California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that would extend healthcare provision to illegal immigrants aged 19-25.
The bill will extend healthcare provision to around 90,000 individuals at an estimated cost of $98 million.
Read More: Daily Wire
Monthly Archives: July 2019
Banned Chinese Security Camera’s Almost Impossible to Remove
Federal Agencies have five weeks to remove Chinese security cameras in order to comply with the ban imposed by Congress on such devices.
A complex supply chain and a failure to know if cameras were made in China or have Chinese components which would violate the new laws have meant it is almost impossible to find and remove all Chinese security devices before the ban.
The National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, Included an amendment that would ban the purchase and use of Chinese security devices this fiscal year. The amendment singles out Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co. and Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co., both of which have raised security concerns with the government and surveillance agencies.
The Chinese government has a 42% stake in Hangzhou Hikvision. And Dahua devises were found in 2017 to have a hidden back doors that unauthorised persons could tap into and send data back to China.
Read More: Bloomberg
Facebook Allows Threat of Violence Against Individuals
To read Facebook’s Community Standards policy, as mentioned in this video go to Facebook’s Community Standard’s Page
25 Million Android Phones Infected with Malware Hiding in What’s App
It is thought as many as 25 million Android phones have been infected with Malware dubbed Agent Smith. The malware replaces installed apps like What’s App with evil versions that bombard users with adverts.
Most of the infected phones have been in India, however a surprising number have been in the US and UK. The malware has spread via a third party app store 9apps.com, which is owner by China’s Alibaba.
Read More: Forbes
Colombian Bishop Plans to Exorcise Entire City from Helicopter
Monsignor Rubén Darío Jaramillo Montoya, the bishop of Buenaventura plans to take to the skies to exorcise his entire city. The area is plagued by violence, drug smuggling and poverty.
Montoya announced his decision to sprinkle the city with holy water after the murder and torture of a ten year old girl in the city.
He told local radio: “We have to drive the devil out of Buenaventura, to see if we can restore the peace and tranquility that our city has lost due to so many crimes, acts of corruption and with so much evil and drug trafficking that invades our port.
“We want to go around the whole of Buenaventura, from the air, and pour holy water on to it to see if we exorcise and get out all those demons that are destroying our port, so that God’s blessing comes and gets rid of all the wickedness that is in our streets.
Read More: The Guardian
James Patterson Investigation into Jeffery Epstein Sex Scandal
Paris and London Declare “Climate Emergency”
Paris has followed London and hundreds of other cities globally declaring a “climate emergency”. On June 26th New York was the largest city to make such a declaration.
The move is largely symbolic. But the socialist mayor of Paris has already passed a number of laws to show her green credentials. These include significantly reducing traffic in the city, and implementing traffic bans at peak pollution times.
The new “climate emergency” declaration will see a Climate Academy set up to educate the public on environmental issues; and a team of scientists who will be called upon to advice on any legislation to be passed that will have an environmental impact.
Paris hosted the 2015 historic signing of the agreement to globally tackle climate change.
Read More: France 24
Big Government And Big Tech Are Partnering To Track Us Everywhere
George Orwell was a brilliant individual. A man of incredible insight – and foresight.
In his unfathomably predictive novel 1984, Orwell warns of Big Brother:
“(O)stensibly the leader of Oceania, a totalitarian state wherein the ruling party Ingsoc wields total power ‘for its own sake’ over the inhabitants.
“In the society that Orwell describes, every citizen is under constant surveillance by the authorities, mainly by telescreens.…The people are constantly reminded of this by the slogan ‘Big Brother is watching you’: a maxim that is ubiquitously on display.
“In modern culture, the term ‘Big Brother’ has entered the lexicon as a synonym for abuse of government power, particularly in respect to civil liberties, often specifically related to mass surveillance.”
As brilliant as Orwell was, something continuously struck me as incorrect as I read 1984.
Orwell’s government – was extraordinarily competent in its totalitarian imposition of technological power.
In Reality – no government in the history of man has ever been even remotely close to that competent.
For Orwell’s Big Brother dystopia to become Reality – Big Government would need private sector help.
Enter private sector Big Tech.
Big Tech has delivered much of the technology Orwell envisioned. As but one of many examples – Orwell’s telescreens:
“(D)evices that operate as televisions, security cameras, and microphones….(T)elescreens are used by the ruling Party in the totalitarian fictional State of Oceania to keep its subjects under constant surveillance, thus eliminating the chance of secret conspiracies against Oceania.”
We’re already all the way there – via Big Tech.
How Google and Amazon Are ‘Spying’ on You:
“The study found that digital assistants (Google Home and Amazon Echo) can be ‘awake’ even when users think they aren’t listening….
“(T)he devices listen all the time they are turned on – and Amazon has envisioned Alexa using that information to build profiles on anyone in the room….
“Amazon filed a patent application for an algorithm that would let future versions of the device identify statements of interest, such as ‘I love skiing’, enabling the speaker to be monitored based on their interests and targeted for related advertising.
“A Google patent application describes using a future release of it smart Home system to monitor and control everything from screen time and hygiene habits, to meal and travel schedules and other activities.
“The devices are envisioned as part of a surveillance web in the home to chart a families’ patterns….”
Why Google’s Spying on User Data Is Worse than the NSA’s
Is Amazon Spying on Users Through Alexa? Thousands of Employees Listen to Conversations
Amazon-Owned Ring Has Reportedly Been Spying on Customer Camera Feeds
Microsoft Windows 10 Is Spying on Almost Everything You Do
Eleven Insanely Creepy Ways Facebook Is Spying on You Right Now
This is ALL insanely creepy.
Big Tech is…insanely big.
Microsoft (Market Cap: $1.1 trillion)
Amazon (Market Cap: $942 billion)
Google (Market Cap: $775 billion)
Facebook (Market Cap: $550 billion)
These four spying companies – are currently worth a combined $3.7 trillion. Our nation’s entire economy – is $19.4 trillion.
Which mans these four companies – all by themselves – are worth 19% of the United States.
But it’s Big Tech doing the spying – not Big Government.
Anyone who looks at Big Tech’s all-encompassing spying ability and thinks Big Government is capable of doing anything remotely similar – hasn’t paid attention to the past 10,000 years of human history.
The ONLY way Big Government can impose Big Brother – is to partner with Big Tech.
Uh oh.
The Role of Tech Companies in Government Surveillance
Tech Companies Concede to Surveillance Program
Four High-Tech Ways the Federal Government Is Spying on Private Citizens:
“Right now, the government is tracking the movements of private citizens by GPS, reading private citizens’ emails, and possibly even reading what you’re saying on Facebook.”
Big Tech once offered at least token resistance to Big Government’s demands – at least after being outed for acquiescing to Big Government’s demands.
Facebook, Amazon, Google Call for Government Surveillance Reform:
“It first gained attention after the revelations of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013. Congress is in the process of weighing reforms for the program. It must vote to renew Section 702 before the end of the year, otherwise it will expire.
“The letter, addressed to the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, asks Congress to consider several reforms to the program to ensure greater transparency and privacy protections.”
We can now officially refer to those – as the Good Old Days.
Why would Big Tech fight Big Government – when they can get paid to join them?
And the Big Government-Big Tech surveillance state – is getting closer and closer to home.
In fact – just outside…and inside it.
Amazon’s Helping Police Build a Surveillance Network with Ring Doorbells:
“Police departments across the country, from major cities like Houston to towns with fewer than 30,000 people, have offered free or discounted Ring doorbells to citizens, sometimes using taxpayer funds to pay for Amazon’s products.
“While Ring owners are supposed to have a choice on providing police footage, in some giveaways, police require recipients to turn over footage when requested….
“(T)he sheer number of cameras run by Amazon’s Ring business raises questions about privacy involving both law enforcement and tech giants….(C)ritics have pointed out the retail giant’s (other) ventures with law enforcement, like offering facial recognition tools….
“More than 50 local police departments across the US have partnered with Ring over the last two years, lauding how the Amazon-owned product allows them to access security footage in areas that typically don’t have cameras — on suburban doorsteps….
“‘What we have here is a perfect marriage between law enforcement and one of the world’s biggest companies creating conditions for a society that few people would want to be a part of,’ said Mohammad Tajsar, staff attorney at the ACLU of Southern California.”
That’s the outside of your home. Here’s the in….
The Government Just Admitted It Will Use Smart Home Devices for Spying:
“If you want evidence that US intelligence agencies aren’t losing surveillance abilities because of the rising use of encryption by tech companies, look no further than the testimony…by the (then) director of national intelligence, James Clapper….
“Clapper made clear that the internet of things – the many devices like thermostats, cameras and other appliances that are increasingly connected to the internet – are providing ample opportunity for intelligence agencies to spy on targets, and possibly the masses. And it’s a danger that many consumers who buy these products may be wholly unaware of….
“Privacy advocates have known about the potential for government to exploit the internet of things for years. Law enforcement agencies have taken notice too, increasingly serving court orders on companies for data they keep that citizens might not even know they are transmitting. Police have already been asking Google-owned company Dropcam for footage from cameras inside people’s homes meant to keep an eye on their kids.”
Orwell got the tech right – just not Big Government’s ability to create it for totalitarian ends.
Freedom has allowed for the free markets – that allowed the rise of the private sector Big Tech Orwell thought Big Government would produce.
And now Big Tech and Big Government are partnering – to end that freedom.
Well…for we plebeians, anyway.
I’m sure Big Tech and Big Government will be just fine.
Fourth July Quake Could Trigger Bigger Quake in Region
Geologists have warned that the earthquake in South California on Thursday could trigger a larger quake in the region. The Ridgecrest quake has already seen a number of aftershocks, some has strong as 5.5.
The magnitude 6.4 quake was the largest to hit the region in 20 years. And has lead some scientists to warn could be the precursor to a much bigger quake.
Read More: Daily Mail
US Actors Face Informal Ban in China
The Chinese- US trade war has seen US actors axed from Chinese productions. The Chinese film market has seen tremendous growth in recent years, and many US actors have flocked to the country to fill roles in films as foreigners. However, Chinese agencies have been axing these actors from their books.
“My agency in China ended our contract claiming the trade war with America amounts to force majeure. I can only assume it looks bad for them to be working with an American,” said Matt William Knowles, who was cut from a $75m project last month.
Read More: Business Fast
Earthquake Magnitude 6.4 Hits Near Ridgecrest and South China Lake, South California
A 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit southern California. The epicentre was a few kilometres from the Naval Air Weapons Station at China Lake, Ridgecrest. The weapons station is the Navy’s largest land holding facility of weapons and armaments research, development, acquisition, testing and evaluation.
The region in the Mojave desert is sparsely populated. There were no injuries, but buildings and roads sustained varying degrees of damage. The earthquake is the largest to hit the region in 20 years, and was felt over 100 miles away in Santa Barbara.
Read More: Arlington Cardinal
Sundance Festval Co-Founder Gets at Least 6 Years in Sex Abuse Case
Sterling Van Wagenen film-maker and co-founder of the Sundance Festival pleaded guilty to child sex abuse charges. The judge sentenced him for six years to life, and hopes the parole officer will ensure he will receive more than the minimum sentence.
Read More: AP News
French designer Julien Fournier: Witches Were the First Feminists
French fashion designer Julien Fournier has said he believes that witches were the first feminists, saying they were the first to challenge patriarchy. His comments were made during the opening of his new show, which he staged in a church.
His new collection is called, “First Spell”, in which he derives inspiration from witches who “knew how to control their destiny”.
Read More: Yahoo News
Dalai Lama Sorry Comments that a Female Successor Would Need to be Attractive
In a recent interview, with the BBC, the 84 year old Dalai Lama commented that if his successor were female she would have to be “attractive”. After receiving criticism for the remarks he apologised.
In the interview he also discussed the refugee crisis in Europe, and voiced his feelings about US President Donald Trump, saying that his presidency was marred by a “lack of moral principle.” The Dalai Lama has met every US President since George H.W. Bush, and said he would be open to meet the President, but had never been asked.
Read More: NBC News