Battleangel

U.S. universities cuddle up to the government to produce something that is eerily similar to the aborted Total Information Awareness system.

A consortium of major universities, using Homeland Security Department money, is developing software that would let the government monitor negative opinions of the United States or its leaders in newspapers and other publications overseas.

Such a “sentiment analysis” is intended to identify potential threats to the nation, security officials said.

Researchers at institutions including Cornell, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Utah intend to test the system on hundreds of articles published in 2001 and 2002 on topics like President Bush’s use of the term “axis of evil,” the handling of detainees at Guantánamo Bay, the debate over global warming and the coup attempt against President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela.

Well, aside from the Orwellian vibes, I can only add that it seems like a waste of time. Even if it is legit. As in not meant to be an automated way of tracking down dissent down the line. The bottom line is that it is amusing to hear hapless professors note that this would enable the U.S. to “understand what is going on in places around the world”. Seems to me like another expensive way to make it appear the U.S. just needs a little more bells and whistles to “understand” the world. As if. The U.S. elites understand the world — and the best way to usurp it — well enough. Hell, most of the things that go on in the world are directly or indirectly a result of U.S. activity. The idea of trolling the media seems fairly weak. Plus we already have Google News. At best, this will develop into a cover for further atrocities, “misunderstandings” and a jumble of meaningless facts the U.S. goverment can use to feed the barely sentient media which in turns relays it to an incresingly docile public. “Would you like to know more?”