S'All BLAH and no HA!

CIA Invests in Software Firm Monitoring Blogs, Twitter
according to Wired reporter Noah Shachtman. He says, "America’s spy agencies want to read your blog posts, keep track of your Twitter updates—even check out your book reviews on Amazon."

Is that all they want to do? Just monitor what's going on in the US blogoshpere?

Notice:

"... But, you know, the way Visible works is it kind of grabs all the blogs and all the tweets out there, then it sorts for certain key words, it sorts for a sentiment about whether things are positive or negative, and then it also sorts based on which bloggers and which tweeters are really important or not. And you can sort of see over time how a conversation develops. Technology then allows companies or the government to respond directly within a blog or within a Facebook page to those people. So, who knows? The commenter—the next commenter on your blog might be the CIA."

They want to get directly involved with their propaganda and disinformation. So, when that "Anonymous" person posts crap to your blog...

Or, comes along behind and takes issue with you...

It could be the CIA! Or maybe it's just S'All Blah and no Ha trying to confuse your poor sorry overworked, stressed and simple-minded efforts to figure out what the real geniuses are trying to say.

Just look for this picture and you'll see a good example what we're talking about. You'll see a true genius at work!

Some people think that posting comments and asking questions that stimulates thinking or exposes an obvious hypocritical lie is tantamount to beating their children or coming-on to their spouse. Some take an abrupt exception. This stuff these people post is way to slick and sophisticated to fall into that trap. The good lookin' gal on the left isn't the only one that's got everyone fooled either. There's some slick guys out here that will make your head ache too. That's why they've all got to be CIA.

All kidding aside, the real story here is not that they, our Government, is monitoring what we are all saying about ourselves, but that they are investing millions of dollars into schools, universities, businesses, local and state governments and agencies. Some of this is done all on the Q.T. -- some not. One way or another, the government just slips in and takes over. They eliminate competition, compromise integrity and reward corruption.  If you don't play ball you get the boot.

--Joe

"Ice" By Any Other Name

First, our beneficent government finds reasons to own specialized commercially viable business property, for example the fish processing facility that Pacific Choice Seafood Co. leases. A great 22 year relationship so they say. Sounds good! A nice symbiotic relationship.

Going back to 2005 apparently Humboldt County Environmental Health moved against a local family owned business, Hunter Enterprises, they deemed unsafe for public health. You can read John Driscoll's Times-Standard newspaper 9/10/08 article "Eureka Ice on ice" here. The "Powers that Be" conveniently found:

"Concerns about a major release of ammonia have been raised by environmental health and the EPA, whose inspectors found ammonia leaking from a valve during an inspection on July 16. The deteriorated condition of parts of the 60-year-old waterfront building and the potential threat to firefighters prompted city building and fire officials to recently demand repairs."

A valve leaking, deteriorating condition of "parts" of the "waterfront" building and a "potentiall" threat to our heroic and fearless firefighters "prompted" building and fire officials to "demand". Consequently, the "Environmental health (Humboldt County Department of Public Health's Environmental Health Division) entered a consent decree which called for Eureka Ice to get rid of the approximately 2,500 pounds of anhydrous ammonia on site" the business was shutdown "to spare the company millions in fines".

Then we read Mr. Driscoll's 10/31/08 piece, Eureka Ice forges resurrection plan. The plan is to rebuild after the shutdown caused further damage to the building. There was a suggestion by Pete Nichols in a My Word for the Times-Standard dated 9/235/28, "Time for a fishermen-owned and operated cold storage facility."

In many a crisis lays opportunity, and I believe this is one opportunity that the fishing community should seize upon. There are existing models to bring cooperative cold storage to ailing fishing communities. Most of these ventures are not so fortunate as to have institutions in place that could provide financial support to 1) provide immediate relief for the current crisis; and 2) secure funds to implement the long-term vision of a modern, fishermen-run community cold-storage facility.
The Headwaters Fund was designed, and is uniquely situated, to accomplish both of these tasks. In the wake of funding the boondoggle of the Redwood Marine Terminal feasibility study and business plan, one would think that they would see the development of a cooperative cold storage facility as both a refreshing and realistic opportunity to fulfill the Headwaters Fund's mission.

It seems the City of Eureka has other plans for this business. For next we read Jessie Faulkner's 01/26/08 Times-Standard article, "Headwaters Fund on ice" where he reports, "In its application, the city of Eureka said it expected that Pacific Choice Seafoods would operate the plant under a contract with the city." Today, January 28, 2009, he reports, "Supes approve request for grant - Proposed ice plant gets much-needed Headwaters cash." Mr. Faulkner identifies Bonnie Neely and Mark Lovelace, Fourth and Second District Supervisors, supported this new ownership as did Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District commissioner Ronnie Pellegrini.

So, that's some of the history of this "business-as-usual" Humboldt County-style government takeover. What would you call this style of government? Socialism, Communism, Fascism, some form of bastardized Capitalism? Symbiotic collaboration for a "number of stakeholders" is called something else that's unprintable. Is this the future for business in Humboldt County?

--Joe