(updated below - Update II - Update III - Update IV)

Cass Sunstein has long been one of Barack Obama's closest confidants. Often mentioned as a likely Obama nominee to the Supreme Court, Sunstein is currently Obama's head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs where, among other things, he is responsible for "overseeing policies relating to privacy, information quality, and statistical programs." In 2008, while at Harvard Law School, Sunstein co-wrote a truly pernicious paper proposing that the U.S. Government employ teams of covert agents and pseudo-"independent" advocates to "cognitively infiltrate" online groups and websites -- as well as other activist groups -- which advocate views that Sunstein deems "false conspiracy theories" about the Government. This would be designed to increase citizens' faith in government officials and undermine the credibility of conspiracists. The paper's abstract can be read, and the full paper downloaded, here.

Sunstein advocates that the Government's stealth infiltration should be accomplished by sending covert agents into "chat rooms, online social networks, or even real-space groups." He also proposes that the Government make secret payments to so-called "independent" credible voices to bolster the Government's messaging (on the ground that those who don't believe government sources will be more inclined to listen to those who appear independent while secretly acting on behalf of the Government). This program would target those advocating false "conspiracy theories," which they define to mean: "an attempt to explain an event or practice by reference to the machinations of powerful people, who have also managed to conceal their role." Sunstein's 2008 paper was flagged by this blogger, and then amplified in an excellent report by Raw Story's Daniel Tencer.

In a 2008 academic paper, President Barack Obama's appointee to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs advocated "cognitive infiltration" of groups that advocate "conspiracy theories" like the ones surrounding 9/11.

Cass Sunstein, a Harvard law professor, co-wrote an academic article entitled "Conspiracy Theories: Causes and Cures," in which he argued that the government should stealthily infiltrate groups that pose alternative theories on historical events via "chat rooms, online social networks, or even real-space groups and attempt to undermine" those groups.

As head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Sunstein is in charge of "overseeing policies relating to privacy, information quality, and statistical programs," according to the White House Web site.

Sunstein's article, published in the Journal of Political Philosphy in 2008 and recently uncovered by blogger Marc Estrin, states that "our primary claim is that conspiracy theories typically stem not from irrationality or mental illness of any kind but from a 'crippled epistemology,' in the form of a sharply limited number of (relevant) informational sources."

By "crippled epistemology" Sunstein means that people who believe in conspiracy theories have a limited number of sources of information that they trust. Therefore, Sunstein argued in the article, it would not work to simply refute the conspiracy theories in public -- the very sources that conspiracy theorists believe would have to be infiltrated.

Sunstein, whose article focuses largely on the 9/11 conspiracy theories, suggests that the government "enlist nongovernmental officials in the effort to rebut the theories. It might ensure that credible independent experts offer the rebuttal, rather than government officials themselves. There is a tradeoff between credibility and control, however. The price of credibility is that government cannot be seen to control the independent experts."

Download a PDF of the article here.

by Chris McGreal in Washington
19 January 2010
guardian.co.uk

The US justice department is preparing a report which concludes that the FBI repeatedly broke the law by invoking terrorism emergencies that did not exist to obtain more than 2,000 telephone call records over four years from 2002, including those of journalists on US newspapers, according to emails obtained by the Washington Post.

The bureau also issued authorisations for the seizure of records after the fact, in order to justify unwarranted seizures.

The Washington Post said the emails show how counter-terrorism ­officials inside FBI headquarters breached regulations designed to protect civil liberties.

http://www.treasoninamericaconference.com/

March 6 & 7, 2010
Valley Forge Convention Center
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania

What:
The Conference . . .

A two-day non-partisan truth conference with speakers, movies & music discussing what's really going on in our country. From 9/11, the "wars on terror" and the private, not public, Federal Reserve to the undermining of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights via Patriot Acts 1 & 2 . . . Connecting the dots between different events that go unreported (or under-reported), as a whole, in our mainstream media. Come learn what many do not know, but what many are waking up to. Knowledge is power.

Joshua Blakeney
January 15th, 2009
OurOwnCBC.info

In an epoch characterized by international criminality and malfeasance perpetrated with impunity by those in the highest echelons of society it is imperative that there exists an objective and uncensored media cooperative to scrutinize such state-sponsored lawlessness.

The mainstream media throughout the world has become infiltrated and compromised by those who have a vested interest in a global war without end. The failure of the media, both public and private, to critically analyze the actions of the global elite and their bought-and-paid-for political spokespersons has compelled ordinary citizens to innovate, organize and attempt to combat this state-sponsored war on truth.

The Citizens' Broadcasting Cooperative represents one front in this global struggle against the psychological war being waged by elites and their political representatives against humanity. We at the Citizens' Broadcasting Cooperative suspect that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and its twin, the British Broadcasting Centre (BBC), are being prepared for privatization which we believe is tantamount to theft from those tax payers and global citizens who have funded, sustained and benefitted from public broadcasting historically. The Citizens' Broadcasting Cooperative while having no affiliation with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation does identify with the ground beneath its feet, namely the citizens of Canada for whom the Crown Corporation was founded.

New revelations about the failed Christmas Day attack on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 continue to emerge as does evidence of a systematic cover-up.

With the White House in crisis mode since the attempted bombing, President Obama met for two hours January 5 with top security and intelligence officials. Obama said that secret state agencies "had sufficient information to uncover the terror plot ... but that intelligence officials had 'failed to connect those dots'," The New York Times reports.

The latest iteration of the "dot theory" floated by the President, aided and abetted by a compliant media, claims "this was not a failure to collect intelligence" but rather, "a failure to integrate and understand the intelligence that we already had."

"Mr. Obama's stark assessment that the government failed to properly analyze and integrate intelligence served as a sharp rebuke of the country's intelligence agencies," declared the Times uncritically.

While the President's remarks may have offered a "sharp [rhetorical] rebuke," Obama's statement suggests that no one will be held accountable. Indeed, the President "was standing by his top national security advisers, including those whose agencies failed to communicate with one another."

While the President may be "standing by" his national security advisers, the question is, are the denizens of America's secret state standing by him? One well-connected Washington insider, MSNBC pundit Richard Wolffe, isn't so sure.

It feels like any other work day. You drove the same route to work. You ate the same breakfast. Around 11 a.m., you looked longingly out your window imaging yourself swinging in a hammock on a beach. Pretty routine.

But there’s something different about today – about the next four days, actually. Turns out, this is no ordinary week. The FCC has invited your feedback before they rule on Net Neutrality, but the window for commenting is closing on January 14.

You have until Thursday at midnight to tell the Federal Communications Commission how you feel about the Internet. The comments you file with them will help shape the future of the Internet for generations to come. Our responsibility to protect it is a mighty one. ...

Losing the Internet as We Know It
How much have you already used the Internet today?

We don't think twice about how much we rely on the Internet. Imagine not being able to map directions on Google or check the weather online. A business that doesn't have a Web site? Forgettable. Or rather, unsearchable. Remember when we didn't have e-mail? Would you want to go back to those Dark Ages? Me neither.

The Internet is in the very fabric of how we communicate, learn, shop, conduct business, organize, innovate and engage. If we lost it, we'd be lost. ...

BBC Conspiracy Files: Osama Bin Laden Dead or Alive Complete in Six Parts on Youtube
Posted January 12, 2010

Sunday, January 10 2010   -   9/11 A/V Galleries

Maddow shreds Giuliani for 'forgetting about 9/11'

By Stephen C. Webster
Saturday, January 9th, 2010
RawStory.com

Is Rudolph Giuliani's political career over?

The former mayor of New York City has been making his rounds in U.S. media this week, trying to explain away his false claim that there were no domestic terrorist attacks on the United States during the Bush administration.

For a man often mocked as "the mayor of 9/11," that's an awfully bold suggestion, and one that could spell the end of his relevance in U.S. politics, according to MSNBC host Rachel Maddow.

"The whole reason anybody ever thought of Rudy Giuliani as a potential national figure for the Republican party is because of his supposed expertise," Maddow said during a Friday broadcast. "The supposed expertise he had with terrorism and national security because he had been the mayor of New York City when it was attacked on September 11."

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