Public Intelligence Blog – Page 3332 – The truth at any cost lowers all other costs — curated by former US spy Robert David Steele.

2011/02/27

Bahraini Freedom Contagion Rattles Saudi Arabia

07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 10 Security, 11 Society, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence, Corruption, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence, Peace Intelligence

0Shares

editor spinney time — Chuck Spinney Recommends....

Weekend Edition February 25 – 26, 2011

A Jittery GCC: Bahrain and the “Freedom Contagion”

By RANNIE AMIRI, Counterpunch

“Saudi Arabia did not build a causeway to Bahrain just so that Saudis could party on weekends. It was designed for moments like this, for keeping Bahrain under control.”

– Dr. Toby Jones, expert on Saudi Arabia at Rutgers University

If Saudi Arabia was rattled by the fall of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, they will be in convulsions should Bahrain’s monarchy collapse. By all indications, the five other member nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) (Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates) will go to all lengths to prevent it.

The Arab world’s “freedom contagion” is rapidly spreading. Bahrain’s revolt is being spearheaded by the country’s poor, disenfranchised Shia Muslim majority. Although Mubarak was deposed by a nation of 80 million, unrest in the tiny island kingdom of only 530,000 citizens poses a greater ostensible threat to the GCC, particularly Saudi Arabia and its own sizable, restive Shia minority.

See Also:

REVOLUTION 2.0 Awakening 2012

2011/02/272011/02/27

Poverty, Not Terrorism, Is Threat #1

01 Agriculture, 01 Poverty, 03 Economy, 06 Family, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Justice, 11 Society, Civil Society, Corruption, Peace Intelligence

0Shares

The price of food is at the heart of this wave of revolutions

No one saw the uprisings coming, but their deeper cause isn't hard to fathom

By Peter Popham
Independent, Sunday, 27 February 2011

Revolution is breaking out all over. As Gaddafi marshals his thugs and mercenaries for a last-ditch fight in Tripoli, several died as protests grew more serious in Iraq. Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah tried to bribe his people into docility by splashing out $35bn on housing, social services and education. Across the water in Bahrain the release of political prisoners failed to staunch the uprising. In Iran, President Ahmadinejad crowed about chaos in the Arab world, but said nothing about the seething anger in his own backyard; in Yemen, the opposition gathers strength daily.

And it's not just the Middle East. This is an African crisis: Tunisia, where it started, is an African country, and last week in Senegal, a desperate army veteran died after setting fire to himself in front of the presidential palace, emulating Mohamed Bouazizi, the market trader whose self-immolation sparked the revolution in Tunisia. Meanwhile, the spirit of revolt has already leapt like a forest fire to half a dozen other ill-governed African nations, with serious disturbances reported in Mauritania, Gabon, Cameroon and Zimbabwe. Read more….

2011/02/272011/10/22

Greater Democracy: Citizen in Search of a Leader

09 Justice, 11 Society, About the Idea

0Shares

Jock Gill Best — Jock Gill Recommends....

Sunday 27 Feb 2011

Citizen in Search of a Leader

Author: Robert David Steele Vivas

Summary of Qualifications

America needs a leader that is balanced, thoughtful, integrative, supportive of dissent and debate, and above all, educated enough to craft a national strategy for security and prosperity that will stand the test of time. I want a leader who is at least as committed to the future of my children as to the passing security and prosperity of the moment. Individuals obsessing on being elected or re-elected need not apply.

In my view as a citizen, there are four areas where the right individual, as a team builder rather than a personal icon, could help America restore its balance. These four areas are: 1) electoral reform, 2) intelligence reform, 3) global issues & national security reform, and 4) governance reform inclusive of corporate ethics and accountability. I would sum up the objective of all four reform initiatives with the phrase: “Creating a Smart Nation, Of, By, and For the People.”

The full essay: Citizen In Search of a Leader

Tags: democracy, electoral reform, government, intelligence, politics, security, Steele

2011/02/262011/10/22

Review: Simple Government

5 Star, America (Founders, Current Situation), Budget Process & Politics, Complexity & Resilience, Congress (Failure, Reform), Consciousness & Social IQ, Culture, Research, Democracy, Diplomacy, Economics, Education (General), Empire, Sorrows, Hubris, Blowback, Environment (Problems), Executive (Partisan Failure, Reform), Force Structure (Military), Future, Intelligence (Public), Justice (Failure, Reform), Peace, Poverty, & Middle Class, Politics, Priorities, Public Administration, Strategy, Survival & Sustainment, Terrorism & Jihad, Values, Ethics, Sustainable Evolution

0Shares

Mike Huckabee

Great Mind and Heart, Too Simple, Good Start

February 26, 2011

Right up front, and in part because this is going to be a “tough love” commentary, I want to say that of all those of any persuasion who are known presidential contenders, Mike Huckabee is the only one I genuinely like, trust, and would support. Mitch Daniels surprised me with his gifted presentation at the conservative caucus, and Donald Trump has his own gifts, but for me, Huckabee is a natural. I review his book in the third part of this review, the first two sections are short tough love stage setters.

That said, he is not attracting the big money, he needs a broader advisory base, and he needs to inspire ALL Americans.

Book in a nutshell: Family, Local, Money, Taxes, Health, Education, Environment, Immigration, Terrorism, Military, Enemies, Faith
Continue reading “Review: Simple Government”

2011/02/262011/02/27

Inside the Business of Malware (infographic) + Resources

Computer/online security, info-graphics/data-visualization, Technologies, Tools, Uncategorized

0Shares

Infographic: Inside the Business of Malware

Web resources found along the way:

http://twitter.com/threatpost (security news)

http://offensivecomputing.net (malware research)

http://twitter.com/ocomputing

http://hakin9.org (magazine)

Malware Intelligence of Modern Crimeware

Shadowserver Foundation

FireEye Malware Intelligence Lab

2011/02/26

Reference: Speech by Secretary of Defense

DoD

0Shares

Marcus-Aurelius-150x150 — Marcus Aurelius Recommends

Extraordinary for its candid focus on what is wrong with the US Army:

“And on top of the repeat deployments, there is the garrison mindset and personnel bureaucracy that awaits them back home – often cited as primary factors causing promising officers to leave the Army just as they are best positioned to have a positive impact on the institution.”

“Men and women in the prime of their professional lives, who may have been responsible for the lives of scores or hundreds of troops, or millions of dollars in assistance, or engaging in reconciling warring tribes, they may find themselves in a cube all day re-formatting power point slides, preparing quarterly training briefs, or assigned an ever expanding array of clerical duties. The consequences of this terrify me.”

This is certainly rampant in the Pentagon. Not long ago — just a very few months — there was a office I passed through frequently where a significant number, say 30 (I didn't count the cubes) of principally field grade officers sat updating PowerPoint slides for the next day's brief. Not far away was an other office of about 20 or so doing very similar stuff.

Speech

United States Military Academy (West Point, NY)
As Delivered by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, West Point, NY, Friday, February 25, 2011

2011/02/26

Definitions: Netness & the Autonomous Internet

Autonomous Internet, Definitions

0Shares

Description

Sheldon Renan:

“Netness

All things want to be connected — because the more things are connected the better they work. Now the scale and intimacy of connectivity is increasing (accelerating) at a scary rate. We don't see it, but we do sense it. The term “netness” characterizes our new state-of-being as connectivity becomes increasingly ubiquitous, our lives increasingly “entangled.”

Recognizing netness leads to recognizing this simple principle: connectivity is the most important enabler of creating of new value. Forget Moore's Law. It is extending connectivity across and beyond networks that increases knowledge, safety, collaboration and (critical for eCommers) access to new models and markets.

Limit connectivity and you limit opportunity. Connect the unconnected and you hugely improve odds for success. Netness offers a powerful conceptual tool for guiding innovation and governance going forward.”

Learn More:

Principles

Discussion