Reference: The Global Democratic Revolution Anew

07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Justice, 11 Society, Analysis, Articles & Chapters, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Military, Peace Intelligence, Reform
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The great events in tthe Arab world are part of a wider hidtorical process of worldwide democrativ advance.But the distrous events of the post-9/11 decade have made it far slower and more conflictual than needed, says Martin Shaw*

EXTRACT:  “…everywhere, the unifying thread is opposition to authoritarianism and aspiration to democratic rule; and the sense of a psychological break with the dictatorial past is unmistakable.”

* Martin Shaw is professorial fellow in international relations and human rights at Roehampton University, London, and an honorary research professor of international relations at the University of Sussex. His books include War and Genocide: Organised Killing in Modern Society (Polity, 2003); The New Western Way of War: Risk-Transfer War and its Crisis in Iraq (Polity, 2005); and What is Genocide? (Polity, 2007).

Read complete analytic offering….

Phi Beta Iota: One of the most concise, thoughtful, and inspiring summaries of both the present prospects and the recent failed past, all in the context of the past half century.

Event: 9 Mar DC Pentagon Labyrinth Discussion

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FREE COPY OF BOOK TO ALL WHO ATTEND (MUST RSVP)

In the expanding political debate between the defenders of the Pentagon budget and the deficit hawks, do you feel buried in a mountain of misinformation? Do you puzzle over why years of increasing defense dollars buy steadily shrinking and aging forces? Does our technology give us the essential edge in combat?  Has much needed reform made any real progress in the last few years?

We're inviting you to meet, hear and debate the issues with three of the authors of the new handbook/anthology, The Pentagon Labyrinth: 10 Short Essays the Help You Through It.  Combined, they have 120 years of experience in the trenches of the ongoing Pentagon military reform battles.  You'll have a rare opportunity to take advantage, face to face, of that experience.

The three authors are Tom Christie, Chuck Spinney and Pierre Sprey.  (See their bios below.)  Danielle Brian, Executive Director of the Project On Government Oversight (POGO), will moderate the discussion.

When: Wednesday, March 9 at 6:00; the formal program starts at 6:30 and will end at 7:30.  Afterwards, there will also be an opportunity for more informal discussion.

Where:  The Stuart R. Mott House at 122 Maryland Avenue, NE, Washington DC.  (See the map; it is “between” the Hart Senate Office Building and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Free hard copies of the book will be available for all who come.

Light refreshments will be served.

RSVP: winslowwheeler@msn.com

The Pentagon Labyrinth: 10 Short Essays to Help You Through It [links to Amazon page]is a 150 page handbook-guide for both newcomers and seasoned observers to cope with the often byzantine nature of defense issues.  It is also available for free electronic download at several websites, including the Straus Military Reform Project and the Project On Government Oversight's (POGO).

We hope to see you there.

Find below bios for Tom Christie, Chuck Spinney and Pierre Sprey:

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Michael Moore on the Class War & Looting of America

01 Poverty, 03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, Civil Society, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence
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John Steiner

Recommended!

Phi Beta Iota: Two items are included in full below the line in sequence.  To read them in their original online form, here are the two headlines:

How I Got to Madison, Wisconsin …a letter from Michael Moore

Michael Moore: The Smug Wealthy Have Gone Too Far — And We're Finally Fighting Back

 

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1992-2012 CIA Still Does Not “Get” Open Source

Advanced Cyber/IO, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Officers Call, Policies
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Who, Me?

Today's News, Brought to You by Your Friends at the CIA

Spy Service Translates World's Papers at Secret Cost; Mr. Hounsell Has Few Buyers

Phi Beta Iota: Worth a full read (click on headline).  One word summary: “stagnant.”  Neither the DNI nor the CIA nor DoD nor anyone else is serious about Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), known as “Open Sores” within the secret and largely useless U.S. Intelligence Community, which provides, 4% “at best” according to General Tony Zinni, USMC (Ret) of what any senior commander needs, and nothing tailored to the needs of everyone else according to Robert Steele, OSINT proponent since 1988.  If Congress were not so busy steam-rolling pork through secret channels as the open ones dry up–if Congress had any integrity at all–it would be asking the fundamental question: if we spent $3 billion on a proper Open Source Agency, how much of the $70-90 billion secret fraud, waste, and abuse could we eliminate?  The answer?  50% in quick time, 75% over six years.  Meanwhile, the real world is now routing around the US Government.

See Also:

ON INTELLIGENCE: Open Letter to the President

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Freedom Box: The Short Pitch as of March 2011

Advanced Cyber/IO, Autonomous Internet, Collective Intelligence, Communities of Practice, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Ethics, InfoOps (IO), microfinancing, Mobile, Peace Intelligence, Privacy, Real Time, Reform, Technologies
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FreedomBox right now as I see it

by James Vasile as posted to HackerVisions, a blog at the intersection of Freedom, Technology, & Community

People have been asking me for a short description of the FreedomBox that doesn’t get too technical but also gets into some details. So here’s my capsule pitch, a short form version of how I see the FreedomBox right now:

The FreedomBox just raised $80K in donations via Kickstarter (the campaign is still going on, if you want to donate) on the strength of positive press in the NYTimes, WSJ, Wired and CBS Evening News. We’re at the very beginning of putting together a team to build this thing. This week we will announce our tech lead, an A+ name with the experience and contacts to lead our architecture design.

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Who’s Who in Collective Intelligence: James Vasile

Alpha V-Z, Autonomous Internet, Collective Intelligence, Cyber-Intelligence
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James Vasile

James Vasile, Counsel to the Software Freedom Law Foundation,  holds a Juris Doctor (JD) from Columbia Law School, where he was a member of the law review and a Stone Scholar. He also has a bachelor's degree in political science and economics from Fordham University. He spent several years in the litigation department of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, where he worked on a range of cases and dealt with a variety of new media issues. Vasile has also contributed code and documentation to numerous FOSS software projects. He is admitted to practice in the State of New York.

He is a principal member of the team that conceived the Freedom Box (first briefed to Hackers on Planet Earth (HOPE) in 2010) and is now forming under the leadership of Eben Moglen, to create the software that will displace CISCO and other “closed box” routers while also being much more than a router–it will be the foundation of the Freedom Stack.

http://duckduckgo.com/?q=Douglas+Johnson+faith+religion
Web Stack

Personal Blog: Hacker Visions–At the Intersection of Freedom, Technology, & Community