Sentiment Analysis for Homeland Security?

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Malin, Bradley A" <[email protected]>
Date: October 5, 2006 11:50:29 PM EDT
To: [email protected]
Subject: Sentiment Analysis for Homeland Security?

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/04/us/04monitor.html

Software Being Developed to Monitor Opinions of U.S.
By ERIC LIPTON
Published: October 4, 2006

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.

A $2.4 million grant will finance the research over three years.

American officials have long relied on newspapers and other news  
sources to track events and opinions here and abroad, a goal that has  
included the routine translation of articles from many foreign  
publications and news services.

The new software would allow much more rapid and comprehensive  
monitoring of the global news media, as the Homeland Security  
Department and, perhaps, intelligence agencies look “to identify  
common patterns from numerous sources of information which might be  
indicative of potential threats to the nation,” a statement by the  
department said.

<snip>