Topics (All Other) – Page 194 – Public Intelligence Blog

2010/10/162010/10/16

Journal: Food Addiction–Could It Explain Why 70 Percent of Americans Are F

01 Agriculture, 03 Economy, 06 Family, 07 Health, 07 Other Atrocities, 11 Society, Analysis, Civil Society, Commerce, Corporations, Government, Misinformation & Propaganda, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth

Mark Hyman, MD

Practicing physician

Posted: October 16, 2010 09:04 AM

Food Addiction: Could It Explain Why 70 Percent of Americans Are Fat?

Our government and food industry both encourage more “personal responsibility” when it comes to battling the obesity epidemic and its associated diseases. They say people should exercise more self-control, make better choices, avoid overeating, and reduce their intake of sugar-sweetened drinks and processed food. We are led to believe that there is no good food or bad food, that it's all a matter of balance. This sounds good in theory, except for one thing…

New discoveries in science prove that industrially processed, sugar-, fat- and salt-laden food — food that is made in a plant rather than grown on a plant, as Michael Pollan would say — is biologically addictive.

Read entire story…

Phi Beta Iota: This is a HUGE story that merits more emphasis at The Huffington Post. It is a perfect example of a newly-discovered “true cost” of the industrialization of agriculture which IS a contradiction in terms. It is a perfect example of government complacency, ignorance, and ultimately irresponsibility. This is precisely what public intelligence in the public interest is about.

Worth a Look: Book Reviews on Corporate Lack of Integrity or Intelligence or Both

Worth a Look: Book Reviews on Elite Rule

Worth a Look: Book Reviews on Middle Class

Worth a Look: Book Reviews on Poisons, Toxicity, Trash, & True Cost

Worth a Look: Book Reviews on Poverty

2010/10/162010/10/16

Journal: CrowdSourcing Big Time–Games for Dollars

03 Economy, 11 Society, Collective Intelligence, Methods & Process

UPDATE of 16 October 2010: CrowdSourcing Conference Papers Online

Is Microtask the Future of Work?

GigaOm By Liz Gannes Oct. 8, 2010

Crowdsourcing is often used for fairly menial tasks: correcting databases, screening offensive images, transcribing audio. But what if you could make those little bits of human labor even more menial, discrete and interchangeable? That’s what the Finnish company Microtask does. I met with Microtask CEO Wili Miettinen and CTO Otto Chrons earlier this week while they were in town for CrowdConf, the first major gathering for the crowdsourcing industry.

The World's First Conference on the Future of Distributed Work

Crowdsourcing is the act of engaging distributed groups of people to complete microtasks or generate information. It represents an expanding sphere of innovation, organization, data collection, and creativity.

Crowdsourcing raises complex questions about the future of work; the technical and organizational infrastructure used to complete large-scale tasks; and the relationships between computers, people, and the networks that connect us.

Conference happened on 4 October, visit conference site.

Phi Beta Iota: What we consider important about this is the clear profit incentive to integrate games and work. This is huge. It opens a number of almost infinitely scalable options that connect dots and people and money.

2010/10/162010/10/16

Journal: Time to ShitCan the FCC and Go Open Spectrum

03 Economy, 04 Education, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 11 Society, Collective Intelligence, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Corruption, Government, Open Government, Politics of Science & Science of Politics, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy, Standards, Technologies, True Cost

DefDog Recommends...

November 30th, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) could
potentially engage in one of the largest federal power grabs we have ever
seen.

At the FCC’s November meeting – note the coincidental date of choice,
AFTER the impending election – three unelected bureaucrats (of five) could
simply vote themselves rulers of 1/6th of our entire economy – the
information and technology sector.

Meaning the Internet that you currently enjoy – that has been a marvel of
economic and information innovation and success – will be subject to vast
new governmental regulations. You didn’t elect these people – but they
are on the verge of electing themselves Internet overlords.

November 30th Could Be the Day the Government Seizes Control of the Internet

by Seton Motley

November 30^th, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) could potentially engage in one of the largest federal power grabs we have ever seen.

locked-computer

After two years of this Presidential Administration and this Congress, that is saying an awful lot about an awful lot.

And what’s worse, the FCC would be doing it without Congress weighing in. At the FCC’s November meeting – note the coincidental date of choice, AFTER the impending election – three unelected bureaucrats (of five) could simply vote themselves rulers of 1/6th of our entire economy – the information and technology sector.

See Also:

Huffington Post Blogs on FCC & Internet

2010/10/162011/10/22

Journal: Reich Whines Because Gore & Obama Took the Bribe, Now Democrats Realize They Were Theater

11 Society, Civil Society, Commercial Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence, IO Secrets, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth

Full Story Online

Published on Friday, October 8, 2010 by Robert Reich's Blog

The Secret Big-Money Takeover of America

by Robert Reich

Not only is income and wealth in America more concentrated in fewer hands than it’s been in 80 years, but those hands are buying our democracy as never before – and they’re doing it behind closed doors.

Hundreds of millions of secret dollars are pouring into congressional and state races in this election cycle. The Koch brothers (whose personal fortunes grew by $5 billion last year) appear to be behind some of it, Karl Rove has rounded up other multi-millionaires to fund right-wing candidates, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is funneling corporate dollars from around the world into congressional races, and Rupert Murdoch is evidently spending heavily.

No one knows for sure where this flood of money is coming from because it’s all secret.

Read the entire article….

Phi Beta Iota: The FACTS are that Al Gore took the bribe offer delivered by Warren Christopher to roll over and play dead on the Florida high crimes and misdemeanors, and then Barack Obama took the bribe to receive $300 million still unaccounted for dollars in order to “play” President. What is happening right now is–we hope–the last act in the theater of democracy. It is time to flush both criminally irresponsible parties down the toilet, carry out Electoral Reform, and get back to being a Republic Of, By, and For We the People–respecting the Constitution and if necessary demanding the wholesale resignation of the Supreme Court Justices that confirmed corporate personality.

Review: Selling Out

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

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

2008 ELECTION 2008: Lipstick on the Pig

Review: Threshold–The Crisis of Western Culture

Review: Shooting the Truth–The Rise of American Political Documentaries

Review DVD: The AMERICAN Ruling Class

Review: Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth

2010/10/162010/10/16

NIGHTWATCH Extract: Russia, Venezuela, Economy, Arms

06 Russia, 07 Venezuela, Strategy

Venezuela-Russia: Russia does not plan to cut military-technical cooperation with Venezuela, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev said on 15 October Interfax reported. He spoke at a press conference following talks with Venezuelan President Chavez. Medvedev called changes in the economic sphere “very serious and of a tectonic character,” and includes nearly all sectors of mutual interest. This includes real investment, primarily in the energy sector, he said.

Prime Minister Putin announced that Russia has sold 35 tanks to Venezuela. That is enough to equip a Russian-style battalion.

NIGHTWATCH Comment: Chavez justifies a more than $4 billion arms spending spree since 2005 based on the threat of a US attack. He intends to purchase Kilo-class submarines and S-300 air defense missiles. Russia canceled its longstanding contract for similar missiles with Iran. A major concern is that Venezuela will be a conduit for Russian arms to reach Iran because of the closeness of Chavez' connection with Ahmadi-Nejad in opposing the US.

NIGHTWATCH KGS Home

Phi Beta Iota: What is really important about the above is the Russian reference to “tectonic character” of the economic shift. Neither the Russians nor the Chinese are stupid, and they will murder, kidnap, and/or torture Wall Street executives and their families if selected “corrections” are not made. The era of US “empire” is not only over, the irresponsibility of the last eight years has deprived the USA as a whole of a more measured transition. In Latin America, the USA has disgraced itself and lost a century of opportunity.

Review: Open Veins of Latin America–Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent

Review: SAVAGE CAPITALISM AND THE MYTH OF DEMOCRACY–Latin America in the Third Millennium

2010/10/16

“TapIt” Water Bottle Refilling Network in NYC

12 Water, Maps, Mobile

TapIt water bottle refilling network was founded in 2008 to give New Yorkers free access to clean sustainable water on the go. Café owners sign up as ‘partners’ to provide tap water to those who carry a reusable bottle. Partner locations are easy to find using our search and mapping features (PC or Smartphone) or by downloading ‘TapIt Water’ from the iPhone App store. For those with limited access to technology, printable city maps can be downloaded and stickers can be found on café windows.

Comment: This has been added to this 45 page table of water resource hyper-links with a description for each link.

2010/10/152010/10/15

Journal: 2005 Seminal Work Ignored to This Day…

03 Economy, 05 Energy, 09 Justice, 10 Security, 11 Society, 12 Water, Academia, Analysis, Budgets & Funding, Government, InfoOps (IO), Intelligence (government), Politics of Science & Science of Politics, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Reform, Research resources, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy

cover rising above the storm — Book Page

DefDog Recommends...

Authors:
By Members of the 2005 “Rising Above the Gathering Storm” Committee; Prepared for the Presidents of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine
Authoring Organizations

Description:

In the face of so many daunting near-term challenges, U.S. government and industry are letting the crucial strategic issues of U.S. competitiveness slip below the surface. Five years ago, the National Academies prepared Rising Above the Gathering Storm, a book …
Read More

Reviews:

“Five years ago, these authors provided foresight. Now, their vision answers a national imperative.”

– American Chemical Society President Joseph S. Francisco, Ph.D.

Phi Beta Iota: This book was ignored by successive Administrations of both of the “top two” parties, just as Peak Oil, Peak Water, and Infectious Disease warnings were ignored by previous Administrations in the 1970's. The title of the OSS conference, “National Security & National Competitiveness: Open Source Solutions,” sought to communicate both the objective and the method. The US Government is uninformed and nearly comatose with respect to anything remotely associated with strategic objectives and intelligence-driven policy.