Category Archives: Profiteering

Why the U.S. could lose the next big war – and what that means for Canada | CBC News A Set up to give military-industrial complex even more trillions of tax dollars

An alarming new analysis of the United States’ ability to fight and win a war with China or Russia rocked Washington last week – and it’s rattling the experts in Ottawa as well.

Source: Why the U.S. could lose the next big war – and what that means for Canada | CBC News

‘No Morals’: Advertisers React to Facebook Report – The New York Times

The revelations may be “the straw that breaks the camel’s back,” said Rishad Tobaccowala, chief growth officer for the Publicis Groupe, one of the world’s biggest ad companies. “Now we know Facebook will do whatever it takes to make money. They have absolutely no morals.” Marketers have grumbled about Facebook in the past, concerned that advertisements could appear next to misinformation and hate speech on the platform. They have complained about how the company handles consumer data and how it measures ads and its user base. But those issues were not enough to outweigh the lure of Facebook’s vast audience and the company’s insistence that it was trying to address its flaws.

Trump, stung by midterms and nervous about Mueller, retreats from traditional presidential duties – Los Angeles Times – aka: Missing Inaction.

President Trump, brooding over midterm losses and the Mueller probe, has cancelled a number of events that presidents normally attend, including a visit to Arlington National Cemetery. Behind the scenes, he has lashed out at aides, from low level press assistants to senior officials.

Source: Trump, stung by midterms and nervous about Mueller, retreats from traditional presidential duties – Los Angeles Times

Woolsey fire explodes to 70,000 acres overnight; 2 deaths reported amid fight to save hillside communities – Los Angeles Times – cut throat politics in the midst of tragedy

Trump approved a state-of-emergency declaration but on Saturday once again attacked California, claiming erroneously that poor forest management policies caused the fires, even though the Woolsey fire didn’t occur in a forest. “There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!” Trump wrote. Trump has threatened to cut off funding over fire policy before, but has never been specific. California officials have rejected his criticism and said he’s playing politics. Environmentalists believe Trump is trying to use fire prevention as an excuse to raid California’s forests. They contend he is making a move to open ecologically sensitive public land for timber production, as well as for potential solar, wind, broadband infrastructure, mining, off-road vehicles and grazing uses.

Source: Woolsey fire explodes to 70,000 acres overnight; 2 deaths reported amid fight to save hillside communities – Los Angeles Times

‘Phenomenally saddening’: inside the sordid world of America’s for-profit colleges | Film | The Guardian – Sadly, there are “not-for-profit” tv advertised colleges taking up the fleecing of low-income marginalized young people now.

The new documentary Fail State, executive produced by Dan Rather, tells the 50-year tale of profit-driven colleges scamming society’s most vulnerable

Source: ‘Phenomenally saddening’: inside the sordid world of America’s for-profit colleges | Film | The Guardian

F.D.A. Approves Powerful New Opioid Despite Warnings of Likely Abuse – The New York Times Correct bribes paid – more will die and drug company will get rich!

An F.D.A. spokeswoman said that while the issue was not brought formally in front of the drug safety committee, “there were drug safety and risk experts on the committee whose expert input was taken very seriously throughout this process.”

Here’s How Much Bots Drive Conversation During News Events | WIRED

Late last week, about 60 percent of the conversation was driven by likely bots. Over the weekend, even as the conversation about the caravan was overshadowed by more recent tragedies, bots were still driving nearly 40 percent of the caravan conversation on Twitter. That’s according to an assessment by Robhat Labs, a startup founded by two UC Berkeley students that builds tools to detect bots online. The team’s first product, a Chrome extension called BotCheck.me, allows users to see which accounts in their Twitter timelines are most likely bots. Now it’s launching a new tool aimed at news organizations called FactCheck.me, which allows journalists to see how much bot activity there is across an entire topic or hashtag.

Source: Here’s How Much Bots Drive Conversation During News Events | WIRED

bellingcat – The Unintelligent Design of SureFire Intelligence – bellingcat – in short a fraud…

When searching for the various employees who list their employment as SureFire Intelligence, nearly all of them use stolen profile photographs. In particular, many of these photographs use the sepia-toned filter that was likely used to disrupt reverse image search algorithms. Their “Tel Aviv Station Chief” uses a photograph of Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli.

Source: bellingcat – The Unintelligent Design of SureFire Intelligence – bellingcat