Strategy – Page 18 – Public Intelligence Blog

Happiness, Freedom, Equality, Rudeness: Welcome to Denmark

Hank Pellissier, Ethical Technology

Institute for Ethics & Emerging Technologies

26 March 2011

The miniscule Scandinavian nation is a world leader in multiple best-nation categories. But is it a role model for technoprogressives?

The fevered goals of the Enlightenment are still hot today in the cold, flat, windy peninsula and archipelago of 400 islands that contains fewer inhabitants than Maryland. Once the base camp of ravaging Vikings, Denmark is now the world leader in multiple harmonious categories.

EXTRACT: To summarize … here’s a rundown on the Danish dynamo:

#1 Happiness .. #1 Most Democratic .. #1 Most Egalitarian .. #1 Least Corrupt .. #1 Press Freedom .. #1 Engineering .. #1 Best Country for Business .. #1 Best Country for Entrepreneurs .. #1 Clean Technology / Sustainable Development .. #3 Fewest Prisoners Per Capita .. #3 Most Charitable .. #5 Per Capita Income .. #7 Women’s Equality .. #7 Peace

Below the Line: the meat vis a vis the USA contrast. Reliable authorities from Denmark have informed us that this is half-fairy tale and half-real, but certainly a model to aspire to for all.

Continue reading “Denmark Standings–For Reflection”

2011/03/262011/03/26

Russia Returns Heavy-Hitter to Afghanistan

02 Diplomacy, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 06 Russia, 08 Wild Cards, Advanced Cyber/IO, Ethics, Government, InfoOps (IO), IO Multinational, IO Sense-Making, Peace Intelligence, Strategy

Highlights a classic failure of US intel and State…..no experts with the
depth or contacts necessary to conduct statecraft…….

Mullah Omar gets a Russian visitor

By M K Bhadrakumar

Asia Times, Mar 24, 2011

EXTRACT: The executive order makes the customary reference to the new appointee's worthy credentials as “an experienced diplomat and Orientalist”. And then, out of the blue, it adds that Kabulov “repeatedly held talks on the release of Russian pilots with the leadership of the Taliban in Kandahar, including [Taliban leader] Mohammed Omar”. There was no real need to have said that. It almost seems jarring to single out one mission in a distinguished diplomat's checkered career. But it said all that needed to be said.

By the language of the sport of cricket, one would shout from the crease in the heat of the moment: “Howzaat!” Is there an umpire nearby who could annotate the trajectory of Russian thinking? Not much ingenuity is needed to comprehend that Moscow is opening a line to the Taliban leadership and sending into the Hindu Kush someone who can meaningfully converse with the Quetta shura (council). Pakistanis know Kabulov, Iranians know him and Mullah Omar knows him. Afghan President Hamid Karzai knows him, too.

EXTRACT: Kabulov's mind is an open book – as far as a diplomat's mind can be. While serving in Kabul, he was an easily accessible ambassador and even American military commanders used to drop by to pick his brains. Kabulov's main complaint, though, was that the Americans were good listeners, but not good learners.

He kept harping on that the United States was repeating the same mistakes that the Soviet Union made in Afghanistan during its occupation in the 1980s, and to complicate matters, American policies have been innovating on Soviet mistakes by inventing original mistakes of their own for which as he once told John Burns of the New York Times, “We [Russia] do not own the copyright.”

Read full article….

Phi Beta Iota: The article is a reference work, worth keeping, worthy of war colleges and those who aspire to be great leaders.

2011/03/252011/03/25

Tom Atlee on the US Budget Crisis

03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 10 Security, 11 Society, Budgets & Funding, Commercial Intelligence, Communities of Practice, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, IO Multinational, Methods & Process, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth, Open Government, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Reform, Strategy

March 25, 2011

Info and Perspective on the Budget Crisis

Dear friends,

So much is happening under the guise of “the budget crisis” that I thought it might be useful to deconstruct this issue a bit.

Phi Beta Iota: Tom has produced a relatively long and meticulously documented essay

PART A: PRIMARY SOURCES OF THE BUDGET CRISIS

PART B: RATIONAL APPROACHES TO THE BUDGET CRISIS

PART C: IMPORTANT LINKS

Among us all, he is the most balanced and closest to the public soul.

Read entire essay….

2011/03/222011/03/22

Catholic Church Getting Serious About “Truth”

11 Society, Advanced Cyber/IO, Civil Society, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, History, InfoOps (IO), Politics of Science & Science of Politics, Strategy

VATICAN-PHILOSOPHY Mar-22-2011 (360 words) With photos. xxxi

Vatican says church philosophy studies must combat suspicion of truth

Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski talks about new norms for the ecclesiastical studies of philosophy. (CNS/Alessandro Serrano, Catholic Press Photo)

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When training priests and educating students in philosophy, the Catholic Church must combat a widespread sensation that there really is no such thing as permanent, objective truths, a new Vatican document said.

Because so many students are influenced by the cultural suspicion of truth, the Vatican said it will require an extra year of study before a student can earn a church-recognized bachelor's degree in philosophy.

Read complete Vatican story….

Phi Beta Iota: Something very important is happening within the Catholic Church. The Most Holy Father Benedict XVI is a “convergence Pope” and moving on multiple fronts. He is seeking to reconcile religion with science; philosophy with theology; logic with pastoral direction. In short, His Holiness is deepening and elaborating on initiatives begun by Pope John Paul II, to include pro-active inter-faith and pro-active science and religion summits. Faith matters. History matters. Science matters. There is something happening here that is potentially a revolution in global human evolutionary psychology.

2011/03/162011/03/17

Open Source Governance, Open Source Funding — End of Earmarks, Fraud, Waste, and Abuse

03 Economy, 11 Society, Advanced Cyber/IO, Augmented Reality, Budgets & Funding, Collaboration Zones, Collective Intelligence, Communities of Practice, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, InfoOps (IO), Methods & Process, microfinancing, Mobile, Reform, Strategy, Technologies

220px-Michel_Bauwens_crop — Michel Bauwens

Open Source Governance

Peergovernance (Category)

Metagovernment Active Projects

Over-Arching Starting Point:

P2P Governance, Politics, Social Movements

Continue reading “Open Source Governance, Open Source Funding — End of Earmarks, Fraud, Waste, and Abuse”

2011/03/07

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)

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”

2011/02/192011/02/21

MIRROR: How to Communicate & Restore Collective Power if the US Government Shuts Down the Internet

07 Other Atrocities, 11 Society, Advanced Cyber/IO, Autonomous Internet, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, InfoOps (IO), Journalism/Free-Press/Censorship, Methods & Process, Mobile, Officers Call, Peace Intelligence, Real Time, Strategy, Technologies, Tools

HOW TO COMMUNICATE IF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT SHUTS DOWN THE INTERNET

02-07-2011 8:48 pm – Wallace

Liberty News Online

Scenario: Your government is displeased with the communication going on in your location and pulls the plug on your internet access, most likely by telling the major ISPs to turn off service.

This is what happened in Egypt Jan. 25 prompted by citizen protests, with sources estimating that the Egyptian government cut off approximately 88 percent of the country's internet access. What do you do without internet? Step 1: Stop crying in the corner. Then start taking steps to reconnect with your network. Here’s a list of things you can do to keep the communication flowing.

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PREVENTIVE MEASURES:

Continue reading “MIRROR: How to Communicate & Restore Collective Power if the US Government Shuts Down the Internet”