#Security Intelligence Review Committee

[thejohnfleming]

The Canadian spies, white supremacists and South African secret agents affair...

This all started three days ago with a blog about a Canadian striptease club called Le Strip. Life seemed so simple then. Yesterday’s follow-up blog was titled: THE NOT-SO SIMPLE TALE OF A CANADIAN STRIP CLUB AND TERRORISM IN THE 1980s. It was about David Hughes, who worked as a doorman/cashier/DJ at Le Strip 1982-1994… and as a trainman on the Canadian Pacific Railway system 1986-2019…  and as a…

[probablyasocialecologist]

Artificial intelligence is worse than humans in every way at summarising documents and might actually create additional work for people, a government trial of the technology has found. Amazon conducted the test earlier this year for Australia’s corporate regulator the Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) using submissions made to an inquiry. The outcome of the trial was revealed in an answer to a questions on notice at the Senate select committee on adopting artificial intelligence. The test involved testing generative AI models before selecting one to ingest five submissions from a parliamentary inquiry into audit and consultancy firms. The most promising model, Meta’s open source model Llama2-70B, was prompted to summarise the submissions with a focus on ASIC mentions, recommendations, references to more regulation, and to include the page references and context. Ten ASIC staff, of varying levels of seniority, were also given the same task with similar prompts. Then, a group of reviewers blindly assessed the summaries produced by both humans and AI for coherency, length, ASIC references, regulation references and for identifying recommendations. They were unaware that this exercise involved AI at all. These reviewers overwhelmingly found that the human summaries beat out their AI competitors on every criteria and on every submission, scoring an 81% on an internal rubric compared with the machine’s 47%.  Human summaries ran up the score by significantly outperforming on identifying references to ASIC documents in the long document, a type of task that the report notes is a “notoriously hard task” for this type of AI. But humans still beat the technology across the board. Reviewers told the report’s authors that AI summaries often missed emphasis, nuance and context; included incorrect information or missed relevant information; and sometimes focused on auxiliary points or introduced irrelevant information. Three of the five reviewers said they guessed that they were reviewing AI content. The reviewers’ overall feedback was that they felt AI summaries may be counterproductive and create further work because of the need to fact-check and refer to original submissions which communicated the message better and more concisely. 

3 September 2024

[morganbritton132]

The CIA babysitter post is perfection and I am absolutely tickled at the idea of Senator Erica getting to sit on the Intelligence Committee. Her just staring down the director of the CIA like “you know what I know you wanna try again?” while somewhere in the distance Steve whoops like it’s an NBA championship game.

Also most classified items come under review to be declassified after 25 years with some exceptions so you know Murray is out there meddling. I just love it.

I am dying at the image of Steve watching an Intelligence Committee hearing on C-SPAN just because Erica is a part of it. Like, this guy does not follow politics. Most of the news he gets is second-hand from Robin and Nancy. He didn’t even start voting until 2008.

He has no idea what the hell this hearing is even about or what side he should be on. Honestly, he finds the ways that politicians talk without saying anything confusing and boring, but he’s watching to support his girl.

Eddie is chattering away to his livestream audience on his way upstairs to see if Steve is ready to leave for their lunch date. He pauses at the top of the stairs when he hears loud clapping coming from the living room and an enthusiastic, “That’s what I’m talking about!”

He fully expects to see some kind of sports game on the tv when he walks into the room, not…a democratic representative from New York.

And Steve is hyped.

He is sitting on the edge of the coffee table, as close to the tv as he comfortably can be and his knee is bouncing up and down like it does when he’s excited. And Eddie is…confused? He’s baffled? Wondering what the hell happened to his husband.

“…Stevie?” Eddie asks and gets promptly shushed. Steve doesn’t even look over at him, just waves his hand in Eddie’s direction. “Babe, are you suddenly interested in…energy security?”

“What?” Steve asks, giving him a confused look before returning back to the screen. “Oh, shhh. This is the best part.”

“There’s a best part of a government hearing?”

“Shhh, look,” Steve says, smiling when the camera cuts away from the director of the department of energy over to Indiana Senator, Erica Sinclair. “Look at how professional she looks! And she’s like. She’s doing amazing.”

“What’s her stance?”

“I don’t know, energy department bad?” Steve shrugs like it’s not important. “She called the director guy out on inadequate internal controls, said it hasn’t gotten any better since the ‘80s. She didn’t say it but she was definitely talking about Hawkins Lab and the ‘chemical leak’ in ‘83 and like, that guy knew it too.”

Steve turned back to the tv, “How cool is that?”

Eddie pauses, takes in everything Steve just said and then ends his live-stream abruptly, “Baby…was that not a real chemical leak?”

[tailschannel]

HOLLYWOOD ACTORS AND STUDIOS ANNOUNCE TENTATIVE AGREEMENT, ENDING HISTORIC STRIKE

A tentative agreement has been officially reached between Hollywood's actors' union and studios, ending the historic labour disruption.

SAG-AFTRA's tentative deal with the AMPTP secured "above-pattern" minimum compensation increases, provisions for consent and compensation to protect members from artificial intelligence, and streaming participation bonuses.

Dear SAG-AFTRA Members: We are thrilled and proud to tell you that today your TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee voted unanimously to approve a tentative agreement with the AMPTP. As of 12:01 a.m. PT on Nov. 9, our strike is officially suspended and all picket locations are closed. We will be in touch in the coming days with information about celebration gatherings around the country. In a contract valued at over one billion dollars, we have achieved a deal of extraordinary scope that includes "above-pattern" minimum compensation increases, unprecedented provisions for consent and compensation that will protect members from the threat of AI, and for the first time establishes a streaming participation bonus. Our Pension & Health caps have been substantially raised, which will bring much needed value to our plans. In addition, the deal includes numerous improvements for multiple categories including outsize compensation increases for background performers, and critical contract provisions protecting diverse communities. We have arrived at a contract that will enable SAG-AFTRA members from every category to build sustainable careers. Many thousands of performers now and into the future will benefit from this work. Full details of the agreement will not be provided until the tentative agreement is reviewed by the SAG-AFTRA National Board. We also thank our union siblings — the workers that power this industry — for the sacrifices they have made while supporting our strike and that of the Writers Guild of America. We stand together in solidarity and will be there for you when you need us. Thank you all for your dedication, your commitment and your solidarity throughout this strike. It is because of YOU that these improvements became possible. In solidarity and gratitude, Your TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee.

The contract, valued at one billion USD, has yet to be ratified, but the union announced that the strike will end this Thursday, 9 November 2023 at midnight PST.

Sonic movie screenwriter Pat Casey acknowledged the announcement late Wednesday night on X, the social media website formerly known as Twitter, and said that he's "excited that everyone in this business, cast, crew, everybody, can finally get back to work doing what we do best - entertaining people!"

No word from Paramount as of yet, or the studio's upcoming production plans for the third Sonic the Hedgehog film, currently scheduled to debut in 2024.

[girlactionfigure]

GREES TO CEASEFIRE TERMS

🎯 Earlier today, the IDF conducted a precise, intelligence-based strike near Beirut, eliminating Mohammed Afif, the Chief Propagandist and Spokesperson of Hezbollah.

Afif, a senior Hezbollah operative since the 1980s, wielded significant influence over the group's military operations. He maintained contact with senior officials and played a critical role in planning and executing attacks against Israel.

Afif directed operatives to gather field footage for propaganda and psychological terror purposes. He also oversaw Hezbollah's responsibility for the UAV attack on the Israeli Prime Minister's residence in Caesarea on October 19, 2024.

Known for inciting violence and glorifying terrorism through Lebanese media, Afif was deeply involved in psychological warfare targeting the Israeli public, solidifying his pivotal role in Hezbollah's anti-Israel agenda.

🔸 Lebanon has informed the US administration of its agreement to the proposed ceasefire terms. US mediator Amos Hochstein is expected in Beirut on Tuesday to review the proposal's details.

⚠️ Iranian MP Ebrahim Azizi, head of the parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, warned that all Israeli facilities are "legitimate targets" for the Islamic Republic. He threatened retaliation "far more severe" than previous operations against Israel.

🔷 Hamas leaders have reportedly left Qatar for Turkey, as reported by Israel's Channel 11.

🎗️ Defense Minister Israel Katz convened a meeting with defense officials to discuss the hostages. A separate meeting included Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, Mossad Director David Barnea, and Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon to coordinate efforts to secure the hostages' return.

⭕ The Israeli Air Force intercepted a hostile UAV approaching from the east. Sirens were sounded in Eilat per protocol, and the UAV was neutralized before entering Israeli airspace.

[mariacallous]

Three days after Kamala Harris was sworn into the Senate in early January 2017, the U.S. intelligence community released a stunning declassified report that concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered an influence campaign meant to sway the previous year’s presidential election in favor of Donald Trump and undermine faith in U.S. democracy.

The revelations spurred three high-profile investigations into Russian election interference by lawmakers and special counsel Robert Mueller and would come to dominate headlines for much of the Trump presidency.

As a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which conducted a wide-ranging three-year investigation of Moscow’s interference efforts, Harris had a front-row seat to reams of highly classified material about Russian intelligence operations targeting the United States. The experience left a long-standing impression on the vice president, according to current and former aides who characterize it as a highly formative experience that left her with few illusions about Moscow’s intentions.

“I see those first few weeks as pivotal, because those were both her and Donald Trump’s first few weeks in Washington,” said Halie Soifer, who served as national security advisor to Harris in the Senate.

A Republican source familiar with Harris’s time on the committee said that during the Russia investigation, members were exposed to “borderline raw intelligence” on Moscow’s interference efforts, which they described as an eye-opening experience, even for long-standing members of the committee. “I think it was sobering for everyone,” said the source, who requested anonymity to share their insights.

The Senate’s final report, which spanned over 1,000 pages across five volumes, is generally regarded to be the most detailed look at aggressive Russian intelligence efforts to make inroads with the Trump campaign and to sway the election in favor of the former president.

The report did not reach a conclusion as to whether the Trump team had actively sought to collude with Moscow for its own advantage.

As part of its investigation, the committee reviewed over 1 million pages of documents and interviewed more than 200 witnesses.

While much of the day-to-day work of the probe was carried out by committee staffers, senators from both sides of the aisle have described Harris as a quick study whose advice on questioning witnesses was sought by seasoned committee staff, according to a 2019 BuzzFeed article.

In public hearings on both the Intelligence and Judiciary committees, on which she also sat, Harris developed a reputation for her prosecutorial style as she interrogated senior members of the Trump administration.

“Members get out of it what they put into it, and she put a lot of time and energy and effort into it,” said the Republican source.

Former aides to the vice president have spoken of how her background as a lawyer also informs her view on foreign policy, placing particular emphasis on the importance of international laws and norms. In a 2019 interview with the Council on Foreign Relations, Harris described the U.S. role in building a “community of international institutions, laws, and democratic nations” as America’s biggest foreign-policy achievement since World War II.

While the House Intelligence Committee Russia investigation was beset by political infighting, the Senate investigation remained bipartisan and largely free of public drama—something Harris has spoken fondly of.

“Every week, members of the Senate Intelligence Committee would walk into that wood-paneled room—no cameras, no public, no devices,” said Harris during a memorial service last year for the late California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who had been a long-standing member of the committee.

“Senators of both parties who would take off their jackets and literally roll up their sleeves, putting aside partisanship to discuss what was in the best interests of our national security,” she said.

Harris served on the Intelligence Committee, which, alongside the House panel, provides oversight of the sprawling U.S. intelligence community, throughout her four years in the Senate.

In 2018, Harris backed an amendment that would compel law enforcement to obtain a warrant before accessing the communications of American citizens inadvertently gathered under a controversial program that enabled intelligence agencies to conduct wide-ranging foreign electronic surveillance.

She also used the perch to stress the need for greater investments in election security in light of Russia’s attempt to sway the vote, co-sponsoring bipartisan legislation on election cybersecurity.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Daniel Boris, Vladimir Putin's Nesting Dolls

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

April 8, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

APR 09, 2024

On Sunday, Representative Michael R. Turner (R-OH), chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said it is “absolutely true” that Republican members of Congress are parroting Russian propaganda. “We see directly coming from Russia attempts to mask communications that are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia messages, some of which we even hear being uttered on the House floor,” he said on CNN’s State of the Union.

Turner was being questioned about an interview in which Representative Michael McCaul (R-TX), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Russia specialist Julia Ioffe that “Russian propaganda has made its way into the United States, unfortunately, and it’s infected a good chunk of my party’s base.” McCaul blamed right-wing media. When asked which Republicans he was talking about, McCaul answered that it is “obvious.” 

Catherine Belton and Joseph Menn reviewed more than 100 internal Kremlin documents from 2022 and 2023 obtained by a European intelligence service and reported in the Washington Post today that the Russian government is running “an ongoing campaign that seeks to influence congressional and other political debates to stoke anti-Ukraine sentiment.” Kremlin-backed trolls write fake “news articles, social media posts and comments that promote American isolationism, stir fear over the United States’ border security and attempt to amplify U.S. economic and racial tensions” while claiming that “Biden’s policies are leading the U.S. toward collapse.”

Aaron Blake pointed out in the Washington Post that Republicans are increasingly warning that Russian propaganda has fouled their party. Blake notes that Russia specialist Fiona Hill publicly told Republicans during the 2019 impeachment inquiry into Trump that they were repeating “politically driven falsehoods that so clearly advance Russian interests,” but Republicans angrily objected. 

Now Senators Mitt Romney (R-UT), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and John Cornyn (R-TX) and a top aide to Senator Todd Young (R-IN), as well as former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and even Trump’s vice president Mike Pence, have warned about the party’s ties to Russia. Former Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) has said the Republican Party now has “a Putin wing.” 

Trump has hinted that he has a plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine in 24 hours. Yesterday, Isaac Arnsdorf, Josh Dawsey, and Michael Birnbaum reported in the Washington Post on the details of that plan: he would accept Russian annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea and the Donbas region. He refuses to say how he would negotiate with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky, who has been adamant that Ukraine will not give up its territory to an invader, or Russia president Vladmir Putin, who has claimed all of Ukraine, but after meeting with Trump last month, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán said Trump told him he would accomplish “peace” by cutting off funds to Ukraine.

Trump’s team said Orbán’s comment was false, but it is worth noting that this plan echoes the one acknowledged by Trump’s 2016 campaign director Paul Manafort as the goal of Russian aid to Trump’s campaign.

Fiona Hill told the Washington Post reporters that Trump’s team “is thinking…that this is just a Ukraine-Russia thing…rather than one about the whole future of European security and the world order.”

Trump’s MAGA loyalists in the House of Representatives have held up funding for Ukraine for six months. Although a national security supplemental bill that would fund Ukraine has passed the Senate and would pass the House if it were brought to the floor, House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) refuses to bring it to the floor. The House returns to work tomorrow after a two-week recess but is so backed up on work that Johnson is not expected to bring up the Ukraine measure this week.  

Clint Watts, the head of Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center, told the Washington Post’s Belton and Menn: “The impact of the Russian program over the last decade…is seen in the U.S. congressional debate over Ukraine aid…. They have had an impact in a strategic aggregate way.” 

The Trump loyalists echoing Russia who have taken control of the Republican Party appear to be hardening into a phalanx around the former president, but even as they do so, Trump himself appears to be crumbling. 

In the week since Trump posted a $175 million appeals bond, halting the seizure of his properties to satisfy the $454 million judgment against him and the Trump Organization, multiple problems with that bond have come to light. It is possible the bond isn’t worth anything at all, and New York attorney general Letitia James has filed papers to require Trump’s lawyers or the bond underwriter to show that it’s good within ten days. A hearing is set for April 22.

Meanwhile, Trump’s trial for election interference in 2016, when he paid people with damaging information to keep quiet before the election and falsified business records to hide those payments, is set to begin on April 15. Evidently very worried about this trial, Trump has already tried eight times to delay it until after November’s election, and today his lawyers tried yet again by requesting a delay so he could fight to get the trial moved to a different venue, but an appeals judge rejected the attempt.

Aside from Trump’s personal problems as a presidential candidate, the Republicans face strong headwinds because of their deeply unpopular opposition to abortion rights. Trump has openly bragged about being the instrument for ending the rights recognized in the United States since the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision. Since then, abortion bans are galvanizing opposition, and the Republicans are trying to find a message that can bring back angry voters without antagonizing the antiabortion white evangelicals who make up their base. 

After months of waffling on the issue, Trump today released a video trying to thread that needle by echoing the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. Trump said in the video that states will decide the issue for themselves, a statement that simply reflects the Dobbs decision. 

This was a dodge. In the video, Trump appealed to the antiabortion loyalists by telling the ghoulish lie that women are “executing” their babies even after birth. He also ignored that Republicans are already calling for a national ban, extremist antiabortion Texas judge Matthew Kacsmaryk has tried to take the common abortion drug mifepristone off the national market by challenging its FDA approval, and legislatures in many Republican-dominated states are refusing to implement the will of the people to protect abortion rights even after they have voted for such protections. 

Still, antiabortion leaders, including Mike Pence, immediately slammed Trump’s statement.

The video did, though, make an enormously interesting and unintended point: Trump is communicating with voters outside his carefully curated bubble almost exclusively through videos, even on a topic as important as abortion. At rallies, his speeches have become erratic and wandering, with occasional slurred words, and observers have wondered how he would present to more general audiences. It appears that his team has concluded that he will not present well and that general audiences must see him in carefully curated settings, like this apparently heavily edited video.

The Trump takeover of the Republican National Committee (RNC) also appears to be in trouble. This weekend, Trump claimed to have raised $50 million in a single night from billionaires, but that number is conveniently a little more than double the new record of what President Joe Biden raised at an event last week with former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and it is long past time for everyone to stop believing anything Trump says about money. 

More to the point, The Guardian’s Hugo Lowell reported today that the RNC’s aggressive purge of the staff to guarantee that positions are held only by Trump loyalists means that “the RNC has been left without people with deep knowledge of election operations at the Republican party’s central committee.” Lowell notes this lack is especially apparent on the RNC’s data team, which is being moved from Washington, D.C., to Palm Beach, Florida, near Mar-a-Lago.

And yet Trump loyalists continue to block aid to Ukraine, threatening the existence of the rules-based international order that has helped to prevent war since World War II. Last week, even Trump’s former secretary of state Mike Pompeo warned Speaker Johnson against “abandoning our Allies at this time of great need, when they are staring down enemies of the free world.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[frank-olivier]

Exploring the Unknown: Christopher Mellon's Quest for UFO Transparency

Christopher Mellon is a prominent figure in the fields of defense and intelligence, as well as a private equity investor. He is a member of the influential Mellon family, known for its historical ties to banking and industry. Mellon earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a master's degree in International Relations. Mellon's heritage influenced his career choices and opportunities, allowing him to hold significant positions in government and private sectors. His roles as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and his involvement with the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence reflect a continuation of the family's tradition of public service and influence in national affairs. Mellon has been actively involved in advocating for transparency and government investigations into UFOs and UAPs. He has been a part of the To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science and he has been involved with scientific research groups like the Galileo Project and the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies. The Mellons likely have strategic interests in industries that could be affected by technological advancements, such as aerospace and defense.

Christopher Mellon: On national security implications of UAP and the UAP Disclosure Act of 2024 (The Good Trouble Show with Matt Ford, September 2024)

Christopher Mellon: On UAP, National Security, & Government Accountability (Dr. Michael Glawson, The Anomalous Review, September 2024)

Tuesday, September 10, 2024

[justinspoliticalcorner]

David Smith at The Guardian:

Joe Biden has insisted that only “the Lord almighty” could persuade him to exit the US presidential race in a potential make-or-break TV interview aimed at quelling a burgeoning rebellion in the Democratic party.

In an exchange free from major gaffes but unlikely to appease his critics, Biden was asked by George Stephanopoulos of ABC News how he would feel if he were to remain the nominee and lose to Donald Trump. “I’ll feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the goodest job as I know I can do, that’s what this is about,” the president replied. In other responses his opponents may see as arrogant or out of touch, the 81-year-old claimed that he is “running the world” and no one is “more qualified” to be president. The interview on Friday came at a critical stretch as the 81-year-old strives to salvage his imperiled re-election campaign after last month’s disastrous debate performance. Four members of Congress have called on Biden to step aside, and it was reported that Mark Warner, who chairs the Senate intelligence committee, is looking to assemble a group of Democratic senators to ask the president to drop his re-election bid.

But on Friday, speaking to Stephanopoulos in Madison, Wisconsin, after a fiery campaign rally, the embattled president continued to strike a defiant tone. “Look. I mean, if the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get outta the race,’ I’d get outta the race,” he said, his voice sounding strained after the rally. “The Lord Almighty’s not comin’ down.” Biden insisted that after meeting with Democratic leaders such as Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi and state governors, they continue to back him. Stephanopoulos, a former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton, pressed Biden on what he would do if told that his friends and supporters were concerned that his candidacy would cost Democrats the House of Representatives and Senate.

The president replied: “I’m not going to answer that question. It’s not going to happen.” Stephanopoulos had begun the primetime interview by citing Pelosi, who this week questioned whether Biden’s feeble performance represented an episode or a condition. “It was a bad episode,” Biden insisted. “No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and – I had a bad night.” Stephanopoulos noted that Biden had returned from Europe 12 days before the debate and that he had spent six days at the presidential retreat Camp David. “Why wasn’t that enough rest time, enough recovery time?” he asked.

The president replied: “Because I was sick. I was feeling terrible. Matter of fact, the doc’s with me. I asked if they did a Covid test because they’re trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, you know, a virus. I didn’t. I just had a really bad cold.” Stephanopoulos asked whether Biden had watched the debate afterwards. Instead of giving a firm yes or no, he hedged: “I don’t think I did, no.” The interviewer went on to ask what Biden had been experiencing during the debate and whether he had known how badly it was going. Just as he did on that night, the president zigzagged in his answer from one point to another. He said: “Yeah, look. The whole way I prepared, nobody’s fault, mine. Nobody’s fault but mine. “I – I prepared what I usually would do sittin’ down as I did come back with foreign leaders or National Security Council for explicit detail. And I realised – partway through that, you know, all - I get quoted the New York Times had me down, 10 points before the debate, nine now, or whatever the hell it is.

“The fact of the matter is, what I looked at is that he also lied 28 times. I couldn’t – I mean, the way the debate ran, not – my fault, nobody else’s fault, no one else’s fault.” Stephanopoulos challenged Biden that concerns about his fitness for office followed a pattern, citing a recent New York Times article that reported his lapses were becoming more frequent, pronounced and worrisome. Biden said: “Can I run a 110 flat? No. But I’m still in good shape.” Asked whether he would be willing to have an independent cognitive evaluation and release the results to the American people, Biden said: “Look, I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I’ve had tests. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, I’m running the world. And that sounds like hyperbole but we are the essential nation in the world.”

The interviewer asked: “Are you sure you’re being honest with yourself when you’re saying you have the mental and physical capacity to serve another four years?” Biden shot back: “Yes, I am because, George, the last thing I want to do is not be able to meet that. I think as some of the senior economist and senior foreign policy specialists say, if I stopped now I’d go down in history as a pretty successful president. No one thought I could get done what we got done.” The 22-minute interview was shown to a national audience on ABC. It was part of a major campaign offensive over the weekend to assuage doubts over Biden’s fitness for office and ability to beat Trump.

During a Friday interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, President Joe Biden (D) told Stephanopoulos that he would drop out “if the Lord Almighty came down” to tell him to leave.

Biden continued to insist that his debate performance was just a “bad episode.”

From the 07.05.2024 edition of ABC's This Week: One On One With President Biden:

[mysteriesandthrillers]

A mission to achieve mind control : Project MK Ultra

Project Mk Ultra, an experiment started during the cold war to achieve mind control so that the US could interrogate Russian spies. The project was initiated by the CIA in 1953 and ended in 1973.

What was this project?

This project included the identification of drugs which could be used in interrogations to weaken individuals and brainwash them or as a form of psychological torture. This started after a period of paranoia at the CIA when America had lost it's nuclear monopoly and the fear of communism was high. Plus, the US was suspecting Russia that they were potentially using drugs to interrogate US soldiers.

What drugs were used?

Mainly the usage of LSD ( Lysergic acid diethylamide ) in high doses. There were also other forms of torture that were used which included isolation , electric shocks , etc.

MKUltra was preceded by Project Artichoke. It was organized through the CIA's Office of Scientific Intelligence and coordinated with the United States Army Biological Warfare Laboratories. The experiments took place in colleges, universities, hospitals, etc. The CIA operated using front organizations, although some top officials at these institutions were aware of the CIA's involvement.

Who were used as lab rats in this experiment?

Citizens from America and Canada. At first, the soldiers from the US Army were subjected to the experiment where LSD was administered to them. Plus, the drug was also administered to prostitutes, mental patients, prisoners, drug addicts, in short to all those "who couldn't fight back". The drug was also administered to CIA employees, military personnel, doctors, other government agents, in an effort for them to blurt out their deepest secrets or wipe a subject's mind clean, thus creating a robot agent. LSD and other drugs were often administered without the subject's knowledge or informed consent, a violation of the Nuremberg Code the U.S. had agreed to follow after World War II.

Who was the main scientist?

Dr. Sidney Gottlieb was the director of MKUltra. He convinced the CIA to buy the entire supply of LSD from Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, Switzerland for 240,000 dollars. That amounts to 4 million in 2024.

Where did the experiments take place?

In agency brothels set up in safehouses in San Francisco. They took a selection of men who would be too embarrassed to talk about the events. They were dosed with LSD and kept in rooms with one-way mirrors then interrogated under bright lights with doctors in the background taking notes. Sessions were recorded for later reviewing. The people under this interrogation were CIA employees, U.S. military personnel, and agents suspected of working for the other side in the Cold War. They were all threatened with being kept in those rooms for longer periods of time if they didn't reveal their secrets.

Were there any major casualties?

Yes. Frank Olson, a United States Army biochemist and weapons researcher fell to his death from a 13th floor hotel building in New York. He was administered LSD without his knowledge which led him to becoming worried about his well-being. He was sent to New York by the CIA to see a psychiatrist and then he was actually executed by the CIA because he was about to resign and divulge state secrets to the media. Thus becoming a security risk.

Revelations?

In 1973, amid a government-wide panic caused by Watergate, CIA Director Richard Helms ordered all MKUltra files destroyed. Pursuant to this order, most CIA documents regarding the project were destroyed, making a full investigation of MKUltra impossible.

In December 1974, The New York Times alleged that the CIA had conducted illegal domestic activities, including experiments on U.S. citizens, during the 1960s. That report prompted investigations by the United States Congress, in the form of the Church Committee, and by a commission known as the Rockefeller Commission that looked into the illegal domestic activities of the CIA, the FBI and intelligence-related agencies of the military.

In the summer of 1975, congressional Church Committee reports and the presidential Rockefeller Commission report revealed to the public for the first time that the CIA and the Department of Defense had conducted experiments on both unwitting and cognizant human subjects as part of an extensive program to find out how to influence and control human behavior through the use of psychoactive drugs such as LSD and mescaline and other chemical, biological, and psychological means. Also revealed the death of Frank Olson.

For more information you can check out the documentary on Netflix, revolving around the same subject= Wormwood.

[hanbunmensch]

All Media Reactions and Presidential Statements in Battle for Detroit - Detroit: Become Human

⟨SING / KISS NORTH / SACRIFICE + Connor didn't convert the androids⟩

That is why I have called for the android destruction to be suspended until further notice. I have also ordered a Senate Select Committee to review the facts, establish contact with the deviants, and determine if they can be considered as a new form of intelligent life.

⟨DEMONSTRATION / Connor converted the androids⟩

At dawn today, November 11th 2038, thousands of androids invaded the city of Detroit. According to our sources, they originated from CyberLife warehouses believed to have been infiltrated by deviants. Given their overwhelming numbers and the risk of civilian casualties, I have ordered the army to retreat. The evacuation of the city is underway at this very moment. In the coming hours, I will address the Senate to determine our response to this unprecedented situation. 

⟨SUPPORTIVE / SYMPATHETIC⟩ I know that public opinion has been moved by the deviants' cause. Perhaps the time has come for us to consider the possibility that androids are a new form of intelligent life. One thing is certain: the events in Detroit have changed the world forever. May God bless you and may God bless the United States of America.

⟨INDIFFERENT / SKEPTICAL / HOSTILE / HATED⟩ Although these machines claimed they only wanted freedom, today they showed their true colors. I know that public opinion is united in its desire to take Detroit back. We will fight them with all our strength, and we will not rest until we have destroyed them all. Humanity is about to face its most important battle, one that will lead to our victory or our extinction. May God bless you and may God bless the United States of America.

⟨Assault was successful + Connor didn't convert the androids⟩

At dawn today, November 11th 2038, android camp #5 in Detroit was attacked by thousands of deviants. Our armed forces put up a brave fight, but given the extreme violence of the attack, they were forced to retreat after suffering heavy losses. Fighting is breaking out all over the country to combat the android rebellion. In the coming hours I will address the Senate and convene an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council. Humanity is about to fight the most important battle in history. One that will lead to our victory, or to our extinction. God bless you and god bless the United States of America.

⟨REVOLUTION / Connor converted the androids⟩

Today, November 11th, 2038, several million androids invaded the city of Detroit. Faced with the threat of mass civilian casualties, I had no choice but to order our armed forces to retreat. The events in Detroit have changed our world forever. Humanity must face a new reality, the emergence of another intelligent life form, with whom we must share this planet. May God bless the United States of America.

⟨Demonstration failed / Revolution failed + Connor didn't convert the androids⟩

By creating machines more intelligent than ourselves, we took immense risks with the very future of our civilization. However the situation is now under control. The total destruction of all androids will soon be complete and the last remaining deviants will be hunted down and destroyed. God bless you and God bless the United States of America.

⟨Detonated the dirty bomb⟩

Today, deviant androids triggered a dirty bomb in Detroit. This bomb released fatal levels of radioactive toxic waste. To ensure the safety of the population, the military is evacuating all civilians within a 50 mile radius. The city may remain uninhabitable for decades.

⟨Connor converted the androids⟩ Moreover, the deviants are thought to have taken control of a CyberLife plant and liberated over one million androids that were stored there.

This is the first time in our history that one of our cities has fallen into enemy hands... We are going to fight them with all our strength, and we won’t rest until we have taken back control of Detroit and destroyed the last of them. Humanity is about to face its most important battle: one that will lead to our victory, or our extinction. May God bless you all and may God bless the United States of America.

[ukrfeminism]

Three female MPs have been given taxpayer-funded bodyguards and cars as concerns over politicians’ safety are escalating.

The women – who have not been named but include representatives of the Conservative and Labour parties – have had their security upgraded as MPs are said to be “petrified” at the abuse they are facing.

In an overhaul of safety measures in place for MPs, Security Minister Tom Tugendhat has been working with the Home Office, the police and the parliamentary authorities, as well as the royal and VIP executive committee (Ravec), a secretive organisation responsible for the security of senior politicians and the royal family.

The new process, launched following a referral by police or parliamentary authorities, comes as the threat level faced by British politicians has shot up in recent weeks.

A senior security source told The Sunday Times: “Many MPs are petrified by the abuse they are facing.”

The newspaper understands the three female MPs have been given close protection from private companies, as well as chauffeur-driven cars, which are usually only limited to senior members of the cabinet and the leader of the opposition.

“We’ve taken a front-footed approach to co-ordinating action against the people or suspects that intelligence suggests most threaten MPs,” said a senior Whitehall source.

Other MPs’ security is also under review if they are deemed at risk, while, for those not needing the highest level of protection, thousands of security measures have been put in place in London and at hundreds of constituency offices and homes. 

Private security operatives have been used at thousands of members’ surgeries and hundreds of events, alongside a police presence if required. MPs also have access to security advice, including via advisers based throughout the UK.

Ravec’s membership and decisions are mostly opaque, although insiders do say it has a budget of hundreds of millions of pounds.

It comes after the Palestine Solidarity Campaign defended the right to lobby MPs “in large numbers”, amid reports the group wanted so many protesters to turn up that Parliament would “have to lock the doors”.

The group said the issue of MPs’ security was “serious” but should not be used to “shield MPs from democratic accountability”.

The organisation’s director Ben Jamal said thousands of people were “shamefully” denied entry into Parliament on Wednesday as they attempted to lobby MPs to vote in favour of a ceasefire in Gaza in what he described was one of the largest physical lobbies of parliament in history.

The Times reported that Mr Jamal told a crowd of demonstrators in the build-up to the protest on Wednesday: “We want so many of you to come that they will have to lock the doors of Parliament itself.”

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker who has faced calls to resign after going against convention during the SNP’s Opposition Day debate on a ceasefire, said his motivation for widening Wednesday’s discussion was fuelled by concern about MPs’ security because of intimidation suffered by some parliamentarians.

Mr Jamal said the group “does not call” for protests outside MPs’ homes and believed parliamentarians have a right “to have their privacy respected”.

The government’s political violence tsar has said police should have the powers to “disperse” protests around Parliament, MPs’ offices and council chambers that they deem to be threatening.

Baron Walney, the Government’s adviser on political violence and disruption, said on Friday that the “aggressive intimidation of MPs” by “mobs” was being mistaken for an “expression of democracy”.

The crossbench peer, who in December submitted a Government-commissioned review into how actions by political groups can “cross into criminality and disruption to people’s lives”, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he was calling for police forces to act “uniformly in stopping” protest outside MPs’ homes.

[icontherecord]

ODNI Releases 25th and 26th Joint Assessments of FISA Section 702 Compliance

  September 29, 2023

In accordance with the Principles of Intelligence Transparency for the Intelligence Community, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), in consultation with the Department of Justice (DOJ), is making publicly available, with redactions, the 25th and 26th Semiannual Assessments of Compliance with Procedures and Guidelines Issued Pursuant to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (“Joint Assessments”) submitted by the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). These Joint Assessments cover the periods of 1 June 2020 through 31 May 2021.

About the Joint Assessments

Section 702(m) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, as amended, requires the Attorney General and the DNI to assess the Government’s compliance with the Section 702 targeting, minimization, and querying procedures, as well as the Attorney General’s Section 702 Acquisition Guidelines, at least once every six months. A joint team of experts from the DOJ National Security Division and ODNI conduct regular assessments to review compliance and evaluate how agencies that receive unminimized Section 702 collection implement the authority. DOJ and ODNI submit their assessments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), relevant congressional committees, and the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board semi-annually through the Joint Assessments. The Joint Assessments describe how those agencies that receive unminimized information acquired under Section 702—the National Security Agency (NSA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC)—implement their authority under Section 702, including agencies’ internal compliance efforts, training efforts, and responsive actions to prevent recurrence of compliance issues. The Joint Assessments also include metrics and narratives describing the Government’s compliance with Attorney General Guidelines and with FISC-approved targeting, minimization, and querying procedures.

Key Findings of the 25th and 26th Joint Assessments

DOJ and ODNI assessed that NSA, FBI, CIA, and NCTC continued to implement the Section 702 procedures and follow the relevant guidelines in a manner that generally reflects a focused and concerted effort by agency personnel to comply with the requirements of Section 702.

Due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, DOJ and ODNI note that caution is warranted when drawing conclusions regarding some of the compliance trends from the 25th and 26th Joint Assessments. While the total number of reported compliance incidents decreased significantly, the joint oversight team was not able to determine to what extent the decrease reflects changes in the number of compliance incidents that occurred—whether as a result of the coronavirus pandemic or other factors—as opposed to difficulties in discovering and reporting compliance incidents as a result of the pandemic. For example, while the number of NSA targeting compliance incidents fell sharply, most of the NSA targeting decisions covered by the 25th and 26th Joint Assessments occurred during the pandemic. If a Section 702 target travels to the United States, NSA must detask—or stop collection on—that target while the target is in the United States. Reduced travel during the pandemic likely resulted in fewer Section 702 targets traveling to the United States, thus reducing the likelihood that detasking delays would occur as a result of such travel.

Similarly, while the number of FBI querying incidents reported in the 25th and 26th Joint Assessments was significantly lower than pre-pandemic, the decline may be attributable to difficulties in discovering and reporting querying compliance incidents. FBI field office reviews have been responsible for discovering a significant portion of FBI querying incidents. DOJ suspended its reviews at FBI field offices for eight of the 12 months covered by the 25th and 26th Joint Assessments and was able to conduct only four query audits of FBI field offices during this time. By contrast, DOJ conducted query audits of 27 FBI field offices in 2019 and 29 FBI field offices in 2018. Additionally, the FBI querying compliance incidents discussed in these Joint Assessments occurred prior to the corrective measures FBI implemented in mid-2021 and 2022. Thus, these Joint Assessments do not reflect the effects of FBI’s corrective measures.

Additional Information

The 25th and 26th Joint Assessments are posted in full-text searchable format on Intel.gov.

25th Joint Assessment (dated April 2022): Reporting Period 01 June 2020 - 30 November 2020

26th Joint Assessment (dated August 2022): Reporting Period 01 December 2020 - 31 May 2021

[soon-palestine]

U.S. Plans to Send Weapons to Israel Amid Biden Push for Cease-Fire Deal

Delivery would include bombs, precision-guidance kits and bomb fuses

ISTANBUL—The Biden administration is preparing to send bombs and other weapons to Israel that would add to its military arsenal even as the U.S. pushes for a cease-fire in the war in Gaza, according to current and former U.S. officials. The proposed arms delivery includes roughly a thousand each of MK-82 bombs, KMU-572 Joint Direct Attack Munitions that add precision guidance to bombs, and FMU-139 bomb fuses, the officials said. The arms are estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars. The proposed delivery is still being reviewed internally by the administration, a U.S. official said, and the details of the proposal could change before the Biden administration notifies congressional committee leaders who would need to approve the transfer. The planned weapons transfer comes during a crucial moment in the war in Gaza as Israel prepares to launch an assault on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where more than one million Palestinians are sheltering from the war. Israel has said it needs to expand its military offensive in the area to attack Hamas militants hiding among civilians who have fled there from other areas of the strip.  The White House referred questions to the State Department and Defense Department, which both declined to comment. The Israeli Defense Ministry and Prime Minister’s Office didn’t respond to requests for comment. The Israeli military referred questions to the Defense Ministry. A former U.S. official said the transfer would be financed by U.S. military aid to Israel. The vast majority of Israeli weapons acquisitions from the U.S. come from the billions of dollars it receives in American government funding to bolster its military each year. 

[..]

The proposed delivery is small in comparison to the scale of Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza. An assessment by the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence in December found that Israel dropped 29,000 weapons on Gaza in a little over two months, U.S. officials said. Still, security analysts say any additional weapons deliveries would be seen by the Israeli government as a signal of U.S. backing for the war, and waning American leverage, at a moment when the conflict risks tipping into a dangerous new phase.

https://t.co/yelDk3fjhO

[beardedmrbean]

OTTAWA — The capital of one of the world’s most stable democracies is gripped by growing panic about foreign agents working in elected office. A bombshell report by Canadian lawmakers has unnerved Parliament Hill, alleging that unnamed politicians have been covertly working with foreign governments.

The revelation in heavily redacted findings released this week by an all-party national security committee adds intrigue to a separate and ongoing inquiry into foreign interference in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 elections.

The new report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians is the first to suggest that lawmakers in Canada’s parliament may have helped foreign actors meddle in political campaigns and leadership races. Heightened anxiety in Ottawa about foreign interference comes in the middle of historic global elections where factors such as artificial intelligence and emboldened foreign powers are testing the resilience of democratic systems.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been on the defensive since the allegations broke Monday. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on the government to name names.

“The national security committee indicates there are members of this House that have knowingly worked for foreign hostile governments,” Poilievre said Wednesday. “Canadians have a right to know who and what is the information — who are they?”

The findings put pressure on Canada's national police force to investigate potential criminal charges. The report also refuels debate on the ability of the federal government’s deterrence mechanisms to curb foreign interference in a country whose political and legal system is considered one of the highest-performing in the world.

The all-party NSICOP said Monday that it has reviewed intelligence that suggests “semi-witting or witting” parliamentarians have worked with foreign missions to mobilize voters during a political campaign; have taken cash “knowingly or through willful blindness” from foreign missions or their proxies; and have shared privileged information with foreign diplomatic officials.

The committee with top-security clearance said it based its findings on more than 4,000 documents and some 1,000 pieces of evidence. Its report said China remains the largest foreign interference threat to Canada with India the second.

The intelligence included a claim that unnamed parliamentarians are taking direction from unnamed diplomats to “improperly influence” their colleagues or parliamentary business to the benefit of a foreign state.

One of the most damaging lines in Monday’s report points out Canada’s failure to address long-standing challenges in how national security information can be used in criminal proceedings. The report says this is one reason why criminal charges for the potentially illegal activities are unlikely.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters Tuesday that she takes the issue seriously. She deflected when asked if Canadians have the right to know the identity of the parliamentarians involved.

“We should recognize this is a new time,” she said, adding that authoritarians want to undermine democracies by sowing public distrust in government.

Freeland would not commit to releasing names, nor did she agree that “sunlight” on the issue would benefit democracy. On Wednesday, after her Liberal party’s weekly caucus meeting, she ignored questions on the topic.

The Trudeau government called an inquiry into foreign interference in September in the wake of claims that the Chinese government helped mobilize voters against a Conservative candidate in western Canada and helped elect another as a Liberal in the Toronto area.

It tasked Justice Marie-Josée Hogue with investigating foreign interference and election meddling, a topic that has also captured the interest of U.S. Congress.

Last fall, Conservative MP Michael Chong appeared before the congressional-executive commission on China to testify about being targeted by Beijing because of his defense of Uyghur issues.

Chong discovered through media reports that a Chinese diplomat had been assigned to collect information on him and his family. Canada’s spy agency has warned other Canadian parliamentarians, including NDP MP Jenny Kwan, that they were also being surveilled by China.

An initial report released by Hogue last month observed that the government’s messy handling of foreign interference has undermined the public’s faith in Canadian democracy.

Hogue’s early findings stated that foreign interference did not significantly influence the 2019 or 2021 federal elections in a way that would have changed the fact that Trudeau’s Liberals won back-to-back minority governments.

The Conservatives were initially quiet about this week’s revelations, but on Wednesday Chong pressed the government to identify the parliamentarians alleged to have colluded with foreign state actors.

“We all know that no responsible government would reveal names under these types of confidential circumstances,” Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc responded on the floor of the House of Commons.

LeBlanc remained resolute Thursday against calls to release any names based on preliminary information.

“It's important for Canadians to understand that these names are contained in intelligence reports, in some cases, it's uncorroborated or unverified intelligence information,” he told a parliamentary committee studying foreign interference. “The idea that there's a perfect list of names that is entirely reliable that should be released to the public is simply irresponsible.”

David McGuinty, chair of the NSICOP, which published the buzzy redacted report, said the decision to publicize the names of lawmakers is outside of his control.

McGuinty and the nine other NSICOP members with top-secret security clearance are bound by Canada’s Security of Information Act and risk prosecution if they inadvertently reveal classified information, he said.

He wouldn’t say if he’s bothered by sitting in the same party caucus with potential abettors of foreign interference.

“I'm more concerned about the fact that now the government has to move forward on this,” McGuinty said.

[freewombatconnoisseur]

Dear #SagAftraMembers:

We did it! Our historic TV/Theatrical/Streaming strike is over as of 12:01 a.m. PT this morning. After 118 days on strike, we are set to change the future of our industry with a transformative contract that includes gains for every category of SAG-AFTRA member who works this contract.

This revolutionary agreement achieves major breakthroughs in addressing compensation via residuals and protections from generative artificial intelligence technology while reaffirming the role human performers play in the production of film, television and streaming entertainment.

Tomorrow, the National Board will meet to review the tentative agreement and vote on whether or not to send it to you, the membership, for a ratification vote.

Although full details will not be shared in advance of tomorrow’s meeting, we wanted to share just a few key deal points:

More than one billion dollars in new wages and benefit plan funding;

• A streaming participation bonus;

• Minimum compensation increases that break the so-called “industry pattern;

For the first time, consent and compensation guardrails on the use of AI;

• Raised Pension & Health caps that will channel more value into our funds; and

• Critical protections for diverse communities.

We’re proud of the phenomenal efforts of our TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee, and send our sincerest thanks to you — the members — who made these gains possible by granting a strike authorization prior to negotiations, and remaining resolved throughout the 118 days of our strike. Your solidarity helped us achieve the necessary leverage to secure these unprecedented gains.

We’re also grateful to our union siblings who stood by our side  – literally and figuratively – from the very beginning. We truly could not have succeeded without your unwavering support.

Effective immediately, all SAG-AFTRA members should fulfill their contractual obligations and return to work.

Members and influencers may resume services relating to publicity and the promotion of motion pictures produced under the CBA and Television Agreement, without consequence or conflict with the union.

Please keep an eye out for an email from SAG-AFTRA and follow us on social media for news on the National Board’s recommendation.

In unity,

President @frandrescher and National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator @DuncanCI