5 Star – Page 23 – Public Intelligence Blog

Andrew Boyd and Dave Oswald Mitchell (editors)

5.0 out of 5 stars Common Sense Of, By, For the Community, October 5, 2014

From a second reading after attending The New Story Summit at Findhorn Foundation in Scotland.

QUOTE Stephan Duncombe (104): “”Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” But waiting for the truth to set us free is lazy politics. The truth does not reveal itself by virtue of being the truth: it must be told, and told well. It must have stories woven around it, works of art made about it; it must be communicated in new and compelling ways that can be passed from person to person, even if this requires flights of fancy and new methodologies.”

I bought this book at Hackers on Planet Earth (HOPE) in NYC, along with Michel Sifry's The Big Disconnect: Why The Internet Hasn't Transformed Politics (Yet) that I am reviewing now, both of these books are huge, and the Sifry book relatively unknown when it should a “top 10” reading for all progressives.

This book (Beautiful Trouble), at 138 pages in pocket size (3/5ths of a normal pocketbook), is an utter gem. At a minimum it forces reflection. Produced by a team of people and organizations, this is a community resources in every sense of the word.

Continue reading “Review: Beautiful Trouble — A Toolbox for Revolution”

2014/10/052014/10/05

Review (DVD): Cold July

5 Star, Reviews (DVD Only)

Michael Hall, Sam Shepard

5.0 out of 5 stars Starts slow, builds to a riveting climax, October 5, 2014

This was my FIRST CHOICE on a nine hour flight, and absolutely proved to be a top-notch mystery action film. In my view, this is more than a B movie, I found everything about it to be first rate from the plot to the acting to the direction and filming. Of the four movies I watched this came out tied with The Calling followed by Blended (2014) and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.

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2014/10/052014/10/05

Review (DVD): The Calling

5 Star, Reviews (DVD Only)

Sarah Sarondon, Gil Bellows

5.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing, a real mystery, very ably presented, October 5, 2014

This is an engrossing movie that I am commenting on, having watched it on Virgin Atlantic yesterday, largely to add it to my list of now 139 recommended DVDs for smart people, find that list with links at Phi Beta Iota the Public Intelligence Blog, look at the bottom of the right-hand column for Reviews (DVD Only) (139).

The film is engrossing and blends multiple themes I will not spoil. Absolutely worth watching if you have the time and want to be engaged in a mystery. All of the acting is top-notch, there are no negatives, although I think rating it “R” is a mistake, this is more a PG-17, never mind a few dead people.

The other three films I watched, in rank order, were:
Cold in July
Blended (2014)
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Continue reading “Review (DVD): The Calling”

2014/10/052014/10/05

Review (DVD): Blended

5 Star, Reviews (DVD Only)

Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore

5.0 out of 5 stars Romantic Comedy, A Formula That Works, October 5, 2014

As much as I obsess about non-fiction and “the naked truth” I have a soft spot in my heart from romantic comedies and new-found happiness emerging from adversity. Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore are as good as it gets, and I am very happy to see them building on their earlier success in 50 First Dates.

This review is primarily a service to those who follow my Amazon reviews and want to tap into my reviews of 139 reviews of DVDs for smart people, easily found, all with links to their Amazon home page, at Phi Beta Iota the Public Intelligence Blog, at the bottom of the right-hand column see Reviews (DVD Only) (139)

2014/09/27

Review: What Wags the World – Tales of Conscious Awakening

5 Star, Consciousness & Social IQ

Miriam Knight and Julie Clayston (editors)

5.0 out of 5 stars A Potpourri of Endless Possibilities, September 27, 2014

Ervin Lazlo, among whose many books I have reviewed Dawn of the Akashic Age: New Consciousness, Quantum Resonance, and the Future of the World, opens the book with the observation that we are in a race with time and the cosmos is longing for us to show life and consciousness.

His foreword is followed by a short introduction from Miriam Knight, from whom I extract this quote:

” The revelations and personal shifts that people have described run the gamut from profound understandings of the nature of the forces underpinning the very fabric of physical reality, to the ability to visualize the interior of human bodies and having the capacity to change their molecular structure and create miraculous healings, to the ability to hear and even see beings in other dimensions, and convey their messages to friends, loved ones, and the world at large.”

In her own introduction, Julie Clayton observes that we are asleep to a lot of things in the world, but humankind is stirring into wakefulness – the contributors listed below are showing the way and making the point that the paths toward transformation are many.

Continue reading “Review: What Wags the World – Tales of Conscious Awakening”

2014/09/122014/09/13

Review: Death of a King – The Real Story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Final Year

5 Star, America (Founders, Current Situation), Biography & Memoirs, Censorship & Denial of Access, Consciousness & Social IQ, Corruption, Country/Regional, Crime (Corporate), Crime (Government), Culture, Research, Empire, Sorrows, Hubris, Blowback, Executive (Partisan Failure, Reform), History, Justice (Failure, Reform), Military & Pentagon Power, Peace, Poverty, & Middle Class, Politics, Power (Pathologies & Utilization), True Cost & Toxicity

Tavis Smiley

5.0 out of 5 stars OK to Challenge Racism and Poverty — NOT OK to challenge militarism and the national security state, September 12, 2014

The publisher has done a rotten job of summarizing this book. Here, paraphrasing the author as he just spoke on the John Stewart show, is the bottom line:

The minute that Dr. King turned against militarism and denounced the USA as the greatest purveyor of violence upon the world, he was first marginalized and then assassinated. “The System” was fine with Dr. King focusing on racism, and even poverty, but it would not tolerate for one moment his questioning the military-industrial complex and the national security state.

The author — whom I found to be very inspiring, coherent, and concise — a brilliant articulator of the key points in the book — goes on to have a conversation with Jon Stewart about how the USA simply cannot handle truth-tellers in relation to “big money” matters such as elective wars (racism and poverty being “little money” matters, and deliberately so).

Dr. King was ultimately assassinated by a US Army sniper on detail to the FBI and under the personal direction of J. Edgar Hoover. The story is told in An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King and has also been documented and validated in a judgment by a federal court awarding the King family the single dollar in damages they requested.

Continue reading “Review: Death of a King – The Real Story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Final Year”

2014/08/292014/08/29

Review: Air Power in UN Operations – Wings for Peace

5 Star, United Nations & NGOs

Walter Dorn (editor) et al

5.0 out of 5 stars Pioneering Practical Work on Future of Aviation — Not Just UN — in Peace and War, August 29, 2014

This book — I disclose that my chapter is one of two concluding chapters — is one of the most practical, comprehensive, and perhaps — we all hope — inspirational books to be published on aviation applications for peace and war in recent memory. Since Look Inside the Book is not available, I will first list the parts and chapters, and then summarize my appreciation for this pioneering endeavor.

PART I THE UN'S FIRST “AIR FORCE”
01 Planning, Organizing, and Commanding Air Operations in the Congo, 1960
02 Peacekeepers in Combat: Fighter Jets and Bombers in the Congo, 1961-1963
03 A Fine Line: Use of Force, the Cold War, and Canada's Air Support for the UN Organization in the Congo

PART II AIRLIFT: LIFELINE FOR UN MISSIONS
04 Above the Rooftop of the World: Canadian Air Operations in Kashmir and Along the India-Pakistan Border
05 Humanitarian Relief in Haiti, 2010: Honing the Partnership between the US Air Force and the UN
06 Flying Humanitarians: The UN Humanitarian Air Service

Continue reading “Review: Air Power in UN Operations – Wings for Peace”