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Quote from : Wikipedia : Blackmail
Blackmail is the crime of threatening to reveal substantially true information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand made upon the victim is met.
This information is usually of an embarrassing, socially damaging, and/or criminally incriminating nature.
As the information is substantially true, the act of revealing the information may not be criminal in its own right nor amount to a civil law defamation; the crime is making demands in exchange for withholding it.
English Law creates a much broader definition of blackmail, covering any unwarranted demands with menaces, whether involving revealing information or not.
Blackmail is similar to extortion.
The difference is that extortion involves an underlying, independent criminal act, while blackmail does not.
Quote from : Wikipedia : Fear
Fear is an emotional response to a perceived threat.
It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger.
Some psychologists such as John B. Watson, Freitas-Magalhaes,Robert Plutchik, and Paul Ekman have suggested that fear is one of a small set of basic or innate emotions.
This set also includes such emotions as joy, sadness, and anger.
Fear should be distinguished from the related emotional state of anxiety, which typically occurs without any external threat.
Additionally, fear is related to the specific behaviors of escape and avoidance, whereas anxiety is the result of threats which are perceived to be uncontrollable or unavoidable.
Worth noting is that fear almost always relates to future events, such as worsening of a situation, or continuation of a situation that is unacceptable.
Fear could also be an instant reaction, to something presently happening.
Quote from : Wikipedia : Secrecy
Secrecy (also called clandestinity or furtiveness) is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups, perhaps while sharing it with other individuals.
That which is kept hidden is known as the secret.
Secrecy is often controversial, depending on the content of the secret, the group or people keeping the secret, and the motivation for secrecy.
Secrecy by government entities is often decried as excessive or in promotion of poor operation; excessive revelation of information on individuals can conflict with virtues of privacy and confidentiality.
Amazon Review :
“The Science of Fear elegantly weaves academic research and everyday experience, exposing the secrets of emotion and reason, and the essential roles they play on our lives. An excellent book.”
--Dan Ariely, author of New York Times bestseller Predictably Irrational
“Where writers such as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Francis Wheen have been content largely to enumerate the errors of less rational men and women, Dan Gardner has collated part of what we need to diagnose the problem. If skeptics spent less time moaning about the propensity of their fellows to believe what they want to believe and more time asking why they do so, there might not be such a crisis of reason in the West today.”
--The Independent
“Terrific. Exceptionally good… Has the clarity of Malcolm Gladwell.”
--Evening Standard
“Excellent…. analyses everything from the media’s predilection for irrational scare stories to the cynical use of fear by politicians pushing a particular agenda…. Gardner never falls into the trap of becoming frustrated and embittered by the waste and needless worry that he is documenting. A personal anecdote about an unwise foray into a Nigerian slum in search of a stolen wallet disposes of the idea that the author is immune to the foibles he describes. What could easily have been a catalogue of misgovernance and stupidity instead becomes a cheery corrective to modern paranoia.”
--The Economist
“Those of us who spend our careers in research hope that someone like Daniel Gardner will come along and bring our findings to the world in an engaging and scientifically accurate way. Thank you, Dan! Some books can change the world. This one might.”
--Paul Slovic, Professor of Psychology, University of Oregon, past President of The Society for Risk Analysis
“Fear needs a science and Daniel Gardner offers a fast-paced tour of what the most interesting researchers have revealed. The number of things that you don't need to be afraid of is encouraging, but finding out why we still do fear them anyway is fascinating. Essential reading for anyone interested in the social mistakes we make everyday--and how to fix them.”
--Tyler Cowen, author of Discover Your Inner Economist
“An invaluable resource for anyone who aspires to think clearly.”
--The Guardian “Elegantly summarises the results of psychological research … Gardner is forensic in his dissection of bogus claims in advertising and politics, just as he is lucid about the science explaining why they work.”
--The Observer
“A fascinating insight into the peculiar and devastating nature of human fear, while training the reader to be ever wary of misleading media announcements.”
--The Telegraph
Amazon Review :
Breaking 170 years of secrecy, this intriguing exposé takes a behind-the-scenes look at Yale's mysterious society, the Order of the Skull and Bones, and its prominent members, numbering among them Tafts, Rockefellers, Pillsburys, and Bushes.
Explored is how Skull and Bones initiates have become senators, judges, cabinet secretaries, spies, titans of finance and industry, and even U.S. presidents, including George W. Bush.
This book reveals that far from being a campus fraternity, the society is more concerned with the success of its members in the postcollegiate world.
Included are a verified membership list, rare reprints of original Order materials revealing the interlocking power centers dominated by Bonesmen, and a peek inside the Tomb, their 140-year-old private clubhouse.
Originally posted by dampnickers
Brilliant!
I am impressed your research on this topic, and certainly connected with your suggestion of turning elements of this into the "art of peace".
The art of peace is something we should all aspire to - that and denial of ignorance.
Great job.
Originally posted by SLAYER69
S & F
Knowledge is power.
How we wield that knowledge can be beneficial or destructive. All throughout history somebody has tried to use their intimate knowledge of others in order to obtain some sort of gain. Be it land, Power influence or just simply money.
I think maybe some introverts may have a hidden fear of blackmail.
The OODA loop (for observe, orient, decide, and act) is a concept originally applied to the combat operations process, often at the strategic level in both the military operations. It is now also often applied to understand commercial operations and learning processes. The concept was developed by military strategist and USAF Colonel John Boyd.
A man does what he must - in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures - and that is the basis of all human morality. Winston Churchill
Originally posted by Alethea
I have noticed that several website forums use the lever and fulcrum as a logo. It kinda gives me the creeps because I wonder what this imagery really means in relation to what these sites promote. Prison Planet uses that logo.
_____________ are typically hoarders and not sharers of information. They understand well that information is power. They study organizations and their networks, rewards, punishments and paths of “upward” mobility well. They typically have a good command of who really holds the power in a given organization versus what the organizational charts may indicate. They do well on interviews and know how to deflect questions away from sensitive areas. Many are master psychologists in the sense, like all predators, they are able to quickly size people up in terms of vulnerabilities and potential strengths—threats--to them. They are as adept at keeping low profiles and scapegoating others when mistakes surface, as they are at taking the spotlight and credit for the work of others when positive outcomes occur.
Amazon Review :
The FBI, CIA and other government agencies have not only spied on civil rights, peace and leftist-liberal political groups; for decades, as this report documents, the government has been compiling extensive secret files on eminent writers, dramatists, artists and journalists.
Mitgang, cultural correspondent for the New York Times, obtained thousands of pages of declassified material under the Freedom of Information Act.
Hemingway, Faulkner, Steinbeck, Sandburg, Dreiser, Pearl Buck, Dorothy Parker, Thomas Wolfe, Georgia O'Keeffe, Tennessee Williams, Dashiel Hammettthese, and dozens more people, had dossiers maintained on them by an over-zealous FBI.
Federal agents penetrated and spied on the Authors Guild and the Dramatists Guild.
Living writers kept under surveillance include John Kenneth Galbraith, Norman Mailer and Allen Ginsberg.
Initially excerpted in the New Yorker, Mitgang's damning indictment of government interference with freedom of expression is a blockbuster, an important, brave, chilling expose.
20,000 first printing; BOMC alternate; author tour.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Quote from : Wikipedia : House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC or HCUA, 1938–1975) was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives.
In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to "House Committee on Internal Security".
When the House abolished the committee in 1975, its functions were transferred to the House Judiciary Committee.
The committee's anti-communist investigations are often confused with those of Senator Joseph McCarthy .
McCarthy, as a senator, had no direct involvement with this House committee.
McCarthy was the chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
Power :
Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts, absolutely.
Amazon Review :
In The Tao of Spycraft, for the first time anywhere Ralph Sawyer unfolds the long and venerable tradition of spycraft and intelligence work in traditional China, revealing a vast array of theoretical materials and astounding historical developments.
Encompassing extensive translations of relevant portions of theoretical military manuals previously unknown in the West (such as the T'ai-pai Yin-ching, Hu-ling Ching, and Ping-fa Pai-yen), the book spans centuries to trace the development and expansion of agent concepts, insertion and control methods, recruitment, and covert practices such as assassination, subversion, and sexual entrapment and exploitation, going on to explore counter-intelligence and all aspects of military intelligence, including objectives, analysis and interpretation.
But The Tao of Spycraft is more than an examination of military tactics, it also provides a thorough overview of the history of spies in China, emphasizing their early development, ruthless employment, and dramatic success in subverting famous generals, dooming states to extinction, and facilitating the rise of the first imperial dynasty known as the Ch'in.
The cases discussed-particularly those exploiting women and sex-not only became part of China's general mindset over the ages, but coupled with the theoretical writings remain the basis for the study and teaching of contemporary spycraft methods and practices as the PRC trains and aggressively deploys thousands of agents throughout the world, including the United States.
About the Author
Ralph D. Sawyer, one of America’s leading scholars in Chinese warfare, has worked extensively with major intelligence and defense agencies.
After studying at MIT and Harvard and a brief stint of university teaching, Sawyer has spent the past thirty years lecturing and doing international consulting work focused on China.
Amazon Review :
An assiduous journalist, Kessler has written numerous books about behind-the-scenes stories at the national security agencies.
His reportage on the abuse of office perks by ex-FBI director William Sessions, for example, precipitated Sessions' exit in 1993.
His latest book is a history of the FBI since its origin in 1908 and is structured around directors' tenures.
A majority of this overview is devoted to J. Edgar Hoover's 48 years in the saddle, and Kessler does dig up some new tidbits.
Yet much of the Hoover-era material will be old hat to readers of Kessler's The FBI (1993).
What's new here?
A cascade of criticism of Louis Freeh, the director from 1993 to 2001.
Despite Freeh's positive public persona, Kessler says insiders rankled under his leadership.
They felt that Freeh neglected management issues such as a systemic computer problem, preferring to unwisely intervene in individual investigations such as the botched Wen Ho Lee case.
Kessler's access to reliable sources results in a richly detailed overview.
Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
While prosecutions under the Smith Act ceased, the statute remains on the books.
Originally posted by SoLaR513
Let me start out by saying that I hate to admit this but in the spirit of the thread I shall do so. I was recently blackmailed by a family member.
Originally posted by SoLaR513
My wife's brother had been staying with us doing some work for me at my office that we had built on our property. He had been sleeping on an air mattress in the office so he could work while we slept. Apparently he had taken a shine to pilfering through my belongings in the office and discovered a camera flash card I had hidden inside a file cabinet. Unfortunately it contained a private video of my self I had been making that I was planning to surprise my wife with.
Originally posted by SoLaR513
Lets just say I was doing things I only wanted her and her alone to see. He viewed the contents and made a copy on his laptop and put the card back so I never suspected it had been tampered with. So to make a very long story short sometime after he finally went home and left my employ he decided he had not received sufficient compensation for the work he had done.
Originally posted by SoLaR513
He revealed to me that he had possession of the the video and that he would send copies to my entire family including my mother-in-law if I didn't wire him a specified amount of money.
Originally posted by SoLaR513
I was furious, however, the embarrassment I faced prompted me to pay him on the condition he delete the offensive content from his computer.
Originally posted by SoLaR513
I don't know if he did but I assure you since then I have pretended all is forgiven in the hopes he plans to show his cowardly face for a visit one day. He currently lives hundreds of miles away but were he to make the trip here I would have a very warm welcoming Louisville slugger for his knee caps.
Amazon Review :
The gumshoe go-to—revised and updated.
Easy-to-use and fantastically inclusive, this is the book on private investigation, whether you want to establish yourself as a professional or just use some of the tools of a P.I. for your own business.
You’ll get the low-down on pre-employment research, tenant screening, adoption searches, safeguarding yourself from investigation, and much more.
—Completely revised with all-new chapters on skip tracing and due diligence searches
—Skills and techniques for average citizens, as well as professionals
—Includes the most useful—and little-known—databases
About the Author
Steven Kerry Brown, founder and president of Millennial Investigative Agency, began his investigative career as a special agent for the FBI.
For the past 18 years, he has successfully managed his own private investigation firm.
He’s appeared on such television programs as Hard Copy and 60 Minutes, and speaks frequently before civic and professional groups.
Originally posted by timewalker
I think we have all had blackmail used on us or used it ourselves, even on a minute level between friends. Some use this 'power' to get 'ahead' in life and I think it comes from more of a psychological dominance issue more than anything else. It seems to be the way business is done. Sadly.
Originally posted by timewalker
I found it quite interesting with J.Edgar Hoover, that he was the most feared man in the alphabet agencies most probably due to his intelligence capabilities and having plenty of dirt on people manufactured or real.
Originally posted by timewalker
Shockingly when the Smith Act was coming into play, I understand Roosevelt signed it into law due to being afraid of being labeled a communist sympathizer himself and being brought before the courts. He did not want to sign it. I am sure Hoover had much dirt to throw.
While prosecutions under the Smith Act ceased, the statute remains on the books.
Wiki
[edit on 18-3-2010 by timewalker]