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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=3>Interesting !</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>I wonder why the attention and concern from the ruling
class ?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Usually they just ignore critics ( either right or wrong
), that is until they are a " threat " in some way to their ; info (
propoganda ) management, power, priviledge, etc..</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>David J.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=tanstl@aol.com href="mailto:tanstl@aol.com">David Sladky</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=undisclosed-recipients:
href="mailto:undisclosed-recipients:">undisclosed-recipients:</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Friday, January 15, 2010 3:03 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Fwd: Obama staffer wants ‘cognitive infiltration’ of 9/11
conspiracy groups</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=arial color=black size=2><BR><BR>
<DIV style="CLEAR: both"></DIV><BR><BR>
<DIV
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: helvetica,arial">-----Original
Message-----<BR>From: David Sladky <<A
href="mailto:tanstl@att.net">tanstl@att.net</A>><BR>To: undisclosed
recipients: ;<BR>Sent: Fri, Jan 15, 2010 2:07 pm<BR>Subject: Obama staffer wants
‘cognitive infiltration’ of 9/11 conspiracy groups<BR><BR>
<DIV id=AOLMsgPart_2_35c1d955-ace6-45a3-8774-0270a4e2867d>
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<H2><A name=post-168391></A>Obama staffer wants ‘cognitive infiltration’
of 9/11 conspiracy groups</H2>
<DIV
style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: medium none; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none">By
<A href="http://rawstory.com/2009/author/danielt/" target=_blank>Daniel
Tencer</A><BR>Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 -- 10:48 pm
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://rawstory.com/2010/01/obama-staffer-infiltration-911-groups/"
target=_blank>http://rawstory.com/2010/01/obama-staffer-infiltration-911-groups/</A></DIV>
<DIV><A name=post-16839></A>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.</DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV>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," <A
href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/regulatory_affairs/default/"
target=_blank>according to</A> the White House Web site.</DIV>
<DIV>Sunstein's article, published in the <EM>Journal of Political
Philosphy</EM> in 2008 and <A
href="http://theragblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/got-fascism-obama-advisor-promotes.html"
target=_blank>recently uncovered</A> 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."</DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV><BR><BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR><BR></DIV>
<DIV>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."</DIV>
<DIV>Download a PDF of the article <A
href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1084585"
target=_blank>here</A>.</DIV>
<DIV>Sunstein argued that "government might undertake (legal) tactics for
breaking up the tight cognitive clusters of extremist theories." He
suggested that "government agents (and their allies) might enter chat
rooms, online social networks, or even real-space groups and attempt to
undermine percolating conspiracy theories by raising doubts about their
factual premises, causal logic or implications for political
action."</DIV>
<DIV>"We expect such tactics from undercover cops, or FBI," <A
href="http://theragblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/got-fascism-obama-advisor-promotes.html"
target=_blank>Estrin writes</A> at the Rag Blog, expressing surprise that
"a high-level presidential advisor" would support such a strategy.</DIV>
<DIV>Estrin notes that Sunstein advocates in his article for the
infiltration of "extremist" groups so that it undermines the groups'
confidence to the extent that "new recruits will be suspect and
participants in the group’s virtual networks will doubt each other’s bona
fides."</DIV>
<DIV>Sunstein has been the target of numerous "conspiracy theories"
himself, mostly from the right wing political echo chamber, with
conservative talking heads claiming he favors enacting "<A
href="http://mediamatters.org/research/201001110052" target=_blank>a
second Bill of Rights</A>" that would <A href="http://stopsunstein.com/"
target=_blank>do away</A> with the Second Amendment. Sunstein's recent
book, <EM>On Rumors: How Falsehoods Spread, Why We Believe Them, What Can
Be Done</EM>, was criticized by some on the right as "a blueprint for
online censorship."</DIV>
<DIV>Sunstein "wants to hold blogs and web hosting services accountable
for the remarks of commenters on websites while altering libel laws to
make it easier to sue for spreading 'rumors,'" <A
href="http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/07/cass_sunsteins_despicable_idea.html"
target=_blank>wrote Ed Lasky</A> at <EM>American
Thinker</EM>.</DIV></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV><!-- end of AOLMsgPart_2_35c1d955-ace6-45a3-8774-0270a4e2867d --></DIV></FONT><br />--
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