Society's Child

FBI's face recognition technology is dangerously inaccurate and a growing threat to liberty

Jennifer Lynch
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Thu, 06 Jun 2019 00:00 UTC

This week the federal Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued an update to its 2016 report on the FBI's use of face recognition. The takeaway, which they also shared during a Congressional House Oversight Committee hearing: the FBI now has access to 641 million photos-including driver's license and ID photos - but it still refuses to assess the accuracy of its systems.

According to the latest GAO Report, FBI's Facial Analysis, Comparison, and Evaluation (FACE) Services unit not only has access to FBI's Next Generation Identification (NGI) face recognition database of nearly 30 million civil and criminal mug shot photos, it also has access to the State Department's Visa and Passport databases, the Defense Department's biometric database, and the driver's license databases of at least 21 states. Totaling 641 million images - an increase of 230 million images since GAO's 2016 report - this is an unprecedented number of photographs, most of which are of Americans and foreigners who have committed no crimes.

What is the cost of lies? Fallout from 9/11 attacks on par with Fukushima and Chernobyl

Leah McGrath Goodman
Newsweek
Sun, 18 Sep 2016 22:04 UTC

The U.S. government has spent the past six years pouring millions of dollars into researching deadly diseases linked to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. But it has never officially warned people who lived and worked in Lower Manhattan during 9/11 that the attacks turned the area into a breeding ground for cancer.

At a conference at the New York Academy of Medicine on Wednesday, researchers shared fresh evidence of elevated rates of cancer, heart and respiratory disease and post-traumatic stress disorder linked to Ground Zero. One doctor even stated that the dangerous health consequences of the attacks are on par with those of the nuclear accidents at Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986 and Fukushima, Japan in 2011.

Previewing a yet-to-be-released paper he wrote with several colleagues overseas, Dr. Roberto Lucchini of the World Trade Center Health Program at Mount Sinai in New York told attendees that while the September 11 attacks resulted in heightened cancer rates for those living and working near Ground Zero, Fukushima, so far, has not.

Comment: It could have been worse. Most of that dust cloud blew out to sea on and after 9/11.

And yet, so much about that event is still unacknowledged.

As a certain recent docu-drama on Chernobyl said: "What is the cost of lies?"

See also: Jon Stewart lashes out at near-empty congress hearing on healthcare for 9/11 first responders: "You should be ashamed of yourselves"

Jordan Peterson announces creation of free speech platform 'Thinkspot'

Alexander Hall
NewsBusters
Wed, 12 Jun 2019 19:42 UTC

Jordan Peterson

An upcoming free speech platform promises to provide users the best features of other social media, but without the censorship.

The subscription based "anti-censorship" platform "Thinkspot" is being created by popular psychologist Dr. Jordan B. Peterson. It's being marketed as a free speech alternative to payment processors like Patreon in that it will "monetize creators" and as provide a social media alternative to platforms like Facebook and YouTube.

Peterson discussed Thinkspot with podcaster Joe Rogan on June 9, emphasizing a radically pro-free speech Terms of Service. He described that freedom as the "central" aspect saying, "once you're on our platform we won't take you down unless we're ordered to by a US court of law."

Five years after IS conquest, Mosul has become 'a cemetery for the living'

RT
Tue, 11 Jun 2019 18:03 UTC

© Stringer/Reuters
Children stand next to a burnt vehicle during clashes between Iraqi forces and ISIS in Mosul, Iraq on June 10, 2014.

Mosul had fallen to Islamic State five years ago. The US-led coalition liberated the Iraqi city in 2017, but left it largely in ruins. With the ISIS caliphate gone, are the local residents recovering, and how?

IS takes Mosul

After taking control of Fallujah and Ramadi in early June 2014, IS (also known as ISIS) fighters turned their sights on Mosul, where the Iraqi Army reportedly had just 10,000 soldiers. Crucially, the troops were short of weapons and ammunition, and their tanks had been moved to the Anbar province.

On June 4, IS rode into the city in pick-up trucks and overpowered their Iraqi opponents in mere days, seizing control of government buildings and the airport as some 500,000 civilians fled. Kurdistan had offered to send Peshmerga fighters to help, but Iraq declined, and Mosul fell.

Comment:

Saudi Arabia seeking death penalty for teen who allegedly committed offenses when he was 10 years old

Tom Embury-Dennis
Independent
Sat, 08 Jun 2019 17:19 UTC

Saudi Arabia is seeking to execute a teenager who has been imprisoned ever since his arrest as a 13-year-old, human rights experts have said.

Murtaja Qureiris, 18, is facing the death penalty - possibly by crucifixion - over charges including anti-government protests, joining a "terrorist organisation", firing at security forces and making Molotov cocktails which were later thrown at a police station.

The 18-year-old denies the charges, CNN has reported, claiming confessions which the prosecution has relied on were obtained under duress.

Amnesty International said it had confirmed the country's public prosecutor was seeking the death penalty for offences which date back to when Mr Qureiris was just 10 years old.

'I'll f***ing bury you!' McAfee vows to expose corrupt US officials & CIA agents if 'disappeared'

RT
Wed, 12 Jun 2019 17:10 UTC

Bitcoin evangelist John McAfee has threatened to "bury" the US government if they keep harassing him over unpaid taxes, promising to leak a huge trove of files proving corruption throughout Washington and its allies.

"I've collected files on corruption in governments. For the first time, I'm naming names and specifics," McAfee warned in a string of tweets stretching back to Sunday. Vowing to release over 31 terabytes of "incriminating data" to the press if arrested or otherwise "disappeared," he posted the names of a "corrupt CIA agent and two Bahamian officials" along with claims they'd taken bribes and been involved with drug trafficking, apparently to show he was not bluffing.

He also promised to release the names of "25 Congressmen and 5 Senators, from both Parties, who are coming up for re-election in 2020, and who MUST be recalled, and if that fails, booted out of office on election day" on Friday.

Rehabilitate or open UK Gitmo? RT panel discusses Muslim gangs in British prisons

RT
Wed, 12 Jun 2019 17:04 UTC

A fresh UK government report says Muslim gangs at British top security prisons use coercion and violence to force religious conversion of non-Muslim inmates. An RT panel locks horn over ways to tackle it.

According to government figures, there are around 13,000 Muslim prisoners in Britain, comprising about 15 percent of the total prison population. The Ministry of Justice study, based on interviews at three of Britain's eight maximum security prisons, said Muslim gangs exert pressure on non-Muslim inmates to convert to Islam, using various tactics including direct violence.

Hundreds attend unsanctioned rally in Moscow to support journalist after drug case against him dropped

RT
Wed, 12 Jun 2019 17:01 UTC

Hundreds attended a rally in Moscow to support reporter Ivan Golunov on the day after drugs charges against him were dropped and his house arrest ended. The rally wasn't sanctioned by officials, who had approved another date.

The drug-dealing charges against Golunov, an investigative journalist with Meduza, were dropped on Tuesday due to lack of evidence. The police officers suspected of framing the journalist have been suspended pending an internal investigation.

The highly controversial case spurred a broad public outcry, with supporters saying Golunov had been targeted for his reporting about corruption. Leading media outlets and public figures demanded a swift probe into suspected police corruption.

Comment: See:

Golunov's supporters decided to go ahead with their march on Wednesday, despite his release. Moscow officials had sanctioned the event for June 16 and urged residents not to take part in Wednesday's rally.

On the self-destructive trajectory of overly successful empires

Charles Hughes Smith
Of Two Minds
Wed, 12 Jun 2019 16:34 UTC

It's difficult not to see signs of this same trajectory in the U.S. since the fall of the Soviet Empire in 1990.

A recent comment by my friend and colleague Davefairtex on the Roman Empire's self-destructive civil wars that precipitated the Western Empire's decline and fall made me rethink what I've learned about the Roman Empire in the past few years of reading.

Dave's comment (my paraphrase) described the amazement of neighboring nations that Rome would squander its strength on needless, inconclusive, self-inflicted civil conflicts over which political faction would gain control of the Imperial central state.

It was a sea change in Roman history. Before the age of endless political in-fighting, it was incomprehensible that Roman armies would be mustered to fight other Roman armies over Imperial politics. The waste of Roman strength, purpose, unity and resources was monumental. Not even Rome could sustain the enormous drain of civil wars and maintain widespread prosperity and enough military power to suppress military incursions by neighbors.

Tens of thousands protest extradition bill in Hong Kong - clashes with police reported

RT
Wed, 12 Jun 2019 16:23 UTC

Hong Kong is hit by another massive rally, with people flooding the streets to demand a backdown on a bill that would allow extradition to mainland China. Tear gas and pepper spray have been used to tackle the unrest.

An estimated tens of thousands of residents of Hong Kong surrounded the Chinese-ruled local legislature on Wednesday, voicing unease over an extradition bill that would allow people to be sent to mainland China to stand trial there. As the rally grew bigger, some protesters, mostly young people dressed in black, began erecting barricades around the area.

Many of the people have been holding umbrellas, which echo visuals from Hong Kong's 'Umbrella Revolution' of 2014, where they came to symbolize passive resistance to the use of pepper spray by police.

Protesters on Wednesday have also rallied in and around Lung Wo Road, a main east-west motorway running near the offices of embattled Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam. Hundreds of officers, many wearing riot gear and equipped with batons and plastic shields, prepared to stop the crowd's advance.

Comment: This is the second day of pretty massive protests in response to the bill. 'Delaying the debate' may dampen the protests for now - we'll see - but if public response is this big, chances are it will be just as big once the delay is over, unless the bill is scrapped entirely. On yesterday's protest:

Clashes outside Hong Kong parliament as 'over 1 million' march against extradition bill

I once wore a kilt to elementary school but that was because it was part of my homemade Braveheart costume. I had shorts on underneath but pranked...

Animanarchy

She hopefully also knocked out a complete chronology of her situation and made it available to the press. God speed lady! Fight that good fight -...

Rowan Cocoan

.. .. Never go to Happy Hour when it's nurses night.. or, Let's go phizzer [Link]

Jibrish

But we're going into a mini 'ice age'! HAARP has nothing to do with this...

tekdude

Ehret an idiot beyond belief

smertzasmert

Society's Child

FBI's face recognition technology is dangerously inaccurate and a growing threat to liberty

What is the cost of lies? Fallout from 9/11 attacks on par with Fukushima and Chernobyl

Jordan Peterson announces creation of free speech platform 'Thinkspot'

Five years after IS conquest, Mosul has become 'a cemetery for the living'

Saudi Arabia seeking death penalty for teen who allegedly committed offenses when he was 10 years old

'I'll f***ing bury you!' McAfee vows to expose corrupt US officials & CIA agents if 'disappeared'

Rehabilitate or open UK Gitmo? RT panel discusses Muslim gangs in British prisons

Hundreds attend unsanctioned rally in Moscow to support journalist after drug case against him dropped

On the self-destructive trajectory of overly successful empires

Tens of thousands protest extradition bill in Hong Kong - clashes with police reported

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