Commission will set up a framework that allows us to convert many of our military related jobs and infrastructure into non-military industries.”

This is a remarkable breakthrough that didn't just come out of nowhere:

“In November 2012, a ballot referendum passed in New Haven that called for moving the money from war to jobs rebuilding our infrastructure and human needs. This referendum won support nearly 6 to 1! This winter in Connecticut, the US Peace Council, No Nukes No War, the City of New Haven Peace Commission with the support of the state AFL-CIO and International Association of Machinists worked to get SB619 introduced in the state legislature calling for a Futures Commission whose goals is to investigate how to convert the weapons manufacturing industries to producing civilian, green products and retain and develop manufacturing in the state. The Commission that this bill creates will include representatives of labor, peace and environmental organizations.”

Continue reading “David Swanson: Connecticutt Takes First Step Toward Peace Economy”

2013/05/222013/05/22

Chuck Spinney: Hezbollah’s Moment — Historical Force?

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 06 Genocide, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Justice, 10 Security, 10 Transnational Crime, 11 Society, Civil Society, Ethics, Government, Military, Officers Call, Peace Intelligence

The popular perception of Hezbollah as simply an Islamic terrorist organization has been colored by American-Israeli propaganda (particularly wrt to relations with Iran and Syria), sloppy reporting, and a growing sense of Islamophobia in American culture.

Rami Khouri is a prolific Lebanese intellectual who writes widely on the Middle East. His austere, direct form of writing lays out arguments clearly and concisely. Like all writers of Middle Eastern affairs, his predictions are often wrong, but unlike most, his fault lines, when they occur, are easily traced. In short, Khouri is always a good read and well worth following, because even if his arguments turn out to be erroneous, they are a fount of useful information.

Attached below is his fascinating take on Hezbollah. I reformatted it to highlight his points but have not changed a word or the order of his words. Some readers find my highlighting distracting, others like it; if you are one of the former, the link below will take you to the original.

Chuck Spinney

Hezbollah’s Moment of Reckoning in Qusayr

22 May 2013

BEIRUT — The most fascinating aspect of the war in Syria this month — and perhaps also the most significant in terms of long-term regional geo-politics — is the direct involvement of Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese Shiite party and resistance group that is closely allied to Iran and Syria. The significance of Hezbollah’s participation in the battle for the Syrian town of Qusayr comprises several distinct elements:

Continue reading “Chuck Spinney: Hezbollah's Moment — Historical Force?”