As Congress debated Section 702 – the authority within the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that allows U.S. intelligence agencies to surveil foreign threats located abroad – the FBI solemnly informed lawmakers that the use of Section 702 is essential to allowing the bureau to catch domestic terror plots. In fact, the FBI claimed Section 702 was used to derail a “potentially imminent terrorist attack” against critical U.S. infrastructure.
Did the FBI Just Get Caught Lying to Congress About the Efficacy of “Backdoor Searches”?
Tag: search warrants
China vs. the US: shipbuilding, subsidies, and the Jones Act
Hypocrisy thrives where double standards prevail.
Earlier, I stupidly tweeted out an article about the Jones Act and shipbuilding and Colin Grabow, from the Cato Institute, liked it (he was quoted in the article). I looked him up and decided to listen to this video on the shipbuilding competition between China and the US, where he and a lawyer for United Steelworkers were on the panel. China is eating their lunch, and it’s the ruling elites’ own fault, yet they scapegoat China for it. The double standards over China’s “unfair economic practices” AKA the subsidizing of their shipbuilding industry irritates me (liars irritate me even more). States give subsidies, grants, and tax breaks to corporations, all the time. Fincantieri Marinette Marine is just one example, but Wisconsin had done the same for Foxconn. Foxconn received tax breaks and $3B in subsidies, which was “the largest ever subsidy provided by a state to a foreign company”, despite not living up to their promises.
Colin Grabow wants to end the Jones Act. I’ve made at least three video clips regarding the Jones Act, two with Sal Mercogliano from What’s Going On With Shipping and one from the government-funded CSIS (I’ve posted them, below). Spoiler alert: Sal says that the problem isn’t the Jones Act. Meanwhile, both CSIS and the Cato Institute (part of the Atlas Network) blame the Jones Act. Deregulation is a wet dream of big corporations (which fund both the Cato Institute and CSIS).
Read More »House Votes To Extend Warrantless Spying Powers
Data Broker That Trafficked In Abortion Clinic Location Data Also Helps The Air Force With ‘Targeting’
Case in point: a data broker by the name of SafeGraph was busted in 2022 selling the app-gleaned location data of users who had visited abortion clinics. Journalists found that the company was selling a week of granular location data of clinic visitors for as little as $160, documenting not just which clinic they visited and how long they stayed, but where they went before and after.
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At the same time, SafeGraph contracts with government agencies like the CDC to help do things like track the effectiveness of pandemic lockdowns. And there’s ongoing, emerging data indicating that the company has a fairly robust relationship with the U.S. Air Force that involves providing data for, among other things, “targeting cycle and decisions” in “contested geographies.”:
“Geospatial Data to Navigate Contested Geographies,” the documents and public procurement records, dated May 2023, read. “Improving AFCENT and 9AF Targeting Cycle and Decisions.” 9AF, or Ninth Air Force, is responsible for missions with partner nations in Southwest Asia.”
Related:
Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central):
USAFCENT Area of Responsibility
Afghanistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Yemen.
U.S. raids Chinese auto parts maker in Ohio
U.S. raids Chinese auto parts maker in Ohio
In September, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party in September wrote a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas accusing Qingdao Sunsong of moving some of its production to Thailand to evade U.S. tariffs.
The letter identified Qingdao Sunsong’s public filings, which say the company’s products are subject to U.S. import tariffs of 25% imposed on certain goods made in China and that “in order to reduce tariff costs, the issuer has accelerated production in Thailand.”
In the letter to Mayorkas, Republican congressmen Mike Gallagher* of Wisconsin and Darin LaHood of Illinois called Sunsong’s actions a “case of blatant trade fraud that is having a catastrophic impact on American manufacturers.”
*Racist piece of 💩!
H/T: Johnsonwkchoi
[2017] Exploring the Shadows of America’s Security State
Or How I Learned Not to Love Big Brother
Exploring the Shadows of America’s Security State
Related:
FBI Director Admits Agency Rarely Has Probable Cause When It Performs Backdoor Searches Of NSA Collections
After years of continuous, unrepentant abuse of surveillance powers, the FBI is facing the real possibility of seeing Section 702 curtailed, if not scuttled entirely.
FBI Director Admits Agency Rarely Has Probable Cause When It Performs Backdoor Searches Of NSA Collections
Revealed: how US immigration uses fake social media profiles across investigations
Records from the Department of Homeland Security show it sought to expand undercover operations online despite pushback from Facebook
Revealed: how US immigration uses fake social media profiles across investigations
Related:
Meanwhile, social media surveillance continues uninterrupted. The documents show CBP is still allowed to create fake profiles to passively monitor public Facebook posts. ICE can go a bit further. It has been given explicit permission to create fake accounts to engage in undercover investigations as long as the tactics used online are somewhat analogous to undercover activities carried out in the real world.
Liberty Safe Responds to Backlash as Anger Grows Over Giving FBI Code
Gun safe manufacturer Liberty Safe has said its customers will now be able to have the records of their safe combinations “expunged” after the company faced growing backlash for handing over the access code to one safe to the FBI.
Liberty Safe Responds to Backlash as Anger Grows Over Giving FBI Code
SMART ePANTS: Is the CIA in Your Underwear?
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is throwing $22 million in taxpayer money at developing clothing that records audio, video, and location data.
U.S. Spy Agency Dreams of All-Seeing “SMART ePANTS”
Related:
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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