Category: Collaboration Zones

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Worth a Look: The Party Is Over: How Republicans Went Crazy, Democrats Became Useless, and the Middle Class Go Shafted

Cultural Intelligence, Worth A Look
Amazon Page

The Party Is Over: How Republicans Went Crazy, Democrats Became Useless, and the Middle Class Go Shafted

Mike Lofgren (Viking 2012)

Available 2 August – can be pre-ordered online now.

The ultimate Republican insider’s caustic exposé of what passes for business as usual in Washington today

There was a time, not so very long ago, when perfectly rational people ran the Republican Party. So how did the party of Lincoln become the party of lunatics? That is what this book aims to answer. Fear not, the Dems come in for their share of tough talk— they are zombies, a party of the living dead.

Mike Lofgren came to Washington in the early eighties—those halcyon, post–Nixonian glory days—for what he imagined would be a short stint on Capitol Hill. He has witnessed quite a few low points in his twenty-eight years on the Hill—but none quite so pitiful as the antics of the current crop of legislators whom we appear to have elected.

Based on the explosive article Lofgren wrote when he resigned in disgust after the debt ceiling crisis, The Party Is Over is a funny and impassioned exposé of everything that is wrong with Washington. Obama and his tired cohorts are no angels but they have nothing on the Republicans, whose wily strategists are bankrupting the country one craven vote at a time. Be prepared for some fireworks.

See Also:

BRIEF:  Robert Steele, 2012: Testing the Two-Party Tyranny and Open Source Everything – The Battle for the Soul of the Republic (Hackers on Planet Earth 9, 13 July 2012)

BOOK:  Matt Taibbi, Griftopia: A Story of Bankers, Politicians, and the Most Audacious Power Grab in American History (Spiegel & Grau, 2011)

BOOK: Theresa Amato, Grand Illusion: The Myth of Voter Choice in a Two-Party Tyranny (New Press, 2009)

BOOK:  Robert Steele, Election 2008: Lipstick on the Pig (Substance of Governance; Legitimate Grievances; Candidates on the Issues; Balanced Budget 101; Call to Arms: Fund We Not Them; Annotated Bibliography) (Earth Intelligence Network, 2008)

BOOK: Peter Peterson, Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It (Picador, 2005)

Worth a Look: Book Review Lists (Positive)

Worth a Look: Book Review Lists (Negative)

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Breaking News: Israel False Flag Attacks (Bulgaria & Madame Clinton Done, Olympics False Flag Planned)

Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, IO Deeds of War, Law Enforcement, Military
Gordon Duff

Breaking/Confirmed: Sec Clinton Assassination Attempt in Israel (Updated)

Al-Alam and Reuters Report Hillary Clinton Convoy Attack in Israel

By Gordon Duff, Senior Editor

Veterans Today, 19 July 2012

Israeli radio and Reuters broke the story then went mysteriously silent, an assassination attempt inside Israel, on Secretary of State Clinton. 

Soon afterward, Iran’s national network, al Alam went public with a translated version which is being boycotted by news services.

Details on the unsuccessful murder attempt on America’s top diplomat below but first some background.

Possibly responsible for the assassination attempt on Clinton is this tale of deceit by Rep. Michelle Bachmann as outlined by CNN’s Andersen Cooper:

We see this as part of a pattern of escalation by Israel, carefully orchestrated terrorism which may well culminate in an attack on the London Olympics as has been predicted by many.  Nothing less could bring about the result Netanyahu desires, a massive US and NATO air attack on Iran, and note this carefully, not an attack on Syria.

The video below describes how Israeli contractors are sabotaging London Olympic security.  Highly credible source:

Continue reading “Breaking News: Israel False Flag Attacks (Bulgaria & Madame Clinton Done, Olympics False Flag Planned)”

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Michel Bauwens: What is specific about the positioning of the P2P Foundation?

Access, Advanced Cyber/IO, Collective Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence, Knowledge
Michel Bauwens

What is specific about the positioning of the P2P Foundation?

“Like Oekonux, the P2P Foundation is a collective marked by diversity, but it also has dominant personalities and themes, with a substantial influence of the author of this article, who is also the initiator and founder of the initiative. So, when I make claims here below, and above, on the ‘P2P Foundation’s approach, they are my own approach, not necessarily the approach of every participant in our community and knowledge commons.

Learn more.

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Josh Kilbourn: David Stockman on Political Gridlock & Irresponsibility

03 Economy, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government
Josh Kilbourn

OMB's Stockman: “We're At The Fiscal Endgame”

To those on the hill and elsewhere who suggest this growing ‘fiscal cliff' and ‘debt ceiling' crisis will all get solved, former Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director David Stockman tells Bloomberg TV that “they will punt, punt, punt and kick the can with partial solutions driven by eleventh hour crisis-based extensions that will go on for the whole of the next term!” When asked whether this economy will be mired in the doldrums, he rather ominously states “it will be worse, because we will be in recession” and notes that when the lame ducks re-look at the budget numbers with a realistic recession (instead of the current assumption of no recession within 12 years) it will be far worse and in a political environment where ‘we cannot possibly raise taxes – and we cannot possibly cut spending'. With a 78% disapproval rating for the ‘do nothing' Congress, Stockman is surprised that 16% somehow approve – approve of what? His warning is that unlike in past periods, today “we are completely paralyzed, there is an ideological divide on taxes and entitlement like we've never had before” and while he realizes that “the debt problem doesn't become a debt problem until the market suddenly have a wake up call and realize that if the Fed doesn't keep printing, it's game over.”

Continue reading “Josh Kilbourn: David Stockman on Political Gridlock & Irresponsibility”

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Michael Bauwens: Freeters and their political impact

Cultural Intelligence
Michel Bauwens

Freeters and their political impact

“A Freeter (“a Japanese expression for people between the age of 15 and 34 who lack full time employment or are unemployed, excluding homemakers and students” – Wikipedia). Although the Japanese have coined a term for the group, they exist all over the world, and are a social force of underestimated and growing importance. The Japanese are unusual in giving it a name. This is the stratum which provides most of the participants in autonomous activism throughout the global North. In Japan, the Freeters General Union is a political body with a broadly autonomist and anti-neoliberal perspective, which organizes initiatives such as Mayday demonstrations and anti-government protests (see freeter-union.org/mayday/index-en.html). Many of those participating in similar protests in European countries doubtless come from a similar social position.

Read full post, a contribution by Andy Robinson:

Phi Beta Iota:  Revolutions come about when preconditions pile up, and then a precipitant occurs.  Most of the preconditions for revolution exist around the world, not only in Third World countries, but in the USA and Japan as well.  For a precipitant (such as a burning fruit seller in Tunesia, or in the USA, a vivacious soccer mom torching herself on Capitol Hill after a passionate YouTube video condeming the two-party tryanny for treason) there needs to be a mass of individual who a) have time on their hands and b) have above average intelligence and can perceive the criminal insanity of the current situation.

See Also:

Graphic: Preconditions of Revolution in the USA Today

2011 Thinking About Revolution in the USA and Elsewhere (Full Text Online for Google Translate)

2012: Testing the Two-Party Tyranny and Open Source Everything – The Battle for the Soul of the Republic

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Sepp Hasslberger: Solar Ice Maker: No Moving Parts, No Electricity

Earth Intelligence, Hacking
Sepp Hasslberger

Solar Ice Maker: No Moving Parts, No Electricity

“The tubing (or heat exchanger) is filled with a liquid refrigerant material. The reflective panel focuses light and heat energy from the sun onto the piping which vaporizes the refrigerant. So far, no ice. When the sun goes down however the vapor goes through massive heat loss due to pressure differences and roughly 14 pounds of ice are produced depending on the design.

The refrigerant rapidly cools once it hits 104 degrees Fahrenheit, due to its unique properties making, it perfect for typical temperature ranges in warm climates.

Read full story (with great photograph).

noble gold