tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34849527084373189452024-03-19T04:16:09.463-04:00InfoSphere™ Business Alerts And IntelligenceDouglas Castlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00521679449074072919noreply@blogger.comBlogger70110tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484952708437318945.post-87354375736056274452014-04-07T15:40:00.000-04:002014-04-07T15:40:00.320-04:00<div style="text-align: left;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hello. If you’ve not yet joined “Colleagues Of Douglas E. Castle” on Sgrouples, you’re invited to do so by creating an account (ultra private inmail/email and Discussion Group, being run like a private club or community) at </span><a href="http://bit.ly/CODEC8" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://bit.ly/CODEC8</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. If you’ve already established your account, be certain to go to your Dashboard Page, go to “My Privacy Email” and click on (and choose) your “Notification Preferences”. Our group is a combination of the most secure email that you can access (check you inbox daily, or have your notifications forwarded to you) from member to member, combined with a Discussion Group [voluntary] which will have a completely practical focus: Members discussing specific business needs with other members. No theory. No selling or spam. Just requests and responses. It will be a great group -- I promise that much! Discussion posting guidelines will be posted within the next three days, so that we’re all of a similar mind. Thank you. - Douglas E. Castle</span></div>
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<a class="scoopit-button" href="http://www.scoop.it/" scit-position="none">Scoop.it</a><script src="http://www.scoop.it/button/scit.js" type="text/javascript"></script>Douglas Castlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00521679449074072919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484952708437318945.post-43060769988713872912013-08-30T23:27:00.002-04:002014-02-02T16:16:40.874-05:00Intelligence Versus Timeliness - How Much Information Is Required For Decisionmaking?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Intelligence Versus Timeliness - How Much Information Is Required For Decisionmaking? </b><br />
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In making management decisions the issue of intelligence versus timeliness is a central one. Some leaders believe in acting rapidly based upon less data and more instinct, while others, being more conservative, will hesitate to take precipitous action until they have collected what they consider to be "adequate" intelligence. In the first case, the action might be either tragically wrong or right on target. In the case of the second leader, by the time he or she has gathered what he or she regards as "adequate intelligence," the time for taking the proper action might have passed.<br />
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Although the article is titled <i> "Intelligence Versus Timeliness - How Much Information Is Needed For Decisionmaking?"</i>, the answer to the question "How much do we need to know before we act?" reflects more about a subjective personal command style than anything quantitative with a calculated solution. My thoughts follow:<br />
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Gathering and confirming the best intelligence requires time -- but for intelligence to be useful, it must be acted upon timely. Often, this balance requires the perceived importance of taking action with immediacy -- and in these cases, ironically, actions with vast consequences are often taken with less than adequate intelligence. The course of action chosen when time<i> appears</i> critical and action is taken based upon the equivalent of a coin toss will very often be more of a gamble than a calculated risk.<br />
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The trick is to utilize intelligence constantly and consistently so that a possible threat or potential opportunity can be predicted significantly in advance, and a probability assigned to it [as well as an actionable timeline], and the appropriate move taken at the optimal time.
Intelligence should be used first and foremost for its prediction power, instead of as a problem-solving tool to be used for damage control. As I have stressed repeatedly (although in different words)in <a href="http://theglobalfuturist.blogspot.com/">The Global Futurist Blog</a>, "<i>Use your prognostication tools to predict the time and likelihood of an asteroid's intrusion into Earth's atmosphere so that you will have the necessary time to gather further intelligence about how to either change the projectile's trajectory, or to blow it up before it actually makes entry into the atmosphere</i>."<br />
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Apply intelligence 1) predictively, and also 2) technically, i.e., for damage control as well as for the harvesting of rare and valuable opportunities.<br />
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- <a href="http://douglasecastleblog.com/" target="_blank">Douglas E. Castle</a><br />
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<a href="http://paper.li/DouglasECastle1/1371254635" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://images.cooltext.com/3162171.gif" title="Subscribe to this weekly newspaper.||| Disruptors are everywhere! Some are very sudden and their initial impact is immediately seen in the form of irrationality and displacements. Yet others are far more subtle, like the gradual change in the frequency or amplitude of a wave over time. In either event, these will most assuredly have consequences and playing The Global Futurist's game of "What If?" is utterly fascinating. It's about cause and effect...but perhaps more significantly, it's about intervention versus acceptance and the exercising of free will, versus the contributory indolence of the classic self-fulfilling prophesy. - Douglas E. Castle" /></a><br />
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Douglas Castlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00521679449074072919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484952708437318945.post-55805595360909332182013-08-01T21:03:00.004-04:002013-08-01T21:03:36.871-04:00For My Readers<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBwBI0gGnm-KhdbmkpvpzuHHo3qOjHTHfFS8TNDt-LhCXfXYh1hFhLiDtac2hNiMgrf_4Yjnj22_CSeZczjRiOV9GRdzmcdrg8fShLnR1Rio6jAQHb7eLpk6f779Uu4cjUj19HFOaFa3E/s1600/What's+In+Your+Wallet+-+Thought+So+-+Memes+-+Lingovations+-+Douglas+E.+Castle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBwBI0gGnm-KhdbmkpvpzuHHo3qOjHTHfFS8TNDt-LhCXfXYh1hFhLiDtac2hNiMgrf_4Yjnj22_CSeZczjRiOV9GRdzmcdrg8fShLnR1Rio6jAQHb7eLpk6f779Uu4cjUj19HFOaFa3E/s200/What's+In+Your+Wallet+-+Thought+So+-+Memes+-+Lingovations+-+Douglas+E.+Castle.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://douglasecastleblog.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm Not Jealous Of Alec Baldwin. I'm Just Jealous Of His HAIR.</span></a></td></tr>
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<br />
Friends, Colleagues, Clients, Readers And The Occasional Paper Clip Thief:<br />
<br />
I should be back to my usual pattern of obsessive blogging on too many subjects by August 8th, and I thank you so kindly for your patience while I'm rapidly on the mend.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, would you please do me a great kindness and <b>1</b>) visit my new blog at <a href="http://douglasecastleblog.com/" target="_blank">http://douglasecastleblog.com</a>, and then <b>2</b>) follow me (please...this only takes a quick moment) on my brand-new Twitter account at <a href="http://twitter.com/DECastleAdvisor" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/DECastleAdvisor</a>?<br />
<br />
Thank you, and I'm hoping that you've missed me.<br />
<br />
Until then, please be healthy, safe, of good spirits and prosperous -- or on your way to prosperity.<br />
<br />
Faithfully,<br />
<br />
Douglas<br />
<br />
LinkedIn: <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/douglascastle" target="_blank">http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/douglascastle</a><br />
<br />
p.s. Kindly look at the image below. When I've looked at it (in a darkened room) for more than a minute or two, I have found that simultaneous with my body relaxing, my mind starts to wander in a fascinating way. I recommend it. It's wonderful, easy meditation, and you don't need any dangerous drugs. Seemingly silly exercises like this one have made my "comeback" much quicker. You can click on the image to see it at its full size, which is considerably larger.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrbWajgFoUh08H9b1SEvr7G5T8jZCnoeKMyEDSzK2W4tcUU_JCcAZ0ErrkVj71Ek-5paOIY36QSA0NPyzgUnFOCJPmegSXSPcc6bgBm_uPW1z_l0qlOGtXS22DZ25CwxsWPa9JlKS_NHA/s1600/GRpHDNM.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrbWajgFoUh08H9b1SEvr7G5T8jZCnoeKMyEDSzK2W4tcUU_JCcAZ0ErrkVj71Ek-5paOIY36QSA0NPyzgUnFOCJPmegSXSPcc6bgBm_uPW1z_l0qlOGtXS22DZ25CwxsWPa9JlKS_NHA/s320/GRpHDNM.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
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The fascinating shape is actually an impossible recursive pattern wrapped around a doughnut-like shape called a toroid. Really. Look it up if you like.<br />
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<a href="http://paper.li/DouglasECastle1/1371616146" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghUMZqAD-Zf2zdmkwjOLjIMnBv7ZNf0N2m_MEuU4qS8IW3u0a4eF92rSeICWjNS0lg_vjH28u-cBac4KXa7iY2l6PT_a3y1NHx8WgqfXNaECoZhhUDYVnNDZkGc4FDwCG3jH9GsC2tKw/s1600/THE+UNDERCURRENT.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br /><br/><a href="http://www.scoop.it" class="scoopit-button" scit-position="none" >Scoop.it</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.scoop.it/button/scit.js"></script>Douglas Castlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00521679449074072919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484952708437318945.post-33736722567973785532013-07-31T20:19:00.001-04:002013-07-31T20:19:18.273-04:00Banks Discriminating Against Increasing Number Of Customers<br />
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Banks are discriminating against an ever-increasing group of prospective depositors.<br />
<br />
This excerpt from a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.newyorktimes.com/" rel="homepage" title="New York Times">New York Times</a> article sums it up nicely, but without too much detail:
<br />
<br />
The <i>NEW YORK TIMES </i>
July 31, 2013
<br />
<h6 id="yui_3_7_2_1_1375303468904_8355" style="color: #999999; font: 10px Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.andrewrosssorkin.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Andrew Ross Sorkin">DealBook</a></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1375303466_13">: </span><span style="color: black;"><u><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://p.nytimes.com/email/re?location=0dXGRy9agdjg/3PGxMox16Yl/srF+ohCuIrNxsdqwQd4xCQnvz/YrdIXNzsMXJ+688qbUP6O8ugBw3px5PDW3/SXDLZko8XsjKDd5sxpgIKHLx0ci8vN970gGW2crOxKu+gkfWYnNz/JYOj/zgBY7pZJo9VHsWrFhmSyfrCjGwZcM1h5lMvIeA==&campaign_id=124&instance_id=30924&segment_id=49003&user_id=44444a6db679928e2a177352f2d10e3f&regi_id=56228768" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1375303468904_8357" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1375303466_13">Over a Million Are Denied Bank Accounts for Past Errors</span></a></span></u> </span></h6>
<h6 id="yui_3_7_2_1_1375303468904_8355" style="color: #999999; font: 10px Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0;">
<span style="color: black;">By JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG</span> </h6>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1375303468904_8353" style="color: black; font-size: 12px; margin: 0 0 12px;">
Mistakes
like a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-sufficient_funds" rel="wikipedia" title="Non-sufficient funds">bounced check</a> or a small <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overdraft" rel="wikipedia" title="Overdraft">overdraft</a> have effectively blacklisted
many Americans from the financial system, leading to fees for paying
bills, cashing checks and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wire_transfer" rel="wikipedia" title="Wire transfer">wiring money</a>.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1375303468904_8353" style="color: black; font-size: 12px; margin: 0 0 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">--------------- </span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1375303468904_8353" style="color: black; font-size: 12px; margin: 0 0 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Some of the "offenses<span style="font-size: small;">"</span> which can make it very difficult for you to open a checking or <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_account" rel="wikipedia" title="Savings account">savings account</a> at a commercial b<span style="font-size: small;">ank</span> or a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_and_loan_association" rel="wikipedia" title="Savings and loan association">savings and loan association</a>: </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>1</b>) A bounced check during the past several years;</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>2</b>) <span style="font-size: small;">An outstanding u<span style="font-size: small;">npaid fee or penalty on <span style="font-size: small;">a <span style="font-size: small;"><a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_account" rel="wikipedia" title="Bank account">bank account</a> that was forgotten about or abandoned;</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>3</b>) A<span style="font-size: small;">n overdraft (whether or not you had uncleared funds adequate to cover the amount, and whether <span style="font-size: small;">or not the b<span style="font-size: small;">ank paid the check when it was presented);</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>4</b>) A check (in a significant amount) which you deposited in your account<span style="font-size: small;">, but <span style="font-size: small;">which bounced;</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>5</b>) A<span style="font-size: small;">n ongoing criminal or legal investigation of your finances or of your life;</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>6</b>) Outstanding judgments or liens (of any sort);</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>7</b>) Dealing extensively in cash transacti<span style="font-size: small;">ons;</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>8</b>) Wiring significant sums of money out of the country (<a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667%20(United%20States)&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="United States">USA</a>) in the past,<span style="font-size: small;"> or receiving wires from any number of foreign countries in any amounts;</span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>9</b>) </span></span>If you've had significant credit card problems relating to exceeding the limit, arguments about the return of merchandise, even significant discourse about your card being stolen or cases of identit<span style="font-size: small;">y theft and the fraudulent use of your card;</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>10</b>) If you've never had a bank account befo<span style="font-size: small;">re;</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>11</b>) If you have a particularly bad <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_history" rel="wikipedia" title="Credit history">credit history</a> (significant negative credit bureau reporting);</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>12</b>) If you are on a <span style="font-size: small;">"target list<span style="font-size: small;">" compiled with law en<span style="font-size: small;">forcement and the government at the federal level -- you may not be guilty of anything, and you probably don't know that you've be<span style="font-size: small;">en blacklisted.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A bank denial can sometimes be remedied by having an immaculate soul open the ac<span style="font-size: small;">count, and then having that person go to the bank with you and fill out the very simple paperwork adding you as a second signatory several weeks afterward. This is the easiest and best method of circumventing the system, although it works only most of the time -- not all of the time.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">In the interim, more and more Americans are being forced to pay incr<span style="font-size: small;">edibly high rates to use the services of check cashing bureaus, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.westernunion.com/" rel="homepage" title="Western Union">Western Union</a> and other transfer services, third-party wire ser<span style="font-size: small;">vices, and e<span style="font-size: small;">-commerce merchant payment services like PayPal. The expense associated with completing a large number of relatively small dollar amount transactions using these methods takes any user well above the usury statute ceilings.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Not only are banks largely unwilling to lend (except in the curious cases of car loans and large bank-to-bank loans), but they are literally squeezing out a great deal of the lower-income population from having any relationship with them at all. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">If you quality, try to find a good credit union, or have a<span style="font-size: small;">n angel friend (someone whom you really t<span style="font-size: small;">rust) open an account for you and bring you in after the account is established.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">This trend, and the expenses <span style="font-size: small;">borne by</span> the excluded population will continue to increase without oversight or regulation. And remember that banks neither <span style="font-size: small;">need nor want your business -- they would rather receive bailout<span style="font-size: small;">s from the U.S. government... these require far less work, and far less compassion.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Also read through <a href="http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/07/the-hidden-credit-report-than-shuts-people-out-of-the-banking-system.html" target="_blank"><i>THE HIDDEN REPORT THAT SHUTS PEOPLE OUT OF THE BANKING SYSTEM</i></a>. </span> </div>
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Douglas Castlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00521679449074072919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484952708437318945.post-36724979796568028112013-07-12T12:10:00.002-04:002013-07-12T12:10:18.227-04:00Tablet Growth Exceeding SmartPhone Growth!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq5dUlOrLCIoFb3qBWjk2VBEMS7rP3AUP3KCmhKO7B88pAwKFXy86yJPlNDAjuz9s0nLmgWj2-kh_43UDRHN7T0CZbm-BgZdc3pKKRPcTyvg6yhR3GSUNUdOiWOL6uzC2GH6lUrFLQBdQ/s1600/Business+Intelligence+Alerts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq5dUlOrLCIoFb3qBWjk2VBEMS7rP3AUP3KCmhKO7B88pAwKFXy86yJPlNDAjuz9s0nLmgWj2-kh_43UDRHN7T0CZbm-BgZdc3pKKRPcTyvg6yhR3GSUNUdOiWOL6uzC2GH6lUrFLQBdQ/s320/Business+Intelligence+Alerts.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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According to The <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.americanpressinstitute.org/" rel="homepage" title="American Press Institute">American Press Institute</a>, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tablet_computer" rel="wikipedia" title="Tablet computer">tablet</a> growth (including such techno-goodies as <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.google.com/chromebook/" rel="homepage" title="Chromebook">Chromebooks</a>) in terms of order deliveries, is beginning to overtake smartphone growth. An article follows, with my commentary following that:<br />
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<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373635017157_13651">
<b class="yiv7896093924subhead" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373635017157_13677" style="color: #999999; font-size: 12px; line-height: 30px; text-transform: uppercase;">OFF THE TOP</b><br />
<i id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373635017157_13681">You might have heard: </i><a href="http://echo4.bluehornet.com/ct/21884145:23351254074:m:1:2488780946:AA0713A70B3FFDE4EC5EBA2DBE872DB4:r" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373635017157_13650" rel="" style="color: #06799f;" target="_blank">Worldwide PC shipments are down; tablets areup</a> (<a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.voanews.com/" rel="homepage" title="Voice of America">Voice of America</a>)</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373635017157_13556">
<i>But did you know: </i><b id="yiv7896093924docs-internal-guid-6c149f1a-d2cb-3337-618a-390742bfdefa"><a href="http://echo4.bluehornet.com/ct/21884146:23351254074:m:1:2488780946:AA0713A70B3FFDE4EC5EBA2DBE872DB4:r" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373635017157_13648" rel="" style="color: #06799f;" target="_blank">Few tablet users are using cellular plans,perhaps as low as 1 in 20</a> </b>(<a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.niemanlab.org/" rel="homepage" title="Nieman Journalism Lab">Nieman Lab</a>)<b><br /> </b>Only
20 percent of tablets are sold with cellular chipsets, according to
data by Moffett Research, fewer are initially activated and analyst
Craig Moffett guesses half of those subscriptions are probably
discontinued at
some point. For media companies, that affirms the tablet strategy of
“shifting news and other offerings from the on-the-go model of the phone
to
something that lets readers lean-back or catch up,” writes Justin Ellis.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373635017157_13554">
+ <a href="http://echo4.bluehornet.com/ct/21884147:23351254074:m:1:2488780946:AA0713A70B3FFDE4EC5EBA2DBE872DB4:r" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1373635017157_13553" rel="" style="color: #06799f;" target="_blank">Google’s simple Chromebook also growing incheaper “laptop” sales</a> (9 to5 Google)</div>
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The likely reasons for this are physiological, ergonomic and cultural. More and more consumers of information want to be able to <b>1</b>) view their information (presumably news) in a manner that does not impose eyestrain and the resultant headaches, and <b>2</b>) sit still and be physically relaxed when they read articles or other information of substance and length.</div>
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This is not so much about communications and the virtual office concept as it is about reading for reference and leisure. </div>
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Those of us writing and reading <a href="http://infospherebusinessalerts.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The InfoSphere Business Alerts And Intelligence Blog</a> expect this trend to continue, for a while. Please read the related articles below for more information on this consumerism shift and its technological and economic implications in the near-term and in the longer-run.</div>
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Thank you for forwarding this article to your connections and colleagues via your <a href="http://madmarketingtactics.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">social media sharing tools!</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.douglasecastle.com/" target="_blank">Douglas E. Castle </a></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.getglobaledge.com/" target="_blank">Global Edge Technologies Group LLC </a></span></b></span></span><br />
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Douglas Castlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00521679449074072919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484952708437318945.post-74631664734919606312013-07-05T16:35:00.001-04:002013-07-05T17:09:26.752-04:00Greenmail Returns: Dell Versus Icahn<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoZl14BBC5Utzu3R5UYqAJuPl9b6cbJ_oqGp0j65jyuSJ7vd37SeTbAVkCMKsjxZtk2zAqSFW2e1RxbMfBFBzfX_x8re6QcWqm7tN7L9Z_iUn17e2_6eT84UjzOngXXFJSY9XtoVOnfDM/s1600/Blackmail,+Greenmail+And+Other+Forms+Of+Extortion+Where+Someone+Pays+To+Stop+Something+From+Being+Divulged+Or+Happening.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoZl14BBC5Utzu3R5UYqAJuPl9b6cbJ_oqGp0j65jyuSJ7vd37SeTbAVkCMKsjxZtk2zAqSFW2e1RxbMfBFBzfX_x8re6QcWqm7tN7L9Z_iUn17e2_6eT84UjzOngXXFJSY9XtoVOnfDM/s400/Blackmail,+Greenmail+And+Other+Forms+Of+Extortion+Where+Someone+Pays+To+Stop+Something+From+Being+Divulged+Or+Happening.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Let's review our notes about <i><a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenmail" rel="wikipedia" title="Greenmail">greenmail</a></i>, a subject that was very popular in the 70s and early 80s, and was used by <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Boesky" rel="wikipedia" title="Ivan Boesky">Ivan Boesky</a> , <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Icahn" rel="wikipedia" title="Carl Icahn">Carl Icahn</a> and others to make fortunes for themselves just by being persistent and bothersome. In the pending Dell shareholder buyout, Carl has brought us back to the adventurous days of greenmail, bullying and masterful negotiation strategies -- the type often described in <a href="http://takingcommand.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The Taking Command Blog</a>. <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenmail" rel="wikipedia" title="Greenmail">Greenmail</a> is a legal variant on blackmail. It's a wonderful way to make money without (arguably) contributing any value whatsoever. Let's consult with Wikipedia, BP's occasional partner<br />
---------------<br />
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"<b>Greenmail</b> or <b>greenmailing</b> is the practice of purchasing enough shares in a firm to threaten a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeover" title="Takeover">takeover</a>, thereby forcing the target firm to buy those shares back at a premium in order to suspend the takeover.<br />
The term is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neologism" title="Neologism">neologism</a> derived from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackmail" title="Blackmail">blackmail</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenback_%28money%29" title="Greenback (money)">greenback</a>
as commentators and journalists saw the practice of said corporate
raiders as attempts by well-financed individuals to blackmail a company
into handing over money by using the threat of a takeover.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_raid" title="Corporate raid">Corporate raids</a> aim to generate large amounts of money by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeover" title="Takeover">hostile takeovers</a> of large, often undervalued or inefficient (i.e. non-profit-maximizing) companies, by either <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset_stripping" title="Asset stripping">asset stripping</a>
and/or replacing management and employees. However, once having secured
a large share of a target company, instead of completing the hostile
takeover, the <b>greenmailer</b> offers to end the threat to the victim
company by selling his share back to it, but at a substantial premium to
the fair market stock price.<br />
<br />
From the viewpoint of the target, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ransom" title="Ransom">ransom</a> payment may be referred to as a <b>goodbye kiss</b>. The origin of the term as a business <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphor" title="Metaphor">metaphor</a>
is unclear. A company which agrees to buy back the bidder's
stockholding in the target avoids being taken over. In return, the
bidder agrees to abandon the takeover attempt and may sign a
confidential agreement with the greenmailee, guaranteeing not to resume
the maneuver for a period of time.<br />
<br />
While benefiting the predator, the company and its shareholders lose
money. Greenmail also perpetuates the company's existing management and
employees, which would have most certainly seen their ranks reduced or
eliminated had the hostile takeover successfully gone through.<br />
<br />
Greenmail proved lucrative for investors such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._Boone_Pickens" title="T. Boone Pickens">T. Boone Pickens</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Goldsmith" title="James Goldsmith">Sir James Goldsmith</a> during the 1980s. In the latter example, Goldsmith made $90 million from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodyear_Tire_and_Rubber_Company" title="Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company">Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company</a> in the 1980s in this manner. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occidental_Petroleum" title="Occidental Petroleum">Occidental Petroleum</a> paid greenmail to David Murdock in 1984.<br />
<br />
The St. Regis Paper Company provides an example of greenmail. When an
investor group led by Sir James Goldsmith acquired 8.6% stake in St.
Regis and expressed interest in taking over the paper concern, the
company agreed to repurchase the shares at a premium.<br />
<br />
Goldsmith's group
acquired the shares for an average price of $35.50 per share, a total of
$109 million. It sold its stake at $52 per share, netting a profit of
$51 million. Shortly after the payoff in March 1984, St. Regis became
the target of publisher <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/rupert-murdoch" rel="crunchbase" title="Rupert Murdoch">Rupert Murdoch</a>. St Regis turned to Champion
International and agreed to a $1.84 billion takeover. Murdoch tendered
his 5.6% stake in St. Regis to the Champion offer for a profit. (<u>Source</u>:
J. Fred Weston, Mark L.Mitchell J. Harold Mulherin -- <i><a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeover" rel="wikipedia" title="Takeover">Takeovers</a>,
Restructuring, and Corporate Governance</i>: page 529)"<br />
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</dl>
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Here's a fresh media example culled courtesy of <i><a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.smartbrief.com/index.jsp" rel="homepage" title="SmartBrief">SmartBrief</a></i> regarding the return of the greenmail tactic, Carl Icahn's weapon of choice. The results are usually <b>1</b>) a wopping profit for Carl, who is paid a huge premium over their market value for the private repurchase of his shares just to "get him out of the way,";<b> 2</b>) a management upheaval at the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_title" rel="wikipedia" title="Corporate title">C-Suite</a> and Director level within the targeted company (i.e., Dell), and <b>3</b>) the target company is purchased or taken over for an inflated price -- assuming that the deal isn't scuttled entirely.<br />
<br />
It is indeed a game of "liar's poker" which invariably plays to the benefit of the loudest, boldest stakeholder who gains the attention of all of the existing shareholders. Some would call it extortion:<br />
<br />
<span class="yiv5797776015story_headline" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372890278318_2953"><a href="http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/eAshCakwluCjjcmtCidmzpCicNdezv?format=standard" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372890278318_2952" rel="" style="color: #097abf; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 25px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Committee tells Dell to up his offer as shareholder vote looms</a></span>
<br />
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372890278318_2948" style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"><a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/michael-dell" rel="crunchbase" title="Michael Dell">Michael
Dell</a> needs to up the ante on his $24.4 billion proposal for the
struggling PC maker in light of Carl Icahn's latest announcement that
he's got $3 billion to fund an alternative buyout scenario. That's the
word from Dell's special committee evaluating potential takeover bid
proposals. "It's a game of chicken," a shareholder said. "Icahn's going
for the bump."</span><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372890278318_2950" style="color: #999999; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"> <a href="http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/eAshCakwluCjjcmtCidmzpCicNdezv?format=standard" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372890278318_2951" rel="" style="font-size: 14px;" target="_blank">The New York Times (tiered subscription model)/DealBook blog</a><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372890278318_2949" style="color: #999999;">
(7/2),</span></span><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372890278318_2984" style="color: #999999; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"> <a href="http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/eAshCakwluCjjcmuCidmzpCicNnCEu?format=standard" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372890278318_2985" rel="" style="font-size: 14px;" target="_blank">Reuters</a><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372890278318_2986" style="color: #999999;">
(7/3)</span></span><br />
<br />
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372890278318_2984" style="color: #999999; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372890278318_2986" style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Be assured of th<span style="font-size: small;">e<span style="font-size: small;">se<span style="font-size: small;"> things:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372890278318_2984" style="color: #999999; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372890278318_2986" style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">1) If Icahn actually does fi<span style="font-size: small;">nance a d<span style="font-size: small;">eal, the terms for the servicing and retirement of the debt component (i.e., most if not all of the deal) will be terminal for the Com<span style="font-size: small;">pany, and <span style="font-size: small;">for</span> its stakeholders, who<span style="font-size: small;"> will then be held hostage by predatory creditors;</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372890278318_2984" style="color: #999999; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372890278318_2986" style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">2) <span style="font-size: small;">If Icahn is bought out by Michael Dell in a typical short-run greenmail play, <span style="font-size: small;">Icahn will walk <span style="font-size: small;">away with a huge payday, and the stakeholders will be demanding <span style="font-size: small;">a higher price for their shares from Michael Dell, who will then appear as if he had deliberately low bid his offer on the <span style="font-size: small;">comp<span style="font-size: small;">any. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372890278318_2984" style="color: #999999; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372890278318_2986" style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Greenmail, or a hostile takeover with debt financing will prove very expensive for Michael Dell, and possibly the shareholders as well. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372890278318_2984" style="color: #999999; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372890278318_2986" style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">I believe with a number of outdated tech-oriented firms losing market share and revenues, we'll be seeing many more greenmail attacks, as well as attacks from hostile takeover artists. It would be great material for a game show...we could call it "<i>Dealing </i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>For Dinosaurs</i>."</span> I'm certain <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://theglobalfuturist.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">trend-</a><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://theglobalfuturist.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">spott</a><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://theglobalfuturist.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">ers and Futurists</a> would be very much in agreement with me on t<span style="font-size: small;">his<span style="font-size: small;"> much: <span style="font-size: small;">th<span style="font-size: small;">e economic environment in the united States is ripe for Greenmail and hostile takeovers.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372890278318_2984" style="color: #999999; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372890278318_2986" style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.douglasecastle.com/" target="_blank">Douglas E Castle</a> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372890278318_2984" style="color: #999999; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372890278318_2986" style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Please forward this article through your social media.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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Douglas Castlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00521679449074072919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484952708437318945.post-11752403638569690982013-06-13T17:30:00.000-04:002013-06-13T17:31:14.070-04:00 Dangerous Media Monopolies - Gannett Mainstream MegaCorp<br /><br/><br/>
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It is, in my view very dangerous to have one mainstream newspaper with wide readership and great influence over the mainstream population purchase another chain of newspapers, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_aggregator" rel="wikipedia" title="News aggregator">news aggregators</a>, or digests. It makes them larger and more powerful in terms of prevalence of influence and of promoting an agenda (if they have one), be it political or be it financial.<br />
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As we have all come to know, what we call "news" nowadays tends to be less about reporting facts, as it is about commentary regarding events, people and the like, with a strong slant in favor of the owners' (or the most financial influential advertisers) subjective point of view.<br />
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More newspapers and an increased geographical locus breeds more broadcasting of this subjective journalism -- in some cases, newspapers are so closely aligned with government interests, that certain matters remain unmentioned (treated as confidential or suppressed), while other diversionary trending stories (pop culture, the weather and the like) are used to replace them.<br />
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When newspaper chains become multimedia conglomerates, like <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/rupert-murdoch" rel="crunchbase" title="Rupert Murdoch">Rupert Murdoch's</a> <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.newscorp.com/" rel="homepage" title="News Corporation">News Corp</a>., or like <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.gannett.com/" rel="homepage" title="Gannett Company">Gannett</a>, which is acquiring more and more radio and television properties, this effect of news "skewing" is further enhanced by the addition of new audience members who prefer to get their news by morning drive shift radio or by television. Multimedia conglomerates are as powerful as Big Oil, but more subtly so. They work on the minds, and do not attack the wallets, of consumers quite so directly. And their influence and subtlety makes them a more dangerous foe. Ther are only about five or six major multimedia broadcasting conglomerates in the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667%20(United%20States)&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="United States">United States</a> today, with Gannet (symbol: <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:GCI" rel="googlefinance" title="NYSE: GCI">GCI</a>) about the fourth largest.<br />
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The article below comes to us courtesy of <i><a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.smartbrief.com/index.jsp" rel="homepage" title="SmartBrief">SmartBrief</a></i>, on of my favorite vertical industry newsletters, and a great aggregator of news regarding any given major industry:<br />
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<span class="yiv2188362717story_headline" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1371155633089_3099"><a href="http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/eyuPCakwluCjdNgQCidmzpBWcNabSW?format=standard" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1371155633089_3098" rel="" style="color: #0079c1; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 25px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Gannett, in $2.2 billion deal, will buy Belo Corp.</a></span>
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<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1371155633089_3084" style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;">Gannett
plans to acquire Belo Corp., which owns and operates 20 <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television" rel="wikipedia" title="Television">TV</a> outlets,
including nine in the top 25 markets, in a deal worth $2.2 billion. The
acquisition will result in Gannett owning or operating 43 stations,
making it the fourth-biggest owner of top network affiliates and
extending its reach to <b><span style="color: #990000;"><i><u>almost 1 in 3 U.S. homes.</u></i></span></b></span><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1371155633089_3100" style="color: #999999; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"> <a href="http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/eyuPCakwluCjdNgQCidmzpBWcNabSW?format=standard" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1371155633089_3101" rel="" style="font-size: 14px;" target="_blank">USA Today</a></span><br />
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<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1371155633089_3100" style="color: #999999; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Can you imagine the pure power of being able to influence one in every three (on the average) households?</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1371155633089_3100" style="color: #999999; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">That i<span style="font-size: small;">s one of the reasons</span> I chose to read many unaffiliated "fringe" papers<span style="font-size: small;">, and why I <span style="font-size: small;">listen t<span style="font-size: small;">o public and small <span style="font-size: small;">private radio. I want to know as much as I can. I do not<span style="font-size: small;"> wish to become one of the Sheeple, nor will I inflict that ty<span style="font-size: small;">pe of brain freezing on my blog readers, In fact, independent blogs might be one of the best sources of news and commentary l<span style="font-size: small;">eft to tho<span style="font-size: small;">se who are not operating in a state of sleep walking and following the unidentified stranger in fron<span style="font-size: small;">t of them, be it the <span style="font-size: small;">Grim Re<span style="font-size: small;">aper, Justin Bieb<span style="font-size: small;">er, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://twitter.com/ladygaga" rel="twitter" title="Lady Gaga">Lady Gaga</a> or Donald Trump [I'm choking -- I'll be back after I've had a glass of water].</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1371155633089_3100" style="color: #999999; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">The fringe, the unaffiliated papers, radio stations and blogs are the last stronghold of truly independent news and comment<span style="font-size: small;">ary which is actually c<span style="font-size: small;">alled commentary. The growing media mono<span style="font-size: small;">polies are mind eaters. <span style="font-size: small;">Enjoy them, but don<span style="font-size: small;">'</span>t count upon them for the data necessary to render an intelligent decision -- for that, you'll need both above ground and "underground" sources.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1371155633089_3100" style="color: #999999; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.douglasecastle.com/" target="_blank">Douglas <span style="font-size: small;">E. Castle</span></a> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<b><a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/00521679449074072919" target="_blank"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1371155633089_3100" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">My Blogger Profile (And Listing Of My Published Blogs)</span></span></span></a></b><br />
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<b><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/" target="_blank"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1371155633089_3100" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">My Linked In Profile<span style="font-size: small;"> (Who I<span style="font-size: small;"> Am And What I've Done <span style="font-size: small;">In My Life)</span></span></span> </span></span></span></a></b><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1371155633089_3100" style="color: #999999; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1371155633089_3102" style="color: #999999;"> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><u>Sponsored By</u></i>: </span></b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.gotocfi.com/" target="_blank">CFI - CrowdFunding Incubator LLC </a></span></b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.icswebsite.com/" target="_blank">ICS - International Connection Services</a> </span></b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.getglobaledge.com/" target="_blank">Global Edge Technologies Group LLC </a></span></b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.cfibusinessgrowth.com/" target="_blank">CFI Business Growth</a></span></b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/douglascastle" target="_blank">Douglas E. Castle On LinkedIn - Join Me!</a></i> </span></b></span></span></div>
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Douglas Castlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00521679449074072919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484952708437318945.post-12116608738544365732013-06-09T15:30:00.000-04:002013-06-09T15:30:18.509-04:00Yahoo! Stinks - Time To Leave<br />
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I have used several <a class="zem_slink" href="http://mail.yahoo.com/" rel="homepage" title="Yahoo! Mail">Yahoo! email</a> accounts and related functions over the past six years, with very little trouble and great success. But that's all gone now. <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.yahoo.com/" rel="homepage" title="Yahoo!">Yahoo</a>'s "Classic" email has been forcibly eliminated, and their new (<a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_release_life_cycle" rel="wikipedia" title="Software release life cycle">beta-tested</a> on the public!) email has caused many people, including myself, horrible problems. <i> These are not just the "come-to-be-expected" problems with privacy, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_mining" rel="wikipedia" title="Data mining">data mining</a>, unsolicited marketing</i>. These are truly mechanical and measurable problems interfering with critical functions and dependencies.<br />
<br />
Before I outline these 'issues' please let <a href="http://www.douglasecastle.com/" target="_blank">Douglas E. Castle (that's me) the author of many an article and an expert at a shockingly large number of areas within the fields of business, communications and behavioral psychology</a> suggest that you transfer your <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Address_book" rel="wikipedia" title="Address book">address books</a>, contact coordinates, saved files, calenders and all information to another provider at your most immediate convenience. When you have finished doing this, <i>delete all of your information from your Yahoo account prior to closing it</i>; further, if you are using a Yahoo! email address as your principle communications medium, switch to another free or paid service <u>now</u>.<br />
<br />
Some of the problems reported (especially during these past six months of changeover at <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.yahoo.com/" rel="homepage" title="Yahoo!">Yahoo!</a> Central, located - this is merely rumored - in an abandoned, rat-infested subway tunnel somewhere under <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=40.6641666667,-73.9386111111&spn=0.1,0.1&q=40.6641666667,-73.9386111111%20(New%20York%20City)&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="New York City">New York City</a>), include the following, a number of which I have experienced repeatedly myself:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Increasing volumes of spam;</li>
<li>Decrease in the speed of outbound email deliveries;</li>
<li>Loss in cyberspace of outbound mail deliveries; </li>
<li>Increasing number of inbound deliveries never arriving;</li>
<li>Increasing number of inbound email deliveries arriving as much as several hours after being sent! </li>
<li>So much advertising on the homepage and on the email page that it has become laborious to navigate;</li>
<li><a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email_spoofing" rel="wikipedia" title="Email spoofing">Spoofing</a> of my address to send emails to me;</li>
<li>No <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_service" rel="wikipedia" title="Customer service">customer service</a> problem-solving response to any queries or complaints;</li>
<li>Constant requests to change my password;</li>
<li>Increased system failures and downtime;</li>
<li>Increased incidence of hacking at the user and at the server (or <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_service_provider" rel="wikipedia" title="Internet service provider">ISP</a>) level.</li>
</ul>
And I am certain there are more.<br />
<br />
Here is a recent extract from a telling article by <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.webpronews.com/" rel="homepage" title="WebProNews">WebProNews</a> author and pundit (or is it Guru?) Chris Crum, who writes exceedingly well, but who should consider changing his alliterative but less than serious-sounding name. It reminds me of Christmas for some reason.<br />
--------------- <br />
<br />
Yahoo Mail Classic is now dead. Yahoo Mail users, as of Monday, no
longer have the option of using the old version, and must instead use
the new version, which Yahoo reminds them, serves ads based on the
content of their emails, much like <a class="zem_slink" href="http://google.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Google">Google’s</a> Gmail has always done. As
one might imagine, a lot of users are less than thrilled about this. <br />
<br />
<b></b>“Beginning the week of June 3, 2013, older versions of Yahoo! Mail
(including Yahoo! Mail Classic) will no longer be available,” wrote
Yahoo in its <a href="http://help.yahoo.com/kb/index?locale=en_US&y=PROD_MAIL_CLASSIC&page=content&id=SLN8519" target="_blank">help center fairwell</a> (<a href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/02/yahoo-shuts-down-mail-classic/" target="_blank">via TechCrunch</a>).
“After that, you can access your Yahoo! Mail only if you upgrade to
the new version. You should have received an email from Yahoo! letting
you know that your account required an upgrade.”
<br />
<br />
Yahoo noted that when you upgrade, you are accepting its
Communications Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, which includes the
acceptance of “automated content scanning and analyzing of your
communications content, which Yahoo! uses to deliver product features,
relevant advertising, and abuse protection.”<br />
<br />
“If you prefer to opt out of interest-based and contextual-based
advertising resulting from your scanned and analyzed communications
content, you can change your settings at any time using our <a class="zem_slink" href="http://privacy.yahoo.com/aim" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Ad Interest Manager">Ad Interest Manager</a>,” Yahoo said.<br />
<br />
So, it’s even letting you opt out of ads, but that doesn’t mean they
won’t scan your mail. You still have to accept Yahoo’s terms. <br />
<br />
Those who don’t want to use the new Yahoo Mail were directed to download their mail using IMAP or close their account. <br />
<br />
Yahoo’s mention of scanning email to serve ads comes as search partner <a href="http://www.webpronews.com/is-gmail-privacy-as-bad-as-microsoft-says-it-is-2013-02" target="_blank">Microsoft has been campaigning against Google</a> for doing just that, despite the fact that Google has always done this, and has always been quite clear about it. <br />
<br />
To many people this really isn’t a big deal. Gmail hasn’t had any
shortage of users, and it’s not as though humans are reading users’
email to try and determine which ads to show. It’s all automated. Those
who are concerned about this practice, however, could play right into
<a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=47.6395972222,-122.12845&spn=0.01,0.01&q=47.6395972222,-122.12845%20(Microsoft)&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="Microsoft">Microsoft’s</a> hands. <br />
<br />
Suddenly the timing of Microsoft’s campaign seems a lot better from a
marketing standpoint. It seemed odd that Microsoft would attack Google
suddenly for something it had been doing for nearly a decade and made
not efforts to hide. But now we have the previously announced Yahoo Mail
redesign, which engages in similar practices as Google, being forced on
users.<br />
<br />
Could Microsoft users have made enough Yahoo users uneasy about
this practice in general to get some of them to switch over to its own
Outlook.com (the focal point of that particular “Scroogled” campaign)? <br />
<br />
As <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.mccullagh.org/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Declan McCullagh">Declan McCullagh</a> at CNET <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57587463-38/the-yahoo-e-mail-privacy-flap-that-wasnt/" target="_blank">points out</a>, Yahoo actually adopted the policy that lets it scan emails and serve ads back in 2011. He writes: <br />
<br />
<i>It’s not clear why Yahoo felt the need to remind existing users
of language in its 2011 terms of service. One possibility, though, is an
effort to head off privacy lawsuits brought by <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_action" rel="wikipedia" title="Class action">class action lawyers</a>
hoping for a million-dollar jackpot. (If there’s ever any litigation,
defense counsel would surely prefer to rely on informed consent rather
than implied consent.)</i><br />
<i>
</i>
<i>It’s not merely a theoretical possibility: Google was sued
in 2011 by a Massachusetts AOL user who sent e-mail to a Gmail account
and then claimed her privacy was invaded. Near-identical lawsuits were
filed in Marin County, Calif., (PDF) in June 2012, British Columbia
(PDF) in October 2012, and Florida (PDF) in November 2012. On April 29,
two college students filed yet another suit (PDF) seeking class action
status in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=37.3352777778,-121.891944444&spn=0.1,0.1&q=37.3352777778,-121.891944444%20(San%20Jose%2C%20California)&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="San Jose, California">San Jose, Calif.</a></i><br />
<br />
The shuttering of Yahoo Mail Classic also comes on the heels of a
separate Yahoo Mail privacy-related story. Last week, a BT made some
headlines when it said it would no longer make Yahoo Mail the default
email service for its six million customers because of concerns that
accounts are vulnerable to getting hacked. <br />
<br />
Gerry Smith at <a class="zem_slink" href="http://twitter.com/huffpost" rel="twitter" target="_blank" title="The Huffington Post">The Huffington Post</a> <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/31/yahoo-email-hacking_n_3366259.html">writes</a>,
“The shift of BT’s 6 million customers to another email service
represents just a small fraction of Yahoo’s overall email customer base
of about 280 million people worldwide. But the loss of clients could be a
troubling sign for a company that relies heavily on maintaining its
email users to generate advertising revenue. Yahoo is now the
third-largest email provider after Google’s Gmail and Microsoft’s
Outlook.com.”<br />
Meanwhile, the top dog, Gmail, continues to make efforts to stay
ahead of the competitive curve. Last week, Google announced the launch
of the new inbox for Gmail, which introduces a new tabbed organization
interface. <br />
<br />
Privacy concerns aren’t the only thing bothering users, however.
Business Insider conducted a survey, finding that 57% of users are
unhappy with the new Yahoo Mail. Nicholas Carlson <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/yahoo-mail-problems-2013-6" target="_blank">lists a few of the specific complaints users shared</a>: <br />
<br />
<i>“The mail message frame is not fixed. If you read a new message,
and scroll down to the bottom and decide you don’t want to keep it, you
can no longer access the delete button. Yes, obviously you can just
close the email and then choose it again and delete, but that is a total
waste of time and key strokes.”</i><br />
<i>
<br />
“Yahoo disappears emails sent between legitimate and active Yahoo accounts.”<br />
<br />
“I used Yahoo mail as a central box for most of my domain emails.
After switching a couple of weeks ago and sending 30 test mails over
three days to make sure it was all working, 6 never arrived. I even have
specific filters set-up within Yahoo mail to make sure certain mails do
not get put in the trash or spam by mistake.”<br />
<br />
“It’s very laggy, and that pause of a second or two between commands makes it extremely frustrating.”<br />
<br />
“The new version of Yahoo mail makes all my messages older than a
week or so unreadable. I get “Error 45″ and the messages fail to load.
There are numerous reports about this on the net; so far Yahoo hasn’t
managed to fix it. So, I have to launch the classic version of Yahoo
mail just to read old messages. Fail.”<br />
</i><br />
<i>“Right after the switch I was hacked and my contacts all 500 plus were gone without a trace.”</i><br />
<br />
We’ve seen further complaints in the comments of our own coverage. <br />
<br />
Users have had since December to get accustomed to the new Yahoo Mail. More on the redesign <a href="http://www.webpronews.com/yahoo-mail-redesign-is-now-upon-us-2012-12" target="_blank">here</a>. <br />
<br />
Yahoo has been engaging in a lot of redesigns across its various properties. This week, <a href="http://www.webpronews.com/yahoo-redesigns-search-results-page-2013-06" target="_blank">Yahoo also rolled out a new look for its search results pages</a> to go with its recently redesigned homepage. A <a href="http://www.webpronews.com/flickr-now-offers-a-terabyte-of-storage-new-photo-rich-interface-2013-05" target="_blank">big Flickr redesign</a> was also recently launched.<br />
---------------<br />
All I can say is remember the "rollout" of "New Coke," with its exciting new packaging and slightly changed and cheapened recipe? The damage control marketing campaign was "<i>Classic Coke</i>."<br />
<br />
Thank you as always for reading me, and for sharing my articles with your colleagues, connections, co-conspirators, cohorts and concubines via your social media through the use of your ever-increasing arsenal of social media sharing tools. You are deeply appreciated.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.douglasecastle.com/" target="_blank">Douglas E. Castle</a> for <a href="http://infospherebusinessalerts.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The InfoSphere Business Alerts And Intelligence Blog</a>, <a href="http://madmarketingtactics.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The Mad Marketing Tactics Blog</a> and <a href="http://businessandprojectplanning.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The Business And Project Planning And Management Blog</a>.<br />
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Douglas Castlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00521679449074072919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484952708437318945.post-3997784589300571762013-06-06T17:15:00.003-04:002013-06-06T17:25:36.247-04:00NSA Spying On US Citizens - With Verizon's Cooperation<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikDMaaQ2giWV94SY839bdL_E9oiEsHY3ia_XyVtb9-XiWSC3TSCmJoTF-DnTR2rWeVG4n_KPAQ25_8z3wtlIWRfdgYErNZjpaEjDb_uRHuEqBqZTE6JGzynrvOz39sdsX9t6oBg9xqeUU/s1600/NSA+Headquarters+in+Ft.+Meade,+Maryland+-+NSA+-+No+Such+Agency+-+Spying+On+American+Citizens+Doe+To+Secret+Order+Legalized+Under+The+Patriot+Act+-+InfoSphere+Business+Alerts+-+Douglas+E.+Castle+%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikDMaaQ2giWV94SY839bdL_E9oiEsHY3ia_XyVtb9-XiWSC3TSCmJoTF-DnTR2rWeVG4n_KPAQ25_8z3wtlIWRfdgYErNZjpaEjDb_uRHuEqBqZTE6JGzynrvOz39sdsX9t6oBg9xqeUU/s400/NSA+Headquarters+in+Ft.+Meade,+Maryland+-+NSA+-+No+Such+Agency+-+Spying+On+American+Citizens+Doe+To+Secret+Order+Legalized+Under+The+Patriot+Act+-+InfoSphere+Business+Alerts+-+Douglas+E.+Castle+%5B1%5D.jpg" title="NSA spying on American Citizens and their businesses with Verizon's full cooperation in response to a top secret presidential order 'justified' under the all-encompassing Patriot Act. Is the U.S. to become a police state? http://InfoShereBusinessAlerts.blogspot.com -- InfoSphere Business Alerts And Intelligence - Douglas E. Castle" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Indeed - the NSA in conjunction with other intelligence agencies and Verizon, i spying on U.S. Citizens and businesses. This is how a police state is created over time.<br />
<br />
The <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Act" rel="wikipedia" title="Patriot Act">Patriot Act</a> is like a cancer that is eroding away the Constitutional Freedoms that <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667%20(United%20States)&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="United States">Americans</a> used to take for granted and enjoy every day. While it was invoked during <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.georgewbushlibrary.smu.edu/" rel="homepage" title="George W. Bush">Former President George W. Bush</a>'s "wartime presidency," current <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667%20(United%20States)&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="United States">US</a> <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.barackobama.com/" rel="homepage" title="Barack Obama">President Obama</a> has not only failed to seek to nullify this abomination to the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_way" rel="wikipedia" title="American way">American way of life</a>, but has further allowed and encouraged its exploitation and increased and de facto broadened the use of its insidious and virtually unlimited power. An article from <a class="zem_slink" href="http://zdnet.com/" rel="homepage" title="ZDNet">ZDNet</a>, a wonderfully informative technologically-oriented newsletter which I am privileged to receive regularly. When you've finished reading this regulatory update, <i><b>you'll switch from <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.verizon.com/" rel="homepage" title="Verizon Communications">Verizon</a> to any other carrier if possible</b></i>: <br />
<h1>
<u><span style="font-size: small;">NSA 'top secret' spying order affects millions of Americans: FAQ</span></u></h1>
<div class="summary">
<u>Summary</u>: The U.S. government is
vacuuming up millions of Verizon customer records on a daily basis,
according to a leaked "top secret" court order. Here's everything you
need to know.</div>
<div>
<a class="thumb" href="http://www.zdnet.com/nsa-top-secret-spying-order-affects-millions-of-americans-faq-7000016489/?s_cid=e589&ttag=e589"><img alt="Zack Whittaker" height="45" src="http://cdn-static.zdnet.com/i/r/library/author/zackwhittakerhs2012-60x45.jpeg?hash=ZTVmBTH5Mw&upscale=1" width="60" /></a></div>
<div class="meta">
By <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/meet-the-team/us/zack-whittaker/" rel="author">Zack Whittaker</a> for <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/">Zero Day</a> | <time datetime="2013-06-06">June 6, 2013 -- 17:25 GMT (10:25 PDT)</time></div>
<div class="meta">
<br /></div>
<div class="meta">
<time datetime="2013-06-06"></time></div>
The <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/" rel="homepage" title="The Guardian">Guardian newspaper</a> revealed exclusively on Wednesday that the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=39.109,-76.77&spn=0.01,0.01&q=39.109,-76.77%20(National%20Security%20Agency)&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="National Security Agency">U.S. National Security Agency</a> (NSA) has and continues to <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/06/nsa-phone-records-verizon-court-order" style="line-height: 1.5em;">vacuum up millions of Verizon customer details</a>, including information on phone calls both within the U.S. and between the U.S. and other countries.<br />
<div class="relatedContent alignRight">
<h3>
<span style="font-size: small;">Read this</span></h3>
<div>
<a class="thumb" href="http://www.zdnet.com/verizon-records-vacuumed-up-by-nsa-under-top-secret-patriot-act-order-7000016441/"><img alt="Verizon records vacuumed up by NSA under 'top secret' Patriot Act order" height="165" src="http://cdn-static.zdnet.com/i/r/story/70/00/016441/verizon-records-vacuumed-up-by-nsa-under-top-secret-patriot-act-order-220x165.jpg?hash=BQyuAmuuAw&upscale=1" width="220" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.zdnet.com/verizon-records-vacuumed-up-by-nsa-under-top-secret-patriot-act-order-7000016441/">Verizon records vacuumed up by NSA under 'top secret' Patriot Act order</a></div>
<br />
Under the order, Verizon is ordered on an "ongoing, daily basis" to
hand the NSA the information on all of the call data in its systems.<br />
<br />
On Thursday, ZDNet obtained a copy of a note sent by Verizon chief
counsel Randy Milch to employees. In the note, he did not confirm or
deny the story, but in describing it as an "alleged" court order, he
stressed that the text "forbids Verizon from revealing the order’s
existence."<br />
<br />
"If Verizon were to receive such an order, we would be required to comply,” just as any other company would be forced to.<br />
<br />
Milch added that the company "continually takes steps to safeguard
its customers’ privacy," but warned that the "law authorizes the federal
courts to order a company to provide information in certain
circumstances."<br />
A Verizon spokesperson declined to comment when ZDNet contacted the company by phone on Thursday.<br />
This is a developing story and will be updated with notes below, when appropriate.<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-size: small;">What is the deal here? Is the U.S. government spying on U.S. residents?</span></h3>
A "top secret" order by a U.S. secret court — known as <a href="https://www.eff.org/issues/foia/07403TFH">the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court</a> (FISC), which was set up in the <a href="https://ssd.eff.org/foreign/fisa">Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act</a>
(FISA) in 1978 following the Watergate scandal — forced Verizon to send
the U.S. National Security Agency the records relating to tens of
millions, if not all of its customers' phone calls and text messages.<br />
<br />
FISA has been amended numerous times since, including the <a href="https://www.eff.org/issues/patriot-act">Patriot Act in 2001</a>
following the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City, and in
2008 with the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Intelligence_Surveillance_Act_of_1978_Amendments_Act_of_2008" rel="wikipedia" title="Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008">FISA Amendments Act</a>, following the NSA's widespread
unwarranted wiretapping campaign.<br />
<br />
This order, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2013/jun/06/verizon-telephone-data-court-order">published by The Guardian</a>,
applies to all calls created by Verizon between the U.S. and abroad, or
within the U.S., including local calls. Only Verizon calls that are
located outside the U.S. and connect with a non-U.S. number are excluded
from the order.<br />
<br />
There is no doubt that this is a massive domestic spying campaign by the U.S. government — <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3484952708437318945">it's clear from the document</a> — through its intelligence services. But unlike previous cases <a href="https://www.eff.org/cases/jewel">involving the NSA and AT&T</a>, this time around it has been warranted by the aforementioned secret court.<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-size: small;">Why has this order been issued?</span></h3>
That isn't clear. The FISC court order itself does not state why. For
good reason: if the document is leaked, at least it doesn't dish out
any more secret intelligence than is necessary.<br />
The White House said, via a Reuters wire, that the "ability to gather
information has been critical tool in preventing terrorist threats."
Officials also said there is a "need to balance security with civil
liberties."<br />
<br />
There may be something going on that we don't know about. An imminent
terrorist threat, potentially something on a scale that requires
everyone's civil liberties to be halted or diminished to save lives?
It's speculative. That said, the U.K. government is actively pushing
through this kind of surveillance into law — rather than using Patriot
Act-like laws that it currently doesn't possess (see below).<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-size: small;">What does the order actually say?</span></h3>
It says a number of things, most of which are described in this FAQ.
Verizon is forced to hand over "on an ongoing daily basis" an electronic
copy of "tangible things." This is a provision given to the FISC under
on <a href="http://w2.eff.org/patriot/sunset/215.php">Section 215</a> of the Patriot Act, otherwise known as <a href="http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/1861">50 U.S.C. § 1861</a>, which is commonly known as the "business records" section.<br />
Verizon is also gagged from disclosing "to any other person that the
FBI or NSA has sought or obtained tangible things" under the order. The
order only permits Verizon to seek legal advice or assistance "with
respect to the production of [tangible] things."<br />
<br />
This is why Verizon is neither confirming or denying the order, and
is not commenting on the record. It simply isn't allowed to.<br />
<br />
The cellular giant is not allowed to appeal. Such appeals are rare
anyway. The first appeal was in 2002, more than two decades following
the introduction of the FISC.<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-size: small;">What is Section 215 of the Patriot Act?</span></h3>
Section 215 of the Patriot Act relates to "business records." It also
removes the normal requirement to meet the legal standard of what is
known as "probable cause," according to the American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU) <a href="http://www.acluutah.org/Businessfacts.pdf">in a fact sheet</a> [PDF].<br />
<div class="relatedContent alignLeft">
<h3>
<span style="font-size: small;">Read this</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.zdnet.com/blog/igeneration/microsoft-admits-patriot-act-can-access-eu-based-cloud-data/11225">Microsoft admits Patriot Act can access EU-based cloud data</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.zdnet.com/blog/igeneration/eu-demands-answers-over-microsofts-patriot-act-admission/11290">EU demands answers over Microsoft's Patriot Act admission </a></li>
</ul>
</div>
Section 215 supersedes any legally binding privacy guarantees between
businesses and their clients or customers, such as a privacy policy or a
contract. If a company is served with a court order under Section 215,
they are not allowed to contest the order, or even disclose the order to
a lawyer — unless legal counsel is used to help hand over the "things"
that the U.S. government wants.<br />
<br />
Such things are anything "tangible." This includes business,
financial and even medical records, as well as papers, documents and
books — or anything you can physically hold.<br />
But "tangible" is a broad term that has been interpreted by the U.S.
government, which now allows it to include company databases, computers,
hard drives, and in some cases cloud-stored files.<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-size: small;">How long has this been going on for? Is the Verizon order indicative of an ongoing practice?</span></h3>
According <a href="http://www.montereyherald.com/state/ci_23402457/intel-chair-says-nsa-court-order-is-renewal">to the Associated Press</a>,
the Senate Intelligence committee chairperson Sen. Dianne Feinstein
(D-CA) said the "top secret" court order for telephone records of
millions of U.S. customers of Verizon is a three-month renewal of an
"ongoing practice."<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-size: small;">What can be collected under the order?</span></h3>
Communications data, dubbed "metadata," can be collected under the
order. The actual contents of the calls are not available to the U.S.
government — that would require a different warrant that enables
wiretapping. That uses a different section of the law.<br />
<br />
The sort of <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/verizon-records-vacuumed-up-by-nsa-under-top-secret-patriot-act-order-7000016441/">data collected includes "call data,"</a>
such as the caller's and the recipient's phone number. Also, routing
data, such as the IMEI unique device identifier, and the IMSI number
used to identify calls on cell networks, will be recorded. The time,
date and duration of the call is also recorded.<br />
<br />
It's also possible for the NSA to collect location data of Verizon
customers, following a 2005 court ruling that determined cell site
location is also considered as "metadata."<br />
This effectively means that foreign nationals and non-U.S. residents
are being specifically targeted for widespread warranted domestic
surveillance.<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-size: small;">Is this order in breach of Fourth Amendment rights to "unreasonable" searches?</span></h3>
This one is tricky. Arguably yes, but also perhaps not. The Fourth
Amendment protects U.S. residents from the U.S. government — not private
companies — conducting "unreasonable" searches.<br />
<br />
However, the FISC has ruled before that similar <a href="http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/07/surveillance-spirit-law/">NSA surveillance violated the Fourth Amendment</a>. According to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) said that the court has ruled that the intelligence it collected was <a href="http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/07/surveillance-spirit-law/2012-07-20-ola-ltr-to-senator-wyden-ref-declassification-request/">"unreasonable" under the law</a>.<br />
<br />
Despite being held in secret, the FISC is accountable, albeit to a
small number of select politicians on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
No records are kept and the ones that are will be treated with the
highest security classification possible.<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-size: small;">Can the U.S. government use the order to listen in on calls, or read my text messages?</span></h3>
<div class="relatedContent alignRight">
<h3>
Related story</h3>
<div>
<a class="thumb" href="http://www.zdnet.com/yes-the-fbi-and-cia-can-read-your-email-heres-how-7000007319/"><img alt="Yes, the FBI and CIA can read your email. Here's how " height="165" src="http://cdn-static.zdnet.com/i/r/story/70/00/007319/yes-the-fbi-and-cia-can-read-your-email-heres-how-220x165.jpg?hash=L2D2MJSyAQ&upscale=1" width="220" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.zdnet.com/yes-the-fbi-and-cia-can-read-your-email-heres-how-7000007319/">Yes, the FBI and CIA can read your email. Here's how </a><br />
<div class="more">
</div>
"Petraeus-gate," some U.S. pundits are calling
it. Here's how the head of the CIA (and you) can have his emails read by
a friendly U.S. intelligence agency, which led to his resignation.</div>
<br />
Communications data <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/u-k-spy-agencies-plan-to-install-web-snooping-black-boxes-7000010833/">does not include the contents of phone calls or text messages</a>,
such as emails or the recordings of phone conversations, rather it
instead includes all the details about everything that's sent and
received online.<br />
<br />
Names, addresses, and financial data are also not collected. With
inter-agency co-operation, it would not be difficult for the NSA or the
FBI to work out who is who.<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-size: small;">Are consumers affected, or businesses, or both?</span></h3>
A person familiar with the matter, who declined to be named, told
ZDNet on Thursday said that business and enterprise customers are most
affected. Consumers are also affected because the division of Verizon,
known as Verizon Business Network Services, serves residential and
business customers, as well as local, state, and federal government
entities.<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-size: small;">What can the NSA do with this collected "metadata"?</span></h3>
The U.S. government doesn't believe metadata, the collected
information, isn't private or sensitive in nature. The U.K. government
used a similar analogy, which explained that while the contents of such
communications are the "letter," the metadata is the "envelope."<br />
<br />
The NSA could do almost anything it likes with the data it receives.
It can work out who you're contacting, when you're likely to contact
them, links with other people and "social networking analysis" that
determines who may know other people via a mutual friend. The government
agency can also determine where you've been.<br />
<br />
Above all else, it can be used to spot what the NSA would consider
"suspicious" activity. Considering it's already used the law to scrap
the legal standard of what is considered "probable cause," it could
probably widen the scope of what it would consider "suspicious" in the
first place.<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-size: small;">A specific Verizon division is named in the order. What is Verizon Business Network Services?</span></h3>
When Verizon acquired MCI Network Services in May 2007, the company
was spun into the telecoms giant's business unit. It was renamed Verizon
Business Network Services. It provides local and long-distance voice
and messaging services, as well as Internet and data access.<br />
<br />
For business clients, Verizon offers virtual private network (VPN) services and firewall technology. <a href="http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapid=4259068">According to Bloomberg</a>,
the division also provides "network infrastructure, including network
design, implementation, and customer management solutions; and data,
dial, asynchronous transfer mode, digital subscriber line, and dedicated
and bundled services, as well as security products."<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-size: small;">If Verizon has been slapped with a "top secret" order, have others also?</span></h3>
AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile may have been hit with the same order,
or one with almost exactly the same wording. It's possible and likely,
but we cannot confirm that. It's safer to assume that if the U.S.
government has forced Verizon to hand over the data of more than 98
million wireless customers and around 21 million residential and
commercial lines — if not more — then other cellular firms may have been
as well.<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-size: small;">What does "top secret" actually mean?</span></h3>
The document markings at the top of the document say: "TOP
SECRET//SI//NOFOR," which likely means very little to the vast majority
of readers.<br />
<div class="relatedContent alignLeft">
<h3>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Read this</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.zdnet.com/blog/igeneration/senator-the-real-patriot-act-is-classified/10286">Senator: "The 'real' Patriot Act is classified"</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/newspaper-sues-government-to-reveal-secret-patriot-act-interpretation/60407">Newspaper sues government to reveal 'secret' Patriot Act interpretation</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/patriot-act-affects-european-cloud-adoption/53792">Patriot Act affects European cloud adoption</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
Breaking this down, it means the document is of the highest level of
security clearance in the U.S., and also fellow allied countries such as
the U.K.<br />
<br />
The term "SI" relates to sensitive compartmented information relating to communications intercepts, such as wiretapping.<br />
<br />
"NOFORN" essentially means "no foreign nationals" are allowed to view
the document, such as allied nations in which the U.S. government
shares intelligence with.<br />
<br />
For this reason, The Guardian based in London, U.K. may evade U.S.
sanctions or prosecution as a result. It's certainly safer for a
U.K.-based publication than a U.S.-based one.<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-size: small;">Isn't this "communications data" collection similar to what the U.K. government is currently trying to push into law? </span></h3>
Very much so. The U.K. government is struggling to get this into a
debate stage, let alone law and signed by Royal Assent, due to <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/u-k-web-email-snooping-draft-law-dead-at-least-for-now-7000008616/">opposition in the Cabinet of the Conservative-led coalition government</a>.<br />
<br />
The government wants its intelligence agencies to be able to tap into
in near-realtime the communications data of any given person in the
U.K. at any time. This involves forcing the Internet providers in the
country to <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/u-k-spy-agencies-plan-to-install-web-snooping-black-boxes-7000010833/">install "black boxes"</a> to enable the server-side data collection.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>### </b></div>
----------------<br />
<br />
As I write this, I quietly lament the loss of some many of the freedoms that once constituted the very foundation of the democracy that was America. <a href="http://theinternationalistpage.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">As an American Citizen and as an Internationalist</a> as well, I am profoundly ashamed at what I see as a pattern of converting the country of my birth into a police state, reminiscent of "<i>The Handmaiden's Tale</i>" or "<i>The Matrix". </i><br />
<br />
Thank you in advance for circulating this article to all of your comrades, colleagues, associates, friends and connections via social media to keep them informed, and vigilant about what is going on all around us without our knowledge, consent or right to question.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.douglasecastle.com/" target="_blank">Douglas E. Castle</a><br />
<br />
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Douglas Castlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00521679449074072919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484952708437318945.post-36020175712823358312013-04-15T20:19:00.000-04:002013-04-15T20:27:02.749-04:00Risk Assessment: Reality Check - Yourself.<br />
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Nobody likes to talk about <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_assessment" rel="wikipedia" title="Risk assessment">risk assessment</a> and pre-emptive measures as well as counter-measures. It simply makes us feel all the more vulnerable to think about it. But for the safety of all -- the general public, the workplace, our schools and in any areas where <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_group" rel="wikipedia" title="Social group">groups of people</a> are likely to gather, as well as those places (<a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_station" rel="wikipedia" title="Power station">power plants</a>, and the like) which would be highly probable terrorist targets from a strategic point of view.<br />
<br />
In addition to writing <a href="http://infospherbusinessalerts.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The InfoSphere Business Alerts And Intelligence Blog</a>, I am an officer of the <a href="http://www.getglobaledge.com/" target="_blank">Global Edge Technologies Group LLC, a private entity </a>which deals in risk assessment, threat measurement, damage control and containment and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_protection" rel="wikipedia" title="Executive protection">executive protection</a> and security.<br />
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While it might cost a sum of money and require an additional investment of time, you might find it wise to have a security professional review your facility to find areas of vulnerability, to create preventive and tracking resources (mounted cameras, alarms, backup <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_generation" rel="wikipedia" title="Electricity generation">power generators</a>, special "safe rooms") and other proactive countermeasures in the interests of protecting lives, property and information.<br />
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Just today, there was a hideous tragedy at the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.bostonmarathon.org/" rel="homepage" title="Boston Marathon">Boston Marathon</a> which I suspect could have been prevented had the area been searched and patrolled along the entire marathon path. Think of the lives that might have been saved, and horrors averted had someone in a position of power had the vision to assess and prepare for risk. It doesn't matter whether it's a deranged, vindictive individual (we've all known a few...perhaps you've even dated one for a short period) from the next town, or an internationalist terror cell, we, as a people remain oblivious to the real nature of the threats increasing all around us. This merely makes us more vulnerable.<br />
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A world in a continuous <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War" rel="wikipedia" title="War">state of war</a>, and the economic crises which challenge us make threat assessment and preventative measures essential, both personally and professionally.<br />
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To punch the point further, here is a news excerpt from today's <i><a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.newyorktimes.com/" rel="homepage" title="New York Times">New York Times</a></i>:<br />
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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366063608703_4723" style="font-size: 14px; width: 500px;"><tbody id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366063608703_4722">
<tr id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366063608703_4721"><td align="left" id="yiv6732343083MainHeader" style="padding: 26px 0 4px 0;"><a href="http://p.nytimes.com/email/re?location=4z5Q7LhI+KVBjmEgFdYACHCpQxp3Fo5Z&campaign_id=132&instance_id=27786&segment_id=45582&user_id=44444a6db679928e2a177352f2d10e3f" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366063608703_4784" rel="nofollow" style="color: #004276; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">
<img alt="The New York Times" border="0" height="18" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366063608703_4783" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/logos/nyt/nyt-logo-122x18.png" style="padding-right: 6px; vertical-align: top;" width="122" />
</a>
<span style="color: black; font-size: 12px;">|</span>
<a href="http://p.nytimes.com/email/re?location=4z5Q7LhI+KVBjmEgFdYACHCpQxp3Fo5Z&campaign_id=132&instance_id=27786&segment_id=45582&user_id=44444a6db679928e2a177352f2d10e3f" rel="nofollow" style="color: black; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; padding-left: 4px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">BREAKING NEWS ALERT</a>
</td>
<td align="right" id="yiv6732343083subNavigation" style="padding: 26px 0 4px 0;"><a href="http://p.nytimes.com/email/re?location=4z5Q7LhI+KVBjmEgFdYACHCpQxp3Fo5Z&campaign_id=132&instance_id=27786&segment_id=45582&user_id=44444a6db679928e2a177352f2d10e3f" rel="nofollow" style="color: grey; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans serif; font-size: 11px; padding-right: 3px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">NYTimes.com </a>
<span style="color: grey; font-size: 11px;">|</span>
<a href="http://p.nytimes.com/email/re?location=4z5Q7LhI+KVBjmEgFdYACL/oK7UVhKLFDD29tUSjnis=&campaign_id=132&instance_id=27786&segment_id=45582&user_id=44444a6db679928e2a177352f2d10e3f" rel="nofollow" style="color: grey; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans serif; font-size: 11px; padding-left: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Video</a>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" id="yiv6732343083headerExtra" style="width: 500px;">
<tbody id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366063608703_4720">
<tr id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366063608703_4719">
<td id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366063608703_4718" style="border-top: 4px solid #000; padding-top: 16px;"><div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366063608703_4717" style="margin-left: 1px; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #a81817; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold;">BREAKING NEWS</span>
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366063608703_4785" style="color: #666666; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">Monday, April 15, 2013 4:29 PM <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Time_Zone" rel="wikipedia" title="Eastern Time Zone">EDT</a></span>
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<table id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366063608703_4711"><tbody id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366063608703_4710">
<tr id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366063608703_4709">
<td id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366063608703_4708" style="padding-bottom: 11px; width: 490px !important;"><div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366063608703_4716" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0;">
<a href="http://p.nytimes.com/email/re?location=4z5Q7LhI+KVBjmEgFdYACPLKh239P3pg/WKDt7IFx1ZvrWlLoJNXTLdhVpPijD3hc15U3X/Oq3Oz6p5y4fSP9Kt9LYFQ4EMabTvJo8Zp6fmYegnR8X9BbIVqyT+qqEmj&campaign_id=132&instance_id=27786&segment_id=45582&user_id=44444a6db679928e2a177352f2d10e3f" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366063608703_4715" rel="nofollow" style="color: black; font-size: 24px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Two Dead and at Least Two Dozen Hurt in Boston Marathon Blasts</a>
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<div id="yiv6732343083summary" style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-top: 11px;">
</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366063608703_4749"><td id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366063608703_4748" style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; padding: 4px 0 12px 0;">A series of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explosion" rel="wikipedia" title="Explosion">explosions</a> was reported near the finish line at the Boston
Marathon on Monday, leaving two people dead and at least two dozen injured,
according to the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.cityofboston.gov/police/default.asp" rel="homepage" title="Boston Police Department">Boston Police Department</a>.</td></tr>
<tr id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366063608703_4731"><td id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366063608703_4730" style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; padding: 4px 0 12px 0;">A third explosion was heard
just before 4 p.m., about an hour after the first two blasts. The police were
apparently aware of that device before the explosion occurred.</td></tr>
<tr id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366063608703_4747"><td id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366063608703_4746" style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; padding: 4px 0 12px 0;">The blasts
took place about four hours after the start of the men’s race, which meant
that there were still several thousand runners yet to finish the race. One
senior counterterrorism official said it was too soon to tell whether the
explosions were related to terrorism.</td></tr>
<tr id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366063608703_4745">
<td id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366063608703_4744" style="color: black; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans serif; font-size: 11px; padding: 3px 0 11px 0;"><h4 style="color: black; font-weight: bold; margin: 5px 0 2px 0;">
READ MORE »</h4>
<a href="http://p.nytimes.com/email/re?location=4z5Q7LhI+KVBjmEgFdYACPLKh239P3pg/WKDt7IFx1ZvrWlLoJNXTLdhVpPijD3hc15U3X/Oq3Oz6p5y4fSP9Kt9LYFQ4EMabTvJo8Zp6fmYegnR8X9BbIVqyT+qqEmj&campaign_id=132&instance_id=27786&segment_id=45582&user_id=44444a6db679928e2a177352f2d10e3f" rel="nofollow" style="color: #004276; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/16/us/explosions-reported-at-site-of-boston-marathon.html?emc=na</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
---------------<br />
<br />
We are all busily debating over gun violence, which is all well and good; but we should be talking about <b>all</b> acts of bullying, violence and terror against persons, as well as the corruption and theft of data and intellectual property, and the measures which we must, as individuals and as a society take in order to protect ourselves. We cannot realistically expect to dial 911 for a rescue, or for local police patrols to protect us and those whom we love or care about. Sadly, by the time the police get to the scene, it is generally to interrogate witnesses and collect evidence. That's not prevention, in the same way that a chalk line silhouetting my crumbled body is not art.<br />
<br />
When it comes to protection, we each and all must do much, much more.<br />
<br />
Thank you once again for reading my articles and for your kindness in sharing them with your colleagues and connections through your social media outlets. I truly appreciate it.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/douglascastle" target="_blank">Douglas E. Castle</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><u>Sponsored And Assisted By</u>:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="http://www.gotocfi.com/" target="_blank">CFI - CrowdFunding Incubator LLC</a></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="http://www.icswebsite.com/" target="_blank">ICS - International Connection Services</a></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="http://www.getglobaledge.com/" target="_blank">Global Edge Technologies Group LLC</a> , and</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>The Late Commander Elron ("Ronnie") Arvis, whose spirit lives on in those he taught.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Special thanks to Headmaster and US Martial Arts Hall Of Fame Inductee</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="http://www.newyorkmartialartshombu.com/" target="_blank">Soke Joseph Droual of New York Martial Arts</a>, Huntington, NY, to whom I bow.</b></span><br />
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