Society's Child

Russian MoD says more than 6,400 militants have left E Ghouta under transfer deal

Sputnik
Wed, 28 Mar 2018 20:03 UTC

© Agence France-Presse / Louai Beshara
Russian military police members stand guard at the Wafideen checkpoint on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus neighbouring the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta enclave on March 13, 2018, awaiting any civilians evacuating from the area

The Russian Defense Ministry has reported on recent developments in the tense situation in Syria's Eastern Ghouta.

"Last night, during a search of militants, 15 suicide belts were found and seized. Eight belts for suicide bombers were confiscated eight days ago by Russian military police and Syrian police. Also, 289 grenades were confiscated from militants leaving [E Ghouta]," the report stated.

According to the ministry of defense's report, 6,400 militants and their families have left the area through the humanitarian corridor from East Ghouta on Tuesday by buses.

Comment: Russia has consistently favored withdrawal and transfer of militant groups to agreed-up areas over combat in Syria. How many civilian lives have been spared by this policy?

Kim Dotcom says Julian Assange's internet has been cut off at Ecuadorian embassy in London

RT
Wed, 28 Mar 2018 19:48 UTC

Kim Dotcom is alleging WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has had his internet connection within the Ecuadorian embassy in London cut off. He has called on Assange supporters to gather outside the embassy building in solidarity.

Neither WikiLeaks nor Assange has made an official statement regarding the reports. An official confirmed that the embassy had cut off Assange's internet access when speaking to AFP.

Dotcom demanded that authorities "#ReconnectJulian." Former Greek Minister of Finance Ioannis Varoufakis also tweeted Wednesday, calling for people to rally around Assange to force the Ecuadorian uthorities to restore his internet connection.

Gonna need more trillion$: US-made Patriot missile system FAIL in Saudi Arabia - Missiles boomerang and hit Saudi targets

Sputnik
Mon, 26 Mar 2018 14:45 UTC

Saudi Arabian air defenses have been on heightened alert following Sunday night's missile attack from Yemen.

Late on Sunday the Saudi air defenders said they had intercepted seven medium-range ballistic missiles launched at the country from Yemen.

However, a video made by local eyewitnesses and published by the Aviationist shows that two of the US-made Patriot missiles, launched to intercept the incoming missiles, missed their targets.

One of them exploded in mid-air shortly after launch, while the other crashed in a residential area.

Debris from the missiles landed on a home in Riyadh, killing an Egyptian resident and wounding two others.

Comment: While Russia is revolutionizing its defense capabilities, U.S. systems are falling to pieces and fail regularly, just like their politicians.

Maybe it's time they "just shut up and go away", to paraphrase UK Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson?

Nah...

MBS just spent YUGE sums of money on more U.S. military toys!

North Carolina police issued at least four search warrants to search data on all Google devices near murder scene

Sidney Fussell
Gizmodo
Fri, 16 Mar 2018 18:25 UTC

Google was served at least four sweeping search warrants by Raleigh, North Carolina police last year, requesting anonymized location data on all users within areas surrounding crime scenes. In one case, Raleigh police requested information on all Google accounts within 17 acres of a murder, overlapping residences, and businesses. Google did not confirm or deny whether it handed over the requested data to police.

WRAL reporter Tyler Dukes found four investigations in 2017 where police issued these uniquely extensive warrants: two murder cases, one sexual battery case, and an arson case that destroyed two apartment complexes and displaced 41 people. Police routinely request information from technology companies-Google says it shares data with law enforcement about 81% of the time-but these specific cases are remarkable: Instead of finding a suspect, and then searching that person's data, police are searching enormous amounts of data to pinpoint a potential suspect.

UK government refuses to give information about Sergei Skripal to his Russian family: 'We don't even know where he is'

RT
Wed, 28 Mar 2018 19:41 UTC

© Henry Nicholls / Reuters
Police officers get dressed in protective suiting at a car recovery depot in Norton Enterprise Park, where Sergei Skripal's car was originally transported, in Salisbury, Britain, March 13, 2018.

The niece of poisoned ex-Russian double agent Sergei Skripal said she doesn't know how or where her uncle is. Her comments come after Skripal's friend and neighbor said that he has not been allowed to visit him in hospital.

On Thursday, High Court Justice David Basil Williams handed down a ruling on the medical condition of the Skripals. It contained evidence from the consultant treating them in Salisbury District Hospital, which stated that the facility had "not been approached by anyone known to the patients to enquire of their welfare."

Ross Cassidy, a haulage contractor, has been Sergei Skripal's neighbor since 2010. He said that he has been prevented from visiting Skripal and his daughter Yulia in hospital, and that he believes they are so critically ill there is no hope they will be revived.

Comment: What reasons would the British government have for blocking an ill man from seeing his friends and family? What are they hiding?

FTC: Facebook is under investigation over 'substantial concerns' regarding privacy practices

Lucas Nolan
Breitbart
Mon, 26 Mar 2018 00:00 UTC

The FTC has announced that they have opened a federal investigation into Facebook following the company's latest user data scandal, citing "substantial concerns" about Facebook's treatment of users' private data.

Axios reports that Facebook is under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission following the recent user data scandal related to data analysis firm Cambridge Analytica. The FTC has now stated that they are investigating the social media companies internal user privacy practices. Tom Pahl, Acting Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, released a statement on their investigation saying:

The FTC is firmly and fully committed to using all of its tools to protect the privacy of consumers. Foremost among these tools is enforcement action against companies that fail to honor their privacy promises, including to comply with Privacy Shield, or that engage in unfair acts that cause substantial injury to consumers in violation of the FTC Act. Companies who have settled previous FTC actions must also comply with FTC order provisions imposing privacy and data security requirements. Accordingly, the FTC takes very seriously recent press reports raising substantial concerns about the privacy practices of Facebook. Today, the FTC is confirming that it has an open non-public investigation into these practices.

Facebook's consumer ranking has taken a huge hit since the data scandal. A poll from Reuters shows that the public is rapidly losing faith in Facebook following allegations that data firm Cambridge Analytica used the social media platform to gain access to the personal data of 50 million users.

Comment: The trust and protection of the user has to be the first commandment of such companies, not the political situation nor the favors of any particular candidate or business operation.

A first since Soviet era: Russian anti-sub aviation flies to North American shores via North Pole

RT
Wed, 28 Mar 2018 13:42 UTC

Russian anti-submarine aviation has conducted the first training flight over the North Pole to North American shores since the Soviet era, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu says.

"For the very first time since the Soviet era, we've conducted anti-submarine aviation flights over the North Pole to the shores of the North American continent," Shoigu said on Wednesday.

The development and modernization of the Northern Fleet, as well as the Arctic in general, remains among the main priorities of the MoD. As of the beginning of this year, the share of modern weaponry and military equipment in the fleet has reached almost 50 percent, the minister stated. In 2017 alone, the Northern Fleet "received 1,090 pieces of modern hardware, including five combat speedboats, seven logistics vessels, nine aircraft and 10 anti-air radar systems."

This year, the fleet has been bolstered by further additions, including the icebreaker Ilya Muromets, while military logistics vessel Elbrus is also about to join its ranks. Several other vessels are undergoing final tests before their deployment, according to Shoigu.

Over the past few years, Russia has significantly beefed up its defensive capabilities on its northern borders, building new military facilities and refurbishing old ones, and deploying more troops and hardware to the Arctic region. Russia currently has four bases there, including the northernmost military compound, known as 'Arctic Trefoil.' The installation is the world's only permanent structure built at 80 degrees latitude north of the Equator.

Rushed US telecom database overhaul sparks fear of catastrophic failure

Adam Kredo
Washington Free Beacon
Mon, 26 Mar 2018 18:50 UTC

Foreign firm handling overhaul cited for national security breaches

An impending overhaul of the national U.S. telecommunications database is prompting fears the transition could spark a catastrophic failure, crippling emergency communications networks across the United States, according to industry insiders who told the Washington Free Beacon the foreign firm handling the upcoming transition may not be prepared to initiate the switch.

On April 8, a foreign firm will initiate the first phase in a Federal Communications Commission-mandated overhaul of the national telecoms database that stores and facilitates millions of American phone numbers.

The national database, known as the Number Portability Administration Center (NPAC), handles 6 billion calls and texts per day, and if the system fails, no calls at all will be able to be placed. It is being taken over by a foreign-owned firm with a past of breaching U.S. national security clauses banning it from employing foreign workers, such as those tied to China.

Comment: About the Number Portability Administration Center:

The Number Portability Administration Center (NPAC) is the registry that enables consumers and businesses in the U.S. and Canada to maintain their telephone numbers when they change service providers.

Administered by Neustar since its inception in 1997, the NPAC is an authoritative, trusted and neutral registry that operates with 99.999% availability.

The Dimensions of Reliability: NPAC Facts

It's the largest Local Number Portability registry in the world, serving more than 2,000 telecom carriers in the U.S. and Canada with 99.999% availability;

It facilitates the routing of more than 4 billion calls and enables more than 1 million transactions every day;

It executes over half a billion registry updates a year to more than 600 million registered phone numbers;

It supports freedom of choice for hundreds of millions of consumers and businesses, and for all the carriers that serve them.

UK to scrutinize Tier 1 visas granted to wealthy Russians

RT
Wed, 28 Mar 2018 15:22 UTC

© PA
Amber Rudd told MPs that Home Office officials were looking at how Russians who have secured so-called Tier 1 visas in order to live in the UK acquired their wealth.

The UK authorities are planning to look retrospectively at visas granted to wealthy foreign investors, Home Secretary Amber Rudd said, responding to a question about Russians who had been granted travel permits.

The question touches upon 700 Russians who had reportedly received so-called Tier 1 visas between 2008 and 2015. This type of visa is given to foreigners planning to run a business in the UK and have access to at least £50,000 (US$70,750).

"The Tier 1 was already reformed in 2015-2016 and it has been reduced by 84 percent since then," Rudd told a committee of lawmakers. "I have asked my officials to look at what reforms we may continue with and to take a look at previous ones over the past few years."

Comment: See also:

Zuckerberg says he's "fundamentally uncomfortable" deciding what constitutes hate speech

Allum Bokhari
Breitbart
Mon, 26 Mar 2018 17:55 UTC

Mark Zuckerberg says he feels "uncomfortable" acting as the world's censor, although he also claims that it is currently "his job" to do so - and mainstream journalists agree.

"I feel fundamentally uncomfortable sitting here in California at an office, making content policy decisions for people around the world," the Facebook CEO told Recode last week.

The Facebook CEO said, "There are going to be things that we never allow, right, like terrorist recruitment and ... We do, I think, in terms of the different issues that come up, a relatively very good job on making sure that terrorist content is off the platform. But things like where is the line on hate speech? I mean, who chose me to be the person that ..."

Zuckerberg then said that he has to make those decisions because he "leads" Facebook, but that he'd "rather not."

At this point, his interviewer, mainstream tech journalist Kara Swisher said she was going to "push back" on his hinted desire to remain content-neutral, saying that "companies have values." She went on to compare Facebook to the New York Times, questioning why Zuckerberg feels uncomfortable making "value decisions."

Zuckerberg responded, saying he wants "to make the decisions as well as possible."

Comment: So Zuckberberg at least has an ounce of common sense. That's refreshing. But the fact remains that Facebook does remain an arbitrary arbiter of "hate speech", penalizing individuals for relatively benign opinions and statements simply because some idiot censor or mindless algorithm finds such statements un-PC. Zuckerberg should listen to his conscience and limit censorship to the clearly illegal, e.g. terrorist recruitment. But that will never happen. The totalitarian liberal mindset is too strong in today's society to allow that much common sense.

well you sure don't have to think about anything so what would you call it

cracker

Greek acting gods have a joke “Sapiens is wise, because they know, that we know better what to do with their will, than they do.” Vicious foreign...

Orwik

Jut for laffs here's George Carlin doing a spoof as the Architect in the Matrix: [Link] * BTW, this just came out today: Leonard Cohen - Puppets...

parzival

.. .. Is the Brits' Prince Pedo ok? [Link]

Jibrish

.. .. jUS Con gress shid show [Link] Let's go pfhizer [Link]

Jibrish

Society's Child

Russian MoD says more than 6,400 militants have left E Ghouta under transfer deal

Kim Dotcom says Julian Assange's internet has been cut off at Ecuadorian embassy in London

Gonna need more trillion$: US-made Patriot missile system FAIL in Saudi Arabia - Missiles boomerang and hit Saudi targets

North Carolina police issued at least four search warrants to search data on all Google devices near murder scene

UK government refuses to give information about Sergei Skripal to his Russian family: 'We don't even know where he is'

FTC: Facebook is under investigation over 'substantial concerns' regarding privacy practices

A first since Soviet era: Russian anti-sub aviation flies to North American shores via North Pole

Rushed US telecom database overhaul sparks fear of catastrophic failure

UK to scrutinize Tier 1 visas granted to wealthy Russians

Zuckerberg says he's "fundamentally uncomfortable" deciding what constitutes hate speech

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