A Front Company and a Fake Identity: How the U.S. Came to Use Spyware It Was Trying to Kill.

A Front Company and a Fake Identity: How the U.S. Came to Use Spyware It Was Trying to Kill.

The secret contract — which The New York Times is disclosing for the first time — violates the Biden administration’s public policy, and still appears to be active. The contract, reviewed by The Times, stated that the “United States government” would be the ultimate user of the tool, although it is unclear which government agency authorized the deal and might be using the spyware. It specifically allowed the government to test, evaluate, and even deploy the spyware against targets of its choice in Mexico.

The secret November 2021 contract used the same American company — designated as “Cleopatra Holdings” but actually a small New Jersey-based government contractor called Riva Networks — that the F.B.I. used two years earlier to purchase Pegasus. Riva’s chief executive used a fake name in signing the 2021 contract and at least one contract Riva executed on behalf of the F.B.I.

The deal unfolded as the European private equity fund that owns NSO pursued a plan to get U.S. government business by establishing a holding company, Gideon Cyber Systems. The private equity fund’s ultimate goal was to find an American buyer for the company.

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American Paranoia: How the First World War triggered a wave of xenophobia and a Red Scare

In 1912 Woodrow Wilson was an unlikely Democratic candidate for the presidency, a sometime law professor and president of Princeton who had only served in public office for two years, as governor of New Jersey. But then it would be an unusual election, with a three-way fight. When the incumbent, William Howard Taft, defeated Theodore Roosevelt, his predecessor in the White House, for the Republican nomination, Roosevelt ran as a “Progressive”, splitting the Republican vote and allowing Wilson to win the presidency with little more than two-fifths of the popular vote.

American Paranoia: How the First World War triggered a wave of xenophobia and a Red Scare

WikiLeaks Is Showing Classified Government Cables in an Art Exhibition Meant to Raise Awareness About Threats to Free Speech

WikiLeaks Is Showing Classified Government Cables in an Art Exhibition Meant to Raise Awareness About Threats to Free Speech

Among the works on show will be Ai Weiwei’s photography series Study of Perspective, which sees the Chinese artist-activist raising his middle finger to pieces of architecture representing the institutional authority. One of the works the series, Tiananmen, which has been censored in Hong Kong, will also be on display. Works by the legendary designer Westwood, supported by the Vivienne Foundation, will “have a strong presence” at show, according to a/political, as well as a public program hosted by hip-hop artist and activist Lowkey. A closing music event will be held in collaboration with Shangri-La Glastonbury on April 8.

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Tiananmen Square Myth

His [Andrei Molodkin] sculptures and installations often employ materials techniques and practices common in engineering “Molodkin creates a complex mechanical system consisting of air compressors, cast-iron pumps, and plastic tubing” that pump liquids (most commonly blood and/or crude oil) around hollowed perspex replicas of sculptures and architecture, as well as politically loaded words and phrases.

Wikipedia

Kim Iversen: H.R. McMaster Warns “Be Ready For War With China”. NATO Seeks Indo-Pacific “Friends”

In the face of increasing tensions between the U.S. and China, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has called for more cooperation and allies in the Indo-Pacific region. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused NATO of wanting to “defeat” Russia, accusing the NATO-backed Ukraine regime of having no “independence” and only acting as a proxy for Western powers. NATO is trying to recruit more allies and build up forces in Europe and the Indo-Pacific, while Russia and China have formed an alliance, strengthening their power and creating another obstacle for the U.S.-led alliance. As the U.S. and its NATO allies prepare for war, questions are being raised about the potential consequences, with some suggesting that politicians may be using it as a way to gain control over the population and advance their globalist agenda.

Kim Iversen: H.R. McMaster Warns “Be Ready For War With China”. NATO Seeks Indo-Pacific “Friends” via Kim Iversen

Peace activist sentenced for criticizing German war policy in Ukraine

The Berlin-Tiergarten District Court sentenced peace activist Heinrich Bücker in January for speaking out in public against Germany’s war policy in Ukraine. The verdict is a massive attack on the basic democratic rights of freedom of speech and assembly. It is reminiscent of the persecution of anti-militarists in the Weimar Republic who—like Carl von Ossietzky—opposed the rearmament of the Reichswehr (armed forces).

Peace activist sentenced for criticizing German war policy in Ukraine

H/T: George Galloway

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Conviction for a commemorative speech for the attack on the USSR against Heinrich Bücker, Coop Anti-War cafe Berlin (in German)