Category: Commerce

Posted on

Event + Webcast: 24 March, Gov Surveillance in a Digital World (7pm PST/10pm EST)

Civil Society, Commerce, Computer/online security, Corruption, Government, Law Enforcement, Mobile, Privacy, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy, Technologies

On the evening on March 24, 2011, EFF staff activists will discuss the state of government surveillance and privacy in the United States at “Government Surveillance in a Digital World,” an event hosted by San Francisco Intersection for the Arts, with a live video stream by BAMM.tv.

One of the many topics to be discussed is the PATRIOT Act. For nearly ten years, EFF has fought to reform or repeal the overbroad authority granted to law enforcement through the PATRIOT Act, and this year, we have a chance to introduce significant reforms. Thanks to bipartisan opposition and the efforts of grassroots activists, Congress rejected a rubber-stamp reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act and instead vowed to spend three months debating reforms to this law. This gives us an incredible opportunity to speak out against the PATRIOT Act and tell Congress that we don’t want any laws that trample on our civil liberties.

Join the EFF activism team in person or online for a a wide-ranging discussion on privacy in the digital world, online free expression, and how we can work together to stop Congress from reauthorizing a PATRIOT Act that enables excessive government surveillance.

SOURCE

Posted on

Half of US Nuclear Reactors Over 30 Years Old….

05 Energy, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence
Berto Jongman Recommends...

Half of U.S. nuclear reactors over 30 years old

By Steve Hargreaves, senior writerMarch 15, 2011: 3:37 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Half of the nation's 104 nuclear reactors are over 30 years old, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Most of the remaining reactors are at least 20 years old.

Originally granted licenses to operate for 40 years, most of the country's reactors have applied for a 20-year extension. Sixty-two extensions have been granted so far, and 20 are still pending, according to the industry group the Nuclear Energy Institute.

Read full story….

Posted on

Internet’s Unholy Marriage to Capitalism

Advanced Cyber/IO, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence, Commerce

More blog posts from Robert McChesney

John Bellamy Foster and Robert W. McChesney

The United States and the world are now a good two decades into the Internet revolution, or what was once called the information age. The past generation has seen a blizzard of mind-boggling developments in communication, ranging from the World Wide Web and broadband, to ubiquitous cell phones that are quickly becoming high-powered wireless computers in their own right. Firms such as Google, Amazon, Craigslist, and Facebook have become iconic. Immersion in the digital world is now or soon to be a requirement for successful participation in society. The subject for debate is no longer whether the Internet can be regarded as a technological development in the same class as television or the telephone. Increasingly, the debate is turning to whether this is a communication revolution closer to the advent of the printing press.

. . . . . . .

The Internet, or more broadly, the digital revolution is truly changing the world at multiple levels. But it has also failed to deliver on much of the promise that was once seen as implicit in its technology. If the Internet was expected to provide more competitive markets and accountable businesses, open government, an end to corruption, and decreasing inequality-or, to put it baldly, increased human happiness-it has been a disappointment. To put it another way, if the Internet actually improved the world over the past twenty years as much as its champions once predicted, we dread to think where the world would be if it had never existed.

Read more….

Phi Beta Iota: What has become clear to our  collective is that the Internet really does need to be free, and that includes the software, the spectrum, and the access to knowledge.   The Autonomous Internet is a non-negotiable first step toward a prosperous world at peace.

Posted on

Simultaneous Policy–A Collaborative Concept

Advanced Cyber/IO, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence, Commerce, Cultural Intelligence, Earth Intelligence, Ethics, Government

to solve them could effectively make its country economically uncompetitive, leading to inflation, unemployment, or even economic collapse.

Simpol aims to break the vicious circle governments find themselves in by encouraging people around the world to oblige their politicians and governments to cooperate globally in implementing appropriate policies simultaneously for the good of all.

Only by implementing policies simultaneously can our problems be resolved in a way that no nation, corporation, or citizen loses out. If all nations act together, everybody wins.

WORTH A LOOK

Posted on

Afghanistan: Too Many Contractors, No Accountability

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 10 Security, Commerce, Corruption, IO Sense-Making, Military, Peace Intelligence

SECRECY NEWS EXTRACT:

DOD CONTRACTORS IN AFGHANISTAN AT A RECORD HIGH

The number of private security contractors employed by the Department of Defense in Afghanistan has reached a new record high, according to DoD statistics in a recently updated report (pdf) from the Congressional Research Service.

Continue reading “Afghanistan: Too Many Contractors, No Accountability”

Posted on

Pentagon Contractors Baby Gaga on Steroids

03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 10 Security, 11 Society, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Corporations, Corruption, Government, Military, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth, Officers Call, Peace Intelligence, Politics of Science & Science of Politics, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Strategy, Technologies, Waste (materials, food, etc)
Richard Wright

There is no doubt that, Pentagon Labyrinth is a first rate piece of work.  However it did fail to mention an additional factor in defense procurement costs that is often overlooked and that is the need to subsidize U.S. defense industry giants such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop-Grumman and General Dynamics. This also explains the over elaborate use of sub-contracting since the boutique sub-contractors used by the defense giants often produce key components for weapon systems so also must be given a portion of the subsidies. Boeing is the only major defense contractor that even makes a pretense of also dealing in commercial aircraft.  Lockheed, Northrop, and General Dynamics along with their networks of sub-contractors are virtually entirely dependent on government contracts or contracts from the government’s foreign clients for their continued existence.

Continue reading “Pentagon Contractors Baby Gaga on Steroids”

Posted on

Four Time Bombs Centered on Wall Street

03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 10 Security, 11 Society, Budgets & Funding, Civil Society, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Corporations, Corruption, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Misinformation & Propaganda, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Reform, Waste (materials, food, etc)
DefDog Recommends...

Paul B. Farrell

March 1, 2011, 12:01 a.m. EST

Four time bombs that will blow up Wall Street

Commentary: Too late to jail bank CEOs; only revolution will succeed

By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch

Phi Beta Iota: Highlights include extimate that US is 44 trillion in debt; that nothing and Administration does will stop Wall Street–this is now so bad the author believes a revolution (as in swarming homes and offices and demanding the return of ill-gotten wealth) will do.  We do not agree.  Yes, it is bad.  No, recovering the stolen money will not do.  The silver lining in all this is the obvious decrepitude of governments and corporations; the now obvious toxic nature of information asymmetries and data pathologies; and the less obvious but emergent need for a) restoring the integrity of the US Electoral process through Electoral Reform 2.2 ; and b) creating the Autonomous Internet so as to achieve Panarchy and create a prosperous world at peace in which transparency eliminates corruption, fraud, waste, and abuse, starting in the USA.

READ ORIGINAL POST WITH FOUR TIME BOMBS DEFINED

Safety Copy of Entire Story Below the Line

Continue reading “Four Time Bombs Centered on Wall Street”

noble gold