Today’s Links: October 3, 2012

OPINION

SPENCER ACKERMAN: “DHS Counterterror Centers Produce ‘A Bunch of Crap,’ Senate Finds
“Unnamed DHS officials told the panel the fusion centers produce ‘predominantly useless information’ and ‘a bunch of crap.’ An internal 2010 assessment, which DHS did not share with Congress, found that a third of all fusion centers don’t have defined procedures for sharing intelligence — ‘one of the prime reasons for their existence.’ At least four fusion centers identified by DHS ‘do not exist,’ the Senate found. As civil libertarian groups have long warned (.pdf), those that do are hives of incompetence, bureaucracy, mission creep and possible civil-liberties abuses.”

JED GRAHAM: “Fed’s Bernanke Hits Delete, Erases $1 Trillion In Debt
“Fed asset buys could erase the cost of the $800 billion stimulus and then some. Call it quantitative deleting. By acquiring a vast portfolio of Treasury and mortgage securities — expected to approach $5 trillion in the next couple years — the Fed is driving interest rates even lower and funneling interest payments on U.S. debt back to the Treasury. By the end of 2015, its bond buys may have shaved nearly $1 trillion from the rising public debt since 2008, an IBD analysis finds.”

AMANDA HESS: “Don’t Be Afraid: Sexting Is the Polaroid of Our Time
“In his new history, Instant: The Story of Polaroid, Bonanos details how, post-Polaroid, friends would gather at “camera club” photography sessions to snap nude models in the privacy of their own homes; amateur sessions like those would eventually launch the legendary pin-up career of Bettie Page.”

NEWS

STEVE JOBS – Full hour-long 1983 Steve Jobs speech from International Design Conference surfaces [Audio]
“In the recording, Jobs predicted the explosion of the personal computer market, the need for better product designers, and the MIT project that would eventually contribute to Google’s StreetView. While we did not realize at the time, it turns out the audio recording is closer to an hour in length and includes a Q&A discussion following Jobs’ 20-minute prepared speech.”

CULTURAL CHANGE – CNN Poll: Big shifts on role of government
“The survey, released Wednesday, indicates that there have been major changes on attitudes toward the government. ‘The biggest: The number of Americans who say that the government should promote traditional values has fallen to an all-time low, a finding that might benefit many Democrats,’ says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.”

LABOR – 3 women workers claim Wal-Mart discrimination
“Three Tennessee employees have sued Wal-Mart claiming they lost pay and promotion opportunities because they are women.”