Intelligence is a tool for power and traditionally very sensitive by nature. Well-established and bureaucratic resistance, international positioning and working methods hamper cooperation concerning intelligence. In a multifunctional and multinational peace operation a lot of informal structures are intertwined with formal structures.
EXTRACT
In order to create a picture of the widest spectrum in a multifunctional mission cooperation is necessary among military, police, Governmental- and International organisations and NGO`s. Intelligence services need to communicate with each other, and multi-lateral agreements need to be established to governing the collection, analysis and sharing of intelligence.
I am quite excited about the progress that has been made in various citizen political participation proposals. All of these clearly have tremendous potential and the articulations of their rationales are becoming quite compelling.
With such innovative deliberative democracy proposals, I want them to be thought through well beforehand, engaging a variety of authorities and perspectives in a search of answers that can embrace that diversity with greater wisdom than otherwise. I am especially interested in finding out people's concerns and what solutions appear when we seriously seek to understand and address those concerns (this being a basic principle of creative consensus processes and of collective wisdom in general). I consider this vital if we seek to inject sane, powerful initiatives into the kind of toxic political environment that exists today. There is just too much at stake to fail simply because we didn't explore our design issues sufficiently ahead of time.
With that intention in mind, I have the following twelve thoughts and inquiries to offer. I would love to be part of a serious inquiry into questions like these, both in person and online.
Portland Oregon is working on revising zoning regulations regarding urban market farms. Early debate indicates that the protection of traditional approaches to real-estate value (ornamental residences, noise/traffic abatement, etc.) is the priority. Given the scale of the economic crisis that is already upon us, this approach is completely broken. They should be focused on building a simple platform for accelerating a local food economy.
Phi Beta Iota: Portland in particular, and the Pacific Northwest generally, keep popping up as bastions of ethical sanity. The combination of intelligence and integrity visible there is quite heartening.
Michael Ostrolenk: The Transpartisan Imperative in Public Policy. Recorded July 29, 2011 as part of The Rutherford Institute's Summer Speaker Series.
Michael was Co-Director for Reuniting America 2006-2007, then President of Reuniting America in 2007-2008. He is now the Executive Director of the Transpartisan Center in Washington DC.
We dolphins are not too thrilled about this idea. Humans have not evolved very far from their Neanderthal roots, and the idea of human hoards invading and polluting the seas is scary to those of us for whom sustainability and resilience comes naturally. Requires further study.
PayPal-founder Peter Thiel was so inspired by Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand's novel about free-market capitalism – that he's trying to make its title a reality.
The Silicon Valley billionaire has funnelled $1.25 million to the Seasteading Institute, an organization that aspires to launch a floating colony into international waters, freeing them and like-minded thinkers to live by Libertarian ideals.
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Mr Thiel recently told Details magazine that: ‘The United States Constitution had things you could do at the beginning that you couldn't do later. So the question is, can you go back to the beginning of things? How do you start over?'
The floating sovereign nations that Thiel imagines would be built on oil-rig-like platforms anchored in areas free of regulation, laws, and moral conventions.
The Seasteading Institute says it will ‘give people the freedom to choose the government they want instead of being stuck with the government they get.'
Phi Beta Iota: The idea of seasteading in some form of idealic libertarian island of paradise is fairly distant from reality. Accepting that the libertarians will be armed and alert, this concept fails to account for a) the outlaw sea; and b) the dead sea. There is no solution for any group of humanity that is sustainable absent its embracing all humanity.
1. Invest in America's Infrastructure . 2. Create 21st Century Energy Jobs . 3. Invest in Public Education
4. Offer Medicare for All . 5. Secure Social Security . 6. Return to Fairer Tax Rates . 7. End the Wars and Invest at Home . 8. Tax Wall Street Speculation . 9. Strengthen Democracy
