Public Intelligence Blog – Page 2707 – The truth at any cost lowers all other costs — curated by former US spy Robert David Steele.

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CRS REVIEWS LEGALITY OF TARGETED KILLING OF SUSPECTED TERRORISTS

The legality of targeted killing of suspected terrorists, including U.S. citizens, was examined in a memorandum prepared for members of Congress by the Congressional Research Service.

The U.S. practice of targeted killing raises complex legal issues because it cuts across several overlapping legal domains. To the extent that the U.S. is actually at war with the targeted persons, the “law of armed conflict” would provide the appropriate legal framework, though the relevance of this framework far from a “hot battlefield” is disputed. Outside of armed conflict, the U.S. could be acting under the related but distinct laws of “self-defense.” The use of lethal force in law enforcement operations offers another way of conceiving of and evaluating anti-terrorist strikes. In all cases, the sovereignty of the nation where the strike occurs adds a further layer of legal complexity. With respect to targets who are U.S. citizens, the applicability of the U.S. Constitution is yet another urgent issue.

Obama Administration officials have discussed targeted killing in several public speeches since 2010, but have evaded detailed public questioning on the subject. The Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel has prepared a memorandum on the targeting of suspected terrorists who are U.S. citizens, as reported by the New York Times, but it has refused to release the OLC memorandum or even to publicly acknowledge that it exists. Meanwhile, Congress has been largely silent and acquiescent.

The CRS memorandum, entitled “Legal Issues Related to the Lethal Targeting of U.S. Citizens Suspected of Terrorist Activities,” was prepared in May 2012 by legislative attorney Jennifer K. Elsea. It presents an overview of the pertinent legal context, and then carefully parses official Administration statements in an attempt to infer a detailed legal rationale for lethal targeting. A copy was obtained by Secrecy News.

Continue reading “Steve Aftergood: Legality of Targeted Killing of Suspected Terrorists Reviewed by CRS”

2012/09/102012/09/10

Michel Bauwens: Sustainable Societies, True Cost Economics, and Appropriate Governance

Crowd-Sourcing, Economics/True Cost, Innovation, Knowledge, Money, P2P / Panarchy

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220px-Michel_Bauwens_crop — Michel Bauwens

“The “Principled Societies” concept outlined in the book Creating Sustainable Societies is a blueprint for sustainable financial, economic, and governance systems, intended for local implementation. The book starts by pinpointing the central problems within our financial, economic, and governance systems that have lead to high unemployment, massive debt, environmental degradation, mistrust of Congress and big business, and hyper-inequities of wealth and political power. It then proposes a practical, bold plan for addressing these concerns and creating meaningful change.

EXTRACT: From the Foreword, by Bernard Lietaer:

“I have spent the past 30 years studying monetary systems, both conventional and innovative. During this time, I have written more than a dozen books, have spoken to thousands of audiences around the world, and have taught in half a dozen universities in the United States and Europe. Everywhere, I find dissatisfaction and hunger for a breakthrough to another way of working, of cooperating, of contributing. People are eager for change and are awake to the need for change, even if most public officials, constrained by politics or timidity, appear incapable of rising to the challenges of our time.

In distilling the results of my investigations, I arrived at the sad conclusion that the missing piece in all our monetary arrangements is appropriate governance. This is true for both the official money system (the Federal Reserve and all other central banks in the world) and innovative systems of complementary currencies. This missing piece is what John Boik brings to the table. At first glance, his proposal might appear to center on a complementary currency system, but more accurately it centers on appropriate governance. On the one hand, it proposes a means for collaborative direct democracy as applied to finance, corporate behavior, and social organization: the “Principled Society.” On the other, the very mechanics of the proposed monetary and corporate model, including its transparency, are a manifestation of democratic ideals.”

Wiki Outline of Book . Amazon Page for Book

2012/09/102012/09/10

Reference: Federal Contractor Misconduct Database

Commerce, Corruption, Government, Military

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Federal Contractor Misconduct Database

About POGO's Federal Contractor Misconduct Database (FCMD)The government awards contracts to companies with histories of misconduct such as contract fraud and environmental, ethics, and labor violations. In the absence of a centralized federal database listing instances of misconduct, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is providing such data. We believe that it will lead to improved contracting decisions and public access to information about how the government spends hundreds of billions of taxpayer money each year on goods and services. Report an instance of misconduct »

Top 10: Lockheed, Boeing, Northrup Grumman, General Dynamics, Raytheon, L-3, United Technologies, Oshkosh Truck, SAIC, BAE

See Top 100 with instances and amounts.

Phi Beta Iota: The database is severely deficient in that fraud, waste, and abuse are generally recognized as applying to 50% of every dollar spent. Until “audit” includes “root” questions such as “should we be doing this at all? the “system” will continue to be outrageously corrupt and dysfunctional.

2012/09/102012/09/10

SmartPlanet: Q&A with Shai Reshef, President, University of the People

SmartPlanet

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Q&A: Shai Reshef, president, University of the People

Christina Hernandez Sherwood | September 10, 2012

College tuition is rising faster than most people can keep up, especially those in developing countries. Enter the University of the People, touted as the first tuition-free, online university. With only a one-time application fee and a $100 fee for final exams, students can earn Associate or Bachelor degrees in business administration and computer science for less than the cost of a single course in more traditional settings.

In a recent chat, I asked founder Shai Reshef about his commitment to nonprofit education and the institution’s long-term sustainability plan. Below are excerpts from our interview.

What’s the mission of the University of the People?

The University of the People is the first ever nonprofit, tuition-free, online university dedicated to bringing democracy to higher education. There are millions of people around the world who are deprived from higher education. Unesco stated that in 2025, close to 100 million students will not have seats in existing universities. Others are deprived of education for cultural reasons. Women in Africa would be an example. For all of these people unable to attend higher education, we created the University of the People to deliver knowledge and enable them to study online.

Read full interview

2012/09/10

Chuck Spinney: Mike Lofgren and Bill Moyers on US Political Dysfunctionality

Corruption, Government, Politics

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Mike Lofgren on Dysfunction in Our Political Parties

August 31, 2012

Bill talks with Mike Lofgren, a long-time Republican who describes the modern dysfunction of both the Republican and Democratic parties. In Lofgren’s view, Republicans have become overly obsessed with obstructing President Obama, and the Democrats suffer from political complacency. Lofgren’s new book is The Party is Over: How Republicans Went Crazy, Democrats Became Useless, and the Middle Class Got Shafted.

Video with Full Transcript Also Provided

2012/09/10

Winslow Wheeler: Canadian Honesty, US Dishonesty, on the F-35

Corruption, Economics/True Cost, Military

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WinslowWheeler Cropped — **Winslow Wheeler**

Parliamentary Lights

Canada's politicians take on the F-35.

When Canada's left-of-center New Democratic Party (NDP) invited me to testify before a mock hearing (on Parliament Hill with only NDP members present) addressing the country's purchase of the U.S. F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, I was confident I knew what to expect.

I expected the Canadian politicians, like members of the U.S. Congress, to give vaguely informed (sometimes stunningly misinformed) statements about the F-35, even when they agreed with my position. I expected their questions to be read off of staff memos in a manner so clumsy that it was clear the questioner had only the dimmest understanding, if any, of the words he or she was reading. Follow-up questions based on my responses would be a concept the questioner had never seen any use for. In other words, I didn't expect much, but the opportunity to inform the debate in Canada about the high cost and low performance of the F-35 was important; so I accepted the invitation.

My expectations were completely wrong. The differences between Canadian politicians and members of Congress are utterly stunning. Unlike here, oversight in the Canadian Parliament is alive and well. In Canada, I found two political behaviors unheard of in the United States: Opposition politicians actually try to understand the issue they are talking about, and they take offense at being lied to.

Read full article.

Phi Beta Iota: “Intelligence” (decision-support) should not be limited to secret collection against a sub-set of foreign challenges. Knowing oneself is just as important — perhaps even more important — than knowing the enemy. This is especially true when public policy and acquisition and operations are completely disconnected from the public interest. DoD acquisition today is divorced from reality, divorced from need, and divorced from ethics. A “perfect storm” is brewing within the Pentagon.,

2012/09/102012/09/10

Chuck Spinney: US Navy – More Admirals than Ships? Comprehensive Survey of Flag Officer Bloat as Foundation for Failed Militaries Across History

Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Economics/True Cost, Military

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How bad is our bloat of generals? How does it compare with other armies?

Fabius Maximus, 10 September 2012

Summary: As a followup to yesterday’s rant by Richard A Pawloski (Captain, USMC, retired) about our bloated corps of senior generals, today we look at the actual numbers. They show that if anything Pawloski understated the situation, and that only many more rants can reform our military. It’s not just expensive, but might become a risk to the Republic.

“In place of that optimax of 5% {officers} that the MI never can reach, many armies in the past commissioned 10% of their number, or even 15%! This sounds like a fairy tale but it was a fact, especially during the 20th century. What kind of an army has more officers than corporals? And more noncoms than privates! An army organized to lose wars — if history means anything. An army that is mostly red tape and overhead, most of whose soldiers never fight.”
— Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers (1959). Heinlein was Annapolis class of 1929, discharged in 1934 due to TB.

Contents

About our bloated roster of generals
Our economy has not grown, but our officers corps has
Comparing our Army to successful & unsuccessful past armies
Research about inflation in our officers corps
Other articles about our senior officers
Other posts about our military, & the potential risk to the Republic

Read full post with many supporting links and excellent graphics.

Phi Beta Iota: The review charts the rather troubling migration of Pentagon flag officers and Pentagon methods of fraud, waste, and abuse, over to the Department of Homeland Security, the new pork-fest. Our focus is always on the public interest, and in the military, the public interest cannot be separated from the welfare of the enlisted force, and particularly that portion of the force, the infrantry, 4% of the total force, taking 80% of the casualties, and receiving 1% of the Pentagon budget. This is a crime by politicians and policymakers and so-called professional flag officers, against our very own. On a positive note, we are meeting more and more “insiders” that confirm our view that the US Government is comprised of good people trapped in a bad system — senior grades — who have pretended to drink the kool-aid, abhor all that they do, and would be profoundly appreciative of any leadership oriented toward reform.