What are the web sites for meeting facilitators to learn about best practices and new resources?
Well the NCDD site of course! Our main blog (www.thataway.org) keeps people updated on news & opportunities in dialogue, deliberation, public engagement, facilitation, etc. And our resource center (www.ncdd.org/rc) provides info about over 2500 resources (guidebooks, videos, articles, etc.).
And our main NCDD Discussion list (http://ncdd.org/rc/item/4434) has 1100 subscribers and really showcases the know-how and intellectual generosity of people in our community of practice. All are invited to subscribe.
ROBERT STEELE: As I watch DNI Dan Coats embarrass himself, I cannot help but be reminded of the only decent high-level threat study ever done, by a panel including LtGen Dr. Brent Scowcroft, USAF (Ret), the last serious National Security Advisor in modern US history. The DNI is either being lied to or is actively misleading Congress. See in passing Soft Coup and False Flag Attacks. I am dismayed by the failure of the DNI to provide a national threat report that is holistic and inclusive of true cost economics.
10 High-Level Threats to Humanity
Or, everything no one ever told DNI Dan Coats that he was incapable of thinking of by himself.
Insurgents appear confident they can outlast troop buildup
By Greg Miller
An intense military campaign aimed at crippling the Taliban has so far failed to inflict more than fleeting setbacks on the insurgency or put meaningful pressure on its leaders to seek peace, according to U.S. military and intelligence officials citing the latest assessments of the war in Afghanistan.
Escalated airstrikes and special operations raids have disrupted Taliban movements and damaged local cells. But officials said that insurgents have been adept at absorbing the blows and that they appear confident that they can outlast an American troop buildup set to subside beginning next July.
“The insurgency seems to be maintaining its resilience,” said a senior Defense Department official involved in assessments of the war. Taliban elements have consistently shown an ability to “reestablish and rejuvenate,” often within days of routed by U.S. forces, the official said, adding that if there is a sign that momentum has shifted, “I don't see it.”
One of the military objectives in targeting mid-level commanders is to compel the Taliban to pursue peace talks with the Afghan government, a nascent effort that NATO officials have helped to facilitate.
Phi Beta Iota: Winston Churchill has said Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it. We are rather sadly reminded of how Henry Kissinger undermined the Paris Peace talks for political purposes, resulting in 20,000 more dead on the US side, hundreds of thousands more dead on the Vietnamese side, and no change in the ultimate outcome–the expulsion of the US from a foreign land it had no business invading in the first place. It is helpful that the US Intelligence Community seems to be articulating truth to power.
Established in 2006, the Antonio Pizzigati Prize for Software in the Public Interest annually awards $10,000 to a software developer who adds significant value to the nonprofit sector and movements for social change. The Pizzigati Prize honors the brief life of Tony Pizzigati, an early advocate of open source computing.
Our Mission
Software developers who create, for free public distribution, open source applications and tools that nonprofit and advocacy groups can put to good use are making a two-faceted contribution to social change.
Our Application
The Pizzigati Prize welcomes applications from–and nominations of–single individuals. Those nominated for the prize should have developed a software product that is open source, as defined by the Open Source Initiative, and easily and widely available. This software must have already demonstrated its value to at least one nonprofit organization, and be a product that can be a value to multiple nonprofit organizations. Applicants will be evaluated on a range of criteria by an advisory panel that includes national leaders in public interest computing and past winners of the Prize.
Please visit the Prize Information pages for more information about eligibility, the application and nomination processes, and evaluation criteria.
2011 PRIZE NOMINATION PROCESS NOW OPEN
Nominations are now open for the fifth annual awarding of the $10,000 Antonio Pizzigati Prize for Software in the Public Interest, the nation's top honor for software developers working with nonprofits to help forge innovative social change. The Tides Foundation will be accepting nominations for this year's competition through December 15, 2010. The 2011 prize winner will be announced this March at the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) annual conference in Washington, D.C.Please visit the Prize Information section for full details on the nomination and application process.
by Greg Palast for Truthout/Buzzflash
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Tonight, my dog Pluto and I watched the PBS ‘Frontline' investigation of BP, “The Spill.”
PBS has uncovered a real shocker: BP neglected safety!
Well, no shit, Sherlock!
Pluto rolled over on the rug and looked at me as if to say, Don't we already know this?
Then PBS told us – get ready – that BP has neglected warnings about oil safety for years!
That's true. But so has PBS. The Petroleum Broadcast System has turned a blind eye to BP perfidy for decades.
If the broadcast had come six months before the Gulf blow-out, after the 2005 BP Refinery explosion in Texas, after the 2006 Alaska pipeline disaster, after the years of government fines that flashed DANGER-DANGER, I would say, “Damn, that Frontline sure is courageous.” But six months after the blow-out, PBS has shown us it only has the courage to shoot the wounded.
