Archive for the 'Perception Management' Category
SEC Charges Ex-Fannie, Freddie CEOs with Fraud
December 17th, 2011Ya think? Via: AP: Two former CEOs at mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Friday became the highest-profile individuals to be charged in connection with the 2008 financial crisis. In a lawsuit filed in New York, the Securities and Exchange Commission brought civil fraud charges against six former executives at the two firms, […]
Multimillion Dollar Crowdturfing Industry Growing Exponentially
December 13th, 2011Incredibly, laughably, this piece doesn’t mention things like the U.S. Military’s desire to develop persona management software or Team Themis (HBGary Federal, Palantir and Berico): After having spent several months studying those emails and otherwise investigating the industry depicted therein, I have revealed my summary of a classified US intelligence programme known as Romas/COIN, as […]
Internet Piracy Bill: A Free Speech ‘Kill Switch’
December 12th, 2011Via: The Hill: What began as an attempt to restrain foreign piracy on the Internet has morphed into a domestic “kill switch” on First Amendment freedom in the fastest-growing corner of the marketplace of ideas. Proposed federal legislation purporting to protect online intellectual property would also impose sweeping new government mandates on internet service providers […]
Australian Journalist Wins Prestigious Award for Exposing Flu Vaccine Scandal
December 8th, 2011Via: The Refusers: Natasha Bita, a journalist for The Australian has just won a Walkley Award (the Australian equivalent of a Pulitzer Prize) for an in-depth article series on the CSL Afluria flu vaccine, a shot that caused convulsions in one percent of Australian infants who received it. To put this vaccine scandal in perspective, […]
ATF Wanted to Use “Fast and Furious” to Justify More Gun Control Legislation
December 8th, 2011This is absolutely incredible. Via: CBS: Documents obtained by CBS News show that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) discussed using their covert operation “Fast and Furious” to argue for controversial new rules about gun sales. In Fast and Furious, ATF secretly encouraged gun dealers to sell to suspected traffickers for Mexican […]
Harvard Group Takes Complexity Out of Video Face Replacement
December 6th, 2011Via: PhysOrg: The tool claims to be able to replace faces using only single-camera video with minimal user input. The software can render a ten-second video in about twenty minutes. The software is promoted as a system that can be used by amateur and budget-wary film makers. Kevin Dale, part of the school’s Graphics, Vision […]
Paulson Gave Hedge Fund Managers Inside Information
November 30th, 2011Mmm hmm. Via: Bloomberg: On the morning of July 21, before the Eton Park meeting, Paulson had spoken to New York Times reporters and editors, according to his Treasury Department schedule. A Times article the next day said the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency were inspecting Fannie and Freddie’s […]
U.S. JUDGE ORDERS HUNDREDS OF SITES “DE-INDEXED” FROM GOOGLE, FACEBOOK
November 30th, 2011Via: Ars Technica: After a series of one-sided hearings, luxury goods maker Chanel has won recent court orders against hundreds of websites trafficking in counterfeit luxury goods. A federal judge in Nevada has agreed that Chanel can seize the domain names in question and transfer them all to US-based registrar GoDaddy. The judge also ordered […]
Feds Want to Digitize Records
November 30th, 2011Transparency? Oh sure. Alternative explanation: It would be nice to be able to disappear documents down the memory hole as easily as it is to print money. Via: Computer World: President Obama this week gave government agencies four months to come up with a plan to improve records management by moving to electronic records management […]
U.S. Settles Suit Over Anthrax Attacks
November 30th, 2011Via: New York Times: The federal government has agreed to pay $2.5 million to the widow and children of the first person killed in the anthrax letter attacks of 2001, settling a lawsuit claiming that the Army did not adequately secure its supply of the deadly pathogen. The settlement with the family of Robert Stevens, […]
