[Washington Examiner] Chinese spies are using Facebook to find Uyghur Muslims around the world, according to a whistleblower who argues the tech titan’s neglect of such behavior is a national security risk to the United States.
"My team directly worked on tracking Chinese participation on the platform surveilling, say, Uyghur populations in places around the world," Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen told a Senate Commerce subcommittee this week. "You could actually find the Chinese based on them doing these kinds of things."
Those remarks sent a jolt through lawmakers, who came prepared for a discussion about "protecting kids online," as the hearing title promised.
Sen. Dan Sullivan, an Alaska Republican who also sits on the Armed Services Committee, presented Haugen with an open-ended question about authoritarian exploitation of Facebook. She underscored that multiple foreign intelligence services have used the company to their advantage.
"We also saw active participation of, say, the Iran government doing espionage on other state actors," Haugen said. "So, this is definitely a thing that is happening, and I believe Facebook’s consistent understaffing of the counterespionage, information operations, and counterterrorism teams is a national security issue."
[B Bee] President Biden took a much-needed break from his 4-hour workdays and late-night Matlock binges to attend the Congressional Baseball Game this past weekend, but things quickly went south when he attempted to join the crowd in a rowdy "F*** Joe Biden" chant.
"Yeah, that Biden guy is the worst!" said Biden. "F*** Joe Biden! F*** Joe Biden! Hehe, nothing like a rowdy chant at the old ball game, eh folks?"
Panicked aides quickly grabbed him by the arms and dragged him out of sight to administer some additional meds.
I wonder if Biden is approaching the "over medicated state" that Hitler had (uppers in the morning and downers to sleep every day)...? Or is it "onrushing senility" that Biden's handlers are failing to mask?
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. By Evgeniya Kim
[Regnum] Beijing discussed with Kazakhstan the possibility of deploying its security structures in the country.
China is not confident that the Taliban will abide by the agreements reached. Vasily Kashin, an expert at the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences and an expert on the Chinese military-industrial complex, spoke in an interview with IA REGNUM about the prospects of a Chinese military presence in Afghanistan and the countries of Turkestan.
IA REGNUM: The topic of Chinese private military companies (PMCs) in Turkestan has been discussed for many years. Could the Chinese military appear in the region in the near future in connection with the events in Afghanistan?
There were no Chinese PMCs in the countries of Central Asia and there are none.
What the residents of Tajikistan are frightened with are not PMCs. On the territory of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan, there are posts, and from time to time units of the army or the People's Armed Police of China enter the territory to block alternative routes to the XUAR of the PRC.
This is done within the framework of the 2016 agreement between the chiefs of the General Staffs of the PRC, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to the current agreements, China periodically entered the territory of the Wakhan corridor of Afghanistan and GBAO.
The PRC does not have PMCs, it has PSCs that are engaged in armed guards abroad. In China, there are companies that escort cargo on ships in the Horn of Africa. Other companies are guarding Chinese assets in troubled regions - in the Middle East and Africa. And there are joint security structures, some of whose employees are local residents.
Beijing did discuss, at least with Kazakhstan, the possibility of the presence of its security structures in the country to protect investment projects. But the idea of hiring purely Chinese structures did not materialize.
The PRC takes into account the growth of anti-Chinese sentiments, especially in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Their approach to the presence of guards at their facilities in other countries will be very careful and, most likely, will be implemented in the form of joint security organizations or the hiring of local security structures.
But this has nothing to do with the Taliban.
IA REGNUM: Now an information campaign is unfolding - the PRC is accused of cooperation with the Taliban(an organization whose activities are banned in the Russian Federation). What is the actual degree of Beijing's influence on the decisions of the new Afghan leadership?
The position of the PRC on the Taliban is similar to that of Russia. Beijing has its own channel to communicate with the new government in Afghanistan through Pakistani intelligence. But at the same time, China does not have much influence on the Taliban and there is no confidence that its members will comply with the agreements reached.
This is clearly seen in the way the PRC is strengthening its troops in the western part of the country, stepping up work within the SCO and through bilateral cooperation with Russia.
IA REGNUM How do you assess the fighting efficiency of the current PLA?
Chinese military power is now on the rise. They got involved in military competition with the United States. At the same time, it is important to note that Beijing's focus of military development and priorities related to rivalry with the United States is rather far from Central Asia.
The fastest growing branch of the Chinese armed forces is the naval forces. Until recently, the grouping of troops in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China was one of the most poorly equipped, with a huge amount of antique weapons.
But shortly before the collapse of the American government in Afghanistan, Beijing began active rearmament of troops in the XUAR. By the time the Taliban came to power, the level of equipment of troops in the western part of China was pulled up to the level of armament of the army in other regions of the country.
#3
Smells a little like the runup to the Spanish civil war, with German and Italian 'volunteers', and commies on the other side from Mexico and Russia. Maybe they were the PMC's of their time.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
10/07/2021 9:47 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Why would the Taliban be a threat to China? Unless it's because of how the PRC treats it's Muslim minority.
I believe the short answer to be no.
[Regnum] For Russian ambitious and fetishists, for the "elite" who understands "elitism" as superiority over other people, the wedding of the offspring of the Hohenzollern-Romanov family was a vanity fair. It is noteworthy how individual members of the near-political beau monde like Lyudmila Narusova, Pavel Astakhov, and Natalia Narochnitskaya rushed to touch the "saint." Lyudmila Narusova is a member of the Russian Federation Council, its senate, if you will.
But in the political dimension, this wedding was, of course, not about the past, but about the future.
Every monarchist who was asked the question whether Gosha Hohenzollern would become a Russian autocrat answered in the style of "Why not." That is, they want to say "yes", but they are afraid to seem ridiculous or to give out plans, or they understand that, with all their desire, this will not happen.
In fact, of course, these and other Romanovs have no chance of rule. It would never occur to anyone in the modern Russian government to move and share capital. Capital in this context is resources. When Nicolas II died he was the wealthiest man in the world.
Then why put on a play? The most conservative part of the political class has several reasons for this.
First, it is useful to keep the topic of monarchy in a positive way in the information and public field. For capital, which needs to be passed on from generation to generation, feudalism is actually more convenient than capitalism: you do not need to prove your rights in courts, pay taxes. For ignorant and apolitical people, the Hohenzollern-Romanov couple is presented as simply "loving each other" young people, without claims to the throne and property. Both points are false; propagandists of the monarchy like Zurab Chavchavadze and Konstantin Malofeev will make claims for the newlyweds.
Secondly, the family of German collaborators will advantageously set off a real Russian candidate for autocracy with their absurd personalities, no matter who they become, it will be easier against them than without them. Not today, but in the future: for the idea of a monarchy to be accepted by more Russians, clericalization must be allowed to work and the level of education of people must be lowered - both processes are actively going on.
Thirdly, it is necessary to weave a part of modern Russia into the reactionary networks of the European aristocracy - there is access to capital, "traditionalists", the fascist underground, as well as elements of terrorism, such as the "standard-bearer of Tradition" Sixt-Heinrich Bourbon-Parma , whom Malofeev regularly brings to Moscow.
On the basis of today's ultra-right networks in Europe and Russia, it will be possible to build a Holy Alliance, as in 1815 following the Vienna Congress. Even two hundred years ago, the Holy Alliance was a reactionary organization with a sharply outlined clerical-monarchical ideology, created with the aim of suppressing revolutionary sentiments in Europe. Aleksandr II's adherence to the clerical/monarchial ideology led him straight to confrontation with the west at Crimea in 1854.
In June 2014, in Vienna, in a secret atmosphere, K. Malofeev and A. Dugin actually held a meeting of leaders of the ultra-right and monarchist circles of Europe. Subsequently, such meetings were held annually in the complex "Constantinople" near Moscow K. Malofeev.
What are the chances of success for this transnational group of fanatical clerics, monarchists and far-rightists? For Russian society, their ideas today sound very wild. For most Russian capital groups and interests, the idea of a monarchy is also absurd: the bourgeoisie in Russia overthrew the autocrat back in February 1917. (The month Aleksandr abdicated and a provisional government was set up, prior to the Oktobr Revolution)
However, the ruling class, if it needs to remain in power for decades, plays with the monarchist idea that is quite beneficial. The ideology of conservatism was officially declared precisely for the preservation of power, the rest of the "traditional values" are just decorations for the people.
The answer to the question whether there will be autocracy in Russia - under this or another concept - today cannot be found even in power. To a large extent, it will depend on the economic situation - the crisis will increase the chances, and on the degree of contact with reality among the ruling class.
Consider -
*Russia has traditionally had an autocratic form of government, which for whatever reason seems to suit them.
*Vlad knows he can't stay there forever, and he knows perfectly well that he's not the most popular guy in the world.
But royalty of any stripe tends to be well liked. Imagine a nationalist Russia, buoyed up by a new constitutional monarchy (with Putin as the Red Gray Eminence)led by Czar Gyorgi I and buttressed by the Orthodox Church. The people will probably love it, the foreign press will have new royals to play with, and Vlad gets to keep running the place while a young, constitutional, and respectable monarch is out front smiling.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/07/2021 6:16 Comments ||
Top||
#2
European "traditionalists" are planning a restoration of the Russian monarchy?!? The last time I checked they had a tough time organizing a 400 person convention in the Upper Midlands!
#5
The historical reasons for royal inbreeding are obsolete now.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
10/07/2021 12:44 Comments ||
Top||
#6
the foreign press will have new royals to play with
Well, that's it then. Let's do it! Get Oprah on the phone!
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
10/07/2021 13:38 Comments ||
Top||
#7
I think Mike has the shortest line between 2 points. What the Hell, they already have an autocrat. But one way or the other, I lived long enough to see the Soviet Union GONE, and not simply bleeding demised like the parrot but so gone there was a Romanov prince married in a cathedral in St Petersburg.
[RT] A man whose testimony the FBI uses to justify extraditing Julian Assange from Britain has reportedly been arrested in Iceland after police requested his detention to halt his ongoing crime spree, local media reports.
Sigurdur Thordarson, also known under the moniker ’Siggi the Hacker’, was placed into custody in Iceland last month, the newspaper Stundin said, citing his lawyer. A judge agreed with the police that if Thordarson remained free, he would continue an ongoing spree of crimes in the European nation. He is now kept in the highest-security prison in the country, Litla-Hraun, the report said.
There is a provision in Icelandic law that allows indefinite detention of a convicted felon if there is a reasonable suspicion that the individual has been reoffending and will continue to do so unless arrested. It has a high legal bar and is rarely used in practice, but was applied in Thordarson’s case, Stundin reported. It mentioned earlier confessions of dubious financial machinations made by Thordarson during an interview he gave the newspaper.
Thordarson is a dubious character, whose prior convictions were related to financial fraud and his soliciting of sexual favors from minor boys. Yet his credibility — or lack thereof — is essential for the ongoing US bid to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from Britain.
[Red State] Yesterday, the New York Times ran a story that was frightening in a couple of aspects. First, it reported that the C.I.A. had sent a top-secret cable to all stations warning them that "troubling" numbers of agents and informants were being rounded up by our opponents and either executed or flipped into double agents.
The message, in an unusual top secret cable, said that the C.I.A.’s counterintelligence mission center had looked at dozens of cases in the last several years involving foreign informants who had been killed, arrested or most likely compromised. Although brief, the cable laid out the specific number of agents executed by rival intelligence agencies — a closely held detail that counterintelligence officials typically do not share in such cables.
The cable highlighted the struggle the spy agency is having as it works to recruit spies around the world in difficult operating environments. In recent years, adversarial intelligence services in countries such as Russia, China, Iran and Pakistan have been hunting down the C.I.A.’s sources and in some cases turning them into double agents.
Acknowledging that recruiting spies is a high-risk business, the cable raised issues that have plagued the agency in recent years, including poor tradecraft; being too trusting of sources; underestimating foreign intelligence agencies, and moving too quickly to recruit informants while not paying enough attention to potential counterintelligence risks — a problem the cable called placing "mission over security."
The large number of compromised informants in recent years also demonstrated the growing prowess of other countries in employing innovations like biometric scans, facial recognition, artificial intelligence and hacking tools to track the movements of C.I.A. officers in order to discover their sources.
While the C.I.A. has many ways to collect intelligence for its analysts to craft into briefings for policymakers, networks of trusted human informants around the world remain the centerpiece of its efforts, the kind of intelligence that the agency is supposed to be the best in the world at collecting and analyzing.
Ominously for a story focusing on sloppy handling of secret information, the existence of the cable and its contents only stayed hidden for a few days.
It has been widely reported that the C.I.A.’s covert networks in Communist China have been largely rolled up. Back in May 2017, the C.I.A. admitted that it had lost at least 18 agents inside of China. The operative word there is "admitted," as the known body count quickly ballooned to at least three dozen. There was a brief spasm of counterintelligence work on our side (see Former C.I.A. Agent Busted for Passing Secrets to China and Arrested C.I.A. Officer Possessed Names of Covert Agents and Sit Down for This One — Former C.I.A. Officer Arrested as Chinese Spy: You’ll Never Guess Who Hired Him) and then things went back to normal, see While Eric Swalwell Was Sleeping With a Chinese Spy Adam Schiff Put Him in Charge of C.I.A. Oversight.
At the same time that Chinese assets were roaming free inside the C.I.A., the C.I.A. ignored the compromise of a communications system that it wished rather than knew or even believed to be secure and that cost at least 30 agents their lives. Yesterday, my colleague Jennifer Van Laar posted on the curious correlation between the loss of most of our covert operatives inside China and Hunter Biden’s bromance with Taiwanese businessman and suspected ChiCom agent Michael Lin. Biden and Lin became business associates, and Lin flew with Biden of Air Force 2. Read Are Hunter Biden’s China Travels With Michael Lin Related to the Loss of 30 C.I.A. Assets? for more details.
#2
The CIA used deliberately second-rate computers to protect its servers storing China agent information. The Chinese easily broke and and rolled up the CIA's entire operation.
Good job, deep state. This is why we trust you with secrets that you swear you can't tell us.
#3
No mention about security risks associated with CA Senator Spy convicted Driver, a Congressman’s Chinese spy side piece, President's corrupted Crackhead Son with ties to questionable foreign contacts….
The group will become one of fewer than a dozen mission centers operated by the CIA, with weekly director-level meetings intended to drive the agency’s strategy toward China. The CIA also announced that it would ramp up efforts to recruit Chinese speakers and create another mission center focusing on emerging technologies and global issues such as climate change and global health.
#5
The damage occurred back in Obama's first term -- when Biden was VP and Crackhead was doing deals with Chinese front organizations. Peter Schweitzer reported in 2011 that Crackhead's business partners -- including two convicted criminals -- arranged for the Chinese Communist front company officials to meet with Biden in the White House in that year.
Seems reasonable to conclude that the Chinese accessed Crackhead's communications and various laptops at least a decade ago -- probably when his corrupt dad became VP if not earlier, and certainly by the 2000's.
#9
#3 No mention about security risks associated with CA Senator Spy convicted Driver, a Congressman’s Chinese spy side piece, President's corrupted Crackhead Son with ties to questionable foreign contacts….
Posted by Airandee
#10
They don't have to be the sharpest tools in the crayon box. They only have to stay a step or two ahead of the idiots in Congress who should have shut them down shortly after the Bay of Pigs.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
10/07/2021 13:50 Comments ||
Top||
#11
It has been widely reported that the C.I.A.’s covert networks in Communist China have been largely rolled up.
They have been rolled up since the 1940's. The CIA finally acknowledged it in 1985, and have been trying (unsuccessfully) to fix it ever since.
#13
Maybe our counterintelligence operators such as Strok spent too much time playing games with his paramour and with the Russia, Russia, Russia fraud to notice real intelligence threats.
h/t HotAir
I’m a huge fan of LeBron James, both as one of the greatest basketball players ever and as a humanitarian who cares about social injustice. I have written his praises many times in the past and undoubtedly will in the future. I admire him and have affection for him. But this time LeBron is just plain wrong—and his being wrong could be deadly, especially to the Black community.
After Golden State Warrior Andrew Wiggins received criticism for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine for personal reasons, his teammate Draymond Green said the public needs to "honor" that decision: "There is something to be said for people’s concerns about something that’s being pressed so hard," he stated. "Why are you pressing this so hard? You have to honor people’s feelings and their own personal beliefs." To which LeBron responded that he "couldn’t have said it better myself." Actually, it couldn’t have been said worse.
On the surface, it appears that Draymond and LeBron are arguing for the American ideal of individual freedom of choice. But they offer no arguments in support of it, nor do they define the limits of when one person’s choice is harmful to the community. They are merely shouting, "I’m for freedom." We’re all for freedom, but not at the expense of others nor if it damages the country.That’s why we mandate seatbelts, motorcycle helmets, car insurance, education for our children. For example, seatbelt compliance is at 88% in the U.S., but that 12% that doesn’t comply results in 47% of car accident fatalities (17,000) and costs U.S. employers $5 billion a year, and those costs are passed on to us. They made the choice, but we survivors are left to deal with the grief and the price tag.
The only support for Draymond’s statement is his belief that when people "press hard" there’s something inherently wrong with their opinion. There is no logic to that statement. If I press hard against institutional racism, if I press hard against police brutality, if I press hard against recent laws making it harder for minorities to vote, if I press hard against child porn, if I press hard in support of MeToo am I automatically wrong? On the contrary, the passion of those urging vaccines might suggest there’s some urgency to their opinion. That the situation is serious and we need to take immediate action to protect people. That thousands are dying every day, mostly among the unvaccinated. That the Black community, where vaccine hesitancy is high, are dying at a disproportionately higher rate than whites . That publicly talking about honoring opinions that contribute to their deaths is irresponsible. But it's good self-promotion at low risk - after all, a millionaire professional athlete is unlikely to die of Covid even if not super healthy - the quality of treatment/availability of mAb etc... make a lot of difference
#4
costs U.S. employers $5 billion a year, and those costs are passed on to us.
Very interesting. Please, tell me your opinion on overtaxing, a shortage of workers, and the devaluation of the dollar due to Covid protocols as it affects the price of products. To be clear, products still available.
The story here, if you are normal and don't give a tune for the NBA, is that a few weeks ago the official policy was that for the players, the shot was optional. Then some big names like Wiggins said publicly that he already had the covid so he didn't need the shot, and, in short, for his situation, it was an unnecessary medical procedure.
Well, that is triple plus wrong think as we can't have non-binary decisions, make medical decisions based on your current condition, or bring light to the Black community's overall opinion on the matter.
So now you have the NBA losing its shit and calling in favors, and working to make the shot mandatory for players on threat of penalties and bench time.
It is interesting. Month ago it was shut up and play ball and we'll let it slide. Now that someone spoke out of line, NBA brings out the heavy fist.
[OneIndia] Pakistain's ISI chief, Lt. General Faiz Hameed is likely to be replaced by Lt. General Nadeem Anjum. An official notification is likely to issued after October 10.
The move comes at a time when Pakistain is busy with the Afghanistan. It was Lt. Gen Hameed who had played a crucial role in the formation of an interim government in Afghanistan led by the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... . He was also at the forefront of the negotiations when there was a falling out between some members of the Taliban and Haqqani Network.
Lt. General Hameed is likely to be appointed as the Corp Commander of the GOC XI Corps of the Pakistain Army. Established in 1975, this decision is deployed in the Khyber-Pakthunkwa province.
While this post would put Lt. Gen. Hameed in a good position to succeed Pakistain Army chief General Qamar Bajwa, there are speculations that he may want to stay on as the ISI chief until November 29 2022, the date on which General Bajwa retires. The current army chief of Pakistain was given an extension of three years in January 2020.
While Hameed expects an elevation to the post of Army chief, in terms of seniority, Lt Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Lt Gen Azhar Abbas and Nauman Mahmood are ahead of him.
However for Lt. General Hameed to be elevated as COAS the precedent is that he must serve as a corps commander first. Lt. General Mahmood has been commanding the XI Corps that is stationed in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire... since December 2019. Any decision relating to Hameed would be taken post October 10 as three three-star generals would be retiring in the next one week. They include Lt. Gen. Majid Ehsan, Inspector General Arms (IG Arms), GHQ Rawalpindi; Lt. Gen. Aamir Abbasi, Quarter Master General, GHQ Rawalpindi; and Lt. Gen. Hamooduz Zaman Khan, Commander Army Air Defence, Rawalpindi.
Pakistain Today reported that there is every chance that Lt. Gen Hameed may continue in his position for some more time considering the crucial situation in Afghanistan. He is well-versed with the issue and has been handling it closely for a long time now.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
10/07/2021 01:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
ISI chief, Lt. General Faiz Hameed oversees the Pakistan military involvement in the purchase and distribution of Afghanistan narcotics. He ensures that no fellow-travelling military officer is left behind.
#1
I happened upon a photo in a private home of a retired officer overlooking the Washington monument and Pentagon. Well I believe Monument because the view of the pentagon was spectacular. The photo was of either a Flying fortress or Liberator perched or balanced midway atop the monument. He had to be a person of significance. Similar to a model perched upon a poll stand for display.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[RT] A man whose testimony the FBI uses to justify extraditing Julian Assange from Britain has reportedly been arrested in Iceland after police requested his detention to halt his ongoing crime spree, local media reports. 
[Red State] Yesterday, the New York Times ran a story that was frightening in a couple of aspects. First, it reported that the C.I.A. had sent a top-secret cable to all stations warning them that "troubling" numbers of agents and informants were being rounded up by our opponents and either executed or flipped into double agents.
There are obvious long-term operational security risks involved in running such programs. 
To be honest, there are certain cultural challenges. 
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire...
