Blackout favors for financial biggies?

David DeGraw gives some interesting details in his Public Record analysis of the May 6 market flash crash and the market plunge of 2008 to bolster his position that the crackups were due to deliberate manipulation by the financial oligopoly, which, he says, was pressuring Congress for special favors.

DeGraw, a writer who cites no specific credentials in this area, has complained that Google News blocks his analyses, even when they appear in the Public Record, which Google News generally doesn't block.

Now I am not well informed enough in this matter to know whether random or non-random forces triggered the crashes.

But I find it quite interesting that a Daily Kos commenter, Skorch, reported that CNN had barred him from commenting altogether, while Fox News and Yahoo News selectively filtered his comments. Skorch gave an example of his commentary, which concerned his beliefs about the politics of the financial system. He insisted his comments were barred because of political content and not because of anything obscene.

And we also have Cliff Kincaid of the conservative Accuracy in Media making claims similar to DeGraw's  about market manipulation.

There is also the point that two reporters for mainstream media (see post below) focused on whiz bang technology as the probable flash crash culprit but seem to have asked no Wall Street analyst whether deliberate manipulation was a plausible scenario. On the other hand Fox News ran a report quoting a White House cyber security adviser that there is no evidence linking the flash crash to cyber terrorism.

Still,  there is a long, sad tradition in the news business of blacking out stories on behalf of powerful financial interests.

The federal suggestion that businesses and other organizations purge their computer systems of all but absolutely essential personal information is driven home by the rise of firms specializing in data mining which cull the net for personal information in background checks sought by government agencies, creditors and others.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology cyber security division is urging such purges as a means of safeguarding people from hacker attacks. But it also makes sense to avoid legal data mining, such as provided by www.diversifiedriskmanagement.com/investigations/. One writer reported that this firm, which he says claims to do cyber intelligence for the feds, was checking up on him over a web page about the Tea Party. (You may find that the page is difficult to access.)

Curiously, NIST's cyber security suggestions may prove to be at odds with what the NSA's new Cyber Command, which is still beng organized, really prefers, which is easy access to any information on the net.

Traditionally, spooks take advantage of dummies who make things easy for electronic espionage and counter-espionage. The famous crackings of the Ultra codes during World War II relied on lazy German telegraphers who casually ignored key word security precautions.

Such an NSA preference might explain why there has been no hoopla about the NIST privacy report.

Interestingly, Homeland Security, which lost the battle over who should run national cyber security, appears to have killed all its links concerning cyber security and no longer offers specific cyber security updates.

But I'm not sure why the FBI appears to have sent me no specific cyber alerts after I signed up for them weeks ago -- unless they were wrapped into the FBI News Digest, which I rarely glance at.

The NSA cyber command isn't sending out cyber alerts yet (as far as I can determine), which means NIST is the only federal entity sending out advisories on cyber security to the American public, or to the general or technical press. But I doubt most people would think of checking NIST. I'd say that NIST would be the right agency to check on the flash crash, but then again, the NIST's disgraceful 9/11 reports subordinated science to political control.

BTW, there's a public Facebook page devoted entirely to sharing of information about NSA surveillance. Use a search engine to find it.

Cops or crooks using the right equipment can play hob with your new, highly computerized automobile, according to Only Software Blog, which cites credible sources.

People with such gear can lock your doors, shut off your engine, blast your radio and whatever, overriding all your attempts at control.

This looks like a very dangerous development. The government can open your car and take your leaked document with no effort. And far more common would be abuse by criminals and overzealous law enforcement authorities.