Obama orders Behavioral experiments on U.S. Citizens

In what should chill the marrow of our bones, this latest Executive order should have the GOP Presidential candidates rocking on their feet. Where are the headlines? Where is the Media, the GOP? Anyone out there? Am I the only one in this echo chamber? Good ole Cass Sunstein is getting his earlier wishes. (Married to Samantha Power of the Arab Spring fame.)

President Obama announced a new executive order on Tuesday which authorizes federal agencies to conduct behavioral experiments on U.S. citizens in order to advance government initiatives.

“A growing body of evidence demonstrates that behavioral science insights — research findings from fields such as behavioral economics and psychology about how people make decisions and act on them — can be used to design government policies to better serve the American people,” reads the executive order, released on Tuesday.

The initiative draws on research from University of Chicago economist Richard Thaler and Harvard law school professor Cass Sunstein, who was also dubbed Obama’s regulatory czar. The two behavioral scientists argued in their 2008 book “Nudge” that government policies can be designed in a way that “nudges” citizens towards certain behaviors and choices.

The desired choices almost always advance the goals of the federal government, though they are often couched as ways to cut overall program spending.
Read more: Daily Caller

Earlier post: Cass Sunstein behind monitoring of websites

Just prior to his appointment as President Obama’s so-called regulatory czar, Cass Sunstein wrote alengthy academic paper suggesting the government should “infiltrate” social network websites, chat rooms and message boards.

In a rare public appearance, The Obama Administration’s Information Czar Cass Sunstein gave a lecture at the NYU Law School in NYC yesterday, prompting Luke Rudkowski of WeAreChange to attend. Watch as Luke confronts Sunstein multiple times on an academic paper he co-authored back in 2008 entitled “Conspiracy Theories” in which he called for cognitive infiltration of conspiracy groups by the government.

You can download the paper for free here: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1084585

SALON article that appears in video: http://www.salon.com/2010/01/15/sunst…

*UPDATE* Infowars Article on Confrontation: http://www.infowars.com/obama-informa…

Government mining social media on health behavior

There never was an Internet Site that the regime didn’t want to spy on. Do we really have that much money to throw around? But my hunch this is simply an effort to get their foot in the door in refining spying techniques. There is always a plan for what they do. They do nothing just for the heck of it. Yes, every totalitarian state requires information on it subjects and trumps freedoms. “Change agents” yes indeed. Infiltrate is the next step. Recall this previous post?

Cass Sunstein behind monitoring of websites

Just prior to his appointment as President Obama’s so-called regulatory czar, Cass Sunstein wrote a lengthy academic paper suggesting the government should “infiltrate” social network websites, chat rooms and message boards.

Such “cognitive infiltration,” Sunstein argued, should be used to enforce a U.S. government ban on “conspiracy theorizing.”

Among the beliefs Sunstein classified as a “conspiracy theory” is advocating that the theory of global warming is a deliberate fraud.

While the DHS may be monitoring websites for security reasons, Sunstein advocated such actions with another goal in mind.

Sunstein’s official title is administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

Here we go with today’s news:

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is “mining” Facebook and Twitter to improve its social media footprint and to assess how Tweets can be used as “change-agents” for health behaviors.

“The National Library of Medicine is the world’s largest biomedical library and makes its stored information available online at no charge to consumers, health professionals, and biomedical scientists through a diverse suite of resources,” the agency said in a contract posted on Oct. 23. “Evaluating how its databases and other resources are utilized is an important component of continuing quality improvement and has long been an on-going program of NLM management through a potpourri of monitoring tools.”

“The world-wide explosion in the use of social media provides a unique opportunity for sampling sentiment and use patterns of NLM’s ‘customers’ and for comparing NLM to other sources of health-related information,” the agency said.

“By examining relevant tweets and other comments,” the contract said, “NLM will gain insights to extent of use, context for which information was sought, and effects of various health-related announcements and events on usage patterns.”

Specifically, NLM will look at the “value of tweets and other messages as teaching tools and change-agents for health-relevant behavior.”

“The overarching objective of these studies is to obtain a richer understanding of how consumers, clinicians, researchers actually look for the health-related information they seek, and what they do with what they find,” NLM said in a response to frequently asked questions about the project.

“The OhMyGov Media Monitoring and Policy Analysis system is the first and only business intelligence software completely politically focused,” according to the company’s website. “It provides real-time data mining, analysis, and visual analytics to uncover patterns in message uptake and critical insights into how issues are being characterized by Congress as well as the media, public, and key stakeholders.”

More at Free Beacon

NSA stores metadata on millions of Americans for one year

Let’s not let this story get away from us. The IRS scandal pales in comparison to this one.  First an update that indeed every keystroke that every single American makes, the NSA is keeping track. Cass Sunstein and Richard Clarke have their long evil fingers in this. And the best part:

“This tool offers the ability to export the data in a variety of formats, as well as create various charts to assist in pattern-of-life development.” ED: In other words,looking at any of those annoying Tea Party folks, gun clingers, or the vast right-wing conspiracy types will be a nice start.

Via Guardian:

The National Security Agency is storing the online metadata of millions of internet users for up to a year, regardless of whether or not they are persons of interest to the agency, top-secret documents reveal.

Metadata provides a record of almost anything a user does online, from browsing history – such as map searches and websites visited – to account details, email activity, and even some account passwords. This can be used to build a detailed picture of an individual’s life.

The Obama administration has repeatedly stated that the NSA keeps only the content of messages and communications of people it is intentionally targeting – but internal documents reveal the agency retains vast amounts of metadata.

An introductory guide to digital network intelligence for NSA field agents, included in documents disclosed by former contractor Edward Snowden, describes the agency’s metadata repository, codenamed Marina. Any computer metadata picked up by NSA collection systems is routed to the Marina database, the guide explains. Phone metadata is sent to a separate system.

“The Marina metadata application tracks a user’s browser experience, gathers contact information/content and develops summaries of target,” the analysts’ guide explains. “This tool offers the ability to export the data in a variety of formats, as well as create various charts to assist in pattern-of-life development.”

The guide goes on to explain Marina’s unique capability: “Of the more distinguishing features, Marina has the ability to look back on the last 365 days’ worth of DNI metadata seen by the Sigint collection system, regardless whether or not it was tasked for collection.”

Keep reading

Earlier posts for more on the “review panel” Obama packs NSA review panel with cronies and James Clapper and his NSA ‘task force’ review panel Part two

The President called for the creation of an “independent” task force with “outside experts” to make sure “there absolutely is no abuse in terms of how these surveillance technologies are used.” Less than two days later, the White House followed up with a press release announcing the task force would be led by Gen. Clapper and would also report to him.

What’s even worse: the task force was not tasked with looking at any abuse. It was told to focus on how to “protect our national security and advance our foreign policy.” And just this week, ABC News reported the task force will be full of thorough Washington insiders—not “outside experts.”

For instance, one (Richard Clarke) has advocated the Department of Homeland Security be allowed to scan all Internet traffic going in and out of the US.

And another, while a noted legal scholar on regulatory issues, has written a paper (Cass Sunstein) about government campaigns to infiltrate online groups and activists. In one good act, the White House selected Peter Swire to be on the task force. Swire is a professor at Georgia Tech and has served as the White House’s first ever Chief Privacy Officer. Recently, he signed an amicus brief in a case against the NSA spying by the Electronic Privacy Information Center arguing that the NSA’s telephony metadata program is illegal under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act. Despite this, and at the end of a day, a task force led by General Clapper full of insiders—and not directed to look at the extensive abuse—will never get at the bottom of the unconstitutional spying.

Full story over at EFF and why this whole thing is a sham.

The  Video below: Clapper To Oversee The NSA Surveillance Review?

I mean REALLY? Oh wow. Let’s have the director of the National Security, to oversee the ‘outside experts’ overseeing the NSA, you are right, can’t make this stuff up!

James Clapper and his NSA ‘task force’ review panel Part two

As promised yesterday, a follow up to the fine fellows who along with Cass Sunstein have been charged by Obama as an “Independent” task force to oversee our NSA. Richard Clarke should be considered equally an anathema to liberty.

The Clapper Investigation: Overseen by a Man Accused of Lying to Congress

The second investigation was announced by President Obama in a Friday afternoon news conference. The President called for the creation of an “independent” task force with “outside experts” to make sure “there absolutely is no abuse in terms of how these surveillance technologies are used.” Less than two days later, the White House followed up with a press release announcing the task force would be led by Gen. Clapper and would also report to him.

What’s even worse: the task force was not tasked with looking at any abuse. It was told to focus on how to “protect our national security and advance our foreign policy.” And just this week, ABC News reported the task force will be full of thorough Washington insiders—not “outside experts.”

For instance, one (Richard Clarke) has advocated the Department of Homeland Security be allowed to scan all Internet traffic going in and out of the US.

And another, while a noted legal scholar on regulatory issues, has written a paper (Cass Sunstein) about government campaigns to infiltrate online groups and activists. In one good act, the White House selected Peter Swire to be on the task force. Swire is a professor at Georgia Tech and has served as the White House’s first ever Chief Privacy Officer. Recently, he signed an amicus brief in a case against the NSA spying by the Electronic Privacy Information Center arguing that the NSA’s telephony metadata program is illegal under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act. Despite this, and at the end of a day, a task force led by General Clapper full of insiders—and not directed to look at the extensive abuse—will never get at the bottom of the unconstitutional spying.

Full story over at EFF and why this whole thing is a sham.

Richard Clarke:

Under Customs authority, the Department of Homeland Security could inspect what enters and exits the United States in cyberspace. Customs already looks online for child pornography crossing our virtual borders. And under the Intelligence Act, the president could issue a finding that would authorize agencies to scan Internet traffic outside the United States and seize sensitive files stolen from within our borders.

And this does not have to endanger citizens’ privacy rights. Indeed, Mr. Obama could build in protections like appointing an empowered privacy advocate who could stop abuses or any activity that went beyond halting the theft of important files.

If Congress will not act to protect America’s companies from Chinese cyberthreats, President Obama must.

Cass Sunstein: See yesterday’s post: Obama packs NSA review panel with cronies

 Cass Sunstein wrote a lengthy academic papersuggesting the government should “infiltrate” social network websites, chat rooms and message boards.

Such “cognitive infiltration,” Sunstein argued, should be used to enforce a U.S. government ban on “conspiracy theorizing.”

Among the beliefs Sunstein classified as a “conspiracy theory” is advocating that the theory of global warming is a deliberate fraud.

While the DHS may be monitoring websites for security reasons, Sunstein advocated such actions with another goal in mind.

Sunstein’s official title is administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

As WND was first to report, in a 2008 Harvard law paper, “Conspiracy Theories,” Sunstein and co-author Adrian Vermeule, a Harvard law professor, ask, “What can government do about conspiracy theories?”

Obama packs NSA review panel with cronies

What possibly could go wrong? No doubt the same as with the so-called “IRS” review panel. Cass Sunstein for one? Samantha Power’s hubby no doubt will want to be the voice of freedom. The story first headliner, then the back story.

Via WaPo:

ABC reports that the Obama administration’s surveillance review panel will include former intelligence and White House staffers, including Michael Morell, Richard Clarke, Cass Sunstein and Peter Swire. An official announcement of the members of the panel is expected soon

But let us back up for just one second. Recall this post on dear Cass? I will stick first with just this fine fellow. Tomorrow, more on the rest.

Cass Sunstein behind monitoring of websites

Just prior to his appointment as President Obama’s so-called regulatory czar, Cass Sunstein wrote a lengthy academic papersuggesting the government should “infiltrate” social network websites, chat rooms and message boards.

Such “cognitive infiltration,” Sunstein argued, should be used to enforce a U.S. government ban on “conspiracy theorizing.”

Among the beliefs Sunstein classified as a “conspiracy theory” is advocating that the theory of global warming is a deliberate fraud.

While the DHS may be monitoring websites for security reasons, Sunstein advocated such actions with another goal in mind.

Sunstein’s official title is administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

As WND was first to report, in a 2008 Harvard law paper, “Conspiracy Theories,” Sunstein and co-author Adrian Vermeule, a Harvard law professor, ask, “What can government do about conspiracy theories?”

“We can readily imagine a series of possible responses. (1) Government might ban conspiracy theorizing. (2) Government might impose some kind of tax, financial or otherwise, on those who disseminate such theories.”

Continued Sunstein: “We suggest a distinctive tactic for breaking up the hard core of extremists who supply conspiracy theories: cognitive infiltration of extremist groups, whereby government agents or their allies (acting either virtually or in real space, and either openly or anonymously) will undermine the crippled epistemology of believers by planting doubts about the theories and stylized facts that circulate within such groups, thereby introducing beneficial cognitive diversity.”

Now back to the regularly scheduled dis-information from the Washington Post.

Via WaPo:

ABC reports …

The review panel was first announced in a White House press conference on Aug. 9, when Obama said the administration would form “a high-level group of outside experts to review our entire intelligence and communications technologies.”

Privacy advocates aren’t happy with the composition of the group revealed so far. Some privacy groups believe that the White House will insist on all members having top secret clearances, effectively barring most independent privacy watchdogs from consideration for the panel.

Amie Stepanovich, director of the domestic surveillance project at the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) found the choices reported by ABC troubling:

An independent evaluation of the NSA’s surveillance programs is needed. But a worthwhile review requires an independent team of evaluators. We continue to learn how each of the oversight mechanisms that the Administration has pointed to have continuously failed. The background of this panel indicates that it, too, is unlikely to be meaningful or effective.

Keep reading…

Soviet born Boris Bershteyn, Cass Sunstein’s replacement a sleeper cell

Recall my post Cass Sunstein replaced by Soros’s Soviet born Boris Bershteyn? He never got brought forward for a Senate confirmation hearing as required apparently. Or so we thought. But Obama seems to have managed a round about way of letting him slip by without one. First a bit of the back story, then the update. Just where are our GOPers on this? His position more powerful than the EPA. This sure will put energy on a fast track now won’t it?

Boris Bershteyn, the budget office’s general counsel, will replace Sunstein as acting director. Bershteyn is a natural choice. He was born in the Soviet Union, earned his law degree at Yale, and was selected as a 2001 “fellow” by the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. Paul Soros is the elder brother of the notorious globalist and darling of the financial class, George Soros.

Boris Bershteyn

Between his tours at OMB, he served as Special Assistant to the President and Associate White House Counsel, with responsibility for legal issues in regulatory, economic, health, and environmental policy.ACUS Gov

 The new Administrator of OIRA will have powerful influence on any proposed energy and environmental policies, in addition to proposals or new regulations in any other sector. The OIRA has already exercised plenty of revisions to Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency proposals involving issues such as coal mining, fracking, energy exports and renewable energy sources. The Administration’s proposed new regulations involving air quality, emissions controls on power plants, and regulations addressing climate change increase pressure on Obama to choose a new administrator as these issues need to be addressed quickly

President Obama is now under pressure to appoint a new administrator at the OIRA. The position of OIRA administrator has been unfilled since August, when Cass Sunstein stepped down after serving for three years. A lawyer named Boris Bershteyn has been serving as Acting Administrator in the interim, but there is a time limit on how long the position can remain vacant. Bershteyn is approaching his limit of 210 days as acting Administrator, and Obama must soon appoint someone to the position permanently. The appointment also needs to be approved by the Senate. Because Bershteyn’s 210 days will be up sometime next week and no successor has been named, the White House may simply remove his “Acting Administrator” title.

.More at The energy collective

Cass Sunstein replaced by Soros’s Soviet born Boris Bershteyn

As we bid adieu to Cass Sunstein, perhaps one of the most dangerous people Obama installed in his administration, I wondered who could be as malevolent as he. When I heard the name Boris Bershteyn, I thought now that sounds like an American name. But of course, another radical that Soros’s brother supported. So the march continues. Not much out there on him, but enough.

Boris Bershteyn, the budget office’s general counsel, will replace Sunstein as acting director. Bershteyn is a natural choice. He was born in the Soviet Union, earned his law degree at Yale, and was selected as a 2001 “fellow” by the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. Paul Soros is the elder brother of the notorious globalist and darling of the financial class, George Soros.

Boris Bershteyn

Between his tours at OMB, he served as Special Assistant to the President and Associate White House Counsel, with responsibility for legal issues in regulatory, economic, health, and environmental policy.ACUS Gov

Here is a bit of a reminder of this Cass Sunstein and his intentions:

Quote:

A legislative effort to regulate broadcasting in the interest of democratic principles should not be seen as an abridgment of the free speech guarantee. –Cass R. Sunstein, Democracy and the Problem of Free Speech, The Free Press, 1995, p. 92

Cass Sunstein behind monitoring of websites

Just prior to his appointment as President Obama’s so-called regulatory czar, Cass Sunstein wrote a lengthy academic paper suggesting the government should “infiltrate” social network websites, chat rooms and message boards.

Such “cognitive infiltration,” Sunstein argued, should be used to enforce a U.S. government ban on “conspiracy theorizing.”

Among the beliefs Sunstein classified as a “conspiracy theory” is advocating that the theory of global warming is a deliberate fraud.

While the DHS may be monitoring websites for security reasons, Sunstein advocated such actions with another goal in mind.

Sunstein’s official title is administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

As WND was first to report, in a 2008 Harvard law paper, “Conspiracy Theories,” Sunstein and co-author Adrian Vermeule, a Harvard law professor, ask, “What can government do about conspiracy theories?”

“We can readily imagine a series of possible responses. (1) Government might ban conspiracy theorizing. (2) Government might impose some kind of tax, financial or otherwise, on those who disseminate such theories.”

Czar Cass Sunstein has memory lapse – Video

Regulatory Czar Cass Sunstein says “I hope I didn’t write it”. Sure. So we have a citizen journalist who takes on Cass. Exactly what our press should be doing, but what the heck. They don’t care about what is becoming of our nation.

Just prior to his appointment as President Obama’s so-called regulatory czar, Cass Sunstein wrote a lengthy academic paper suggesting the government should “infiltrate” social network websites, chat rooms and message boards.

Such “cognitive infiltration,” Sunstein argued, should be used to enforce a U.S. government ban on “conspiracy theorizing.”

Among the beliefs Sunstein classified as a “conspiracy theory” is advocating that the theory of global warming is a deliberate fraud.

While the DHS may be monitoring websites for security reasons, Sunstein advocated such actions with another goal in mind.

Sunstein’s official title is administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

 in a 2008 Harvard law paper, “Conspiracy Theories,” Sunstein and co-author Adrian Vermeule, a Harvard law professor, ask, “What can government do about conspiracy theories?”

“We can readily imagine a series of possible responses. (1) Government might ban conspiracy theorizing. (2) Government might impose some kind of tax, financial or otherwise, on those who disseminate such theories.”

In the 30-page paper  Sunstein argues the best government response to “conspiracy theories” is “cognitive infiltration of extremist groups.”

Continued Sunstein: “We suggest a distinctive tactic for breaking up the hard core of extremists who supply conspiracy theories: cognitive infiltration of extremist groups, whereby government agents or their allies (acting either virtually or in real space, and either openly or anonymously) will undermine the crippled epistemology of believers by planting doubts about the theories and stylized facts that circulate within such groups, thereby introducing beneficial cognitive diversity.” 

 

From my earlier post: Cass Sunstein behind the monitoring of websites

Cass Sunstein on Bell and ending white supremacy UPDATE

I know I am no doubt beating a horse that we already believe is true, still when these glimpses into the past are presented to us, I believe it merits repeating. Most of us know about the Bell  kerfuffle. Bell was one of Obama’s pals apparently. Here is a bit of more insight.Cass Sunstein is one of the most despicable characters in the WH.

UPDATE  Breitbart 

Bell, via Kagan, on Critical Race

Theory: The Constitution Is the Problem

: In November 1985, the Harvard Law Review published an article by Derrick Bell that was a “classic” in the development of Critical Race Theory. The article was edited by then-student Elena Kagan, and was cited by Prof. Charles Ogletree in support of her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Barack Obama in 2010. The article makes clear that Critical Race Theory sees the U.S. Constitution as a form of “original sin”–a view later embraced by Obama as a state legislator, and reflected in his actions and appointments.  Full story over at UPDATE  Breitbart

Charles Ogletree not only was a black panther. He is also the lawyer of Henry Louis Gates, who’s racism caused the beer summit. Ogletree’s daughter Rashida was recently hired into Holder’s Justice Department as a lawyer. Ogletree is still a militant leftist and is still called on by the Obamas for advice. H/T: Pat Dollard

President Barack Obama put in a brief appearance Saturday at the home of his friend and one-time teacher, Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree, as he continued his Martha’s Vineyard vacation.Obama and his Vineyard friends- Ogletree and Comcast

We have from Adriennne’s corner So who is Professor Bell and why does Obama love him? with the Obama video as well as  Soledad O’Brien Joel Pollak clash over critical race theory with vid for the back story.

This from the Ministry of Propaganda – Recall

Quote:

A legislative effort to regulate broadcasting in the interest of democratic principles should not be seen as an abridgment of the free speech guarantee. –Cass R. Sunstein, Democracy and the Problem of Free Speech, The Free Press, 1995, p. 92

Now:

Cass Sunstein: Derrick Bell Wanted To End America’s White Supremacy

In his view, Brown (desegregation case) has been not merely a disappointment but a grotesque failure. Bell connects that failure to a more general claim about “interest convergence.” America makes progress toward racial equality, he thinks, only when such progress is in the interest of whites.

Cass Sunstein is the Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Obama administration.

In a 2004 item in The New Yorker we find this. 

Did Brown Matter?

On the fiftieth anniversary of the fabled desegregation case, not everyone is celebrating.

By Cass R. Sunstein MAY 3, 2004

Both Bell and Ogletree argue forcefully that Brown should be understood to require not color blindness but an end to white supremacy and the subordination of African-Americans. H/T: Riehlworldview

Cass Sunstein, Supreme Ginsburg and the S. African Constitution

Why the South African Constitution is better than the U.S. goes on to describe the good news.  I have been scouting around in order to find out what Supreme Ginsburg had in mind for us as well as Egypt. What do you know, Cass Sunstein’s name crops up. Does anyone, can anyone not understand where we are headed with Obama? Here we go. A portion of the above link, then Sunstein.

Cass Sunstein said that the South African Constitution is “the most admirable constitution in the history of the world.” It contains a lengthy list of socio-economic rights, which the drafters hoped would protect and assist those disadvantaged by Apartheid and those who are poor and vulnerable. The relatively new South African Constitutional Court has required the government to implement these rights. Conversely, the United States Supreme Court has been unwilling to find socio-economic rights in the United States Constitution, in part because of separation of powers concerns.

This paper is divided into three parts. The first part describes some of the distinctive features of the South African Constitution, and compares these features with the United States Constitution. Part two discusses the South African socio-economic rights cases. Finally, part three critically examines American constitutional jurisprudence on socio-economic rights. This paper seeks to demonstrate that the South African Court has accomplished quite a feat: it has made clear that socio-economic rights are enforceable, but has interpreted economic rights in a way that limits separation of powers concerns. Moreover, this paper asserts that the United States Supreme Court should reconsider its separation of powers objections in light of these South African decisions Paper at above link.

Social and Economic Rights? Lessons from South Africa

Link below:

 –

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=269657#

Cass R. Sunstein

Harvard Law School

May 2001

U of Chicago, Public Law Working Paper No. 12; U Chicago Law & Economics, Olin Working Paper No. 124 

 

Abstract:     
Do social and economic rights belong in a democratic constitution? Skeptics have wondered whether it is possible to constitutionalize such rights without imposing an untenable managerial responsibility on courts. In an extraordinary decision, the Constitutional Court of South Africa has provided a new approach to social and economic rights, one that respects the fact of limited resources while also requiring governmental attention to basic needs. This new approach might be called an administrative law model of constitutional rights. It contains considerable promise, because it recognize rights to reasonable programs, rather than to protection of each individual, a path that might well be beyond governmental capacities.

Why the South African Constitution is better than the U.S. goes on to describe the good news.