Reviews (Books & DVD) – Page 125 – Public Intelligence Blog

William Lahneman

Rock Solid Starting Point for Ethical Revolution in Intelligence Affairs

May 14, 2011

This is a solid four-star piece of work with the right intellectual and moral attitude. It is noteworthy for recognizing that a “revolution in intelligence affairs” has not taken place, and that everything done to date has been at best incrementalism if not outright pathologicial self-destruction. Those who are not themselves revolutionaries in the intelligence discipline, and especially those who are just starting out and need an innoculation against the embedded idiocy of the current hierarchy of seniors all too eager to pander to unethical politicans, would do well to read this book. It is more than satisfactory as a starting point for getting it right.

I know the author and his earlier work, and consider this book to be a very fine contribution with perspectives that have been completely absent among the self-proclaimed “in-house” reformists.

See Also (live links at Phi Beta Iota the Public Intelligence Blog):

Graphic: Intelligence Maturity Scale

2010: Human Intelligence (HUMINT) Trilogy Updated

2010 The Ultimate Hack Re-Inventing Intelligence to Re-Engineer Earth (Chapter for Counter-Terrorism Book Out of Denmark)

INTELLIGENCE for EARTH: Clarity, Diversity, Integrity, & Sustainaabilty

All of my books are free online so please don't take this as pimping them–the below books and the one above are the series on intelligence revolution, as yet not recognized nor implemented by any nation.

On Intelligence: Spies and Secrecy in an Open World
The New Craft of Intelligence: Personal, Public, & Political–Citizen's Action Handbook for Fighting Terrorism, Genocide, Disease, Toxic Bombs, & Corruption
Peacekeeping Intelligence: Emerging Concepts for the Future
Information Operations: All Information, All Languages, All the Time
THE SMART NATION ACT: Public Intelligence in the Public Interest
Collective Intelligence: Creating a Prosperous World at Peace

AA Mind the Gap — Vote and/or Comment on Review

2011/05/142011/05/14

Worth A Look: Book on CIA’s View of Open Sources

Intelligence (Government/Secret), Worth A Look

Hamilton Bean

$49.95, 218 pages

Available for Pre-Order, 31 May 2011

Phi Beta Iota: Mr. Bean means well, but this is a three star book at best, losing one star for being grotesquely over-priced and a second for being completely out of touch with the Open Source Intelligence world outside the albino incest pit at CIA, while also completely oblivious to all that is going on across 90 different nations and the eight tribes of intelligence. The book's coverage of the US scene is mediocre, missing Bill Studeman, Joe Markowitz, Carol Dumain, Doug Dearth, and Ben Harrison, among many others–a simple comparison of Golden Candle Awards with those named in the index makes clear the very limited “official” range of views, most of them ranging from the totally unethical to the obliviously bureaucratic. A pre-quel to the book is available at the link below, as well as the riposte that was reviewed in draft by Studeman and Markowtiz.

2007 IJIC 20/2 The DNI’s Open Source Center

2008 IJIC 21/3 The Open Source Program: Missing in Action

History of Opposition (15)

2011/05/142011/05/14

Review (Guest): Tangled Webs: How False Statements are Undermining America — From Martha Stewart to Bernie Madoff

5 Star, America (Founders, Current Situation), Capitalism (Good & Bad), Complexity & Catastrophe, Corruption, Crime (Corporate), Crime (Government), Culture, Research, Environment (Problems), Executive (Partisan Failure, Reform), Impeachment & Treason, Information Society, Justice (Failure, Reform), Misinformation & Propaganda, Politics, Power (Pathologies & Utilization), Public Administration, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy, Threats (Emerging & Perennial), True Cost & Toxicity, Voices Lost (Indigenous, Gender, Poor, Marginalized)

James B. Stewart

Product Description

Bestselling author James B. Stewart's newsbreaking investigation of our era's most high-profile perjurers, revealing the alarming extent of this national epidemic.

Our system of justice rests on a simple proposition: that witnesses will raise their hands and tell the truth. In Tangled Webs, James B. Stewart reveals in vivid detail the consequences of the perjury epidemic that has swept our country, undermining the very foundation of our courts.

With many prosecutors, investigators, and participants speaking for the first time, Tangled Webs goes behind the scene of the trials of media and homemaking entrepreneur Martha Stewart; top White House political adviser Lewis “Scooter” Libby; home-run king Barry Bonds; and Wall Street money manager Bernard Madoff.

Guest Review

5.0 out of 5 stars A first-rate story teller takes on the lying addiction of the rich and famous, April 19, 2011 By F. Hayes-Roth (Monterey, CA USA) – See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

Lying seems epidemic in American society. Stewart focuses his superb writing skills on the general problem of perjury and lying under oath by highlighting the cases of four celebrated liars: Martha Stewart (no apparent relation to the author), Scooter Libby, Barry Bonds, and Bernie Madoff. For each of these, he asks the same question: “Why would people with so much to lose put so much at risk by lying under oath?” Ultimately, the answer becomes obvious: “They thought they could get away with it.”

Continue reading “Review (Guest): Tangled Webs: How False Statements are Undermining America — From Martha Stewart to Bernie Madoff”

2011/05/132011/05/14

Review (Guest): Up from Eden–A Transpersonal View of Human Evolution

5 Star, Consciousness & Social IQ, Culture, Research, Intelligence (Collective & Quantum), Intelligence (Public), Intelligence (Wealth of Networks), Philosophy, Values, Ethics, Sustainable Evolution

Ken Wilber

Phi Beta Iota: Harrison Owen considers this one of Ken Wilber's most important contributions to humanity.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Painful History of Mankind- and a way Beyond…, July 12, 2002

By Nicq MacDonald (Sioux Falls, SD United States)

After the success of his initial works (The Spectrum of Consciousness and No Boundary), Ken Wilber gave his “spectrum” model a serious reappraisal and found it woefully lacking. It seemed that he had made a mistake that he goes on to chide others for in his later books- he confused prerational myths with transcendental truths, and confused the spiritual fall with the scientific fall. He makes up for his previous errors with “Up From Eden: A Transpersonal View of Human Evolution”.

Continue reading “Review (Guest): Up from Eden–A Transpersonal View of Human Evolution”

2011/05/132011/05/13

Review (Guest): No Boundary–Eastern and Western Approaches to Personal Growth

4 Star, Consciousness & Social IQ, Culture, Research, Intelligence (Collective & Quantum), Intelligence (Public), Intelligence (Wealth of Networks), Philosophy, Values, Ethics, Sustainable Evolution

Ken Wilber

Editorial Reviews

“Ken Wilber is one of the most important pioneers in the field of consciousness in this century.”—Deepak Chopra

“The most sensible, comprehensive book on consciousness since William James.”—Dr. James Fadiman, President, Association for Transpersonal Psychology

“No Boundary does for this generation what Alan Watts' writings did for an earlier one. It brings the most difficult subject of all—nature of consciousness—into an easily grasped presentation that is both elegant and simple.”—John White, editor of Kundalini, Evolution, and Enlightenment Continue reading “Review (Guest): No Boundary–Eastern and Western Approaches to Personal Growth”

2011/05/122011/10/22

Review: Liberty Defined–50 Essential Issues That Affect Our Freedom

6 Star Top 10%, America (Founders, Current Situation), Biography & Memoirs, Complexity & Resilience, Congress (Failure, Reform), Consciousness & Social IQ, Corruption, Crime (Corporate), Crime (Government), Culture, Research, Democracy, Economics, Education (General), Empire, Sorrows, Hubris, Blowback, Executive (Partisan Failure, Reform), Intelligence (Public), Justice (Failure, Reform), Misinformation & Propaganda, Peace, Poverty, & Middle Class, Philosophy, Politics, Power (Pathologies & Utilization), Priorities, Public Administration, Threats (Emerging & Perennial)

Ron Paul

Six Stars for Ron Paul's Consistent Constitution–50 one liners, May 10, 2011

I have read and reviewed earlier books by Ron Paul, such as The Revolution: A Manifesto and A Foreign Policy of Freedom: Peace, Commerce, and Honest Friendship. This book moves into a higher class (only 10% of the books I read and review get 6 Stars, see all my reviews in 98 categories at Phi Beta Iota the Public Intelligence Blog). I decided in this instance, thinking of Ron Paul as a viable Presidential candidate for the first time, to deconstruct the book down to 50 one liners. I offer these as a short form of the book, not a substitute for the real deal, but intended to help inspire more people to either buy the book, or absorb this free summary as we all try to break free of the corrupt two-party tyranny that fronts for a neo-fascist state.

Bottom line: liberty is a human condition diminished by a leviathan state.

Below: one line summary of each of the 50 chapters. See also the review by A. Maheshwari that I liked so much I cross-posted it to Phi Beta Iota for others to appreciate.

Continue reading “Review: Liberty Defined–50 Essential Issues That Affect Our Freedom”

2011/05/062011/05/06

Review (DVD): The King’s Speech

Education (General), Leadership, Reviews (DVD Only)

Colin Firth, Helen Bonham Carter, Tom Hooper

Riveting–Great Actors, Great (Real) Settings, An Absorbing Delight

May 6, 2011

There are other summary reviews, so this is primarily a marker to add this DVD to the other 125 that I recommend for smart people looking for only the very best. Phenomenal and heart-warming.

Here are ten other “life at the top” DVDs that I recommend in addition to this one (to see all 126, visit Phi Beta Iota the Public Intelligence Blog, go all the way to the bottom of the middle column under Reviews (I read in 98 categories so it is a long column), and click on Reviews (DVD Only).

manolete (Dvd) Italian Import
Saving God
The Young Victoria
The Answer Man
Henry V
John Adams (HBO Miniseries)
Gone Baby Gone
Primary Colors
The Theory of Everything
Fidel

Category: Reviews (Books & DVD)

Review: Keeping U.S. Intelligence Effective — The Need for a Revolution in Intelligence Affairs