Open Power: Democracy Lost & Found Essay, Book Review Blurbs and Links [Updated 3 MAR 2015]

NEW: Kindle Book Open Power ($2.99) OLD: Core Documents for Both Initiatives (Free) OLD: the foundation book The Open Source Everything Manifesto ROBERT STEELE: There are two schools of thought on effecting political (and hence economic and social) reform. One school is the school of love — this school emphasizes trust building and doing no …

Winslow Wheelers: Morally Bankrupt Flag Officers Need to Go + Pentagon Corruption RECAP

The Joint Chiefs of Staff testified to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees this week arguing that unless their budgets are augmented with still more money they will hollow out the armed forces. Most in the press and Congress didn’t read their assertions that way, but two near simultaneous reports that provide some meaningful …

Berto Jongman: London Review of Books Detailed Report on Everything the CIA and John Brennan do NOT Know About Syrian Rebels, Corrupt Supply Lines, and Operational Effectiveness

How to Start a Battalion (in Five Easy Lessons) Ghaith Abdul-Ahad reports from Syria London Review of Books, Vol. 35 No. 4 · 21 February 2013 EXTRACT: ‘We reached a point in the fighting, in spring 2012, when we needed proper support. We needed heavy machine guns, real weapons. Money was never an issue: how …

Marcus Aurelius: White House Has Two Strikes With Marine Corps — Could It Be Time for a Professional National Security Advisor in Lieu of a Party / Public Relations Flack?

This is the antecedent to my previous post on Gen. Mattis. The administration’s mishandling of Marine Gen. James Mattis Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Friday, January 18, 2013 – 9:50 AM Word on the national security street is that General James Mattis is being given the bum’s rush out of his job as commander of …

NIGHTWATCH: Mali Out of Algeria — French Fighting Algerians Not Displaced Libyans + Mali RECAP

Algeria: Islamist militants, apparently affiliated with al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, seized a natural gas facility in east-central Algeria early Wednesday. The 20 or so attackers took as hostages up to 41 foreign supervisors, technicians and workers. They include at least 13 Norwegians and seven Americans, plus one Irishman, and a number of Japanese …

Reflections on Lincoln, Principle, Compromise, Autonomous Internet & Citizen Intelligence / Counter-Intelligence 2.0 with Meta-RECAP

EDIT of 21 January 2013:  I have gotten both sharp criticism from folks I revere, and complements.  I am more than willing to delete this, but I am more interested in having people think outside the lines.  I’ve made some revisions, adding issues and readings in each section.   Email me as you please, robert.david.steele.vivas [at] …

Richard Wright: Proposal for an Open Source Agency

Document (5 Pages): Richard Wright Proposal for an Open Source Agency Proposal for an Open Source Agency Executive Summary This proposal argues that the strategic intelligence needs of U.S. Policy Makers, including the President and National Security Council, can best be met by establishing an independent Open Source Intelligence Agency (OSA) as recommended by the …