• Contact Us

  • Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire: Ultimate Fan Guide

    Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire: The Ultimate Fan Guide [Kindle] $0.99.


    Kobo Inc.
    Download_on_the_iTunes_iBooks_Badge_US-UK_146x40_0824
    I
    Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire:  Ultimate Fan Guide

    Georgiana is the subject of the movie "The Duchess" (currently on Netflix) and a relative of the young Prince and Princess of Cambridge. Get the Ultimate Fan Guide -- with plot points, history, and what happened to the historical characters -- for only 99 cents!

  • Green Party Peace Sign Bumper Sticker


    Green Party Peace Sign Bumper Sticker
    The Green Party has continually opposed entry into war and has consistently called for the immediate return of our troops, in stark contrast to the Democratic and Republican parties.
    Today we march, tomorrow we vote Green Party.

  • Occupy Wall Street: What Just Happened?

    Occupy Wall Street: What Just Happened? ebook cover

    |

    Occupy Wall Street: What Just Happened? eBook

    Occupy Wall Street: What Just Happened? eBook on Amazon

    Occupy Wall Street: What Just Happened? eBook

    Reflections on Occupy Wall Street, with photos, fun, and good wishes for the future. eBook, Occupy Wall Street: What Just Happened? (Only $.99 !) In the eBook, the Occupy movement is explored through original reporting, photographs, cartoons, poetry, essays, and reviews.The collection of essays and blog posts records the unfolding of Occupy into the culture from September 2011 to the present.  Authors Kimberly Wilder and Ian Wilder were early supporters of Occupy, using their internet platforms to communicate the changes being created by the American Autumn.

    The eBook is currently available on Amazon for Kindle;  Barnes & Noble Nook ; Smashwords independent eBook seller; and a Kobo for 99 cents and anyone can read it using their Kindle/Nook Reader, smart phone, or computer.

Data Mining Threatens Liberty, Not Terrorists

Data Mining Doesn’t Catch Terrorists: New Cato Study Argues it Threatens Liberty

WASHINGTON, Dec. 11 /U.S. Newswire/ — In the wake of 9/11, a jittery Washington embraced any measure intelligence and law- enforcement agencies said would help prevent further terrorist attacks. Data mining was dubbed an essential tool in the war on terror, with the agencies arguing that comprehensive monitoring of personal data would assist in catching terrorists. In “Effective Counter-Terrorism and the Limited Role of Predictive Data Mining,” Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the Cato Institute, and Jeff Jonas, a distinguished engineer and chief scientist with IBM’s Entity Analytic Solutions Group, demonstrate that data mining is costly, ineffective, and a violation of fundamental liberty.

Data mining relies on “pattern-based analysis,” where the government analyzes private data from large numbers of people. The data includes travel and transactional history. Predictive data mining not only invades citizens’ privacy, but registers false positives over 90 percent of the time. The technology needed to obtain more precise results simply does not exist — a fact that renders data mining useless and potentially harmful.

The “statistical likelihood of false positives is so high that predictive data mining will inevitably waste resources and threaten civil liberties,” argue the study’s authors.

“Data mining is not an effective way to discover incipient terrorism,” Harper and Jonas write. “It is not well suited to the terrorist discovery problem.” In fact, the authors conclude that the information about the key members of the 9/11 plot was available to the U.S. government prior to the attacks. It was “quite feasible” to find and connect the culprits “using the legal authority and investigative systems that existed before the attacks.”

Harper and Jonas add: “Better interagency information sharing, investigatory legwork, in pursuit of genuine leads, and better training are what the 9/11 story most clearly calls for,” but data mining distracts from those goals.

In order to keep America safe, Harper and Jonas recommend abandoning data mining and putting resources where they matter. “The most efficient, effective approach — and the one that protects civil liberties — is the one suggested by 9/11: pulling the strings that connect bad guys to other plotters.”

Policy Analysis Paper no. 584: http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6784

Cato Institute: http://www.cato.org/

The Cato Institute is a nonpartisan public policy research foundation dedicated to broadening policy debate consistent with the traditional American principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.