Information Age: Information is not a commodity for sale but one of the most vital and important inalienable rights

11.21.13
Information Age
Information is not a commodity for sale but one of the most vital and important inalienable rights. To paraphrase Descartes: "I have access to information therefore I am".
The issues in need of elaboration however are:
1) The quality of information: its truthfulness (veracity), relevance, objectivity, timeliness, impact and
2) The types and hierarchies of access tailored specifically for various purposes and for various consumer groups, which does not necessarily contradict and exclude the notions of right and objectivity: the Truth might be viewed as a sum total of its component parts and aspects - "sub-truths", just like a gem is a combination of matter and light: colors, shades, facets, angles and points of view; it reveals and fascinates just as much as it hides and puzzles with its in-depth essence, ever inaccessible.
M.N. 

11.29.13 
In other words, Information is Security and Security is based upon and incorporates the high quality relevant Information; they go hand in hand, enhancing each others' strength and value in a positive feedback cycle. Hence the renewed importance and value of Information Services (of which the most types of various investigative and intelligence agencies essentially are) in our new: blessed, cursed, promising, exciting "Information Age". 
The further issues that arise are: security of Information (access, privacy, potential for misuse and abuse, etc., etc.) and contribution of various types of (high quality) information into Overall Security. That probably, it seems to me, what is a part of the NSA controversies and debates. 
Some initial international consultations on "information security" did take place but apparently "faded out" after Russian attempts to limit the Freedom of Information on the Internet.  IMHO, the latter is a non-negotiable item: without the freedom of the Internet, which is essentially a freedom of speech and expression and a source of creativity, including the commercial one, there could not be any other freedom (and progress). That was a somewhat totalitarian attempt on the Russians part and, apparently a vestige of totalitarian mentality. However the benefits of further conceptualisation and regulation of Information Security, including its international aspects, appear to be quite evident; and within the framework of the Western democratic libertarian model, I must add, namely: without any attempts at very dangerous totalitarian encroachments, whatever they might be (and from wherever they might be coming from). 

11.30.13
Those who control the various flows of various types and kinds of information will ultimately control the World, in many of its aspects and respects; which makes these flows no less important than oil pipes. To try to understand correctly, to attempt to diagnose, and if not cure, but at least to help the World's Ills - the "tall order": the task ambitious but not untimely and not insignificant by all means. This task became manageable as the result of Information Revolution and after it, in our rather somewhat strange but funny and smart "Information Age"... 

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» Police Helicopter Crashes Into Crowded Glasgow Pub - New York Times 30/11/13 13:49 from Top Stories - Google News Times of India Police Helicopter Crashes Into Crowded Glasgow Pub New York Times LONDON — Eight people were killed when a police helicopter that apparently lost power crashed through the roof of a crowded pub in Glasgow, injuring at leas...

» Police Helicopter Crashes Into Crowded Glasgow Pub - New York Times
30/11/13 13:49 from Top Stories - Google News
Times of India Police Helicopter Crashes Into Crowded Glasgow Pub New York Times LONDON — Eight people were killed when a police helicopter that apparently lost power crashed through the roof of a crowded pub in Glasgow, injuring at leas...

Around the world in 180 characters - USA TODAY | The Latest Wave of Snowden-mania: Buses In US Capitol Thank Edward Snowden For Expos...

Mike Nova: Buses In US Capitol Thank Edward Snowden For Expos...: Buses In US Capitol Thank Edward Snowden For Exposing The Truth  - 11/30/2013  - Kevin Zeese

• Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales: Edward Snowden is a hero - Belfast Telegraph - 11/29/2013 - 

M.N.: And who is behind this "mania", I wonder; and who is paying for this? 

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• Russia: Why is Putin always late? - BBC News - 11/30/2013 - 

Sometimes it bears the hallmarks of a calculated snub. In 2012, Putin was running late for gas talks with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in Crimea. But he stopped for a chat with a biker friend, and eventually arrived nearly four hours late.

Political commentator Dmitriy Abramov says Putin's "affected lateness" is "born of a desire to demonstrate that he occupies a 'tsar's place' in world politics, as in the heyday of the Russian empire".

His estranged wife Lyudmila says he regularly kept her waiting when they were dating. Putin recollects of his school days: "I did not have time to dress and flew like a bullet to school without my coat."

As Rostovskiy notes, lateness is now Putin's "calling card" and he's unlikely to change. "In all probability he will be late for his own funeral,"says opposition blogger Andrey Malgin.


Arriving for the G8 "family photo"

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» Around the world in 180 characters - USA TODAY
30/11/13 09:00 from world - Google News
Around the world in 180 characters USA TODAY Every weekend USA TODAY takes a bite-sized look in approximately 180 characters per item at the past week's top stories from around the world . Digital loss. Pity poor James Howells. The W...