The truth at any cost lowers all other costs — curated by former US spy Robert David Steele.
Transpartisan dialog on corporate power: Americans as citizens, consumers and employees
I hosted a transpartsian dialog with Lisa Graves, Tim Carney, Arnold Kling and Dean Baker at the “Movement for the People.” conference in Washington DC on January 21st, 2011. It was quite enjoyable.
Secrecy News Extract
CRS DIRECTOR'S RETIREMENT RENEWS OLD QUESTIONS
Daniel P. Mulhollan, director of the Congressional Research Service, told CRS staff last week that he will be retiring in April. Mr. Mulhollan, who joined CRS in 1969, has been director of the congressional support organization for the past 14 years, making him its longest-serving leader.
Although the basic parameters of CRS operation are set by Congress, Mr. Mulhollan's departure may encourage reconsideration of some particular CRS policies that he favored. These could include, for example, the CRS posture of strict neutrality, the deliberate erosion of CRS expertise in recent years, and perhaps the policy of barring direct public access to CRS reports.
“Dan loved CRS, and he worked hard to keep it above the Hill's political fray,” said one CRS analyst. “He kept CRS from suffering what GAO did– getting downsized because it was viewed as too friendly to one political party.”
But a former CRS analyst saw the issue of CRS impartiality differently: “In 2003, Dan invented a new standard of ‘neutrality' that prohibits any analyst, no matter the weight of evidence, from stating that one position is stronger than another. The result is a remarkable watering down of CRS reports, a trend that has been noticed not only by congressional staff but by readers outside of Congress. Neither CBO nor GAO follows the standard of ‘neutrality',” the former analyst said.
Another question is whether CRS should provide greater depth of analytical expertise or whether it should emphasize basic tutorials and reference services geared particularly towards new members and younger staffers.
The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 mandated the appointment of highly qualified Specialists and Senior Specialists at CRS to be “available for special work” for congressional committees and members, on topics such as American government, foreign policy, economics, and others.
Under Mr. Mulhollan, these top two levels of CRS expertise have atrophied. “Not since 1989 has CRS hired a Senior Specialist,” according to a former analyst. In 1988 there were 18 of them. “The number is now down to four, with all facing retirement.” Similarly, in the late 1980s there were 38 research Specialists. “The number is now down to five, with all close to retirement.”
“In short, Dan over his reign has wiped out the two top levels of analytical competence” at CRS, the former analyst said. He has allocated their slots and salaries to “full-time administrators who have never done analytical work.”
A current CRS analyst said the future of the organization would have to be different from its past, and that sophisticated subject matter expertise may not be the main thing that Congress is looking for. “CRS is famed for being apolitical and expert, but some congressional staff also find it a bit stodgy. For example, the CRS website lacks full text search, and it doesn't have podcasts or videos. It's just a heap of long, dry reports, and often what the staffers need are primers or short essays.”
As for the policy of blocking direct public access to CRS reports, Congress is responsible for that, but it was firmly embraced by Mr. Mulhollan. (On various occasions since the 1990s, he expressed disapproval of FAS due to our continuing practice of publishing CRS reports online.) His successor could conceivably help to facilitate a change of direction in this area.
Before his departure, Mr. Mulhollan is expected to name an acting director, “someone who likely will continue his management policies and practices,” according to one observer. The appointment of a new CRS director will be up to the Librarian of Congress.
Phi Beta Iota: In combination with the televised comments of Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), in the 2003-2005 timeframe, what is clear is that CRS and CBO have both been castrated by Congress and are neither allowed nor expected to actually report the truth with all its nuances. CRS and CBO have been corrupted from within.
Russia: At least 35 people were killed by the suicide bomb at Domodedovo airport. Airport representative Elena Galanova issued an official statement in which she said the blast struck the international arrivals hall in the common area, to which citizens who are not passengers have access. Consequently, the explosion occurred outside the baggage claim area, close to people who may not have been passengers.
Ria Novosti reported that Russian security services had received warning of a possible terrorist attack on Moscow's Domodedovo airport, a law enforcement source said, but airport authorities denied receiving any warning.
Comment: Multiple news services reported that the head of the bomber was found intact. That is always the signature of an explosive vest worn by the suicide bomber. Pakistani media have made that observation repeatedly. They always find the head.
The features of the head were described as resembling an “Arab,” which could also match the features of a Chechen or a Caucasian.
One point that is clear is that Russian airport security is so poor that it failed to detect a person wearing an explosives vest. If the Ria Novosti report proves accurate, the failure to communicate threat information to airport authorities — who had the ability to make low cost quick security upgrades, but were not given the opportunity– makes Russian intelligence cooperation comparable to that of the US in 2001.
Phi Beta Iota: This is yet another early warning. The solution to suicide terrorists “dying to win” (as well as WikiLeaks) is very straight-forward: legitimacy. Absent legitimacy, violence will grow, with 2012 expected to be a turning point year. There are not enough weapons (or counterintelligence and security professionals with brains) to keep the masses down. The meek will inherit the Earth, but first the less meek will wreak havoc.
http://marketplace.unreasonableinstitute.org
Global donations will determine which entrepreneurs gain admission to esteemed mentorship program
BOULDER, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Starting Jan. 20, 45 social entrepreneurs will showcase their ventures in an online platform called the Unreasonable Finalist Marketplace (http://marketplace.unreasonableinstitute.org/). For 50 days, people from around the world are invited to vote with their wallets on the most viable ventures. The first 25 of the 45 finalists to raise $8,000 in the Marketplace will earn access to the highly acclaimed six-week mentorship program at the Unreasonable Institute. At the Institute, these social entrepreneurs undergo rigorous training sessions, including personal and entrepreneurial skill development, intensive workshops and hands-on guidance from leading thought leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs and investors.
The 45 finalists were selected from more than 300 applicants in 60 countries. Each applicant had to present a financially self-sustaining venture that has the ability to scale to serve the needs of at least 1 million people and demonstrates customer validation through sales or pilots. The finalists this year include a Chinese engineer with a prototype for waterless composting toilets; a 2010 CNN Hero from Kenya who has distributed over 10,000 solar lanterns; and an American inventor with a water purification system that can roll up to the size of a ruler.
Continue reading “45 Social Entrepreneurs Showcase at “Unreasonable Finalist Marketplace””
Tiny, standardized spacecraft are making orbital experiments affordable to even the smallest research groups
By Alex Soojung-Kim Pang and Bob Twiggs | February 9, 2011 (latest issue)
Ever since Sputnik kicked off the age of space satellites more than fifty years ago, big institutions have dominated the skies. Almost all the many thousands of satellites that have taken their place in Earth orbit were the result of huge projects funded by governments and corporations. For decades each generation of satellites has been more complicated and expensive than its predecessor, taken longer to design, and required an infrastructure of expensive launch facilities, global monitoring stations, mission specialists and research centers.
In recent years, however, improvements in electronics, solar power and other technologies have made it possible to shrink satellites dramatically. A new type of satellite, called CubeSat, drastically simplifies and standardizes the design of small spacecraft and brings costs down to less than $100,000 to develop, launch and operate a single satellite—a tiny fraction of the typical mission budget of NASA or the European Space Agency.
(full article requires subscription)
Comment: the article mentions the idea of “printing” low-cost materials as well.
Related:
+ Crowdfunding for a Satellite to Widen Net Access to Help Benefactors to Help Themselves
+ Brooklyn Space Program (weather balloon + iPhone + camera recording most of the flight into space and back)
Patients will be able to access a telemedicine system for medical advice
Jan 23, 2011 11:29 PM | By KEVIN SHALVEY
Imagine you're a two-day trip away from the nearest doctor and are starting to experience flu-like symptoms, but you're unsure if it's malaria, swine flu or merely a common cold.
Why not just SMS a doctor and be diagnosed over the phone?
By March, you'll be able to do just that.
Telemedicine, as long-distance diagnosing, teaching and monitoring is known, will soon be introduced across the country, said executives of MTN and Sanlam, who have teamed up to develop and launch the technology.
“What it means is that a number of services can be offered through the mobile phone,” said MTN corporate affairs executive Rich Mkhondo yesterday. “You would be able to speak to a health professional qualified to diagnose.”
Sanlam Health CEO Grant Newton said the two companies have spent more than 10 years developing a series of questions that patients will answer by SMS or on the phone, which will enable doctors to diagnose 340 diseases.
Continue reading “Mobile Diagnosis of 340 Diseases Using SMS”
Three ways to help people get things done
A friend sent me a copy of a new book about basketball coach Don Meyer. Don was one of the most successful college basketball coaches of all time, apparently. It's quite a sad book—sad because of his tragic accident, but also sad because it's a vivid story about a misguided management technque.
Meyer's belief was that he could become an external compass and taskmaster to his players. By yelling louder, pushing harder and relentlessly riding his players, his plan was to generate excellence by bullying them. The hope was that over time, people would start pushing themselves, incorporating Don's voice inside their head, but in fact, this often turns out to be untrue. People can be pushed, but the minute you stop, they stop. If the habit you've taught is to achieve in order to avoid getting chewed out, once the chewing out stops, so does the achievement.
It might win basketball games, but it doesn't scale and it doesn't last. When Don left the room (or the players graduated), the team stopped winning.
A second way to manage people is to create competition. Pit people against one another and many of them will respond. Post all the grades on a test, with names, and watch people try to outdo each other next time. Promise a group of six managers that one of them will get promoted in six months and watch the energy level rise. Want to see little league players raise their game? Just let them know the playoffs are in two weeks and they're one game out of contention.
Again, there's human nature at work here, and this can work in the short run. The problem, of course, is that in every competition most competitors lose. Some people use that losing to try harder next time, but others merely give up. Worse, it's hard to create the cooperative environment that fosters creativity when everyone in the room knows that someone else is out to defeat them.
Both the first message (the bully with the heart of gold) and the second (creating scarce prizes) are based on a factory model, one of scarcity. It's my factory, my basketball, my gallery and I'm going to manipulate whatever I need to do to get the results I need. If there's only room for one winner, it seems these approaches make sense.
The third method, the one that I prefer, is to open the door. Give people a platform, not a ceiling. Set expectations, not to manipulate but to encourage. And then get out of the way, helping when asked but not yelling from the back of the bus.
When people learn to embrace achievement, they get hooked on it. Take a look at the incredible achievements the alumni of some organizations achieve after they move on. When adults (and kids) see the power of self-direction and realize the benefits of mutual support, they tend to seek it out over and over again.
In a non-factory mindset, one where many people have the opportunity to use the platform (I count the web and most of the arts in this category), there are always achievers eager to take the opportunity. No, most people can't manage themselves well enough to excel in the way you need them to, certainly not immediately. But those that can (or those that can learn to) are able to produce amazing results, far better than we ever could have bullied them into. They turn into linchpins, solving problems you didn't even realize you had. A new generation of leaders is created…
And it lasts a lifetime.
Phi Beta Iota: Then of course there is the butts in seats model favored by the US Government–throw money you don't have at people who don't know and vendor leaders that don't care, expect nothing, you'll be promoted or retired before the stink gets unbearable.
