Civil Society – Page 223 – Public Intelligence Blog

cornell west plus — Click on Image to Enlarge

Two Princeton scholars clash over the president's record, but the real divide is between assimilation and racial unity.

By Erin Aubry KaplanLos Angeles Times, June 19, 2011

It was the kind of insular, issue-driven, black-on-black debate that ordinarily doesn't attract the media spotlight, even on the slowest news day. But thanks to the unprecedented profile of Barack Obama, the most famous black person in modern history, this one got hot.

Read rest of above article….

The Obama Deception: Why Cornel West Went Ballistic

Chris Hedges

truthdig.com, 16 May 2011

The moral philosopher Cornel West, if Barack Obama’s ascent to power was a morality play, would be the voice of conscience. Rahm Emanuel, a cynical product of the Chicago political machine, would be Satan. Emanuel in the first scene of the play would dangle power, privilege, fame and money before Obama. West would warn Obama that the quality of a life is defined by its moral commitment, that his legacy will be determined by his willingness to defy the cruel assault by the corporate state and the financial elite against the poor and working men and women, and that justice must never be sacrificed on the altar of power.

Read rest of above article….

Phi Beta Iota: Cornell West is a Nobel-level philosopher (when the Nobel is not being pimped by Nowegian politicans). He has kept his integrity when white men like Larry Summers and half-white men like Barack Obama have lost theirs–if they ever had it. This discussion is NOT about race. It is about integrity. West wins, Obama loses…as do we all.

Review: Betrayal: How Black Intellectuals Have Abandoned the Ideals of the Civil Rights Era

Review: Waiting for Lightning to Strike–The Fundamentals of Black Politics

Reference: Legitimate Grievances by Robert Steele

Reference: On the Issues from Abortion to War & Peace

2011/06/182011/10/22

Onset of Death for the Two-Party Tyranny….

07 Other Atrocities, Civil Society, Corruption, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, Government

Death of the Duopoly

Being binary is bad for business, so when will politics cure its bipolar disorder? Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch on the lessons Washington should learn from the real world.

By NICK GILLESPIE and MATT WELCH

Wall Street Journal, Saturday, June 18, 2011

Nothing in American life today seems as archaic, ubiquitous and immovable as the Republican and Democratic parties.

The two 19th-century political groupings divide up the spoils of a combined $6.4 trillion that is extracted each year from taxpayers at the federal, state, county and municipal levels. Though rhetorically and theoretically at odds with one another, the two parties have managed to create a mostly unbroken set of policies and governance structures that benefit well-connected groups at the expense of the individual.

Democrats and Republicans are at risk of becoming irrelevant, says Reason.com's Nick Gillespie, as more voters identify as Independents or with other groups like the Tea Party. He talks with WSJDN's Kelsey Hubbard about the shortcomings of the longstanding duopoly in American politics.

Americans have watched, with a growing sense of alarm and alienation, as first a Republican administration and then its Democratic successor have flouted public opinion by bailing out banks, nationalizing the auto industry, expanding war in Central Asia, throwing yet more good money after bad to keep housing prices artificially high, and prosecuting a drug war that no one outside the federal government pretends is comprehensible, let alone winnable. It is easy to look upon this well-worn rut of political affairs and despair.

Read full article….

Phi Beta Iota: A Wall Street Journal informal poll shows 83% of respondents now ready to vote for a third party, with some excluding the Tea Party as flaky. Ralph Nader led this fight, others are finishing it. We are honored to be in that number.

Journal: ‘Systemic Corruption’–Daunting Challenge in Globalized Era

My Talk With Tom Atlee: Primer on Citizen Intelligence

Reference: Electoral Reform Act & Third Party Politics

Review: Griftopia–Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America

Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It (Paperback)

Grand Illusion: The Myth of Voter Choice in a Two-Party Tyranny

2008 ELECTION 2008: Lipstick on the Pig

2011/06/182011/10/26

Event: 26 Oct 2011 Assisi Italy Pope, Peace, & Prayer — 5th Inter-Faith Event Since 1986 — Terms of Reference…

01 Poverty, 02 Diplomacy, 06 Genocide, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Justice, 10 Security, 11 Society, Advanced Cyber/IO, Civil Society, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics

UPDATED 26 October 2011 (Vatican focus on global financial reform / authority, need for ethics – avoids addressing secular corruption as we suggested in below letter sent January 2011)

Penguin: Vatican Calls for World Government…Oopps

Vatican, Ethics, & Truth I (Full Text Online for Google Translate)

Vatican, Ethics, & Truth II (Full Text Online for Google Translate)

Occupy Wall Street’s Most Unlikely Ally: The Pope

Vatican Breaks Bread (Sort Of) With Occupiers

Cardinal Turkson: Beyond Wall Street

2011: Commercial Intelligence and Competitive Strategy in International Markets – Context and Challenge Inteligencia Empresarial y Estrategia Competitiva en Mercados Internacional – Contexto y Desafio

UPDATED 18 June 2011 (Turkey Rising, Truth, Convergence of Science & Religion)

Turkey Rising–21st Century an Ottoman Century?

Catholic Church Getting Serious About “Truth”

Review: God and Science–Coming Full Circle

Review: The Beginning of All Things–Science and Religion

Review: Questions of Truth–Fifty-one Responses to Questions About God, Science, and Belief

M4IS2

UPDATED 10 February 2011 (All Other Assisi Links)

Seven Answers–Robert Steele in Rome

Assisi-Rome 2nd Meeting

Egypt & Jordan: Muslim & Christian Side by Side

Revolution & Secession: The Game is ON!

Revolution Kickstarted by Facebook Generation

Assisi, Egypt, US Hypocrisy, Global Revolution

Reference: Correspondence on Assisi Intelligence

Reference: Intelligence for the Spirit of Assisi

ON INTELLIGENCE: Open Letter to the President

Continue reading “Event: 26 Oct 2011 Assisi Italy Pope, Peace, & Prayer — 5th Inter-Faith Event Since 1986 — Terms of Reference…”

2011/06/18

Turkey Rising–21st Century an Ottoman Century?

02 Diplomacy, 08 Immigration, 09 Justice, 10 Security, 11 Society, Advanced Cyber/IO, Civil Society, Corruption, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, Government, IO Impotency, Strategy

editor spinney time — Chuck Spinney Recommends...

Turkey in Position to Lead Region Out of Tumultuous Century

By William Pfaff, Truthdig, Jun 14, 2011

Looking backward, there is a great deal to be said for leaving well enough alone, which is more difficult than one might think. Western Europe in the 19th century is now generally looked back upon as having constituted a pinnacle of Western civilization. Certainly in literature, music and the plastic arts this was so, the last-named in the century’s final decade, when painting ceased its period as domestic decoration and exploded into a myriad of ways to perceive not only the external world but the interior universe as well.

The modern Western intelligence was invented then, and the world has since played variations on 19th century political themes: nationalism, colonialism, imperialism, populism, class liberation, revolution, anarchism, class and racial warfare. The Napoleonic wars began the century and transformed its political institutions. The Franco-Prussian War ended the century, setting the scene for the hyper-destructive 20th century.

. . . . . . .

There is a Muslim community of peace for Turkey to inspire.

Read full article….

Phi Beta Iota: Science and religion and philosophy, when at their best, seek to establish “best truths.” All three have been corrupted by politics, dogma, and laziness. Peace costs one third of what is now spent on war, and infinite wealth for the many can only be achieved in the context of a universal peace. If Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia, and India come together on this point, Islam will be a global force in the 21st Century, not least because it will control secular corruption.

See Also:

Pfaff via Spinney at Phi Beta Iota

William Pfaff, The Irony of Manifest Destiny: The Tragedy of America's Foreign Policy (Walker & Co, 2010)

Event: 26 Oct 2011 Assisi Italy Pope, Peace, & Prayer — 5th Inter-Faith Event Since 1986 — Terms of Reference…

2011/06/16

“Intentional Communities” map

Civil Society, Maps, Uncategorized

http://directory.ic.org

Intentional Community is an inclusive term for ecovillages, cohousing communities, residential land trusts, communes, student co-ops, urban housing cooperatives, intentional living, alternative communities, cooperative living, and other projects where people strive together with a common vision.

This web site serves the growing communities' movement, providing resources for starting a community, finding a community home, living in community, and creating more community in your life.

2011/06/15

David Brooks Doth Protest–Not Nearly Enough!

07 Other Atrocities, Budgets & Funding, Civil Society, Corporations, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Methods & Process, Misinformation & Propaganda, Policies, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy

Pundit Under Protest

By DAVID BROOKS

New York Times, June 13, 2011

I’ll be writing a lot about the presidential election over the next 16 months, but at the outset I would just like to remark that I’m opining on this whole campaign under protest. I’m registering a protest because for someone of my Hamiltonian/National Greatness perspective, the two parties contesting this election are unusually pathetic. Their programs are unusually unimaginative. Their policies are unusually incommensurate to the problem at hand.

The election is happening during a downturn in the economic cycle, but the core issue is the accumulation of deeper structural problems that this recession has exposed — unsustainable levels of debt, an inability to generate middle-class incomes, a dysfunctional political system, the steady growth of special-interest sinecures and the gradual loss of national vitality.

The number of business start-ups per capita has been falling steadily for the past three decades. Workers’ share of national income has been declining since 1983. Male wages have been stagnant for about 40 years. The American working class — those without a college degree — is being decimated, economically and socially. In 1960, for example, 83 percent of those in the working class were married. Now only 48 percent are.

Read complete article–devastating, but not nearly enough so…..

2011/06/15

FROM LIBYA – NATO Bombs Al Fateh University

07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 10 Security, 11 Society, Civil Society, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, IO Sense-Making, Military, Peace Intelligence

Video

Al Fateh University (Arabic: جامعة الفاتح) is the largest and most important institute of higher education in Libya, providing undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate levels of study. It is located in the capital Tripoli. The university was founded as an independent university in 1973 as the University of Tripoli when the University of Libya was divided up. It is home to more than 45,000 students with a faculty of more than 2,500. TUITION IS FREE.

On June 14, NATO bombed this civilian university, damaging the library and disrupting the end term preparations for final exams. Several buildings suffered serious structural damage, and much of the library's stock was ruined. Students and university staff pitched in to do a major cleanup of black dust and smoke damage. If it weren't for a last-minute scheduling change, two of the damaged buildings would have been packed with students, and hundreds, if not thousands, would have been killed. Fortunately, no one was killed.

For description of the bombing itself, see http://www.facebook.com/notes/cynthia-mckinney/from-cynthia-mckinney-more-nato-humanitarian-intervention-the-bombing-of-al-fate/10150200734711139

ALSO – just so you understand (for those outside the US, or those inside living in protected environments), this is an example of how the US authorities act on our streets, from Miami, 30 May 2011: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-r7pz3UXrs&feature=channel_video_title

Category: Civil Society

Black on Black: Cornell West Nails Barack Obama

Onset of Death for the Two-Party Tyranny….

Event: 26 Oct 2011 Assisi Italy Pope, Peace, & Prayer — 5th Inter-Faith Event Since 1986 — Terms of Reference…

Turkey Rising–21st Century an Ottoman Century?

“Intentional Communities” map

David Brooks Doth Protest–Not Nearly Enough!

FROM LIBYA – NATO Bombs Al Fateh University