Leaked Docs Show DHS Is Afraid That Masks Will Make Facial Recognition Useless

People say masks are just a way for the government to control you, when in actuality it's making their control more difficult.

As the general public in the United States argues about whether or not we should be wearing masks to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, law enforcement officials are concerned that facial recognition software could be thwarted, and possibly even broken by people wearing masks.

In a collection of law enforcement documents released by Blueleaks, researchers found a Department of Homeland Security intelligence memo where the agency expressed concern about the potential problems that mask-wearing could cause for facial recognition technology.

The note, which was published on May 22nd, discussed what the agency described as “the potential impacts that widespread use of protective masks could have on security operations that incorporate face recognition systems — such as video cameras, image processing hardware and software, and image recognition algorithms — to monitor public spaces during the ongoing Covid-19 public health emergency and in the months after the pandemic subsides.”

The memo went on to suggest that, “violent extremists and other criminals who have historically maintained an interest in avoiding face recognition are likely to opportunistically seize upon public safety measures recommending the wearing of face masks to hinder the effectiveness of face recognition systems in public spaces by security partners.”

The agency admitted that its concerns were based on the fact that activists have traditionally expressed desires to thwart facial recognition, and not on any recent events during the ongoing protests. The report concluded that facial recognition could become increasingly worthless if mask-wearing becomes normalized.

“We assess face recognition systems used to support security operations in public spaces will be less effective while widespread public use of facemasks, including partial and full face covering, is practiced by the public to limit the spread of Covid-19,” the report stated.

Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection, which uses facial recognition screening on international travelers, has also claimed that its technology works on masked faces.

In recent months, some companies have claimed that they are developing facial recognition technology that will work with masks. However, facial recognition doesn’t even work that well under normal circumstances, so it is hard to imagine a working system for masked faces.

https://themindunleashed.com/2020/07/leaked-docs-show-dhs-is-afraid-that-masks-will-make-facial-recognition-useless.html

Attorneys for Gateway Pundit Send Out Retraction Demand Letters to St. Louis City Treasurer Tishaura Jones and Activist Umar Lee for False and Defamatory Statements – Ready to Take Legal Action

In late June The Gateway Pundit organized a prayer rally at the statue of St. Louis on Art Hill in Forest Park.

We organized the rally to call out Catholics and Christians to come pray at the statue of St. Louis, a statue that was targeted by radical leftists in the city.

In response to our announced prayer rally local rabble-rouser Umar Lee labeled the Catholic prayer event as a “white nationalist” event, “Among those who have signed up to attend are those on the alt-right such as those who held the infamous and tragic rally in Charlottesville.”

Obviously, such hateful smears brought out a massive crowd of violent leftists on the day of our prayer rally.

They were ready to beat heads.

And they did.

This is what happened when Catholics came to pray.

https://youtu.be/MgIWp-GbWeY

More

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/07/attorneys-gateway-pundit-send-retraction-demand-letters-st-louis-city-treasurer-activist-umar-lee-false-defamatory-statements-ready-take-legal-action/

After Slamming Western Media "Hype", Chinese Officials Issue Highest Flood Alert As Three Gorges Dam Pushed To Limits

The Huaihe River Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources issued its highest flood alert Monday after the water level on the major river, located between the Yellow and the Yangtze Rivers, reached dangerous levels.

The water level at the Wangjiaba hydrological station on the Huaihe River reached 29.7 meters on Monday, well above the danger level of 27.5 meters.

The 1,000-kilometer river is a major waterway in China, is facing grim flooding risks over the next three days for parts of Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, Anhui, and Jiangsu provinces.

Massive flooding upstream on the Yangtze River has also caused concern that the Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydroelectric power station in the world, is being pushed to the limit under the strain of massive flows of water.

Many regions along the Yangtze River have flooded in the past week due to torrential rains this monsoon season. At the moment, at least 400 Yangtze tributary rivers have overflowed, with at least a hundred dead and 15 million people evacuated from their homes in July alone.

Rainfall totals in China are about 12% higher than the last monsoon season. The economic damage is already in the billions of dollars, according to government estimates the previous week.

We noted last week rising floodwaters on the Yangtze River had caused fears the Three Gorges Dam has failed to prevent flooding downstream.

Officials dismissed these accusations on Monday by saying:

"If flooding occurred via heavy rainfall in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the cities surrounding these reaches would have to mainly rely on their own flood drainage facilities," state-owned Three Gorges Corporation said.

"Under such circumstances, the Three Gorges Dam can still make a contribution by retaining and impounding water to ease the pressure on those cities."

Some media outlets are claiming the massive damn could collapse.

Chinese state media has continued to indicate Western media is 'hyping' the dam's collapse.

Flooding this week is expected to continue on the Huaihe River with no signs of abating.

A major flooding event could be what the Communist Party of China officials need to scapegoat the coming stall in the world's second-largest economy.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/china-flood-waters

Quarantine for 14 days even if you test negative, says NSW premier

People who get tested for coronavirus and return a negative result must still obey health orders to stay at home for 14 days, the NSW Premier says.

"We are at a stage in NSW where we are able to control the spread, we don't want the spread to get out of control, we don't want to be in a situation where we will have to lock at restricting people's ability to get on with that they are doing," Gladys Berejiklian told Today.

"For that reason it is really important for all of us to take that advice."

But she stopped short of supporting calls for the mandatory wearing of masks on public transport.

"We said from day one if you can't guarantee social distancing, you should be wearing a mask," she said.

"That includes public transport. That has been our position from day one, that's what the health advice is and we know for most services people are respecting the social distancing."

But the government had received reports of some lines and services having more people on them than recommended, she said.

"If that's the case you should avoid using that service at the time," Ms Berejiklian said.

"I have to follow the health advice. When elected representatives make it up on the go, it is not a good thing.

"If you are in a situation where you can't guarantee that people will be able to keep that social distancing, well you should wear a mask."

https://www.9news.com.au/national/coronavirus-australia-live-updates-july-22-victoria-nsw-outbreaks-cases-lockdowns-queensland-border-politics-health-covid-19/649ef83a-31f0-4ed5-aed2-4d0f472a0d6e#post=a0ca72fc-d3e6-4d02-b52c-fae6100631fb

Premier: ‘I’m the granddaughter of survivors’

As the granddaughter of survivors of genocide, it was a poignant moment when NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian addressed the multicultural media on Tuesday and declared that Holocaust education is “absolutely critical”

https://ajn.timesofisrael.com/premier-im-granddaughter-survivors/

Gavin Newsom Rages at Trump Discounting Illegal Aliens for States’ Representation

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Tuesday decried President Donald Trump’s executive order which will exclude Illegal aliens from being counted for purposes of congressional apportioning.

“Counting every person in our country through the Census is a principle so foundational that it is written into our Constitution,” Newsom said in a statement. “This latest action by the administration to exclude undocumented immigrants when determining representation in Congress, rooted in racism and xenophobia, is a blatant attack on our institutions and our neighbors.”

Earlier Tuesday, President Trump signed the order, saying the memorandum is designed to bar “illegal aliens from the apportionment base following the 2020 Census.”

The memorandum has sparked legal challenges as it follows the Department of Commerce losing a Supreme Court case last year where it attempted to include a question about citizenship status on the 2020 census.

Still, the memorandum said that the constitution does not require undocumented immigrants to be counted for the purpose of apportionment of the House of Representatives.

“The discretion delegated to the executive branch to determine who qualifies as an ‘inhabitant’ includes authority to exclude from the apportionment base aliens who are not in lawful immigration status,” the memorandum states. “For the purpose of the reapportionment of Representatives following the 2020 census, its is the policy of the United States to exclude from the apportionment base aliens who are not in a lawful immigration status under the Immigration and Nationality Act… Excluding these illegal aliens from the apportionment base is more consonant with the principles of representative democracy underpinning our system of government.”

In particular, the memorandum points out California as “one State” that “is home to more than 2.2 million illegal aliens, representing more than 6% of the state’s entire population.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/07/21/gavin-newsom-rages-at-trump-discounting-illegal-aliens-for-states-representation/