| Ethical OSINT Contracting | |
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5 Jun 2007 @ 21:40, by Vaxen Var
Guidelines for Ethical OSINT Contracting
Recent experience has shown us that unethical practices on the part of vendors, and inattention on the part of government, are leading to a corruption of the emerging OSINT contracting environment. Here are a few guidelines intended to help the government get the best possible OSINT services as the lowest possible cost. Resurfaced for the benefit of those who are evidently not paying attention to the ethics of OSINT contracting (nor proper price to localized access ratios).
1. Government should not meet vendors privately for lunch, nor accept any offered capabilities briefing, without first doing a Request for Comments via FedBiz, and affording the same courtesy to all respondents. The same applies to White Pqpers. If the government chooses to accept a proferred White Paper, it should immediately do a Request for Comments inviting others to submit White Papers on the desired topic.
2. Government should consider hosting two industry days, one now, to provide a broad outline of its planned direction, a second one in 90 days after its plans take firmer shape.
3. Government should not use Statements of Work, especially complex Statements of Work, provided by the vendor. These will contain buried "hooks" (for example, a specific mix of web engineers, or a specific mix of Ambassadors and PhDs) that the unethical vendor can use to protest an award to a better company offering a better deal. In the worst case, the government will end up paying both the unethical company for a settlement, and the winning company for the desired service.
4. Government should write its own Statements of Work, and keep them simple. They should focus on desired outputs, not inputs. They should define the generic results desired, not how to solve the problem. In general the government is spending too much on cleared US citizens with poor language and knowledge skills, too much on proprietary information technologies, and not enough on indigenous foreign access and generic web-based access. Proprietary solutions should be avoided--the era of application-oriented network systems is here to stay. Open source software, open source information, open spectrum, and Open Access copyright approaches will yield the greatest long-term value and also the best inter-agency collaboration and information sharing results.
5. Government can and should consider expanding its existing contracts with beltway bandits that it has a close working relationship with, but it should demand that they employ qualified sub-contractors and specified key personnel and methods, rather than redirecting poorly qualified in-house personnel. In a worst case example, we have seen a major beltway bandit send unqualified people to the Library of Congress, with the direction "get what you can, don't spend any money."
***
oss.net: [link]
Tom Atlee's Top Sites for Evolutionary Convergence
Tom Atlee has given us all a gift with this very select list of sites that are converging and empowering "We the People."
Dear friends,
I've been barely visible to you for a while, but I've been busy.
One of my projects has been editing and producing the June issue of "Evolutionary Life" newsletter. It is full of fabulous material on evolution, conscious evolutionary activism, and inspiring cosmology (including breathtaking photos of deep space and Saturn). Although SOME of that material would be of interest to nearly everyone on this list, too many of you would not want the full newsletter filling up
your email inbox.
If you ARE interested in the whole newsletter, you can browse the online version at
[link]
If you'd like to receive future editions by email -- along with occasional emailings about Michael Dowd and Connie Barlow's conscious evolution work -- subscribe at mailto:Michael@TheGreatStory.org
If you aren't interested in a "conscious evolution" newsletter, don't worry. I will be selecting and sending you some very juicy general interest material from it over the next week or two. You won't be disappointed.
Here's the first: Last year I sent out a message about convergences I was seeing in "the movement". Well, I'm seeing even more now. The Web is becoming a clearinghouse and co-creative resource center for everything under the sun. Among the resources appearing are compendiums of invaluable information for those of us who see ourselves as activists on behalf of a better world for all. I've selected out about a dozen of the most remarkable resources for you below. Here are ideas, data, visions, know-how and connections we all need to be a real force for good in the world.
Note: If you try to rush through these sites, you just might be overwhelmed, because they are BIG, SPRAWLING WONDERLANDS of information with many special features. But if you take a bit of time to explore each one, you will be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams, and return to them over and over again.... So after your first glance to check them out, bookmark ones that speak to you and investigate them more closely when you have a few hours to really
INVEST in them. Your efforts will be rewarded. These are real treasures.
Blessings on the Journey.
Coheartedly,
Tom
===============
Online Resources that pull it all together to serve a world that works for all
===============
SHARING INFORMATION FOR SUSTAINABILITY
**** WISER Earth ****
[link]
WISER Earth is a new participatory open-source community directory and networking forum for tens of thousands of nonviolent civil society organizations and millions of individuals addressing climate change, poverty, the environment, peace, water, hunger, social justice, conservation, human rights, and more. "WISER" stands for
World Index of Social and Environmental Responsibility. Content is created by people like us from around the world. We can:
* Add a resource or an organization.
* Share events on the calendar or post a job opening.
* Connect with others through an Area of Focus portal or a
discussion forum.
* Give feedback, share ideas, and get help.
This is a brand-new, truly gigantic participatory resource, supported by an open community of editors, with novel features such as a "visualize network" function through which we can see and explore a chart of how an organization connects with other organizations. WISER Earth is still adding features. Mid-May 2007, it included 105,305 Organizations, 901 People, 1297 Resources, 245 Events, and 111 Jobs.
**** The Earth Portal ****
[link]
The Earth Portal is a comprehensive resource for free, timely,
objective, science-based information about the environment to engage civil society in a public dialogue on the role of environmental issues in human affairs. It includes
* The Encyclopedia of Earth -- over 2,000 articles, produced and reviewed by 700 scholars from 46 countries.
* The EarthForum -- commentary from scholars and discussions with the general public.
* The EarthNews -- news stories on environmental issues drawn from many sources.
* Environment in Focus -- an exploration of a major issue each week led by a prominent expert and involving articles, news, places, discussions, Q&A, interesting facts, and more.
**** BrightFuture ****
[link]
BrightFuture is a new non-partisan website dedicated to solutions to global challenges. It is a Wiki style site allowing knowledgeable readers to publish articles on real-world solutions to some of our greatest challenges. Content is focused on ideas, technologies and programs that are already producing verifiable results. Brightfuture.us also features radio shows and podcasts on some of these ideas. Readers who publish excellent articles have the opportunity of having their material featured on brightfuture's radio
programs. The brightfuture.us blog publicizes new ways of looking at how we can best respond to the changes that are taking place in our world.
**** Appropedia ****
[link]
Here, hundreds of people are detailing hundreds of sustainable designs, projects, alternatives, which other people are revising and adding to. This is a very down-to-earth collective wiki project to collect and share what we need to know to handle our physical world with wise, productive, elegant sustainability. This idea of sharing how-to's online is a popular approach and is key to grassroots sustainability, self-reliance, and re-localization efforts. Cousin projects (all of which focus on how-to's, but not necessarily
sustainability) include
* CD3WD:
[link]
*Instructables:
[link]
*Wikihow:
[link]
*Tip The Planet:
[link]
*Howtopedia:
[link]
Whether you are an activist, a concerned citizen, or someone looking for an at-home solution to an at-home problem, take 5-10 minutes to explore each of these sites and you'll likely find at least one that you don't want to leave!
**** WorldChanging ****
[link]
The tools, models and ideas for building a better future lie all
around us. The motive, means and opportunity for profound positive change are already present. Another world is not just possible, it's here. The WorldChanging blog attempts to lay the pieces out and put them together, to get our act together, within our marketplaces, our lifestyles, and our movements. Their categories include:
* Stuff - The things we make, buy, use, and live with: buying green, recycling, food and farming, sustainable design, collaboration (including online), emerging technologies...
* Shelter - Building future-friendly homes -- green building, energy, water, homelessness, refugees and relief...
* Cities - Urban design, living, and growth issues;
transportation; megacities; bringing nature in...
* Community - What people living lives together really need: health, education, justice, empowering women, philanthropy, social entrepreneurship, arts, culture...
* Business - Growing sustainable prosperity -- transforming business, socially responsible investment, bright green economy, branding, marketing...
* Politics - Strengthening democracy towards a freer, fairer world - communications, networking, activism, citizen media, transparency, human rights, nonviolence...
* Planet - Restoring and exploring the earth - climate change, sustainable development, biodiversity, ecosystems, new science, imagining the future....
Under each of these categories we find innovations and resources. Overall, there's a companion book in print -- their big sustainability compendium Worldchanging: A Users Guide for the 21st Century [link] .
**** The Conservation Economy Pattern Language ****
[link]
Ecotrust pulled together all the dimensions of a sustainable society that they could think of and organized them into a "pattern language", a concept developed by architect Christopher Alexander. A "pattern" is a design principle, presented as a problem and the kind of solutions that would be required to solve that problem. There are many ways to include a pattern, just as there are many ways to meet a
need. A pattern LANGUAGE is a set of interrelated patterns in which it is clear which patterns (design principles) support or depend on other patterns. Check out Alexander's original pattern language: [link]
So Ecotrust built a fascinating clickable pattern language with patterns like Wildlife Corridors and Transit Access -- and provides organizations and resources with each pattern. Someday someone will link up this pattern language with a mega-resource like WISER Earth, and we'll then be able to see how each part of the sustainability/democracy
movements depend on or support each other....
EARTH CATALOGS IN DEVELOPMENT
**** One Geology - the ultimate map ****
[link]
British scientists are leading an international effort to bring
together all known geological information about every country in the world. The project's aim is to create dynamic digital geological map data for the world on a base scale of 1:1 million, while accepting a range of scales and the best available data. The geological map data will be made available as a distributed web service through Google
Earth and other dynamic map browsers. For an article about the project, see:
[link]
**** Encyclopedia of Life - every species included ****
[link]
Comprehensive, collaborative, ever-growing, and personalized, the Encyclopedia of Life is an ecosystem of websites that makes all key information about biological life on Earth accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world. Our goal is to create a constantly evolving encyclopedia that lives on the Internet, with contributions from scientists and amateurs alike.
To transform the science of biology, and inspire a new generation of scientists, by aggregating all known data about every living species. And ultimately, to increase our collective understanding of life on Earth, and safeguard the richest possible spectrum of biodiversity. For an article about the project see:
[link]
SPECIALIZED TOOL COMPILATIONS
There are hundreds of these, and I would hope that they start getting integrated into some of the giant meta-compilations above. An example that's highly relevant for co-intelligence and wise democracy activists are the tools in the overlapping fields of "conversational process" and "change management". Here are three useful references in that field:
* The Change Management Toolkit -
[link]
* The National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation's Learning Exchange -
[link]
* Griffith University Urban Research Program Toolbox -
[link]
The companion book here is THE CHANGE HANDBOOK: THE DEFINITIVE RESOURCE ON TODAY'S BEST METHODS FOR ENGAGING WHOLE SYSTEMS: [link]
AND FOR HIGHLY RELEVANT INTELLECTUAL STIMULATION OF ALL SORTS
**** TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) ****
[link]
This initiative is known for its annual invitation-only summit of 1000 of the world's brightest minds. But it has just released a free website showcasing more than 100 of the extraordinary short talks that have made TED famous, hoping to help powerful ideas have world-changing impact.
Its new video technology -- which allows us to view talks online or download them for playback later, and to rate the talks -- includes chapter-marking technology that lets us find and skip to key moments in a talk.
Detailed talk summaries and speaker biographies provide more context around each talk, and social-networking tools -- including Profile Pages, Comments and Favorites -- allow for interaction among members of the extended TED community (membership is free for everyone in the world, and you don't have to be a member to watch the talks). VERY stimulating.
AND, OF COURSE, THE MASTER GRASSROOTS ENCYCLOPEDIA
**** Wikipedia ****
[link]
Thousands of people -- experts and ordinary folks -- have been building what is arguably the most useful encyclopedia in the world online. The English Wikipedia currently has almost 1.8 million articles and, for many of us, is our first-stop reference. Parallel wikipedia encyclopedias are being developed in other languages.
Just added: Ecological Tipping Points and Success Stories
[link]
--
________________________________
Tom Atlee * The Co-Intelligence Institute * PO Box 493 * Eugene, OR 97440
[link] | [link]
Read THE TAO OF DEMOCRACY * [link]
Tom Atlee's blog [link]
Please support our work. * Your donations are fully tax-deductible.
We urge all to contribute whatever modest amount they can to the Co-Intelligence Institute. It does for the public what we tried to do for governments. It is a hub for the many spokes of democratic, libertarian, human rights, and other progressive movements that have learned they DO have the power to make change, they DO have the power to reassert public control over the instruments of self-governnance gone awry.
[link]
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Category: Government, Public Sector
17 comments
5 Jun 2007 @ 22:08 by : Well,
there ya go. A bit about ethics leading to some very good linkage. Reminds me of the time we, RAWA, established the Sevananda Food Co-Operative in Atlanta Georgia and elsewhere. Now burgeoning and self supporting businesses. Lots of food for thought and a real world example of what is being done everywhere by people like us.
RA
6 Jun 2007 @ 22:37 by : Might...
as well put this here. Hope someone is getting the benefit of all those links though probably most would prefer to sleep and let us do all the fighting. That's cool...we don't need any one standing in our way. ;)
The Home of the New Declaration
THE TIME FOR FREEDOM IS NOW!!!
"They tell us, sir, that we are weak -- unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance, by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?
Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of the means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us.
The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable -- and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come!
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, "Peace! Peace!" -- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, GIVE ME LIBERTY, OR GIVE ME DEATH!"
-- Patrick Henry March 23, 1775
All men and women are created with equal rights. These rights are such that we all may exercise them simultaneously without interfering with or infringing upon the rights of another. This is freedom.
Government -- ALL government -- has intentionally become destructive to our freedom and liberty. Instead of securing and protecting the natural rights of man, as government is designed to do, in every nation of this world it has sought to usurp its people and to reduce them under complete despotism. The evidence of this is staggering, and is completely visible in every aspect of our lives. Now is the time to change it.
--WE ARE NOT SUBJECT TO ANY GOVERNMENT TO WHICH WE DO NOT CONSENT
--WE ARE NOT BORN INTO ANY CONTRACT WITH ANY GOVERNMENT. GEOGRAPHY OF BIRTH DOES NOT PLACE US UNDER JURISDICTION.
--WE NEED NOT COMPLY WITH ANY DEMAND OR REQUEST THAT WOULD CAUSE US TO INFRINGE UPON THE RIGHTS OF ANOTHER OR FORFEIT THE FREE EXERCISE OF OUR OWN RIGHTS
We are individuals. We think and act freely. We are all born equal, and no other may use any type of coercion (eg. licensing, permits, fines, imprisonment, torture, death, etc) to get us to behave in any way. If another or a group of others attempt to coerce us in any way, we are free to resist using whatever means we feel are necessary.
We do not wish for violence. We encourage and promote individual responsibility for one's actions. We do not discourage self-defense in any way. Each of us must choose what types and degrees of coercion we feel we should put up with.
Our first responsibility is to ourselves. Each of us can decide the outcome by making simple decisions for ourselves. Do not apply for permits or licenses. Do not pay taxes. Do not vote. Do not comply with laws that have created victimless crimes. Do not do as your PUBLIC SERVANTS tell you. Do not give government any quarter.
It is too late to work within the system! The system was designed to be this way -- to leave us with no ability to stop it. Voting, joining organizations, and lobbying your repretendatives will not work. It is too late for that. The longer we wait, the harder it will become to stop this evil machine. The time is now to MAKE THE STAND!!!
Make the stand by refusing to go along with it. One of us will pop up, then another, then twenty, then one thousand, then one million. THE SYSTEM DEPENDS UPON OUR COOPERATION. WITHOUT IT -- THE SYSTEM WILL COLLAPSE UPON ITSELF. We will be left with the laws of nature once again -- freedom and responsibility.
Breath deeply, now, kittens...
7 Jun 2007 @ 10:27 by ashanti : Meouw....
Just to let ya know you are read, your links are appreciated.
Luv,
ashanti
7 Jun 2007 @ 21:08 by : Thankyou...
dear ashanti. A little bit of encouragement goes a long, long, way in these perilous times. Tom knew that, we know that. Win, win, win!
Luv ya,
RA
9 Jun 2007 @ 23:28 by a-d : RIGHT ON, Darling, !
right onnnnn!!! : )
10 Jun 2007 @ 00:47 by : Thanks, Vax...I especially enjoy
reading about the ETP's throughout the world. It is refreshing to see so many attractive and creative projects organized throughout the world to protect our environment--our eco-systems. Perhaps, we expect our government to come up with great solutions to these massive problems when they have created these horrendous conditions in the first place and in collaboration with the multi-nationals. In other words, our governments are corrupt as they compromise humanity's best interests to serve themselves and protect their "base."
I know I am speaking with those of you who know all of this, and more, but it is hopeful to know that there are many of us who do care about our planet and its inhabitants. Yes, everyone needs encouragement. Hmm, i recently wrote a short log on this very subject. ;)
11 Jun 2007 @ 05:34 by : Yes, yes...
you did, Jerry, and your log is very much appreciated as is the work you do. Inspires me so much.
11 Jun 2007 @ 06:52 by : You do good
stuff Maynard...
I mean vax lol
xox
m
27 Jun 2007 @ 23:33 by : Heh, heh...
Maynard the fox! Thanks skookum...
27 Jun 2007 @ 23:56 by : Emerging
Something is Emerging
I am becoming increasingly aware of something important that you and I and everyone we know are part of. A new world is being born among us which is becoming more visible only in fits and starts. It is not emerging according to any plan, but through millions of diverse separate activities, shifts of awareness, responses, and co-evolutions happening simultaneously.
Most remarkable, to me, is that this emerging new world is trying to become conscious of itself. It is moving towards conscious evolution, towards increasingly conscious engagement in its own birth process.
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/tom_atlee/2005/06/21/something_is_emerging.htm
27 Jun 2007 @ 23:59 by : And...
Expect some very fast changes when money becomes democratised. This key channel of communication has fallen under the control of very few people, who have used money to take control of all the centralised media, most notably in USA. The internet, however, remains out of their control!
Peer2peer credit issuance is already available on WWW, but has not yet reached critical mass. In the next few years, personally-issued currency networks will start to offer a viable alternative to the command economy, freeing up huge amounts of energy and altruism currently wasted in destructive, zero-sum fights about the biosurvival tickets issued by the central bankers. Wikipedia is successful because it taps into other motives than the selfish money-minded one. An unselfish money system will have far-reaching consequences.
http://www.communicationagents.com/tom_atlee/2005/06/21/something_is_emerging.htm
5 Jul 2007 @ 03:59 by a-d : See!
I told you so!hehehehhehah. Hah! Hah! u shhhhhtinker! ; )
Yeahhhhh.... THANKS for this addition to the Thing I said: People ARE awakening!
...and now, Freinds; don't forget the [ www.firethegrid.org ] -WORLDWIDE EVENT- on July 17. THIS will assist a lot in this new awakening process!
/ Girly friend A-d
9 Jul 2007 @ 15:11 by : Hasn't
been democratised, yet, A-d and just because the internet is trending that way doesn't mean it will be 'democratised.' Besides, study the meaning of the word democracy. Study the political system known as 'democracy' and you will soon see that 'democracy' has nothing to do with freedom whatsoever and is, in deed, its' antithesis. Democracy always leads to tyranny. Democracy is NOT the same as freedom. Democracy is the antithesis to freedom.
Instead of firing the grid...fire the Government. It's a private corporation, now, and is bent on one thing alone...control! (Same with, ah, 'money.') ;)
Musiikki ja sanat http://www.firethegrid.org/fin/home-fr-fin.htm
9 Jul 2007 @ 20:29 by a-d : Tuhannet Kiitokset,
Kultaseni! Olet todella Ainutlaatuinen!
Rakkaudella/A-d
10 Jul 2007 @ 18:55 by : Suomi!
What a language! Ain utla atu inen! ;)
A nice translator for X-Mas?
Hakonens' head on the table instead of a pig.
Apple in mouth, etc., ;)
Maybe Linus Torvald instead?
Linux came from Minix...
Broeder Grimm
10 Sep 2010 @ 06:57 by @89.105.236.243 : news
I just linked this article on my facebook account. It’s an interesting read for everyone.
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