Review: Reality Is Broken–Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World

Jane McGonigal 6 Star for Concept–Ignores Past Pioneers–Energizes Us All February 28, 2011 I took the time to read all of the reviews to date, and was reminded again of the chasm between those who understand technology and its possibilities, and those who do not. Being among the latter, in part because I am a …

Why Boeing is Imploding–Spinney, Sprey, & Reality vs Political Engineering & Government Spec Cost Plus

Below are three separate contributions:  Spinney on Sprey; Sprey on Boeing; and Seattle Times on Boeing. CHUCK SPINNEY SOUNDS OFF President Obama says that restoring America’s competitiveness is one of his top priorities.  Yet under his watch, deindustrialization, financialization, and globalization continue without interruption.  Many advocates of defense spending argue that spinoffs from the Pentagon’s …

Barbara McNamara–Subversion from Within

Behind Closed Doors On 31 January 2011 Secrecy News returned to a subject that had been discussed earlier: the federal investigations of former NSA employee Thomas Drake for revealing classified information and of a former congressional intelligence committee staffer, Diane Roark, for assisting him. This latest article essentially quotes former NSA Deputy Director Barbara McNamara …

Assisi-Rome 2nd Meeting

The first meeting, in Assisi on Saturday 22 January 2011, was off the record.  The letter is in the Franciscan Order’s hands.  The third meeting, with a major trans-Europe foundation, is off the record until the Secretary-General obtains approval to proceed with broad dissemination of the letter. The second meeting, arranged by Sergio Germani, was …

2011 Food Crisis, Urban Gardening, Social Systems

Dear friends, Food is basic. Lester Brown — founder of both the Worldwatch Institute and the Earth Policy Institute, author of over 50 books on environmental issues, recipient of 26 honorary degrees and a MacArthur Fellowship, and (according to the Washington Post) “one of the world’s most influential thinkers” — has just published a cogent …