Tip of the Hat to Contributing Editor Berto Jongman.
Review: The Seventh Sense: Power, Fortune, and Survival in the Age of Networks
3 Star, Information Operations, Information Society, Information Technology
Joshua Cooper Ramo
Over-Sold, Dated, Shallow, Not At All InspiringDo not trust jacket blurbs from celebrities — most of these blurbs are written without ever reading the book, a form of corruption.
See Instead (a 6 Star Book): Connectography: Mapping the Future of Global Civilization
Ramo's intent is to sensitize us to changes we are living through as highly connected networks come to dominate nearly every aspect of society. He does not presume to tell us how it will all turn out, only that institutions will be thoroughly reshaped under relentless pressures. He offers hints of the posture one might develop to make the most of the situation we are in, but there are no guarantees. So while the reader might enjoy the reassurance of a conclusive diagnosis and a sure-fire strategy for success, as so many business books offer, Ramos feels that it would be unwise to offer that sort of satisfaction. His premise is correct, but the alternative satisfaction — of wisdom — sets a high bar. Does he deliver?
Continue reading “Review: The Seventh Sense: Power, Fortune, and Survival in the Age of Networks”
Sepp Hasslberger: Mexico Leads the Way with Indigenous Co-Op Phone Company Serving 356 Municipalities
BTS (Base Transciever Station)
This piece on boingboing is short, but at the end you will find a link to a longer article with more information…
Mexican indigenous groups form co-op phone company to serve 356 municipalities
Telecomunicaciones Indígenas Comunitarias A.C. — a nonprofit telcoms company operated by and for indigenous groups in Chiapas, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Puebla, and Veracruz — has received a license to operate cellular services in at least 356 municipalities. It's the first time the Mexican telcoms regulator has given a operations license to an indigenous social group. TIC is the sequel to a network created by Rhizomatica, who installed internet-based telephony in remote communities serviced only by expensive payphones, lowering the cost of calls by as much as 98%.
Findhorn: Thomas Hubl on The Collapse of Social Structures as GOOD – Leads to Awakening
Cultural Intelligence
The collapse of social structures as part of the awakening | Thomas Hübl
Is the collapse of social structures part of awakening? In this 5-minute video clip, Thomas Hübl explains that one of the possible outcomes of crisis in society is that “enough people see the cracks in society as creative openings where the light comes in and become creative in creating new structures that are much more functional. And then you channel the evolutionary pressure into creativity. So you participate and create something….. if enough people become creative, they move society forward into the next levels of development.”
Five Minute Video Below the Fold
Yoda: European Banks About to Crash?
03 Economy, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Corruption, Ineptitude
World's oldest bank nears breaking point, and it could have major implications for future of EU
Another week, and more concerns about the Italian banking system. A reminder: Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), the world’s oldest bank founded in 1472, has an estimated $55 billion in bad loans on its books and is expected to be among the worst performers in European banking stress tests next week. Shares in the 544-year old bank, the third-largest in Italy by assets, are trading at 8% of book value. Italian officials have been pushing for government assistance to help bail out the bank, but E.U. banking rules require private investors to be wiped out first before there is public assistance.
Mongoose: Expect Electoral Fraud in 2016…
Corruption, Government
A hackable election: 5 things you need to know about e-voting machines
As the U.S. heads toward an especially contentious national election in November, 15 states are still clinging to outdated electronic voting machines that don't support paper printouts used to audit their internal vote counts.
Phi Beta Iota: All Governors have the power to manage fraud across their voting processes.
CounterPunch: DNC Lines Up Hollow Men
Cultural Intelligence
Night of the Hollow Men: Notes From the Democratic Convention
This was a night dominated by the hollow men of the Democratic Party: Panetta, Kaine, Biden and Obama. Men who knew better, but did worse. The theme was liberal virility, strength, and managerial efficiency. Missing was any empathy for the homeless and the hungry, the poor and the downtrodden.
Barack Obama possesses so many scintillating skills, perhaps more skills than any other political figure of the modern era. Yet he put those magical gifts to such meagre, timid and often brutal uses. What a waste. His is the tragedy of a squandered presidency.
