Society's Child

Facebook's alleged pursuit of spy software shows rapacity of its 'advertising machine'

Sputnik
Tue, 07 Apr 2020 00:42 UTC

Facebook allegedly tried to buy a spyware package, known as Pegasus, designed by Israeli mobile surveillance company NSO Group back in 2017, a move that would show the social media giant is willing to go to any lengths to collect data on people, web developer and technologist Chris Garaffa told Radio Sputnik's Loud & Clear.

"I really feel like this would have been a bigger story if we weren't dealing with the pandemic right now, and people should pay attention to what Facebook tried to do a couple of years ago," Garaffa told host John Kiriakou on Monday. "The NSO Group is a very shady company. They are based out of Israel, and effectively, they sell software that lets you attack mobile phones. That is essentially what their primary business is."

"The NSO company is one of these companies that sells to governments around the world. They have security researchers that try to find security issues in primarily, in this case, the iPhone, but really in all sorts of devices, and they develop what's called an 'exploit.' They develop a way to take advantage of that security issue to take over that phone, and usually in ways that you are not even going to be able to notice unless you're highly trained. We know that they've sold to countries around the world - many countries that you certainly wouldn't want attacking your phone. This software has been used against journalists and human rights activists, and it turns out, in 2017 Facebook approached the NSO Group and tried to buy the Pegasus software from them," Garaffa added.

According to a report by Motherboard, NSO CEO Shalev Hulio recently said in a court filing that two Facebook representatives asked the company in October 2017 whether they could purchase Pegasus, which allows operators to infect mobile phones remotely and steal data from them. Around the time that it approached NSO, Facebook had developed and released a VPN product called Onavo Protect, which, if downloaded on a person's phone, could determine what other apps they were using.

Comment: See also:

'Profound lack of human decency': Oliver Stone tears into US govt over Iran & Venezuela sanctions amid Covid-19 crisis

Daniel Kovalik and Oliver Stone
NY Daily News
Sat, 04 Apr 2020 01:48 UTC

Some may have seen the beautiful story of Cuba allowing a cruise ship, denied by other countries, to dock in its harbor though some on board had tested positive for COVID-19. This ship was full of mostly British citizens who were permitted to fly back home from Cuba. In addition, Cuba, along with China, is sending doctors and supplies to a number of countries around the world to help them fight the pandemic.

These actions represent the type of international solidarity and show of humanity that the world needs right now. Sadly, the federal government in Washington is demonstrating the very opposite at this time, removing all of its Peace Corps staff from around the world, and, even worse, increasing sanctions against countries like Cuba, Iran, Venezuela and Nicaragua during the height of the COVID-19 outbreak. It is accurate to say that the U.S. is weaponizing the virus against these countries.

The video that started it all: Ten years since WikiLeaks published 'collateral murder' footage

Oscar Grenfell
World Socialist Website
Mon, 06 Apr 2020 00:00 UTC

Yesterday marked 10 years since WikiLeaks published the Collateral Murder video, showing US soldiers in an Apache helicopter indiscriminately firing upon unarmed civilians and journalists in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

The footage, filmed by the US military on July 12, 2007, shows the gunship circling above a group of 10 men, going about their business in the suburb of Al-Amin al-Thaniyah. In increasingly exasperated tones, those on board ask whether they have been given permission to open fire on the individuals, who pose no conceivable threat.

When the signal has been given, they let loose with 30 mm cannon fire. The viewer's horror at the massacre is matched only by revulsion at the glee of the American soldiers.

As the 10 men lie catastrophically wounded or dead, a US soldier expresses his hope that one of them will pick up a non-existent weapon, so that the fusillade may be resumed. A van pulls up to give assistance to the wounded. It is fired upon, killing the driver and inflicting horrific wounds on his two young children.

At the end of the carnage, as many as 18 lie dead. They include Reuters journalists Saeed Chmagh and Namir Noor-Eldeen. Congratulations and more blood lust are the response from within the Apache.

Collateral Murder, 17 minute version:

Food banks warn they will soon run out of food as economic suffering explodes all over America

Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse
Sun, 05 Apr 2020 00:00 UTC

What are hungry Americans going to do when the food banks don't have any more food for them? Over the past couple of weeks, we have witnessed the largest spike in unemployment in all of U.S. history. Since most of those workers did not have any sort of a cushion to fall bank on, a lot of of them have been forced to seek out emergency assistance for themselves and their families almost immediately. Of course our national network of food banks was not built to handle this sort of a scenario, and as you will see below, many of them are already starting to run out of food. But if things are this bad at the very beginning of this new economic downturn, what are things going to look like a few months from now?

It is imperative for people to understand that we are now in uncharted territory. At this point, even the head of the IMF is warning that this new economic crisis will be "way worse" that the last recession...

The coronavirus pandemic has created an economic crisis "like no other" — one that is "way worse" than the 2008 global financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund's top official said Friday.

"Never in the history of the IMF have we witnessed the world economy come to a standstill," Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the IMF, said at a news conference.

The government wants to decide what items are essential purchases and what things you're not allowed to buy

Daisy Luther
The Organic Prepper
Mon, 06 Apr 2020 00:00 UTC

Living under lockdown restrictions, prevalent in nearly every state, is about to get a whole lot worse. The government in the United States and Canada has decided to take away the guesswork in the stores that are still open and decide for you what's "essential" and what's not.

When I have gone to the store to pick up groceries (I'm still getting fresh produce while I can), I also like to pick up a couple of things that are pleasant diversions: magazines, a crossword puzzle book, coloring pencils, some craft supplies. It's nice to have some things that are enjoyable on hand to keep lockdown from feeling so grim and torturous. If the store is already open, getting a sunny yellow pillow for the living room is a pick-me-up, not a frivolous jaunt to a place I wasn't already going. When we had a birthday in the family, we even picked up a few small gifts on our regular trip to the grocery store to provide a sense of normalcy.

But the days of getting a random item to brighten a family member's day may be numbered. The government (at least in some places) wants to make this already unpleasant time as dismal as possible for us all.

Comment: As economics worsen over time (even when the lockdown conditions are eventually lifted) one can expect greater difficulty in acquiring convenient items, essential items, and even quality food. The time to start thinking about such matters is certainly now - in case one hasn't already.

Israel's Ultra-Orthodox communities, the government, and COVID-19

Elizabeth Blade
Sputnik
Mon, 06 Apr 2020 05:59 UTC

Israel continues to attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus that has left more than 40 people dead and over 7,000 others in hospitals across the country.

As the number of cases continues to soar, the Jewish state has imposed a number of new measures that include the sealing off of some cities and neighbourhoods considered a hub for the spread of the virus, as well as the closure of roads and junctions leading to those towns.

One such place is Bnei Brak, located east of Tel Aviv and considered the centre of Haredi Judaism, which is now second after Jerusalem in the amount of people who've tested positive for the coronavirus.

Israel's draconian quarantine measures

Oleg Burunov
Sputnik
Mon, 06 Apr 2020 08:45 UTC

On Sunday, the Israeli Health Ministry reported that the death toll from the COVID-19 outbreak in the country has climbed to 51.

Israeli police and special forces are doing their best to enforce the coronavirus-related quarantine measures in the country, which, in particular stipulate limiting citizens to within a 100-metre radius of their homes.

Israeli police spokesman Michael Zingerman said on Monday that since the quarantine regime was tightened last month, they have sanctioned thousands of people over violating the measures.

"The sanctions that the police apply are mostly fines which are slapped on those who should be in self-isolation, but who go out, violating the quarantine regime", Zingerman pointed out, referring to a fine of 5,000 shekels (about $1,300).

Privacy-minded Germans wary as Berlin develops nationwide Covid-19 tracking app & calls for EU-wide system

RT
Mon, 06 Apr 2020 16:22 UTC

© AFP / Ina Fassbender
An employee scans the smart ticket at a drive-in cinema in Essen, western Germany, on March 29, 2020

Germany is pushing for the creation of a smartphone app that will monitor Covid-19 cases across the European Union. Its own plan to create a nationwide system has already raised eyebrows.

The government is working with developers and testers to get the high-tech tool "to the point that we can bring it into widespread use among the population in the coming days or weeks," Head of the Chancellery Helge Braun told local media on Monday. The app has been billed as one way in which a nationwide shutdown to contain the virus could be eased and eventually lifted. The government has said obligatory face masks in public, as well as a limit on public gatherings, would also help accelerate a return to normalcy. The lockdown is scheduled to end on April 19.

Stressing that it would only be a short-term solution to tracking coronavirus cases, Braun said that the EU "definitely" needs a bloc-wide system. "The worst thing that can happen is that there are many different tracking apps," he argued.

It's still unclear how such an app would work in Germany, and especially Europe as a whole. Attracting wide-scale voluntary participation in such a program might hinge on whether users feel comfortable handing over personal information, as well as data about their current location, to their governments. Germany has emphasized that any data collected by the app — which will inform users if they are in an area where there is a coronavirus-positive individual — will not be stored.

Comment: Anyone that volunteers to participate in this program has a phone smarter than they are.

COVID-19 is likely to lead to an increase in suicides

Adriana Panayi
Scientific American
Fri, 03 Apr 2020 19:19 UTC

Of all the literary masterpieces describing humanity's experience of disease pandemics, none describes suicide more vividly than Ovid's Metamorphoses, when in response to the psychosocial distress of the plague the citizens "hanged themselves, to kill the fears of death by death's own hand." Just like a pandemic became a reality for the first time in more than a century, in a destructive "life imitating art imitating life" way, news of suicides linked to the COVID-19 crisis have swept the globe and sadly show no signs of abating.

K. Balakrishna, a 50-year-old Indian father-of-three, may be the first suicide victim linked to the coronavirus epidemic. Panic is suspected of precipitating his death. Historically, disease pandemics have been associated with grave psychological consequences. This should not come as a surprise. In its simple definition "pandemic" describes the spread of a disease across a large region, but words such as "pandemic," "plague" and now "coronavirus" are not experienced in a simple way; they come riddled with fear, anxiety, grief and chaos. Balakrishna kept watching coronavirus-related videos and became convinced he had the virus and would infect his family: he was a victim of panic contagion. Panic can demoralize us, it can paralyze us with paranoia and fear, and these emotions in turn lead to hopelessness and desperation.

Media manipulation: CBS News posts fraudulent video of ICU nurse crying over poor working conditions

Chrissy Clark
The Federalist
Mon, 06 Apr 2020 19:02 UTC

CBS News posted a video of a nurse who claimed she quit her job after being asked to work in a coronavirus ICU without a face mask.

"America is not prepared, and nurses are not being protected," said the ICU nurse in the video. "I quit my job today. I went into work and I was assigned to a COVID patient on an ICU unit that has been converted to a designated COVID unit. None of the nurses are wearing masks."

The video now appears to be inaccurate. Instead of verifying the legitimacy of the video, CBS added background music and captions to highlight a woman who lied about her workplace situation. The woman, who goes by Imaris on social media, has a prominent following on Instagram.

Let's go, Brandon! Fucking asswipe, worthless, POS. Fraud! Argh! 😤

slbeaudry

I don't think this new requirement has undergone proper public review. There are procedures codified for this sort of thing. If some sort of...

Buffalo_Ken

First it will be 100 employees,then 50, then one. Masses are collectively powerful against the intolerant vocal minority and it is time to wipe...

Bezel Bub

I most certainly would not park my arse on a plane full of vaccinated people and have them infect me with their mutated virus. Whilst my...

Winternights3

What a shitty way to die.

Buffalo_Ken

Society's Child

Facebook's alleged pursuit of spy software shows rapacity of its 'advertising machine'

'Profound lack of human decency': Oliver Stone tears into US govt over Iran & Venezuela sanctions amid Covid-19 crisis

The video that started it all: Ten years since WikiLeaks published 'collateral murder' footage

Food banks warn they will soon run out of food as economic suffering explodes all over America

The government wants to decide what items are essential purchases and what things you're not allowed to buy

Israel's Ultra-Orthodox communities, the government, and COVID-19

Israel's draconian quarantine measures

Privacy-minded Germans wary as Berlin develops nationwide Covid-19 tracking app & calls for EU-wide system

COVID-19 is likely to lead to an increase in suicides

Media manipulation: CBS News posts fraudulent video of ICU nurse crying over poor working conditions

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