Twitter

We have received a disturbing update on the situation in Egypt (one of Africa's most populous countries will just under 90 million): "Twitter is now blocked in Egypt, and apparently many phone lines have had data services disabled." What happens next is anyone's guess.

The DOJ, instead of pursuing actual threats to so-called justice, such as, among other, the fact that the entire US mortgage industry is based on churn-predicated fraud, that Goldman Sachs is an undisputed monopolist in the OTC market, and that JP Morgan uses its cartel power and FRBNY affiliation to control the commodity market, has decided to instead go after private user information on Twitter of all places. And while the excuse is that this is merely another expansion in the ongoing probe against that uber-terrorist organization Wikileaks (which as Salon's Glenn Greenwald points out is "doing nothing more than publishing classified information showing what the U.S. Government is doing: something investigative journalists, by definition, do all the time") it may have actually crossed the line by subpoenaning private data from an Icelandic member of parliament, Birgitta Jonsdottir, a one-time associate of Julian Assange. Furthermore, it appears that Twitter may be just one of many services which have received the DOJ subpoena (Wikileaks suspects that Google and Facebook are two other sites that may have received a Wikileaks-related subpoena but have so far not disclosed it), but is the only one which requested that the original order be unsealed. Most importantly, the question of just who Eric Holder consider a potential "threat" is completely unclear, which means that pretty much anyone can be the subject of complete disclosure of data previously considered private.One thing is certain: if anyone has ever donated to Wikileaks via Paypal or otherwise, they are now a target.

Less than an hour ago we asked (rhetorically, we hoped) how long until Twitter caves to the same gestapo tactics that have caused Wikileaks to be banned virtually everywhere else. The answer turns, is, less than an hour.

But do not despair: @Anon_Operations is already reborn as @AnonOpsNet

And now for some late night amusement from head CNBC entertainer Cramer: "I lost my temper on Twitter this morning. The chatter was that I had put people in the market at the top and taken them out at the bottom. I have done a bunch of things wrong in my life and in my trading career, but that combination is not one of them. There were also the attacks on me about buying gold at the top. What am I supposed to do about this one?"...As Cramer is nothing more than a (tragi)comedian, we applaud his collapse to the level of one Dennis Kneale, whose last gimmick before ending his CNBC career, was engaging the blogo/twittersphere. We are delighted that Mr. Cramer has finally "succumbed" to the same terminal level.

Presented without comment. Courtesy of lucasvpraag

The wild west days of social networking as a platform for stock tips and under the radar information exchange may be coming to an end. Or at least FINRA is finally realizing that there is more to stock manipulation than meets the eye, and in a radical change in policy (which up to now had been non-existent on the matter), FINRA will start policing and pouring through tweets, after announcing that "securities firms must keep copies of all business-related communications on social networks, whether those communications are official or from associated persons." Yet indicating just how woefully behind the times the SEC's much-feebler cousin is, FINRA has admitted that "the technology to grab those messages might not exist." The reason why FINRA should be concerned, as Securities Industry News highlights is that "Every Wall Street company – except possibly the smallest ones – have employees using social networks, creating potential liability problems for their employers, for whom they might not be speaking. However, many firms are also actively using these new platforms themselves, to reach out to customers, the general public, and potential new recruits."

For all curious about events in Iran who have access to Twitter, especially now that western journalists have all been deported, please follow persiankiwi

Some of his most recent tweets below:

khamenei website is back online - waas hacked before - #Iranelection
2 minutes ago from web

were attacked in streets by mob on motorbikes with batons - firing guns into air - streetfires all over town - roads closed; #Iranelection
4 minutes ago from web