The C.I.A. has lost dozens of informants — to death, to arrest, or to double-crossing — in the last several years, the intelligence service warned internally in a recent “top secret” cable that was then immediately leaked to the New York Times.
Some of the C.I.A.’s informant problems are probably somewhat unique to the nature of running a tool for U.S. imperialism: officers being tracked by rival foreign intelligence services using such technology as facial recognition and artificial intelligence, sources being hunted down and turned into double agents for other countries, and those double agents then feeding disinformation to the C.I.A. Also, the threat of capture and/or death, etc.
C.I.A. PLAGUED BY SLOPPY WORK ETHIC AND MISMANAGEMENT JUST LIKE ALL WORKPLACES
Classic Lesson From The Tax Court: Sex And Deductions
Edward Snowden: Balancing Risk, Reality And Facts
Leaders are thinking about hybrid work in a one-dimensional way. This is a better approach. - Fast Company – “The term “hybrid work” has come to mean more flexibility around working both remotely and in the office. But perhaps we could be applying the same term to the speed of work as well. Post-pandemic, are our work lives slowing down or speeding up? There seem to be conflicting answers. On the one hand, NPR recently reported that unemployment is down and job growth is up. In addition, earlier this year the Federal Reserve forecasted rampant economic growth, while Forrester predicted 6% growth in business and government spending on tech goods, software, services, and staff in 2021 (and 6.5% growth in 2022). From this perspective, work life sure seems like it’s speeding up. But hang on a minute. Millennials are quitting their jobs (even six-figure jobs) to prioritize their mental health, travel the world, and pursue more fulfilling, flexible careers. Offices are opening back up, but employees are revolting: Apple staff is conflicted about Tim Cook’s return to work policy; Amazon employees disagree with the company’s policy and are calling for permanent remote work; and when forced with the decision, are just opting to quit instead. Sounds like we’re slowing down. How do we measure progress in a world where success is defined in two radically different ways? Or, said differently: what should work feel like? And who decides?…
What if hybrid means…Some days you work quickly and sprint, and other days you take things slow and focus more on the process and deep work…”
Workers are putting on pants to return to the office only to be on Zoom all day - Washington Post
Washington Post: “Pandemic-era safety procedures have created a new dynamic at work, in which many employees say they’re operating at work the same way they were at home…As many office workers head back to the office — even as the delta variant spreads across the United States — employees are facing a bizarre new reality: They’re still spending most of their time isolated and glued to their computers for Zoom meetings, email and Slack. With more companies implementing permanent hybrid working options — in which some employees work from home and others in the office — the virtual nature of work may far outlive the pandemic. And with it, so may the quirks of the new office environment…”
As the world shat itself, maybe your employer was shitting themselves, too. Maybe they were hesitant about people working from home. But did they tell you to leave your computer camera on? All. The. Time.
In the early days of COVID-19, when we knew little and consumed a lot (anyone else fuel their fear by watching Contagion?), I definitely felt uncomfortable on public transport, commuting an hour into work each day.
Friends and family started working from home, but I was still required to go into the office throughout March, April, May…
I finally gathered the courage to ask my boss a closed question, “Do you think it’s inevitable we will work from home?” Avoiding eye contact (kind of like they were avoiding the world health crisis), they simply nodded.
If You Think Your Boss Sucks, Let Me One-Up You: I Was Forced To Leave My Camera On While WFH
I was startled the other day to hear a mate saying he was a bit depressed by the thought that Australia was turning into a business kleptocracy. What? Surely not. But the more I thought about it, the more I realised he was on to something.
I’ve written a lot in recent times about the failure of what lefty academics call “neoliberalism” and its quest for smaller government. Going back to the reign of the Howard government, both sides of politics have accepted the fashionable idea that, though there are plenty of services governments should continue asking taxpayers to pay for, the actual delivery of those services should be “outsourced” to the private sector.
… if you see some money lying around with nobody watching, you grab it? That while ripping-off customers is unethical and will soon get you a bad reputation, overcharging “the government” is a harmless, victimless crime? No human was hurt in the making of this profit?
How flimflam politicians cultivate a culture of business greed
Joint Statement: Foreign Ministers of Russia and China : Biological Weapons The Saker
We need independents to hold the balance of power after the next election
The major parties are not serving Australia well, and voters know it. If independents held the balance of power in the House of Representatives, it would be a good thing for our democracy.
It’s Not Misinformation. It’s Amplified Propaganda.
The Atlantic – You don’t need fake accounts to spread ampliganda online. Real people will happily do it…In fact, we have a very old word for persuasive communication with an agenda: propaganda. That term, however, comes with historical baggage. It presumes that governments, authority figures, institutions, and mass media are forcing ideas on regular people from the top down. But more and more, the opposite is happening. Far from being merely a target, the public has become an active participant in creating and selectively amplifying narratives that shape realities. Perhaps the best word for this emergent bottom-up dynamic is one that doesn’t exist quite yet: ampliganda, the shaping of perception through amplification. It can originate from an online nobody or an onscreen celebrity. No single person or organization bears responsibility for its transmission. And it is having a profound effect on democracy and society…”
University Of Hong Kong To Remove Tiananmen Commemoration
Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, October 2, 2021 – Privacy and security issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Apple’s App Tracking Transparency Feature Doesn’t Stop Tracking; New Chrome feature can tell sites and webapps when you’re idle; Bye Google: 7 privacy-first search engines everyone should try; and Troll farms reached 140 million Americans a month on Facebook before 2020 election, internal report shows.
Subject: Troll farms reached 140 million Americans a month on Facebook before 2020 election, internal report shows
Source: MIT Technology Review
https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/09/16/1035851/facebook-troll-farms-report-us-2020-election/