Public Intelligence Blog – Page 4061 – The truth at any cost lowers all other costs — curated by former US spy Robert David Steele.

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Recently (2007) the United Nations asked the Nordic countries, which customarily operate in a multinational multifunctional fashion (both intelligence and operations) to create a multinational multifunctional information sharing and sense-making program of instruction for the UN. Col Jan-Inge Svensson is the lead in Sweden, and his first two offerings of the course combined with the contributions to this conference will comprise the new book, the second in the series, INTELLIGENCE FOR PEACE: Multinational Multifunctional Information-Sharing and Sense-Making.

2004/12/042012/10/12

2004: Information Peacekeeping A Nobel Objective

About the Idea, Briefings & Lectures

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Click here for briefing with notes: Information Peacekeeping 1.1-1

Following the Netherlands Intelligence Studies Association (NISA) first conference on Peacekeeping Intelligence, out of which came the book, PEACEKEEPING INTELLIGENCE: Emerging Concepts for the Future, there was a conference in Canada that produced a book that is both overpriced and overly academic. The third conference, in Sweden in December 2004, came back on track but did not go the entire distance. With the more recent development by Col Jan-Inge Svensson of the Multinational Multifunctional Information Course at the Folke Bernadette Academy, the way was cleared for the second book in this series, INTELLIGENCE FOR PEACE: Multinational Multifunctional Information-Sharing and Sense-Making, to be edited by Col Svensson [suspended but free online].

The above briefing joins the 1995 articulation of the vision and the strategy in the French publication, 1995 Re-Inventing Intelligence The Vision and the Strategy, as a portal to the future in which unclassified decision-support–public intelligence–creates a prosperous world at peace. The substance of the article was subsequently published as 2006 IJIC 19/3 Peacekeeping Intelligence & Information Peacekeeping.

A trip report on the conference, 11 pages, is available here online.

2008 Mark Tovey (ed.), Collective Intelligence: Creating a Prosperous World at Peace (Earth Intelligence Network)

2010 Robert Steele, INTELLIGENCE for EARTH: Clarity, Diversity, Integrity & Sustainability (Earth Intelligence Network)

2012 Robert Steele, THE OPEN SOURCE EVERYTHING MANIFESTO: Transparency, Truth, & Trust (North Atlantic Books)

2004/11/192009/12/04

Review DVD: Bonhoeffer (2003)

6 Star Top 10%, Consciousness & Social IQ, Peace, Poverty, & Middle Class, Philosophy, Religion & Politics of Religion, Reviews (DVD Only)

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Beyond 5 Stars–Gripping Good Stuff,

November 19, 2004

Eberhard Bethge

Edit of 20 Dec 07 to add links.

My short notes on this incredible film:

* Possible for 1 man to detect evil early on, and to resist evil

* Bonhoeffer excelled at pointing out that for any man or nation to presume that God takes sides or endorses any particular position is very pretentious

* God is *community* — God is present to the extent that community of man thrives

* If the working poor turn away from the church, it is failing; if the petty bourgeoisie flock to the church it is failing and pretentious

* In times of economic crisis, fascism can be attractive to BOTH the industrial leaders AND the forlorn working poor

* New York fellowship focused him on social ethics, energized him with exposure to writing by black authors, pious singing within black churches

* Purpose of ethics and theology is to change the world for the better

* Adam Clayton Powell Senior made the black church in New York into a political and social force

* Black Christ has rapturous passion, contrasts sharply with white didactic Christ

* Friendships with pacifists taught him that “nothing in scripture permits man to destroy the body of Christ” (the community)

* For every person that is unemployed, 2-5 go hungry

* Hitler called on God, claimed God, Quoted God. For Hitler, God was a “completely ideological God” according to Bishop Wolfgang Huber, one of those interviewed

* Church in Germany was guilty of preparing the way for Hitler, setting the stage for an authoritarian or “acceptance” state

* At 27, Bonhoeffer addressed nation via radio, suggested that the leader as “idol” was sacrilegious. His broadcast was cut off.

* Bonhoeffer brought the Bible alive–taught his student to read the Bible as if God were *here and now* speaking to *you* personally.

* Hitler called on God, but he was actually in competition with God for the role of SAVIOR of the German people.

* Hitler legalized church prejudices against Jews going back to Martin Luther

* Must distinguish between anti-Judaism (conflict of faiths) and anti-Semitism (racism)

* According to Bonhoeffer, Church has three options in times of crisis and state abuse:

1) Ask the State if its actions are legitimate

2) Support the victims (Bonhoeffer is specific in saying Church must support all victims, even if not part of the Church)

3) Oppose the State

His work focused on the ease with which false loyalty (e.g. to a President rather than a Constitution), false Church is a easy path for most.

Catholic Church signed a Concordat with Hitler, agreeing not to resist.

Others did resist–Pastors Emergency League, claimed 7,000 members out of a possible 27,000

Bonhoeffer was so exceptional that he was invited by Gandhi to visit him

“Peace is the opposite of security” (one is actual, the other is enforced)

* Study, service, prayer.

* Oppressed people of color have piety and also have something to teach to all Christians.

* What cost oppression? The cost is the loss of God.

* War, and the persecution of Jews, are injustice incarnate. “One is not true to God when one has a lax conception of war or of justice,” This according to Bishop Albrecht Schonherr

* Bonhoeffer was a double agent, engaged in plot to kill Hitler

* Ethics is situational–will of God has infinite variations. Ethics is less about principles and more about flexibility. Ethics is an act of faith–every minute, every day.

* Hitler dominated Germany for over a decade.

* Bonhoeffer was marched naked to the gallows and hung. His last words, “For me this is the beginning of life.”

* His message: live completely in this world–thus do we throw ourselves into the hands of God–take ALL suffering seriously.

This was a moving DVD. It offers superb organization, superb visuals, and superb choral music in the background. This DVD was so thoughtful I found myself replaying sections 3X to 5X.

This was so good it has focused me on my next book–instead of national security (forced peace)–I am going for INFORMATION PEACEKEEPING: Ethics, Theology, and Collective Intelligence (inherent peace).

If you've gotten this far, you need to see this DVD. Available at Blockbuster and also well worth buying as a recurring reflection piece .

2004/11/162009/12/04

Review: Online Competitive Intelligence, 2nd Edition: Increase Your Profits Using Cyber-Intelligence

4 Star, Intelligence (Commercial)

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Excellent Reference, Lacks Online Convenience,

November 16, 2004

Helen P. Burwell

This is the first of three basic guides by Facts on Demand press that I am very happy to have in my collection and to recommend to others. Helen Burwell is the “grand dame” among information brokers, along with several other great ladies, and I continue to use and treasure her The Burwell Directory of Information Brokers

While some may be disappointed if this is their area of expertise, I've seen a lot of these guides and this one is just fine as starting point If you can afford to buy two books for the “mechanics”, buy this one and “Finding It Online.” At the strategic level, and for the professional researcher, see my really short list of the top five business intelligence books in the world, IMHO.

The third book in this basic reading set is Sankey & Weber's Public Records Online, 6th Edition: The Master Guide to Private & Goverment Online Sources of Public Records (Public Records Online) (buy only if you have do work in this area or want to protect yourself by monitoring your divorced spouse's assets, etc.)

I would like to see the publisher make the leap toward online distance learning. All of these books (and those published by Information Today) should be part of a consolidated online library that integrates online tutorials with reference readings, case study practice searches, and a dynamic living constantly updated library of live links with expert forums and calendars of relevant conferences. That's what I thought the Association of Independent Information Professionals and/or the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals were going to do for their members, but I have been disappointed. Absent such an online service of common concern, this book and Find It Online, Fourth Edition: The Complete Guide to Online Research (Find It Online: The Complete Guide to Online Research) are essential and useful references for both the beginning and the journeyman level professional.

2004/11/152009/12/04

Review: Public Records Online–The National Guide to Private & Government Online Sources of Public Records

4 Star, Intelligence (Commercial)

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One of Three Basic Research Guides,

November 15, 2004

Michael L. Sankey

This is the third of three basic guides by Facts on Demand press that I am very happy to have in my collection and to recommend to others. This one focuses, as its title suggests, on Public Records Online, going down to the county level, state by state.

It is not a tutorial in how to search public records, but it does includes helpful introductory chapters and the bottom line is that using this book is cheaper than out-sourcing the work, so if you have a need to search public records online, this book is certainly a valuable and cost-effective place to start.

The other two books from the same publisher that I recommend are Find It Online, Fourth Edition: The Complete Guide to Online Research (Find It Online: The Complete Guide to Online Research) by Alan M. Schlein, and Online Competitive Intelligence, 2nd Edition: Increase Your Profits Using Cyber-Intelligence by Helen Burwell, the Grand Dame of global information brokering who for many years published the absolutely top-notch Burwell World Directory of Information Brokers (I have the 1998 edition and it is still useful to me).

2004/11/152009/12/04

Review: Find It Online, Fourth Edition–The Complete Guide to Online Research (Find It Online: The Complete Guide to Online Research)

4 Star, Intelligence (Commercial)

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Superb Reference Lacking CD-ROM or Online Version,

November 15, 2004

Alan M. Schlein

This is the second of three basic guides by Facts on Demand press that I am very happy to have in my collection and to recommend to others.

Some really top-notch information brokers contributed to this book, and it is a superb reference, well-organized, that lacks a CD-ROM with clickable links or an Online Version to which access can be gained for a fee or from a password in the printed version.

This book is extremely well-developed to the point that it can meet the needs of a first-time researcher eager to become quickly familiar with the ins and outs of the Internet, as well as the more experienced professional that wants a handy reference work to suggest new sources and methods.

The other two books are Helen Burwell's Online Competitive Intelligence, 2nd Edition: Increase Your Profits Using Cyber-Intelligence–the one book to buy if you can only buy one of these three books–and Sankey & Weber's Public Records Online, 6th Edition: The Master Guide to Private & Goverment Online Sources of Public Records (Public Records Online) (buy only if you have do work in this area or want to protect yourself by monitoring your divorced spouse's assets, etc.)

2004/11/122009/12/04

Review: Our Plan for America–Stronger at Home, Respected in the World

2 Star, Politics

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Shallow Undocumented Platitudes with No Budget Math,

November 12, 2004

John F. Kerry

This is an extraordinarily shallow–even glib–book, one obviously written by a committee that combined the worst of all worlds: the intellectual runts from the Clinton Administration who allowed terrorism to flourish on their watch, and the last gasp “spinmeisters” of the Democratic campaign staff. Kerry (more so than Edwards) failed the smell test during this past election, and this book documents how he failed on substance.

It consists of 123 double-spaced pages of shallow material, 16 pages of photographs that range from the goofy to the staged, and a remaining two thirds of the book reproducing old speeches with little in the way of substance and nothing in the way of math (as in a balanced budget).

Kerry's writing committee opens the book by claiming his plan is rooted in values-obviously a majority in America did not buy that, and I do not either.

The book is organized in three sections (not counting the old speeches), on Security, on Opportunity, and on Family. All three consist of so-called “policy” points that cannot be called anything other than platitudes. They are completely lacking in coherence and they have no budgetary or documentary basis in fact.

Within the security section, the four new “imperatives” are alliances, modernize an already over-funded military, deploy soft power (diplomacy, intelligence, economic, values and ideas), and free America from its dangerous dependency on Middle Eastern oil. There is nothing about environmental security and the book displays absolutely zero understanding of the points made by such distinguished commentators as J. F. Rischard in HIGH NOON: 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them, or E. O. Wilson in The Future of Life. The security section is pedestrian and incredibly ignorant. It fails to mention even the most basic redirection of resources toward peacekeeping and preventive investments in aid. The section on energy (as a security issue) fails to discuss hybrid cars, solar power for neighborhoods, or meaningful conservation.

The section on opportunity focuses on the middle class and is disrespectfully oblivious to the working poor-indeed, I suspect that neither Kerry nor any of his advisors have read Barbara Ehrenreich's “Nickle and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America” or David Shippler, “The Working Poor: Invisible in America.”

Finally, and this is where I believe the Democratic Party really lost it this year, there is not a word in this book about electoral reform-about measures that are needed in order to make every American's vote count, such that we might one day aspire to having a government where Independents, moderate Republicans, Greens, Reforms, Libertarians, and agnostics all have a “fair share” of elected representation. As a moderate Republican, I was prepared to vote for an alternative to the Bush regime, but as a common sense person, I ended up rejecting this option because Kerry-and the decrepit isolated Democratic Party-failed the smell test. This book documents their shallow insularity and the breadth of their inadequacy.