Posted on

Paul Craig Roberts: Cynthia McKinney On Leadership

Cultural Intelligence, Ethics
0Shares
Paul Craig Roberts

Cynthia McKinney On Leadership

October 2, 2012

Those who have followed the Republican campaign for the presidential nomination and current contest between Romney and Obama know that the United States has no political leadership in Washington.

Billions of dollars have been spent on political propaganda, but not a single important issue has been addressed. The closest the campaign has come to a political issue is which candidate can grovel the lowest at the feet of Israeli prime minister Netanyahu. Romney won that contest. But for the rest, well, it is like two elementary school children sticking their tongues out at one another.

Cynthia McKinney

The question of US political leadership has been on my mind for some time. I can remember when political leadership still existed and when bipartisan cooperation could be mustered on enough issues to keep the country and the government functioning.

But no more. It might have been Newt Gingrich who, as Speaker of the House, destroyed bipartisan cooperation by making war on the Democratic Party, warfare that Karl Rove has taken to a new height.

When a country loses leadership, how does a country get leadership back? This is an important question. Without leadership, there is only violence. Once the Romans lost their republic, there was no one to lead them and they were ruled by violence. Will this be our fate?

Continue reading “Paul Craig Roberts: Cynthia McKinney On Leadership”

Posted on

SmartPlanet: Liquid Air (Chilled and Released) as Energy

05 Energy, SmartPlanet
0Shares

The latest renewable energy: Liquid air

By Mark Halper | October 2, 2012, 3:52 AM PDT

EXTRACTS:

Air, that invisible ampleness all around us, could hold on to energy from wind turbines that spin at night when we don’t need the electricity, and then release it later, the BBC reports.

All you have to do is first turn the air into a liquid state, using technology adapted by a British company called Highview Power Storage.

. . . . . . . . .

Highview uses night time electricity generated by wind turbines to chill air down to -190 degrees C (-310 degrees F), at which point it becomes liquid nitrogen. (I assume the process could also store excess daytime solar energy, although the BBC article only discusses wind).

Store that liquid in a giant vacuum, heat it back into a gas some other time, and the rush of air will drive a turbine. Feel good that renewable energy, not dirty old coal, will power your coffee maker in the morning. Except possibly for one thing – some external energy source has to help warm things up, and that source might not be renewable.

Read full article see video of car running on air.

Posted on

NIGHTWATCH: Failure of Strategic Integrity in USA Kills Troops in Afghanistan

03 Economy, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 10 Security, 11 Society, Commerce, Corruption, Government, Military
0Shares

Afghanistan-NATO: The withdrawal of Western forces from Afghanistan could come sooner than expected, according to NATO Secretary General Rasmussen. He conceded that the recent Taliban strategy of ‘green on blue' killings had been successful in sapping NATO morale.

In an interview with The Guardian Rasmussen acknowledged he felt pressure for a faster withdrawal from Afghanistan and said all options were being studied and should be clear within three months.

Rasmussen also said NATO's forces in Afghanistan have recommenced joint operations with Afghan forces. He said, “Almost all partnered activities have now been resumed and that reflects an assessment made by our commanders as regards the overall security situation.”

Special Comment: Two developments indicate the Coalition command does not know how to deal with the surge in green-on-blue murders. The first is the Afghan government's issuance of a cultural guide to Afghan forces advising them to not over-react to the cultural insensitivity of the Western soldiers.

Continue reading “NIGHTWATCH: Failure of Strategic Integrity in USA Kills Troops in Afghanistan”

Posted on

Search: solutions for prosperous world UPDATED to include readings & contact info

Searches
0Shares
Click on Image to Enlarge

Updated 29 October 2012 to include frequent search request “readings about solutions for a prosperous world” also added skype and email contact info

New integrated search term:  readings about solutions for a prosperous world

The proven process of intelligence is not secret, not federal, and not expensive.  Thinking is free.  What matters is the strategic analytic model guiding the thinking; the ability to collect, process, and analyze truthful information; and the ability to visualize and otherwise shape the findings so that they lead to coherent sustainable affordable action.  Below are two master book review lists, following by a very tight selection of core reference books that are recommended.

Continue reading “Search: solutions for prosperous world UPDATED to include readings & contact info”

Posted on

Richard Stallman: Free Software Issue 54 September 2012

Software
0Shares
Richard Stallman

Free Software Supporter

Issue 54, September 2012

Welcome to the Free Software Supporter, the Free Software Foundation's monthly news digest and action update — being read by you and 61,769 other activists. That's 1,189 more than last month!

Encourage your friends to subscribe and help us build an audience by adding our subscriber widget to your web site.

Miss an issue? You can catch up on back issues at http://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter.

Multilingual? Send translations of the Supporter to campaigns@fsf.org.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  • Stop software patents from muscling in on Europe
  • Save the Web from software patents
  • Join the FSF and friends in updating the Free Software Directory
  • Hi, I'm Zak (one of the new campaigns managers)
  • Web host Dreamhost pledges to quadruple donations to the FSF
  • Apple v. Samsung: a patent battle with freedom as the collateral damage
  • GPL violations are still pretty common, you know?
  • Hampshire College distributes free software bundle to all incoming students
  • Trademarks and free software
  • LibrePlanet featured resource: Free Software Courses
  • GNU Spotlight with Karl Berry: 12 new GNU releases!
  • Richard Stallman's speaking schedule
  • Other FSF and free software events
  • Thank GNUs!
  • Take action with the FSF

Continue reading “Richard Stallman: Free Software Issue 54 September 2012”

Posted on

SmartPlanet: Using salt water to power our batteries

05 Energy
0Shares

Using salt water to power our batteries

By | October 1, 2012, 3:05 AM PDT

One of the main foundations of the electric battery packs powering our cell phones and electric vehicles is lithium, a pricey, lightweight metal that is one reason why electric batteries remain so expensive. According to an analyst for Toronto-based Byron Capital Markets, the price of lithium has risen 35 percent in the last 18 months.

Click on Image to Enlarge

As a result, many companies are trying to find ways to reduce the cost of extracting lithium – it is usually mined from ore. Simbol Materials, based in Pleasanton, CA, believes that using evaporation to extract lithium from brine – salt water – could be a much more cost-effective means of obtaining the metal.

With projected annual sales of 3.9 million hybrids, 1.4, million plug-in hybrids, and 2.8 million full electric plug-in vehicles by 2020, according to Simbol’s CEO Luka Erceg, the demand for lithium will only rise. The company says it may increase its output from 8,000 tons a year to as many as 64,000 tons by 2020.

Simbol’s brine evaporation process takes the salty water from geothermal power plants and uses reverse osmosis to extract minerals. Simbol’s process takes between 90 minutes to 2 hours to complete – compared to a conventional evaporation process that can take up to 18 months.

With the earth’s massive supply of salt water, it could become the most abundant – and cost-effective – way to keep our cars and laptops powered.

Photo: Simbol

via [Autoblog Green]

Posted on

Winslow Wheeler: Defense Budget Rhetoric Lacking Integrity

Commerce, Corruption, IO Deeds of War, IO Impotency
0Shares
Winslow Wheeler

Those arguing for more defense spending lean heavily on misinformation to make their case; many of the critics–previously including myself–have relied on myth.  The first of a two part series starts today in Time's Battleland blog at http://nation.time.com/2012/10/01/adventures-in-babbleland-desperate-rhetoric-for-mundane-times/.  Tomorrow's piece probes further into the myth of American military superiority by looking into one of its prime hardware examples.

PART I

Adventures in Babbleland: Desperate Rhetoric for Mundane Times

By Winslow Wheeler

TIME Battleland | October 1, 2012 |

First of two articles

Imposing itself only infrequently on the consciousness of the noise-makers who dominate presidential campaign coverage on TV and in the newspapers, the defense budget has been a second-tier issue in the 2012 elections.

That may properly be so, but the inattention of the top of the line political pontificators, who can be excused for not understanding the issue except at the most superficial level, has not elevated the quality of the debate at the lower tier.

Leaving the discussion to people like the chairman and ranking members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, sitting and former secretaries of defense, and the retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has-surprisingly only to some-left us with a debate on the Pentagon budget that is hysterical, misinformed, and, most of all, misinforming. Moreover, many of the critics of these histrionics from the other side, including myself, have been so wedded to myths that both parties should be seen as the source of the dismal babble, not just the one.

Read full article with photo and graphics.