organization:american government

Dans 6 (Zones sensibles, 2012, ►http://www.zones-sensibles.org/index.php?mod=auteurs&a=06), qui, si tu ne t’es pas encore jeté-e dessus, cause de manière diablement intéressante de #trading_haute_fréquence et de comment les #machines ont pris le dessus sur l’homme à la fin du XXe siècle, référence est faite à cet article fort instructif de The Economist en décembre 2011 : « The return of the human computers » (car oui, les « calculateurs » furent d’abord humains, et même, apprend-on au passage, majoritairement des « calculatrices », ce qui permet d’ajouter un argument, s’il le fallait, à ►http://seenthis.net/messages/122483)

http://www.economist.com/node/21540393

CastingWords breaks audio files down into five-minute segments and farms each out to a transcriber. Each transcription is automatically bounced back to other workers for checking and, once deemed good enough, an (electronic) computer combines the segments and returns the finished product to the customer. At CloudCrowd a similar system is used to co-ordinate teams of human translators. Others are combining human and artificial intelligences. An #app called oMoby, produced by IQ Engines, can identify objects in images snapped by iPhone users. First it applies object-recognition software, which may not be able to cope if the lighting is poor or the image was captured from an unusual angle. When that happens, the image is sent to a human analyst. Either way, the user gets an answer in half a minute or so.

De la même manière que les recaptcha (https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReCAPTCHA) utilisent l’intelligence humaine pour décoder l’écriture de vieux manuscrits que les #numériseurs peinent à comprendre.

http://humancomputing.blog.lemonde.fr/2012/09/13/le-captcha-vous-fait-travailler-gratuitement

En réalisant un, ou plusieurs tests à la suite - lors d’une inscription sur un webmail par exemple - l’utilisateur travaille inconsciemment à un projet bien plus large en mettant 10 secondes de temps de réflexion au service d’un autre projet.

#travail #prolétariat

Private soldiers: Bullets for hire | The Economist
http://www.economist.com/news/international/21566625-business-private-armies-not-only-growing-changing-shape-bullets-

The industry’s growth has been paid for by Western governments, keen to limit the political cost of military boots on the ground. Supply has also come mostly from the West: 70% of firms are British or American. As the big conflicts of the past decade come to an end, however, private armies are beginning to chase new business, according to Sean McFate of America’s National Defence University. Industrial firms, which are increasingly setting up shop in unstable places, are expected to be a growing chunk of the customer base.
In this section

One company, in particular, is preparing for the change: Academi, an American private military giant (which, before it was sued over the death of 17 civilians in Iraq in 2007, carried the less silly moniker of Blackwater and in 2009-11 was called Xe Services). More than 90% of the firm’s business to date has come from governments, but it thinks that in the future half of its customers could be corporate. Among the early adopters are energy firms and a hotel chain. By the end of the year Academi expects to have opened a new “several thousand acre” training site, probably in east Africa, to help meet the changing demand.

#mercenaires #sécurité_privée

Israel’s Fading Democracy - NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/opinion/sunday/israels-fading-democracy.html?pagewanted=all

Abraham Burg, ancien président du parlement israélien, dresse un sombre tableau de la situation dans son pays. Il reproche au gouvernement d’avoir poussé les juifs américains à soutenir des décisions contraires aux intérêts des Etats-Unis

Mr. Netanyahu’s great political “achievement” has been to make Israel a partisan issue and push American Jews into a corner. He has forced them to make political decisions based on calculations that go against what they perceive to be American interests. The emotional extortion compels Jews to pressure the Obama administration, a government with which they actually share values and worldviews, when those who love Israel should be doing the opposite: helping the American government to intervene and save Israel from itself.

Et il accuse Nétanyahou et la droite de pousser son pays à se transformer en une théocratie :

The winds of isolation and narrowness are blowing through Israel. Rude and arrogant power brokers, some of whom hold senior positions in government, exclude non-Jews from Israeli public spaces. Graffiti in the streets demonstrates their hidden dreams: a pure Israel with “no Arabs” and “no gentiles.” They do not notice what their exclusionary ideas are doing to Israel, to Judaism and to Jews in the diaspora. In the absence of a binding constitution, Israel has no real protection for its minorities or for their freedom of worship and expression.

If this trend continues, all vestiges of democracy will one day disappear, and Israel will become just another Middle Eastern theocracy. It will not be possible to define Israel as a democracy when a Jewish minority rules over a Palestinian majority between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea — controlling millions of people without political rights or basic legal standing.

Sur Burg et ses positions, lire « Abandonner le ghetto sioniste : un livre-bombe d’Abraham Burg », Nouvelles d’Orient, http://blog.mondediplo.net/2007-06-09-Abandonner-le-ghetto-sioniste-un-livre-bombe-d

American lessons in (in)tolerance | Joseph Massad (Al Jazeera English)
►http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/08/201282134633756703.html

In the last week, officials of the Obama administration have been visiting Egypt and issuing instructions to the new Egyptian president regarding the question of religious tolerance and Egyptian Christians, demanding and insisting that they be included in the new administration in certain capacities or else. This concern of American government officials about Muslim tolerance of Christians, however, is hardly a new concern. More than a century ago, in March 1910, while on a visit to British-occupied Egypt, former US President Theodore Roosevelt, who had just left office, addressed Egyptians at the then recently established Egyptian University (later Cairo University) on the question of self-government. (...) Source: Al Jazeera English

Passionnant article de Joseph Massad: American lessons in (in)tolerance
►http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/08/201282134633756703.html

Obama had lived in Indonesia from 1967 to 1971, in the wake of the massive US-sponsored massacres of almost one million Indonesians following the US-supported coup of General Suharto. Yet, while Obama remembers well Muslim “tolerance” towards Christians, he seems to remember little of the US-imposed terror and American sponsorship of right-wing Indonesian Muslim groups to kill communists in the wake of the 1965 Suharto coup, an intolerance the US had engineered and called for since the 1950s, and which would expand later to Afghanistan and spill over to right-wing Islamist groups’ intolerance of Christians in places like Egypt (many of whose right-wing sectarian Islamists were recruited by the US for its anti-Soviet war in Afghanistan) to which Obama was now counselling tolerance. 

Indeed, it is this same US-induced and supported intolerance that feeds the ongoing sectarian right-wing Islamist attacks on non-Sunni Muslims in Iraq (attacks that are depicted in the US media as an expression not of the US policy of sectarian agitation in Iraq, but on account of the indigenous “parochial” identities of Iraqis, which seem to have been unfortunately released by US-imposed “freedom”) and in Syria as well (in the latter case at least, with the full complicity of the Western press, if not Western governments, where sectarian attacks are being represented as part of the struggle for “democracy”). 

The US has continued to be the hegemon over Indonesia for the last 47 years, not only under the murderous regime of Suharto which it helped bring to power in 1965, but also and especially during the post-Suharto “democratic” phase where neoliberal former army generals would be elected to the presidency in accords with US interests. The current President Susilo Bambana Yudhoyono (a retired army general trained in the United States and an accused war criminal for his military role during Indonesia’s US-supported genocidal occupation of East Timor), and his vice-president Boediono (former governor of the Bank of Indonesia and a Wharton School graduate), are the crowning efforts of US policy in the country. With such examples of tolerance, like the United States and Indonesia under US tutelage, Muslim-majority countries indeed have much to learn about tolerance and more so about intolerance.

Criminalité Trafic d’êtres humains Index

Name and shame | The Economist

http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2012/07/daily-chart-5?fsrc/scn/fb/wl/dc/humantrafficking

Jul 9th 2012, 14:59

How America rates countries on their efforts to prevent human trafficking

IN MOST people’s minds, slavery was an immoral practice that ended in the 19th century. But the huge amount of sex trafficking and forced labour in the world—estimates suggest there are 27m victims of these practices—has led policymakers to brand this as “modern slavery” and work towards its eradication. For the past 12 years the American government has issued a “Trafficking in Persons Report”, which ranks nearly every country on their compliance with America’s Trafficking Victims Protection Act (though the only sanction is opprobrium). The data in this year’s report reveal anomalies. All of the G7 countries make the top tier for compliance—except Japan, which is in the second tier. Switzerland, one of the world’s richest countries, is not ranked with its western European peers in tier one, but with places like Laos and Latvia in tier two. And there are tier one standouts, like Colombia, Nicaragua and Georgia. The countries in the lowest tier, mostly in Africa and the Middle East, probably won’t surprise many. The good news is that 29 countries were upgraded from a lower tier to a higher one in this year’s report.

Cable Reveals Extent Of Lapdoggery From Swedish Govt On Copyright Monopoly - Falkvinge on Infopolicy
http://falkvinge.net/2011/09/05/cable-reveals-extent-of-lapdoggery-from-swedish-govt-on-copyright-monopol

Among the treasure troves of recently released #WikiLeaks cables, we find one whose significance has bypassed Swedish media. In short: every law proposal, every ordinance, and every governmental report hostile to the net, youth, and civil liberties here in Sweden in recent years have been commissioned by the US government and industry interests.

#cablegate #propriété_intellectuelle #suède #etats-unis

Game Over: Scans of Over 50 Ron Paul Newsletters

For a certain segment of the Ron Paul fanbase, no evidence of his disseminating hateful, paranoid material will ever be enough. Citing James Kirchick’s piece in The New Republic wasn’t sufficient, because Kirchick could have just been “making everything up.” Then, when I and others posted copies of “The Ron Paul Political Report Special Issue on Race Terrorism,” that too wasn’t convincing. “Proof that he said/endorsed racist things? Hardly. Doing it repeatedly in one document isn’t enough to prove that he did it. Now, if there were many documents...”

Well, now there are many documents. Over fifty. Right here.

As I said in my rundown on the Paul platform over at Vice, reasonable fans of Dr. Paul now must accept that

there’s no way Paul could have been ignorant of the content [of] 8-12 page newsletters published under his name for over ten years. Paul supporters face three losing propositions:

• He lacks the competency to control content published under his own name for over a decade, and is thus unfit to lead a country.
• He doesn’t believe these things but considers them a useful political tool to motivate racist whites, which makes him fit to be a GOP candidate, but too obvious about it to win.
• He’s actually a racist, which makes him unfit to be a human being.

http://www.mrdestructo.com/2011/12/game-over-scans-of-over-50-ron-paul.html

U.S. Groups Helped Nurture Arab Uprisings

Voici un article sauf erreur passé quasi inaperçu mais à mon sens plutôt (d)étonnant.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/world/15aid.html

L’ambassadeur américain à Damas a quitté la Syrie. Très mauvais signe. Pour commencer : black operations en perspective.

U.S. Ambassador to Syria Leaves Damascus Amid Threats to Safety - NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/world/middleeast/us-ambassador-to-syria-leaves-damascus-amid-threats-to-safety.html?ref=midd

Haynes Mahoney, the newly arrived embassy’s charge d’affaires, said Monday no date was set for Mr. Ford’s return, and he cautioned that his departure did not mean the American government had withdrawn Mr. Ford from the post. Though it was a matter of terminology, such a step would have signaled a dramatic if symbolic deterioration in already troubled relations. Mr. Mahoney will act in Mr. Ford’s place while he is gone.

Construction of Hoover Dam
http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2011/10/11/construction-of-hoover-dam

September 30, 2011 marked the 76th anniversary of the dedication of Hoover Dam. The dam straddles the border of Arizona and Nevada in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River and was dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935. Rising 726.4 feet from its foundation, Hoover Dam was constructed in five years, beginning in 1931 and completed in 1936. Take a look back at its construction and history.

http://denverpost.slideshowpro.com/albums/001/496/album-271297/cache/hooverdam15.sJPG_950_2000_0_75_0_50_50.JPG

The Observer vient de publier le portrait, par Frank Lindh, de son fils John Walker Lindh, le "taliban américain". Dans ce long et passionnant article, il décrit le parcours d’un jeune homme devenu l’ennemi de son propre pays et le détenu numéro 1 de la guerre contre le terrorisme, les circonstances de son incarcération et les relations ambiguës entre les Etats-Unis et les talibans depuis l’invasion soviétique de l’Afghanistan.

Converti à l’islam, John Walker Lindh étudie d’abord au Yémen puis dans une madrassa au Pakistan. A l’été 2001, il rejoint l’armée talibane en Afghanistan pour combattre l’Alliance du Nord, coupable d’exactions contre les populations civiles.

En novembre 2001, l’unité dans laquelle John Walker Lindh est incorporé se rend aux forces d’Abdul Rachid Dostom. Les prisonniers sont menés à la forteresse de Qala-e-Jangi, où une mutinerie éclate, qui durera une semaine.
Une partie des talibans se réfugie dans une cave. Pendant la mutinerie, celle-ci est incendiée, inondée, et les hommes de Dostom y jettent des grenades.
Dans la prison-hôpital où sont amenés les survivants, un reporter de CNN réalise une interview de John Walker Lindh, à qui un médecin militaire américain est en train d’administrer de la morphine.

Dès le début du mois de décembre, le président George W. Bush, le vice-président Dick Cheney et d’autres membres de l’administration le qualifient de « combattant d’Al-Qaida ». Quelques jours plus tard Newsweek fait sa couverture sur « le taliban américain ». Le ministre de la Justice John Ashcroft l’accuse d’avoir attaqué les Etats-Unis. Le maire de New-York Rudy Giuliani préconise la peine de mort.
John Walker Lindh n’est pas encore inculpé. Il est toujours en Afghanistan, torturé par les forces américaines.

En juillet 2002, un mois avant le procès, des représentants du Département de la Justice prennent contact avec les avocats de John Walker Lindh et parviennent à un compromis : les seuls chefs d’inculpation retenus seront la violation de l’embargo économique et le port d’armes dans une armée étrangère. En contrepartie, il devra abandonner les accusations de torture.
Sa libération est prévue en décembre 2021.

►http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/10/john-walker-lindh-american-taliban-father

#antiterrorisme #justice #ameriques

http://rezo.net/IMG/arton187286.jpg

My lost boy John Walker Lindh | Frank Lindh (The Observer)
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/10/john-walker-lindh-american-taliban-father

In 1998, aged 17, my son John Walker Lindh travelled to Yemen to study Islam and learn Arabic. In April 2001 he went to Afghanistan. Then 9/11 happened. He was captured by US troops, tortured, and jailed for 20 years, an innocent victim of America’s ’war on terror’ (...)

Frank Lindh: America’s barbaric treatment of my son John Walker Lindh
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/10/john-walker-lindh-american-taliban-father

In 1998, aged 17, my son John Walker Lindh travelled to Yemen to study Islam and learn Arabic. In April 2001 he went to Afghanistan. Then 9/11 happened. He was captured by US troops, tortured, and jailed for 20 years, an innocent victim of America’s ’war on terror’

Je signale que, selon Angry Arab, l’article suivant (qui commence à pas mal circuler sur Twitter) est de la pure propagande.

Egypt protests : America’s secret backing for rebel leaders behind uprising - Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/8289686/Egypt-protests-Americas-secret-backing-for-rebel-leaders-behind-uprisin

The American government secretly backed leading figures behind the Egyptian uprising who have been planning “regime change” for the past three years, The Daily Telegraph has learned.

Le commentaire d’Angry Arab :
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/us-is-now-ready-to-take-credit-for.html

The US is now ready to take credit for the Egyptian uprising
This is such a propaganda story. They are bragging about flying one person from Egypt? That is how the uprising was sparked? How silly is that. Also, did the opposition in Egypt get $2.2 billion from the US government? Did you sell them high tech weapons too. I mean, really. Cut the propaganda.

Michael Moore écrit aux autorités suédoises au sujet de #Wikileaks.

Michael Moore | Dear Government of Sweden ...
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/370-wikileaks/4299-dear-government-of-sweden-

“So you - you who have sat by and let thousands of Swedish women be raped while letting their rapists go scott-free - you decided it was now time to crack down on one man - the one man the American government wants arrested, jailed or (depending on which politician or pundit you listen to) executed. You just happened to go after him, on one possible ‘count of unlawful coercion, two counts of sexual molestation and one count of rape (third degree).’ And while thousands of Swedish rapists roam free, you instigated a huge international manhunt on Interpol for this Julian Assange!”

WikiLeaks: Swedish government ’hid’ anti-terror operations with America from Parliament - Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8202745/WikiLeaks-Swedish-government-hid-anti-terror-operations-with-America-fr

Swedish officials wanted discussions about anti-terrorism operations kept from public scrutiny.

They describe how officials from the Swedish Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Foreign Affairs had a “strong degree of satisfaction with current informal information sharing arrangements” with the American government.

#Sweden #cablegate