Marcus Aurelius: Pipe Dreams and the Lack of Integrity — How to Lose Two Wars at Great Expense

For those who have not seen from one of the Army’s premier thinkers.  Opposition rebuttal follows from a consistent defense naysayer.The issues can also be framed in a couple of other ways, from the conventional and special operations perspectives: CONVENTIONAL:  “Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men.  It is the …

Review (Guest): America’s Stolen Narrative: From Washington and Madison to Nixon, Reagan and the Bushes to Obama

Robert Parry 5.0 out of 5 stars How we allowed the rightwing to get Away with falsely Re-writing American History, and thus steal the Nation’s narrative, and wi, March 7, 2013 Herbert L Calhoun “paulocal” (Falls Church, VA USA) – See all my reviews Sam Parry proves here in his book, “America’s Stolen Narrative,” that …

Steven Aftergood: Congressional Research Service

BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE A long-running personnel dispute at the Congressional Research Service offers up conflicting visions of the proper role of the congressional support agency, which provides policy and legal analysis to Congress. In 2009, then-CRS Director Daniel Mulhollan fired then-CRS Division Chief Col. Morris Davis, a former Guantanamo prosecutor, …

References: NATO Transformation Process Documents — and Gaps + Peace from Above RECAP

Connected Forces Initiative (latest NATO HQ initiative, should prioritize future ACT work, currently under initial study) After 2014, NATO is expected to shift its emphasis from operational engagement to operational preparedness. This means NATO will need to remain capable of performing its core tasks – described in its Strategic Concept¹ – and of maintaining its …

Michael Ostrolenk: Impeachable Offenses by Veteran’s Administration and Secretary of Defense — VA Whistleblower Ignites Firestorm on Hill Over Stonewalling of Gulf War Illnesses

Meanwhile, 22 veterans a day (up from 18) commit suicide and this is beneath notice by the President of the United States of America. Phi Beta Iota:  Complete story below the line. VA Whistleblower Ignites Firestorm Over Vets’ Illnesses  It’s not every day that a scientist creates such intense drama on Capitol Hill. Kelly Vlahos …

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 …