Steiner – Public Intelligence Blog

2013/03/192013/03/26

John Steiner: Muslim States Agree Violence Against Women and Girls Not Justified by Any Custom, Tradition, or Religious Consideration

MUSLIM STATES AGREE TO ‘HISTORIC' UN STATEMENT ON WOMEN

Muslim and western nations overcame deep divisions to agree a historic United Nations declaration setting out a code of conduct for combatting violence against women.

Iran, Libya, Sudan and other Muslim nations agreed to language stating that violence against women and girls could not be justified by “any custom, tradition or religious consideration.”

Western nations, particularly from Scandinavia, toned down demands for references to gay rights and sexual health rights to secure the accord after two weeks of tense negotiations between the 193 UN member states.

Some 6,000 non-government groups were in New York for the Commission on the Status of Women meeting. Cheers and wild applause erupted when the accord
was announced in the UN headquarters late Saturday.

Michelle Bachelet, executive director of UN Women, said it had been an “historic” meeting. It was announced straight after that Bachelet would be
leaving her post. She is expected to return to politics in Chile where she has already been president.

Read full article.

2013/03/092013/03/26

John Steiner: Alternative Perspective on Hugo Chavez & Venezuelan Public — Todos Somos Chavez — and More Questions on School of the Americas

07 Venezuela, Cultural Intelligence

This moving letter was sent to me by a friend Janie Rezner who has a radio program in CA. Gen

I have interviewed Lisa Sullivan on KZYX, (born in this country, but moved to Venezuela many years ago) , who is with the organization School of the Americans Watch headed up by Fr. Roy Bourgeois. The goal of SOA Watch is to close down the dreadful School of the Americas, who trains young men to kill and torture, back in their own countries. I too am very very saddened by the death of Chavez and wanted to share it with you. . . . .Janie

Greetings friends and thanks for so many lovely messages from so many of you. We are living through such a painful moment here in Venezuela, but an extraordinary moment as well: the passion, conviction and hope of my friends and neighbors is inspiring.

So many have asked how we are doing, and so I took a few moments to put together some thoughts, which you will find below. Feel free to share, especially with folks whose only news source is the mainstream press. Best to all, abrazos, Lisa

YO SOY CHAVEZ , TU ERES CHAVEZ, TODOS SOMOS CHAVEZ
Reflections by Lisa Sullivan on the death of President Chavez
Barquisimeto, Venezuela May 5, 2013

Continue reading “John Steiner: Alternative Perspective on Hugo Chavez & Venezuelan Public — Todos Somos Chavez — and More Questions on School of the Americas”

2011/03/07

Contributing Editor John Steiner

Authors & Editors

John Steiner, Harvard class of ’65, is a networker, organizer, and philanthropist. He brings together people, projects, ideas and money around a common cause – serving “the pattern that connects.” He co-founded the National Commons, a predecessor to the United States Consensus Council, to bring multi-stakeholder, collaborative problem solving tools to the national level. He was a founding board member of Search for Common Ground; a founding member and early leader of the Threshold Foundation; and a founding member of the Social Venture Network. He is a former chairman of the board of CDR Associates (Center for Dispute Resolution). Currently he is the acting chairman of the board of the transpartisan initiative, Reuniting America. He works closely with Robert Fuller and the DIGNITY movement. He is also working with other philanthropists and social entrepreneurs to raise large sums of money for the peace and security field. John lives with his wife Margo King in Boulder, Colorado, where they serve as trustees of the Steiner King Foundation, which is active in a variety of creative philanthropic endeavors.

2010/09/272010/09/28

Review (DVD): Restrepo

5 Star, America (Founders, Current Situation), Asymmetric, Cyber, Hacking, Odd War, Culture, Research, Empire, Sorrows, Hubris, Blowback, Force Structure (Military), Insurgency & Revolution, Intelligence (Government/Secret), Military & Pentagon Power, Reviews (DVD Only), Science & Politics of Science, Threats (Emerging & Perennial), War & Face of Battle

Strong Recommendation from MajGen Robert Scales, USA (Ret)

September 27, 2010

Actors: Dan Kearney, Lamonta Caldwell, Kevin Rice, Misha C. Pemble-Belkin, Kyle Steiner

Directors: Sebastian Junger;Tim Hetherington

General (and PhD) Robert Scales strongly recommended this movie to an audience at the Brookings Institute today. He used it as a backdrop to his official remarks on how 4% of the total force (the engaged infantry) suffers 80% of the total casualties, but less than 1% of the total Pentagon budget is spent on training and equipping them.

My trip report on his remarks is at Phi Beta Iota the Public Intelligence Blog, search for <Robert Scales> without the brackets.

General Scales is the author of three books, one of which I have reviewed that remains a classic, on the disconnect between the needs of the infantry and the pie in the sky $75 billion US national intelligence community that prefers to build expensive satellites that do not work and whose collection cannot be processed.

Firepower in Limited War: Revised Edition
Yellow Smoke: The Future of Land Warfare for America's Military
The Iraq War: A Military History

To understand the continued corruption in US military management, see also:
War is a Racket: The Antiwar Classic by America's Most Decorated Soldier
Defense Facts of Life: The Plans/Reality Mismatch
The Fifty-Year Wound: How America's Cold War Victory Has Shaped Our World