Government – Page 802 – Public Intelligence Blog

2011/07/292011/07/29

Koko: US Government Suspends Scientist For Integrity Inquiry – Who Suspends the USG?

03 Environmental Degradation, 05 Energy, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 11 Society, Articles & Chapters, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Earth Intelligence, Government, Politics of Science & Science of Politics, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests

Arctic scientist who exposed climate threat to polar bear is suspended

US government conducts ‘integrity inquiry' on federal biologist amid lobbying by oil firms for Arctic permits

Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 28 July 2011

It was seen as one of the most distressing effects of climate change ever recorded: polar bears dying of exhaustion after being stranded between melting patches of Arctic sea ice.

But now the government scientist who first warned of the threat to polar bears in a warming Arctic has been suspended and his work put under official investigation for possible scientific misconduct.

. . . . . .

Some question why Monnett, employed by the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, has been suspended at this moment. The Obama administration has been accused of hounding the scientist so it can open up the fragile region to drilling by Shell and other big oil companies.

Read full article….

2011/07/29

Koko: Russia’s President Wants Educational Games

06 Russia, Academia, Advanced Cyber/IO, Articles & Chapters, Civil Society, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Policies

Russia's President is on to something, with the observation that the best history games would not focus on what was, but on what might have been had true cost information been embedded at each point in time.

Russia's prez wants educational World of Warcraft history game

DVICE.com, 29 July 2011

While the Chinese love World of Warcraft so much they're using them as punishment in labor camps, Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev wants to make a similar game to teach people about Russian history.

Somebody give this guy a chest-bump and a double high-five. Unlike most Presidents, Medvedev is a young guy. He's in tune with pop culture and “what's in” and “cool” and aims to aggressively use new mediums such as MMORPGs as an educational tool.

Speaking at a gathering of Russia's cultural and science councils, Medvedev said:

“I've checked what our youth are playing with, and most games are pseudo-historical and fantasy-based.”“Take ‘World of Warcraft.' … It's not all about destruction. It has a subtext about developing human civilization.”

“We could try to make something similar if it's so popular — not globally, perhaps, but at the domestic level.”

Medvedev's idea comes as Russia prepares to celebrate its 1,150th anniversary of statehood next year.

Using video games to drill historical facts into heads? If we had a WoW knock-off when we were still in high school, maybe we'd have been less apt to cutting class to hang underneath the football field bleachers where the “evil” lurked.

2011/07/29

Tom Atlee: Abundant Democracy Resources

Advanced Cyber/IO, Blog Wisdom, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, Government, Open Government, Peace Intelligence, Policies, Reform

Dear friends,

In 2001 the Co-Intelligence Institute released a breakthrough compilation of more than 100 democratic innovations. At that time there was no other comparable resource on the web.

This year we decided — and began — to update this list, to fix its broken links, to add new innovations and resources, and to make it into a wiki to allow other people to add democratic innovations they knew about. You can see our initial progress online.

While preparing a grant proposal to expand the project, we researched the web for other lists of democratic and participatory practices and resources. We were surprised to find quite a few.

We decided that to add the most value in the context of this great wealth of resources, our project should

Continue reading “Tom Atlee: Abundant Democracy Resources”

2011/07/282011/07/29

DefDog: Completely False Story from Coalition on Taliban

03 Economy, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 10 Security, 11 Society, Articles & Chapters, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, IO Impotency, Media, Military, Misinformation & Propaganda, Officers Call

This story is completely false. NightWatch's compilation of data reveals that “March saw the highest level of fighting up to March 2011 and May was higher still. July looks down, but much more focused and lethal against senior officials.”

Just more of the aversion of truth that permeates Washington…..it also goes against all the previous reporting of having the Taliban on the ropes…..

Coalition holds line on Taliban attacks, data show

By Jim Michaels

USA TODAY, 28 July 2011

For the first time in five years insurgent-initiated attacks in Afghanistan have not increased with the start of a new fighting season, suggesting that a surge of U.S. forces has blunted Taliban momentum, according to the coalition forces.

Read full story…

Continue reading “DefDog: Completely False Story from Coalition on Taliban”

2011/07/28

Robert Young Pelton: USA Road to Debt Decisions

03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 11 Society, Articles & Chapters, Budgets & Funding, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government

Useful survey on when the recent as well as the further back decisions on going into debt were made. From April, but so very relevant today.

Running in the red: How the U.S., on the road to surplus, detoured to massive debt

By Lori Montgomery

The Washington Post, April 30, 2011

The nation’s unnerving descent into debt began a decade ago with a choice, not a crisis.

. . . . . . .

All told, Obama-era choices account for about $1.7 trillion in new debt, according to a separate Washington Post analysis of CBO data over the past decade. Bush-era policies, meanwhile, account for more than $7 trillion and are a major contributor to the trillion-dollar annual budget deficits that are dominating the political debate.

. . . . . .

William Hoagland, who was for years a top budget aide to Domenici and other GOP Senate leaders, said it is simplistic to think today’s fiscal problems began just 10 years ago. In 1976, as a young CBO analyst, Hoagland produced a long-term simulation that showed entitlement costs gradually overwhelming the rest of the federal budget.

“This situation really goes back to long before [the Bush administration], which is to say to old dead men that have long left the Congress,” he said.

Read full article (three screens)…

2011/07/282011/07/28

Secrecy News: ACLU to Congress on Curbing Secrecy

07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 10 Security, 11 Society, Blog Wisdom, Civil Society, Corruption, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence, Government, IO Deeds of War, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy, White Papers

ACLU: CONGRESS MUST ACT TO CURB SECRECY

“Congress must take the lead in challenging the laws and practices that have allowed excessive secrecy to become the dominant feature of our national security culture,” the American Civil Liberties Union urged in a new report on government secrecy.

“The excessive secrecy that hides how the government pursues its national security mission is undermining the core principles of democratic government and injuring our nation in ways no terrorist act ever could,” wrote Mike German and Jay Stanley, the authors of the ACLU report. “It is time for Congress to make the secrecy problem an issue of the highest priority, and enact a sweeping overhaul of our national security establishment to re-impose democratic controls.”

The report provides a fluid account of current secrecy policy, along with a critique from first principles as well as from recent experience. Highly readable and thoroughly footnoted, the 51 page report covers a spectrum of secrecy issues, from the state secrets privilege to secret law to the role of national security whistleblowers, and a lot more. It concludes with a menu of recommended reforms that Congress could and, the authors say, should undertake.

The title of the report sums it up: “Drastic Measures Required: Congress Needs to Overhaul U.S. Secrecy Law and Increase Oversight of the Secret Security Establishment” by Mike German and Jay Stanley, July 2011.

Continue reading “Secrecy News: ACLU to Congress on Curbing Secrecy”

2011/07/272011/07/27

Koko: Americans Elect – Electoral Theft Part IV

07 Other Atrocities, 11 Society, Blog Wisdom, Civil Society, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, IO Impotency, Misinformation & Propaganda

At this time, while espousing the most laudable goals, Americans Elect reeks of subterfuge. Electoral Theft I was Florida in 2000. Electoral Theft II was Ohio in 2004. Electoral Theft III was Obama in 2008. And now we have Americans Elect.

Here are a few stories documenting their connections with Michael Bloomberg and NO LABELS, the tragic farce that ended with a silly song. Hedge-fund money, New York City roots.

Headlines with links below the line.

Continue reading “Koko: Americans Elect – Electoral Theft Part IV”