The truth at any cost lowers all other costs — curated by former US spy Robert David Steele.
Reva Basch is the hands-down Top Gun of the information broker world, now in retirement. She started the Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP), she led the series of books on Secrets of the Super-Searchers (one for each market segment) and did many other extraordinary things that epitomized the craft of public intelligence. She remains the gold standard. Below is her presentation to OSS '94.
Harry Cllier created the Association for Global Strategic Information (AGSI) and has been the primary publisher for both Ben Gilad (arguably the top commercial intelligence advisor in the world) and Stephen E. Arnold (arguably the top information technology patent and capabiltiies analyst in the English-speaking world).
He has long been a “hub” for the information industry, and remains one of the most honorable and erudite individuals representing the craft of public intelligence.
Below is his presentaiton to OSS '94.
Doug Engelbart invented the mouse, hypertext, and other foundational elements for what we have today in the way of cyberspace communications. He received $10,000 from the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) for his mouse patent. They sold it to Logitech for $80,000, and of course today there are billions of the little suckers generating perpetual revenue. He remains devoted to achieving the Holy Grail: enabling the human species to fulfil its role as Earth sense-maker and cosmic force. Below is the presentation he made to OSS '94.
Peter Fuchs, then the Secreary General, was very gracious in coming to speak to the third annual international conference. His most memorable remark was along the following lines: “The media has an attention span of one war at a time. The Red Cross this year is active within 34 armed conflicts.” Most people, especially those from organizations devoted to stealing secrets about seven hard targets (denied areas) while ignoring the challenge of global coverage, had no idea. Below are his prepared remarks as delivered.
It was a privilege to be asked by the National Research Council to comment on the U.S. Army's multi-billion dollar future communications architecture. I noticed immediately that the entire program assumed self-generated bits and bytes and made no provision, ZERO PROVISION, for acquiring and making sense of external information from anyone outside the DoD “grid.”
As a Marine familiar with how our arriving Marines could not communicate with the US Embassy they were coming to save, and as a CEO newly familiar with the plethora of open sources relevant to the real world of operations other than war (OOTW) and what is now called Irregular Warfare (IRWF), I considered my contribution valuable.
They did not. As with all other early warnings from myself and many others in the 1980's and 1990's, “the Borg” just kept on marching along, oblivous to the real world and the known future requirements.
PDF (18 Pages): 1994 NRC Army Communications
Full Briefing Below the Line
