That's what we're left with these days.
The very few times that lawyers have got off their arses
to do the work of governments, by suing companies
that should have their executives in jail for fraud,
are only making a hole in the water.
In the end, if banks "don't have money" to pay the settlement,
so the public picks up the bill for the whole mess.
IshitUnot:
The Farce-Hole Gets Deeper: Obama's "Robo-Settlement For Votes" Cost To Taxpayers: $40 Billion
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/16/2012 22:52 -0500
Plunging deeper into the farce-hole, the FT reports tonight that Obama's foreclosure settlement with the banks over their improper seizure of tax-paying US citizens' homes will in fact be subsidized by those very same US taxpayers. It is a hidden clause (that has not been made public yet) that allows the banks to count future loan modifications under the $30bn (taxpayer funded) HAMP initiative towards their $35bn agreement to restructure obligations under the new settlement. As the FT goes on to note, BofA will be able to use future mods made under HAMP towards the $7.6bn in borrower assistance it is committed to provide - which means, in a (as TARP inspector general Neil Barofsky describes) 'scandalous' turn of events the bank will receive payments for averting a borrower default and be reimbursed by the taxpayer for the principal write-down. We have much stronger words for how we are feeling about this but Barofsky sums it up calmly "It turns the notion that this is about justice and accountability on its head". Are the Big Five banks truly beyond the law?
Monday 26 March 2012
ECB tries Nazi methods of undermining a currency. it's own
Undermining a currency used to be what you did to your enemy.
That was WW2. We're so much more advanced today, that we
do it to our own currency. It helps sell our products
cheaply around the world.
IshitUnot:
Nazi forged bank notes hit sterling confidence, MI5 files show
By Sanchia Berg Today programme, BBC Radio 4
A counterfeit British banknote Counterfeit British bank notes created by Nazis amounted to 10% of sterling in circulation
* British 'cash' made by Nazis sold
* Film tells of Nazi camp forgers
Nazi counterfeiting "destroyed" confidence in the British currency in Europe by the end of World War II, according to newly released MI5 files.
A 1945 report in the National Archives suggests Germany began production of the fake notes five years earlier in a bid to undermine sterling.
That was WW2. We're so much more advanced today, that we
do it to our own currency. It helps sell our products
cheaply around the world.
IshitUnot:
Nazi forged bank notes hit sterling confidence, MI5 files show
By Sanchia Berg Today programme, BBC Radio 4
A counterfeit British banknote Counterfeit British bank notes created by Nazis amounted to 10% of sterling in circulation
* British 'cash' made by Nazis sold
* Film tells of Nazi camp forgers
Nazi counterfeiting "destroyed" confidence in the British currency in Europe by the end of World War II, according to newly released MI5 files.
A 1945 report in the National Archives suggests Germany began production of the fake notes five years earlier in a bid to undermine sterling.
what's good for the people is good for the banks: austerity
We know that governments have to reign in their expenses,
because the banks are broke* and governments "can't get money"*.
Of course, at the same time, we’ve decided to bail out the banks,
so they're not broke, not in a bankruptcy sort of way.
If we killed off some banks and reigned in the rest,
then people would support cuts in government expenses.
That's even though the cuts in public services, though very
harmful, can in no possible f^&%^king way pay off the
massive stinking, pile of sh"t debts that every country
has on its books. But, I digress.
It would be necessary, in killing off those banks that we lose
some or all of our national debts, in order to balance things.
Bankers would swallow it, because they’re short-termists anyway
(the ultimate businessmen). All they care about is their
individual fees.
The fact that their banks will get robbed doesn’t concern
any of them.
It’s the bonus, shithead.
*we know it's bullshit, but that's what they say
Wednesday 21 March 2012
Who woke the dog up?
The mainstream media has just woken up to the world of
foreclosure fraud of mortgages in the US. Thanks, you
hacks.
They could have been reading Zerohedge or any other similar
blog, for the last 5 years to discover more about this.
IshitUnot:
Reuters Foreclosure abuse rampant across U.S., experts say
By Tim Reid
LOS ANGELES | Fri Feb 17, 2012 12:34pm EST
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A report this week showing rampant foreclosure abuse in San Francisco reflects similar levels of lender fraud and faulty documentation across the United States, say experts and officials who have done studies in other parts of the country.
The audit of almost 400 foreclosures in San Francisco found that 84 percent of them appeared to be illegal, according to the study released by the California city on Wednesday.
foreclosure fraud of mortgages in the US. Thanks, you
hacks.
They could have been reading Zerohedge or any other similar
blog, for the last 5 years to discover more about this.
IshitUnot:
Reuters Foreclosure abuse rampant across U.S., experts say
By Tim Reid
LOS ANGELES | Fri Feb 17, 2012 12:34pm EST
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A report this week showing rampant foreclosure abuse in San Francisco reflects similar levels of lender fraud and faulty documentation across the United States, say experts and officials who have done studies in other parts of the country.
The audit of almost 400 foreclosures in San Francisco found that 84 percent of them appeared to be illegal, according to the study released by the California city on Wednesday.
Hegemonic philosophy 101: what is a soldier?
johnsmiff letter on Zerohedge:
November 2011
"Military men are just dumb stupid animals
to be used as pawns in foreign policy"
Henry Kissinger, as quoted in "The Final Days"
by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in chapter 14.
Page 194 in the paperback version (1995)
That quote just about sums up the regard politicians
have for the veterans and the armed forces in general.
November 2011
"Military men are just dumb stupid animals
to be used as pawns in foreign policy"
Henry Kissinger, as quoted in "The Final Days"
by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in chapter 14.
Page 194 in the paperback version (1995)
That quote just about sums up the regard politicians
have for the veterans and the armed forces in general.
Lesson: how to invade Greece without firing a shot
Punk Economics shows us how life is so screwed up that a nation
can be subjugated by a bunch of clowns in suits and with the aid
of the politicians who have the care of a country in their hands.
Poison-tipped pens.
Dr. Michael Hudson will show you how the ground is prepared for
the invasion with the use of spies in the form of businessmen,
selling the wares of the invader. They go by the names of
Seimens and ABB and Douchebank.
Hudson- Grecian formula
key points-
10:10 forced buying of german arms
10:55 derivatives in 100 words
13:50 financial warfare
may I say a word about Lauren Lyster? She has moved up her game,
speaking clearly and cogently about the crimes of our times, and
she really puts weight behind her words. and yet
she’s even more appealing, even shekshy. I love it when a woman
talks in complex anti-establishment language. I think its luv.
can be subjugated by a bunch of clowns in suits and with the aid
of the politicians who have the care of a country in their hands.
Poison-tipped pens.
Dr. Michael Hudson will show you how the ground is prepared for
the invasion with the use of spies in the form of businessmen,
selling the wares of the invader. They go by the names of
Seimens and ABB and Douchebank.
Hudson- Grecian formula
key points-
10:10 forced buying of german arms
10:55 derivatives in 100 words
13:50 financial warfare
may I say a word about Lauren Lyster? She has moved up her game,
speaking clearly and cogently about the crimes of our times, and
she really puts weight behind her words. and yet
she’s even more appealing, even shekshy. I love it when a woman
talks in complex anti-establishment language. I think its luv.
Similarities between Occupy and Bastille movements
A march through a public street performs a public and political
function, even though it goes around in circles.
However, when you occupy or storm, that's a more clear
political activity.
You're filling a space as a base for presenting a more
permanent and thus a clearer message.
Occupying space, although it's peaceful, is a metaphor
for warfare. Space is a commodity that is traded between
countries as well.
A popular message from Occupy:
We don't have any weapons, this time.
more later
function, even though it goes around in circles.
However, when you occupy or storm, that's a more clear
political activity.
You're filling a space as a base for presenting a more
permanent and thus a clearer message.
Occupying space, although it's peaceful, is a metaphor
for warfare. Space is a commodity that is traded between
countries as well.
A popular message from Occupy:
We don't have any weapons, this time.
more later
Friday 16 March 2012
attack of the anti-capitalist bankers
It's nice and Orwellian when bankers and the media call
the Occupy movement 'anti-capitalist', as if it's like:
you complain about anything in capitalism,
therefore you is communist and anarchist.
As if capitalism is an 'on-off' switch.
The working people are getting strict capitalism while
the rich are getting coddled by socialist governments.
IshitUnot:
Jim Grant Must Watch: "Capitalism Is An Alternative For What We Have Now"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2012 17:39 -0500
Jim Grant is simply brilliant in this must watch interview with CNBC's Maria Bartiromo, which we won't spoil with commentary, suffice to provide the following pearl of an exchange:
Maria Bartiromo: "What are the alternatives?"
Jim Grant: "Capitalism is an alternative for what we have now. I highly recommend it."
Maria: "We all do."
Grant: "No we don't."
Maria: "The Federal Reserve may not."
Grant: "We ought to be discussing an intelligent move to a sound currency by which i mean a currency that is based on a standard and not at the whim and the discretion of a bunch of mandarins sitting around Washington D.C."
In other news, Joseph Stalin has never been happier in his grave that Ben Bernanke has decided to shoulder the legacy of central planning and is firmly committed to proving that where Vissarionovich failed, the ChairSatan will succeed. At any
let's cut to the video:
the Occupy movement 'anti-capitalist', as if it's like:
you complain about anything in capitalism,
therefore you is communist and anarchist.
As if capitalism is an 'on-off' switch.
The working people are getting strict capitalism while
the rich are getting coddled by socialist governments.
IshitUnot:
Jim Grant Must Watch: "Capitalism Is An Alternative For What We Have Now"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2012 17:39 -0500
Jim Grant is simply brilliant in this must watch interview with CNBC's Maria Bartiromo, which we won't spoil with commentary, suffice to provide the following pearl of an exchange:
Maria Bartiromo: "What are the alternatives?"
Jim Grant: "Capitalism is an alternative for what we have now. I highly recommend it."
Maria: "We all do."
Grant: "No we don't."
Maria: "The Federal Reserve may not."
Grant: "We ought to be discussing an intelligent move to a sound currency by which i mean a currency that is based on a standard and not at the whim and the discretion of a bunch of mandarins sitting around Washington D.C."
In other news, Joseph Stalin has never been happier in his grave that Ben Bernanke has decided to shoulder the legacy of central planning and is firmly committed to proving that where Vissarionovich failed, the ChairSatan will succeed. At any
let's cut to the video:
Thursday 8 March 2012
British republican strategy, part 2
As we know the British Republicans are a bit slow at getting rolling.
They see a documentary for the Queen's 60th Horrible Anus and they
complain.
It seems that they're gonna let this anniversary pass without much
more than a grumble.
Wasn't there a particular cultural artefact that gave the government,
local councillors and the Queen a run for her money 30 years ago,
on Elizabeth's 30th anusversary?
That's right. The Republicans didn't even get up off their couches
to support the Pistol boys. They were banned everywhere.
The Republicans probably still hate the Sex Pistols.
The Reps are probably rich, Oxford grads.
Unfortunately, they've decided to take on the biggest mafia in town,
so the Rep lads are outsiders now, too.
Maybe a change in strategy is necessary.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend, innit?
Embrace punk, boys.
Punk works well against repressive regimes, like that of the UK.
Observe a cultural juggernaut, that people are still talking about-
IshitUnot: Guardian
Punk rock … alive and kicking in a repressive state near you
Punk rock is ancient history here, but elsewhere disaffected young people are discovering its anarchic energy – despite the enormous risks they face from their oppressive regimes
John Harris
The Guardian, Saturday 17 March 2012 Article history
On the edge … revelers who wear 'decadent' clothing during Burma's New Year celebrations can face up to a month in prison, according to local media. Photograph: Khin Maung Win/AP
It's been a long time since the term "punk rock" could strike fear into the British establishment. The Sex Pistols' John Lydon – aka Johnny Rotten – was long ago transformed into a pantomimic national institution, and now advertises Country Life butter; it's 16 years since Tony Blair admiringly mentioned the Clash in a speech at the Brit awards. The spiky-topped punk look is as harmless a part of vernacular British style as Harris tweed; the concert nostalgia circuit is now home to any number of ageing punk groups, from the Buzzcocks to Sham 69.
The last few months, however, have brought news from abroad suggesting that in many places, punk's combination of splenetic dissent, loud guitars and outre attire can cause as much disquiet and outrage as ever. The stories concerned take in Indonesia, Burma, Iraq and Russia – and most highlight one big difference between the hoo-hah kicked up by punk in the US and Britain of the late 70s, and the reactions it now stirs thousands of miles from its places of birth. Back then, being a punk rocker might invite occasional attacks in the street, a ban on your records, and the odd difficulty finding somewhere to play. Now, if you pursue a love of punk in the wrong political circumstances, you may well experience oppression at its most brutal: torture, imprisonment, what one regime calls "moral rehabilitation" and even death.
First, then, to Iraq, and news that will surely warm the heart of anyone who still believes the US and Britain attacked that country to introduce it to the wonders of democracy and tolerance. Last weekend, Reuters reported that at least 14 young people had recently been stoned to death in Baghdad, thanks to "a campaign by Shi-ite militants against youths wearing Western-style 'emo' clothes and haircuts".
For the uninitiated, "emo" is short for "emotional hardcore", and refers to a music and dress-code traceable to a variety of punk invented in Washington DC in the mid-1980s, lately smoothed out and rendered massively lucrative by such teenage favourites as Fall Out Boy, Panic! At the Disco and Paramore. In February, the Iraqi interior ministry said it equated "the 'emo' phenomenon" with satanism, and warned of young people who "wear tight clothes that bear paintings of skulls" and favour "rings in their noses and tongues as well as other weird appearances". The same ministry has since denied that emo had anything to do with the killings, claiming that "no murder case has been recorded with the interior ministry on so called 'emo' grounds. All cases of murder recorded were for revenge, social and common criminal reasons."
One thing is definitely true: figures for emo-related killings are blurring into those for homophobic murders (put at up to 58 in the last six weeks alone), reflecting a widespread perception in Iraq that emo is a byword not just for devil-worship, but homosexuality. A leaflet distributed in east Baghdad gave any local emo fans four days to "leave this filthy work", under pain of "the punishment of God … at the hand of the Mujahideen". At least two lists of intended victims have been posted online, and tattoo parlours in the city have reported terrified young people asking for their punk-esque body-art to be removed.
In Moscow, a court ruling on Wednesday marked the latest chapter in the story of an all-female band called Pussy Riot, two of whom were arrested last month after they illicitly took over the pulpit in a Moscow church, and attempted to recite a "punk prayer" written in opposition to Vladimir Putin. Pussy Riot's music is scratchy, unhinged stuff that takes its lead from a fleeting genre known as riot grrrl – once again traceable, at least in part, to Washington DC, and brought to fruition nearly 20 years ago by such groups as Bikini Kill, and a British band called Huggy Bear. Their music was clearly derived from punk's basic idea, but took its lead from such feminist groups as the Slits and the Au Pairs rather than the Clash and the Pistols: apart from anything else, the controversy around Pussy Riot has at least served as a reminder of this overlooked strand of punk history.
let's cut to the video-
at the 5 minute point:
They see a documentary for the Queen's 60th Horrible Anus and they
complain.
It seems that they're gonna let this anniversary pass without much
more than a grumble.
Wasn't there a particular cultural artefact that gave the government,
local councillors and the Queen a run for her money 30 years ago,
on Elizabeth's 30th anusversary?
That's right. The Republicans didn't even get up off their couches
to support the Pistol boys. They were banned everywhere.
The Republicans probably still hate the Sex Pistols.
The Reps are probably rich, Oxford grads.
Unfortunately, they've decided to take on the biggest mafia in town,
so the Rep lads are outsiders now, too.
Maybe a change in strategy is necessary.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend, innit?
Embrace punk, boys.
Punk works well against repressive regimes, like that of the UK.
Observe a cultural juggernaut, that people are still talking about-
IshitUnot: Guardian
Punk rock … alive and kicking in a repressive state near you
Punk rock is ancient history here, but elsewhere disaffected young people are discovering its anarchic energy – despite the enormous risks they face from their oppressive regimes
John Harris
The Guardian, Saturday 17 March 2012 Article history
On the edge … revelers who wear 'decadent' clothing during Burma's New Year celebrations can face up to a month in prison, according to local media. Photograph: Khin Maung Win/AP
It's been a long time since the term "punk rock" could strike fear into the British establishment. The Sex Pistols' John Lydon – aka Johnny Rotten – was long ago transformed into a pantomimic national institution, and now advertises Country Life butter; it's 16 years since Tony Blair admiringly mentioned the Clash in a speech at the Brit awards. The spiky-topped punk look is as harmless a part of vernacular British style as Harris tweed; the concert nostalgia circuit is now home to any number of ageing punk groups, from the Buzzcocks to Sham 69.
The last few months, however, have brought news from abroad suggesting that in many places, punk's combination of splenetic dissent, loud guitars and outre attire can cause as much disquiet and outrage as ever. The stories concerned take in Indonesia, Burma, Iraq and Russia – and most highlight one big difference between the hoo-hah kicked up by punk in the US and Britain of the late 70s, and the reactions it now stirs thousands of miles from its places of birth. Back then, being a punk rocker might invite occasional attacks in the street, a ban on your records, and the odd difficulty finding somewhere to play. Now, if you pursue a love of punk in the wrong political circumstances, you may well experience oppression at its most brutal: torture, imprisonment, what one regime calls "moral rehabilitation" and even death.
First, then, to Iraq, and news that will surely warm the heart of anyone who still believes the US and Britain attacked that country to introduce it to the wonders of democracy and tolerance. Last weekend, Reuters reported that at least 14 young people had recently been stoned to death in Baghdad, thanks to "a campaign by Shi-ite militants against youths wearing Western-style 'emo' clothes and haircuts".
For the uninitiated, "emo" is short for "emotional hardcore", and refers to a music and dress-code traceable to a variety of punk invented in Washington DC in the mid-1980s, lately smoothed out and rendered massively lucrative by such teenage favourites as Fall Out Boy, Panic! At the Disco and Paramore. In February, the Iraqi interior ministry said it equated "the 'emo' phenomenon" with satanism, and warned of young people who "wear tight clothes that bear paintings of skulls" and favour "rings in their noses and tongues as well as other weird appearances". The same ministry has since denied that emo had anything to do with the killings, claiming that "no murder case has been recorded with the interior ministry on so called 'emo' grounds. All cases of murder recorded were for revenge, social and common criminal reasons."
One thing is definitely true: figures for emo-related killings are blurring into those for homophobic murders (put at up to 58 in the last six weeks alone), reflecting a widespread perception in Iraq that emo is a byword not just for devil-worship, but homosexuality. A leaflet distributed in east Baghdad gave any local emo fans four days to "leave this filthy work", under pain of "the punishment of God … at the hand of the Mujahideen". At least two lists of intended victims have been posted online, and tattoo parlours in the city have reported terrified young people asking for their punk-esque body-art to be removed.
In Moscow, a court ruling on Wednesday marked the latest chapter in the story of an all-female band called Pussy Riot, two of whom were arrested last month after they illicitly took over the pulpit in a Moscow church, and attempted to recite a "punk prayer" written in opposition to Vladimir Putin. Pussy Riot's music is scratchy, unhinged stuff that takes its lead from a fleeting genre known as riot grrrl – once again traceable, at least in part, to Washington DC, and brought to fruition nearly 20 years ago by such groups as Bikini Kill, and a British band called Huggy Bear. Their music was clearly derived from punk's basic idea, but took its lead from such feminist groups as the Slits and the Au Pairs rather than the Clash and the Pistols: apart from anything else, the controversy around Pussy Riot has at least served as a reminder of this overlooked strand of punk history.
let's cut to the video-
at the 5 minute point:
cavities & tweets, part 2
****nudity warning. ugly nudity, too.***
TSA nude scanners shown to be ineffective
2
It's been revealed to Congress how Homeland Security
gets access to your electronic person
And if you read below, Congress sounds really angry.
Of course, that's all for show.
IshitUnot: Fastcompany blog
Department Of Homeland Security Tells Congress Why It's Monitoring Facebook, Twitter, Blogs
BY Neal Ungerleider
The House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Counterintelligence and Intelligence was not pleased. (Insert "angry" emoticon here.)
At a Congressional hearing this morning that veered into contentious arguments and cringe-worthy moments, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spilled the beans on their social media monitoring project.
DHS Chief Privacy Office Mary Ellen Callahan and Director of Operations Coordination and Planning Richard Chavez appeared to be deliberately stonewalling Congress on the depth, ubiquity, goals, and technical capabilities of the agency's social media surveillance. At other times, they appeared to be themselves unsure about their own project's ultimate goals and uses. But one thing is for sure: If you're the first person to tweet about a news story, or if you're a community activist who makes public Facebook posts--DHS will have your personal information.
The hearing, which was held by the Subcommittee on Counterintelligence and Intelligence headed by Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-PA), was highly unusual. Hacktivist collective Anonymous (or at least the @AnonyOps Twitter feed) sent a sympathizer to the visitor gallery to liveblog the proceedings under the #spyback hashtag.
Interactions between the DHS officials and representatives were often strained--both Chavez and Callahan were scolded and chastised by Representatives from both parties. Reps. Billy Long (R-MO), Meehan, Jackie Speier (D-CA), and Bennie Thompson (D-MS) all pointed out issues relating to what they variously saw as potential First Amendment violations, surveillance of citizens engaged in protected political speech, the fact that an outside contractor handles DHS' social media monitoring, DHS' seeming inability to separate news monitoring from disaster preparedness, and a massively unclear social media monitoring mandate on the DHS' part.
Video footage of the hearing has already been made available on YouTube, and the written testimony of both DHS experts has been made publicly available. Privacy watchdog group EPIC also filed a formal disclosure to Congress on the results of a FOIA lawsuit. DHS appears to have also stonewalled EPIC regarding their social media monitoring project. The results are staggering.
According to testimony, the Homeland Security Department has outsourced their own social media monitoring program to an outside contractor, defense giant General Dynamics. General Dynamics was the sole party to the original DHS contract, which was not offered to any outside parties--and Chavez was caught misleading the Committee about General Dyamics' sole status.
General Dynamics employees responsible for the DHS social media monitoring contract are required to attend a training course in DHS privacy practices several times a year. If General Dynamics employees misuse the personal information of journalists, public figures or the general public (to include Twitter or Facebook users) in any way, their punishment is restricted to additional training classes or dismissal from the project.
General Dynamics and the Department of Homeland Security are primarily engaging in keyword monitoring of social media. Callahan admitted in sworn testimony that the bulk of the keywords used by DHS were chosen as the result of being included in commercially available, off-the-shelf bulk packages. These bulk keyword packages were later customized according to DHS specifications.
The DHS, meanwhile, is truly interested in breaking news tweets. The Twitter handles, Facebook names and blog urls of first witnesses to news events (the attempted assassination of Gabrielle Giffords and a January 2012 bomb threat at an Austin, Texas, school were specifically cited) are being recorded. Homeland Security claims this information is only used to verify reports, and that dossiers are not being assembled on private citizens and that personally identifying information is regularly scrubbed from their servers.
Another worrying tendency is the fact that DHS appears to be keeping tabs on individual American citizens engaged in community activism and hot-button political issues. EPIC's evidence package to congress included FOIA-obtained data on community reaction to the housing of Guantanamo detainees in a Standish, MI prison. Against the DHS' own guidelines, the agency compiled a report titled Residents Voice Opposition Over Possible Plan to Bring Guantanamo Detainees to Local Prison-Standish MI. This report contained sentiment gathered from newspaper comment talkbacks, local blogs, Twitter posts, and publicly available Facebook posts--something expressly forbidden by the DHS' own policies. Chavez and Callahan claimed that the report was not disseminated and that privacy policies forbid similar things from occuring; nonetheless the report was made and not obtained by EPIC until they sued the DHS.
In testimony, the DHS representatives appeared unclear on what the collected data would actually be used for and which agencies would be using it. Hurricane Katrina was constantly bought up as a talking point, but Committee members were constantly blocked when they asked how Homeland Security would be using their social media findings. In addition, barriers preventing other government agencies from obtaining sentiment information from DHS on individual journalists or private citizens is extremely flimsy; when Rep. Chip Cravvack (R-MN) asked Chavez what he would do if, say, the Attorney General was asking for information, Chavez simply answered that his agency's mandate forbid him from doing that. While that answer is fine and good, it also infers that the DHS has not put proper inter-agency data security safeguards in place.
The hearing was less Big Brother then sloppy-kid-down-the-block... only with a big fat government contract. When numerous Committee members, including Long, questioned Chavez about the existence of similar social media monitoring projects at other government agencies, Chavez said he didn't know of any. Meanwhile, the Associated Press--in a major story--reported on Monday about the FBI putting out a contract for an almost identical project. As a mid-ranking official responsible for analysis operations, it is assumed that Chavez would have a vested interest in knowing what other government agencies were up to in the same field.
At other times, neither Chavez nor Callahan could answer to the Committee's satisfaction why a contractor was hired for the job nor why the federal government was misled on the duration of General Dynamics' social media monitoring contract.
According to testimony, a second, classified, Committee meeting on the subject of DHS social media monitoring was held on February 15 as well.
TSA nude scanners shown to be ineffective
2
It's been revealed to Congress how Homeland Security
gets access to your electronic person
And if you read below, Congress sounds really angry.
Of course, that's all for show.
IshitUnot: Fastcompany blog
Department Of Homeland Security Tells Congress Why It's Monitoring Facebook, Twitter, Blogs
BY Neal Ungerleider
The House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Counterintelligence and Intelligence was not pleased. (Insert "angry" emoticon here.)
At a Congressional hearing this morning that veered into contentious arguments and cringe-worthy moments, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spilled the beans on their social media monitoring project.
DHS Chief Privacy Office Mary Ellen Callahan and Director of Operations Coordination and Planning Richard Chavez appeared to be deliberately stonewalling Congress on the depth, ubiquity, goals, and technical capabilities of the agency's social media surveillance. At other times, they appeared to be themselves unsure about their own project's ultimate goals and uses. But one thing is for sure: If you're the first person to tweet about a news story, or if you're a community activist who makes public Facebook posts--DHS will have your personal information.
The hearing, which was held by the Subcommittee on Counterintelligence and Intelligence headed by Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-PA), was highly unusual. Hacktivist collective Anonymous (or at least the @AnonyOps Twitter feed) sent a sympathizer to the visitor gallery to liveblog the proceedings under the #spyback hashtag.
Interactions between the DHS officials and representatives were often strained--both Chavez and Callahan were scolded and chastised by Representatives from both parties. Reps. Billy Long (R-MO), Meehan, Jackie Speier (D-CA), and Bennie Thompson (D-MS) all pointed out issues relating to what they variously saw as potential First Amendment violations, surveillance of citizens engaged in protected political speech, the fact that an outside contractor handles DHS' social media monitoring, DHS' seeming inability to separate news monitoring from disaster preparedness, and a massively unclear social media monitoring mandate on the DHS' part.
Video footage of the hearing has already been made available on YouTube, and the written testimony of both DHS experts has been made publicly available. Privacy watchdog group EPIC also filed a formal disclosure to Congress on the results of a FOIA lawsuit. DHS appears to have also stonewalled EPIC regarding their social media monitoring project. The results are staggering.
According to testimony, the Homeland Security Department has outsourced their own social media monitoring program to an outside contractor, defense giant General Dynamics. General Dynamics was the sole party to the original DHS contract, which was not offered to any outside parties--and Chavez was caught misleading the Committee about General Dyamics' sole status.
General Dynamics employees responsible for the DHS social media monitoring contract are required to attend a training course in DHS privacy practices several times a year. If General Dynamics employees misuse the personal information of journalists, public figures or the general public (to include Twitter or Facebook users) in any way, their punishment is restricted to additional training classes or dismissal from the project.
General Dynamics and the Department of Homeland Security are primarily engaging in keyword monitoring of social media. Callahan admitted in sworn testimony that the bulk of the keywords used by DHS were chosen as the result of being included in commercially available, off-the-shelf bulk packages. These bulk keyword packages were later customized according to DHS specifications.
The DHS, meanwhile, is truly interested in breaking news tweets. The Twitter handles, Facebook names and blog urls of first witnesses to news events (the attempted assassination of Gabrielle Giffords and a January 2012 bomb threat at an Austin, Texas, school were specifically cited) are being recorded. Homeland Security claims this information is only used to verify reports, and that dossiers are not being assembled on private citizens and that personally identifying information is regularly scrubbed from their servers.
Another worrying tendency is the fact that DHS appears to be keeping tabs on individual American citizens engaged in community activism and hot-button political issues. EPIC's evidence package to congress included FOIA-obtained data on community reaction to the housing of Guantanamo detainees in a Standish, MI prison. Against the DHS' own guidelines, the agency compiled a report titled Residents Voice Opposition Over Possible Plan to Bring Guantanamo Detainees to Local Prison-Standish MI. This report contained sentiment gathered from newspaper comment talkbacks, local blogs, Twitter posts, and publicly available Facebook posts--something expressly forbidden by the DHS' own policies. Chavez and Callahan claimed that the report was not disseminated and that privacy policies forbid similar things from occuring; nonetheless the report was made and not obtained by EPIC until they sued the DHS.
In testimony, the DHS representatives appeared unclear on what the collected data would actually be used for and which agencies would be using it. Hurricane Katrina was constantly bought up as a talking point, but Committee members were constantly blocked when they asked how Homeland Security would be using their social media findings. In addition, barriers preventing other government agencies from obtaining sentiment information from DHS on individual journalists or private citizens is extremely flimsy; when Rep. Chip Cravvack (R-MN) asked Chavez what he would do if, say, the Attorney General was asking for information, Chavez simply answered that his agency's mandate forbid him from doing that. While that answer is fine and good, it also infers that the DHS has not put proper inter-agency data security safeguards in place.
The hearing was less Big Brother then sloppy-kid-down-the-block... only with a big fat government contract. When numerous Committee members, including Long, questioned Chavez about the existence of similar social media monitoring projects at other government agencies, Chavez said he didn't know of any. Meanwhile, the Associated Press--in a major story--reported on Monday about the FBI putting out a contract for an almost identical project. As a mid-ranking official responsible for analysis operations, it is assumed that Chavez would have a vested interest in knowing what other government agencies were up to in the same field.
At other times, neither Chavez nor Callahan could answer to the Committee's satisfaction why a contractor was hired for the job nor why the federal government was misled on the duration of General Dynamics' social media monitoring contract.
According to testimony, a second, classified, Committee meeting on the subject of DHS social media monitoring was held on February 15 as well.
Monday 5 March 2012
Professors lining up to ignore the obvious
There was a lecture tonight at the London School of Economics
by a Prof. Azariadis who is of Greek origin but has seemingly
spent his whole career in the US, where he's the
holy-jesus-that's-a-long-title Professor Hosanna at Washington
University, which is in .. you guessed it, St. Louis.
[a lot of lecturers coming out of Greece lately, as yet none
of them have seen fit to try to run the country]
His style was a bit flippant, jumping from point to point
about Greece's foibles, of which there are many, but offering
little in the way of proof for stuff that nobody's ever heard of.
I'm guessing that he's an Economics lecturer, otherwise he's got
no right to profess to anything about Greece. However, he didn't
have much in the way of economic charts or anything.
I'll post a link to the podcast when it comes available, so that
you can see for yourself what a circus performer this guy was.
I'll get to more details once I find my notes, but he rightly said that
Greece is a socialist nightmare. However, his solution, outright,
overnight switching to capitalism is a bit odd for a few reasons:
1 We're all in the middle of a banking crisis, and countries are
being picked off, one by one.
2 The Euro could very well collapse before Greece is forced out
3 Did I mention the banks are out of control?
4 All manufacturing is in China now, anyway
5 that leaves Greece with Cabana Boy capitalism.
6 the workers are suffering the effects of capitalism
7 while the rich are getting government-sponsored socialism
He's right that Greece's ruling class is evil. However,
his solutions regarding public service corruption
were like "send him to internal exile"
which is just plain stupid behaviour,
for a guy with the comic timing of ....
an economist.
His solution is summed up under the heading of
by a Prof. Azariadis who is of Greek origin but has seemingly
spent his whole career in the US, where he's the
holy-jesus-that's-a-long-title Professor Hosanna at Washington
University, which is in .. you guessed it, St. Louis.
[a lot of lecturers coming out of Greece lately, as yet none
of them have seen fit to try to run the country]
His style was a bit flippant, jumping from point to point
about Greece's foibles, of which there are many, but offering
little in the way of proof for stuff that nobody's ever heard of.
I'm guessing that he's an Economics lecturer, otherwise he's got
no right to profess to anything about Greece. However, he didn't
have much in the way of economic charts or anything.
I'll post a link to the podcast when it comes available, so that
you can see for yourself what a circus performer this guy was.
I'll get to more details once I find my notes, but he rightly said that
Greece is a socialist nightmare. However, his solution, outright,
overnight switching to capitalism is a bit odd for a few reasons:
1 We're all in the middle of a banking crisis, and countries are
being picked off, one by one.
2 The Euro could very well collapse before Greece is forced out
3 Did I mention the banks are out of control?
4 All manufacturing is in China now, anyway
5 that leaves Greece with Cabana Boy capitalism.
6 the workers are suffering the effects of capitalism
7 while the rich are getting government-sponsored socialism
He's right that Greece's ruling class is evil. However,
his solutions regarding public service corruption
were like "send him to internal exile"
which is just plain stupid behaviour,
for a guy with the comic timing of ....
an economist.
His solution is summed up under the heading of
"Waiting for a miracle".
He thinks that Greece's transportation should be sold off
and kept up by the private sector.
The private sector is already collecting tolls on
the major southern highway,
and you've got Greeks breaking through the barricades.
Although he didn't push the big red button,
which is selling off public assets.
He did mention leasing land for 99 years, which I'm not so sure
about. If he had sell 'sell them off' then I would have known that he
was a neo-liberal.
If he has any knowledge of the Chicago school
neo-libs then he knows that such sell-offs are the thing of the
IMF/US rape of little countries, that is now being played out
in the first world thanks to the broad racism propagated against Greece.
It's the same racism that the Nazis used before they started exterminating
a particular race. Here, the Greeks will just be economically bombed
back into the middle ages.
I don't even know if the IMF/US demanded minimum wage cutbacks, but Greece
has already suffered that. How do you like that capitalist wake-up call?
more later
Sunday 4 March 2012
the bottomless English pit just got bigger
Do you know that it's probably easier to throw public money at
a bank when it is owned by the public.
I'll bet we don't know about 70% of the money that is being
given to bankers for their worthless derivative paper.
and we never will.
However, it's strange how some of the banks don't seem to be
getting better, but instead are posting greater losses. I think
they're just writing off some of the bad paper, but not all of it.
If we knew the true size of it, there would be a lot of
'splaining to do. So , the shut up. Omerta.
The first neo-liberal who speaks up and says the government
should not meddle in the banking system will be the one whose
bank should be wound down and shut. If you got banks, 3 years
on that still can't make a go of it, that means they oughta
pull down their shades for good.
IshitUnot:
Lloyds plunges to £3.5bn loss for 2011
• Shares in Lloyds Banking Group biggest faller in FTSE 100
• Former executives could be in line for £2.2m shares
• Taxpayer sitting on £10bn loss on its 41% stake
• Bonus pool down 30% at £375m
• Average bonus for workforce stands at £3,900
* Comments (531)
Jill Treanor
* guardian.co.uk, Friday 24 February 2012 18.30 GMT
Antonio Horta-Osorio - Lloyds
Lloyds chief executive António Horta-Osório is cutting 15,000 jobs, on top of the 30,000 already axed. Photograph: Reuters
Four former executives of Lloyds Banking Group who last week had part of their bonuses clawed back as a result of an insurance mis-selling scandal may now be in line to receive shares worth £2.2m for completing the takeover of the troubled HBOS bank.
Former chief executive Eric Daniels, former head of retail Helen Weir, former insurance boss Archie Kane, and Truett Tate, former corporate banking head, could have shares that were awarded to them three years ago released in April.
Earlier this week all four had bonuses "clawed back" after the bank took a £3.2bn provision to cover compensation payments for mis-selling payment protection insurance. That provision plunged the bank to a £3.5bn loss for 2011.
With the three year integration of HBOS complete, after the loss 28,000 jobs and £3.2bn of integration costs, the chairman, Sir Win Bischoff, admitted that "with the benefit of hindsight now, obviously it [the merger] has not been as good an idea as people thought at the time - and that includes all the shareholders who voted in favour of it".
a bank when it is owned by the public.
I'll bet we don't know about 70% of the money that is being
given to bankers for their worthless derivative paper.
and we never will.
However, it's strange how some of the banks don't seem to be
getting better, but instead are posting greater losses. I think
they're just writing off some of the bad paper, but not all of it.
If we knew the true size of it, there would be a lot of
'splaining to do. So , the shut up. Omerta.
The first neo-liberal who speaks up and says the government
should not meddle in the banking system will be the one whose
bank should be wound down and shut. If you got banks, 3 years
on that still can't make a go of it, that means they oughta
pull down their shades for good.
IshitUnot:
Lloyds plunges to £3.5bn loss for 2011
• Shares in Lloyds Banking Group biggest faller in FTSE 100
• Former executives could be in line for £2.2m shares
• Taxpayer sitting on £10bn loss on its 41% stake
• Bonus pool down 30% at £375m
• Average bonus for workforce stands at £3,900
* Comments (531)
Jill Treanor
* guardian.co.uk, Friday 24 February 2012 18.30 GMT
Antonio Horta-Osorio - Lloyds
Lloyds chief executive António Horta-Osório is cutting 15,000 jobs, on top of the 30,000 already axed. Photograph: Reuters
Four former executives of Lloyds Banking Group who last week had part of their bonuses clawed back as a result of an insurance mis-selling scandal may now be in line to receive shares worth £2.2m for completing the takeover of the troubled HBOS bank.
Former chief executive Eric Daniels, former head of retail Helen Weir, former insurance boss Archie Kane, and Truett Tate, former corporate banking head, could have shares that were awarded to them three years ago released in April.
Earlier this week all four had bonuses "clawed back" after the bank took a £3.2bn provision to cover compensation payments for mis-selling payment protection insurance. That provision plunged the bank to a £3.5bn loss for 2011.
With the three year integration of HBOS complete, after the loss 28,000 jobs and £3.2bn of integration costs, the chairman, Sir Win Bischoff, admitted that "with the benefit of hindsight now, obviously it [the merger] has not been as good an idea as people thought at the time - and that includes all the shareholders who voted in favour of it".
Good schooling pays off
Greeks have decided, for now, not to go for armed revolution.
They've just increased the degree of, frequency or and economic
effect of the tax evasion that Greeks are so well-known for.
one group is Oxidiodia- "no tolls"
another is Den plirono- "I won't pay"
They've just increased the degree of, frequency or and economic
effect of the tax evasion that Greeks are so well-known for.
one group is Oxidiodia- "no tolls"
another is Den plirono- "I won't pay"
Economic repression is so popular these days
I love it when rich politicians see how badly their
even richer friends are f^&*king around on the stock
market, and turn around, without laughing,
and say
"well. we're out of money then.
Let's skin some poor people."
[Higgins is the name, from Ireland]
even richer friends are f^&*king around on the stock
market, and turn around, without laughing,
and say
"well. we're out of money then.
Let's skin some poor people."
One politician, and there may be another, somewhere, stood up
and said out loud what the rest of us KNOW.
Neo liberal bullsh*t, like cutting minimum wages, is what got us here.
I didn't even know that they pulled this trick in Ireland, because
they just pulled it in Greece. And worst of all, they also know that
not even their neo-liberal economists think that pay should be cut.
watch and learn
watch and learn
Let's cut to the video:
[Higgins is the name, from Ireland]
Thursday 1 March 2012
why are British republicans so stoopid?
They don't think the Queen (Lizzie) should be
part of the government of the UK. Fine and dandy.
But, they pick the most ridiculous times to pop their heads
out of their closets.
They pick the stupidest fights, and the most idiotic times.
Point of fact: They don't like the documentary about the Queen on
the 60th anus horribilus of her rule. And so they complain, pubically.
You're on a winner, there, boys.
You've provided free humour for even the biggest
sour-puss old lady in the land.
My guess is if you did a study, showing people the article below, the
majority would answer:
"//chuckle// idiots. are we done, here?"
They should have done a comedy sketch making fun of Andrew Lloyd
Webber, Gary Barlow and Bryan Adams, all arse-kissers extra-ordinaires,
because they're helping with the 'music and such' of the documentary.
Anyway, if they had any brains, and a passing sense of history, they've got
a really good chance at seriously derailing the hereditary aspect of the
royal family, with the eventual enthronementof the tampon with
ears, Charles.
Firstly, the last king to be beheaded was Charles I in the 17th c.,
at the hands of the puritans.
I think the world needs a puritan revolution considering all the corruption
in politics, media and banking, but I'll leave that for another entry
(indeed, that was the puritan call to arms, then.).
Now that I've sorted republican strategy for the next number of years,
I expect to be made the official court blogger in the new republic.
On an aside, I'm so happy that all the daily papers on Blighty are using
Kate Middleton as a craven idol, in much the same way that her
MiL was, before they all killed her, that is (the media, and royal family).
They show off her every dress, and where she bought it. Now I've
observed women taking their style hints from her, and they do.
Chicks are so shallow, sometimes. Any excuse to go shopping.
Advice to Kate: get those neck lines low, around the belly-button.
Not for you. You're all prairie. it's just so other gals can, you know,
give us a little mountain view. thanx
part of the government of the UK. Fine and dandy.
But, they pick the most ridiculous times to pop their heads
out of their closets.
They pick the stupidest fights, and the most idiotic times.
Point of fact: They don't like the documentary about the Queen on
the 60th anus horribilus of her rule. And so they complain, pubically.
You're on a winner, there, boys.
You've provided free humour for even the biggest
sour-puss old lady in the land.
My guess is if you did a study, showing people the article below, the
majority would answer:
"//chuckle// idiots. are we done, here?"
They should have done a comedy sketch making fun of Andrew Lloyd
Webber, Gary Barlow and Bryan Adams, all arse-kissers extra-ordinaires,
because they're helping with the 'music and such' of the documentary.
Anyway, if they had any brains, and a passing sense of history, they've got
a really good chance at seriously derailing the hereditary aspect of the
royal family, with the eventual enthronement
ears, Charles.
Firstly, the last king to be beheaded was Charles I in the 17th c.,
at the hands of the puritans.
I think the world needs a puritan revolution considering all the corruption
in politics, media and banking, but I'll leave that for another entry
(indeed, that was the puritan call to arms, then.).
Now that I've sorted republican strategy for the next number of years,
I expect to be made the official court blogger in the new republic.
On an aside, I'm so happy that all the daily papers on Blighty are using
Kate Middleton as a craven idol, in much the same way that her
MiL was, before they all killed her, that is (the media, and royal family).
They show off her every dress, and where she bought it. Now I've
observed women taking their style hints from her, and they do.
Chicks are so shallow, sometimes. Any excuse to go shopping.
Advice to Kate: get those neck lines low, around the belly-button.
Not for you. You're all prairie. it's just so other gals can, you know,
give us a little mountain view. thanx
[This is the one I saw on page 1 of the Telegraph]
She can carry off even this 1940s tablecloth.
Hot pins, till Tuesday, is the reason, I say.
And I hear her sister, Pippa, not wishing to step on the toes of big sis,
is making the most of it in another market, by baring all
in lad mags, like Nuts and Tosser.
IshitUnot: 2 stories republicans & Charles' 'popularity'
Guardian
BBC's jubilee documentary 'one-sided', says republican pressure group
Corporation accused of 'promoting the monarchy' with show featuring Gary Barlow and Andrew Lloyd Webber
Ben Dowell
* guardian.co.uk, Friday 24 February 2012 18.57 GMT
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Gary Barlow
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Gary Barlow will co-write a song for the BBC1 documentary.
The BBC has been accused by a leading republican pressure group of planning to make a Gary Barlow documentary marking the Queen's diamond jubilee an "entirely one-sided celebration" of the monarchy.
The pressure group Republic said the emails from a researcher working on the programme, in which the Take That star will join forces with the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber to write a special song to celebrate the jubilee, prove that the BBC is "not interested in hearing any dissent around the event" and is merely interested in "promoting the monarchy".
BBC1 is to broadcast the documentary, which will feature the search for a song to be performed at the diamond jubilee concert outside Buckingham Palace on 4 June.
Barlow will travel the world finding out "what the Queen means to the people of the Commonwealth", according to the BBC, and will also meet Princes Charles and his sons, William and Harry.
The singer Bryan Adams is also understood to be contributing and is expected to be working on the backing music for the song.
In the leaked emails a researcher for the production company Fulwell 73 said that while the programme-makers would be "happy to expose the fact that Australia would like to be republic, it is only that we are not interested in hearing a personal bad word against the Queen".
In the emails – between the researcher and a pro-republican blogger in Australia, and seen by MediaGuardian – the researcher continues: "Of course she herself and everyone around the issue is aware of the fact that not everyone want their Queen as head of State, and this is not a documentary about politics, it is more to celebrate her reign.
"If you do know any royalists who you have written about, or even someone who is for a republic (but is willing to talk about the Queen herself positively) then we would be very interested in either."
Graham Smith, the chief executive of Republic, which has 20,000 online supporters, has seized on the emails as proof of the BBC's wish to promote the monarchy and said it proved that the corporation "should not be making the programme".
Smith said the emails proved the BBC was keen to "censor" any anti-monarchy sentiment, adding: "One could argue that a musical celebration of the Queen will obviously not include much negative comment, but the fact that it cannot demonstrates that the BBC should not be making this kind of programme in the first place.
"The BBC should be reporting on the jubilee – we don't have a problem with that. But these emails prove that they are not being impartial. They are taking part and celebrating it which they shouldn't be doing."
2 Telegraph
Prince William should succeed the Queen: poll
More than half of people in the UK believe Prince William should become the next monarch, a poll has found.
And one in three wants the Queen to abdicate within the next two years, according to the study.
The poll detected signs of a ''fairytale effect'', with Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding now less than three weeks away.
The Panelbase survey of almost 2,000 adults - conducted for the Sunday Times between Tuesday and Thursday - found that 59 per cent of people favour dispensing with tradition to see William, rather than the Prince of Wales, ascend the throne.
The remaining 41 per cent said they wanted Prince Charles to become king.
Notably, Prince William recorded strong support among young women, with 78 per cent of those in the 18-34 category saying they wanted the young Royal to succeed Queen Elizabeth.
Some 42 per cent of young men and 39 per cent of young women believe she should abdicate.
In a separate survey, support for Prince William assuming the throne was even higher among people in Scotland, at 61 per cent, with 39 per cent wanting Prince Charles to become the next king.
Panelbase managing director Ivor Knox said: ''There are some signs of a fairytale effect, with over three quarters of young women wanting the young newly-weds to be the next king and queen.
''Perhaps more surprisingly, support for Charles is only marginally above 50 per cent even among the over 55s, though this age group is also most opposed to an early abdication, with nearly 80 per cent of them wanting the Queen to stay on the throne.''
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