Tag: NSA

The CIA’s Influence Over the Media: Use of the Conspiracy Theorist Slur

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The CIA’s Influence Over the Media: Use of the Conspiracy Theorist Slur

These days, it seems that you can tell who is working for the CIA simply by the way they use “conspiracy theory” and “conspiracy theorist” in attempts to belittle others. An example might be when a lawyer for gold mining companies was presented by the corporate media as a public servant/truth teller based on stolen documents that were never shared with the public. That lawyer and his colleagues at The Intercept use the conspiracy theorist slur as much as any other media source, and often when they are questioned about their dubious rise to fame.

Patriot Act Used By The FBI To Collect Internet Browsing Data, Contradicting Claims Made To Oversight

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

By Tim Cushing | TechDirt | December 8, 2020

The NSA shut down its bulk phone records collection — authorized under Section 215 — after it became apparent it wasn’t worth the effort. Reforms put in place by the USA Freedom Act prevented the agency from collecting it all and sorting it out later. Instead, it had to approach telcos with actual targeted requests and only haul away responsive records. The NSA somehow still managed to overcollect records, putting it in violation of the law. The NSA hinted the program had outlived its usefulness anyway, suggesting it had far better collections available under other authorities that it would rather not subject to greater scrutiny.

Patriot Act Used By The FBI To Collect Internet Browsing Data, Contradicting Claims Made To Oversight

National Security Adviser Declares Huawei the ‘Number One Concern’

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

National Security Adviser Declares Huawei the ‘Number One Concern’

On their way out the door, the Trump Administration has been imposing measures trying to solidify their diplomatic stances such that when Biden takes over he will struggle to reverse course. This has mostly involved anti-Iran measures, but increasingly also moves against the Chinese.

I don’t think Biden needs any help:

Biden likely to remain tough on Chinese tech like Huawei, but with more help from allies

A harder US line? Potential Pentagon chief floated idea to sink China fleet in 72 hours

Reminder of who really utilizes back doors for surveillance:

NSA Hacked and Spied on Huawei, Snowden Documents Say

The NSA’s elite hacker team, the Tailored Access Operations unit, was able to plant backdoors — best described as hidden vulnerabilities — into Huawei’s nework, and even steal its source code. This was part of a plan by the spy agency to monitor computers and networks equipped with Huawei’s hardware, which are now used by “high priority targets — Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kenya, Cuba,” according to a document quoted by The Times

Times Editorial Lets Slip Joe Biden’s Latin America Policy: More Obama-Style Coups

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)2 Comments

Times Editorial Lets Slip Joe Biden’s Latin America Policy: More Obama-Style Coups

What the authors are referring to is a continent-wide campaign to unseat progressive leaders that ended in the jailing of Brazilian president Lula da Silva, the impeachment of his successor Dilma Rousseff, and the rise of the far-right authoritarian Jair Bolsonaro. The so-called Operation Car Wash (“Lava Jato” in Portuguese) was ostensibly an attempt to root out corruption at all levels of society. Yet leaked documents and recordings have shown that, from the beginning, it was a naked powerplay attempt by Brazil’s rich elite to retake control of society from the progressive Workers’ Party administrations through legal means.

NYT: Biden’s Plans for Latin America: End ‘Bully Dictating Policy’

Mr. Biden’s advisers say they would seek to revive the anti-corruption campaign that set off political earthquakes across the Americas starting in 2014, but largely stalled in recent years.

Related:

How the United States killed Brazil’s Democracy. Again.