Enemies list? State Department monitored 13 Americans' social media in possible legal violation

Memos detail effort to monitor social media of Fox News personalities Hannity, Ingraham and Dobbs, as well as president's son Don. Jr. and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

Officials at the U.S. embassy in Kiev ordered the monitoring of 13 prominent Americans' social media accounts during the early days of the Ukraine scandal in spring 2019 and later were informed their activities potentially violated the Privacy Act, according to State Department memos made public on Tuesday.

The memos, released under a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by the conservative watchdog Judicial Watch, show those targeted for monitoring included President Trump's eldest son, Don Jr., the president's personal lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and Fox News personalities Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham and Lou Dobbs. This reporter was one of the 13 individuals on the list targeted.

The U.S. ambassador at the time, Marie Yovanovitch, and one of her top deputies, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent, were apprised of the social media monitoring, emails show.

Embassy officials used search terms indicating they were interested in social media posts involving the ambassador, liberal megadonor George Soros, and the controversy around Joe Biden and Burisma Holdings, the Ukrainian gas company engulfed in a corruption controversy that hired the vice president's son Hunter in 2014. State officials testified during last year's impeachment proceedings that the Bidens' role in Ukraine created an uncomfortable appearance of a conflict of interest that undercut U.S. efforts to fight corruption inside Ukraine.

"Key thing is to get up to ramming speed from the get go," Kent wrote in a March 27, 2019 email that discussed the social media monitoring efforts, which appear to have been prompted by early stories about the embassy's activities with Ukrainian prosecutors and the Bidens at The Hill newspaper (written by this reporter) and on Fox News.

The same day, Yovanovitch received an email updating her on the social media monitoring.

"Thanks Ambassador — I just wanted you to be aware as we are really trying to help them and recognize how hard everyone is working in this especially trying time," an official whose name was redacted wrote Yovanovitch. "The good news is our social media team back here is now helping to provide them with the reports they want when Kyiv is asleep/offline — through existing PD tools — so this should greatly help."

You can read the memos here.

File

JW-v-State-Journalist-Monitoring-00124.pdf

https://justthenews.com/accountability/russia-and-ukraine-scandals/state-department-release-memos-detailing-illegal-social

Zoom Shares Soar Over 40% As Workers Stay Home During Coronavirus Pandemic

Shares of Zoom Video Communications (ZM) soared over 40% on Tuesday after the video-conferencing platform released its second-quarter fiscal 2021 earnings report Monday afternoon.

The company reported Q2 revenue growth of 355% year-over-year as employees across the world worked from home and used the Zoom platform to remotely communicate with colleagues during the coronavirus pandemic.

The pandemic has led several employers to keep their workers home even as stay-at-home orders eased to help prevent the spread of the virus. Amazon announced that workers would not return to the office until at least January 2021, and Google has said that it doesn’t expect workers to return until July 2021. Twitter announced that its employees could continue to work remotely “forever.”

The massive increase in revenue for Zoom caused it to raise its revenue outlook for fiscal 2021 to $2.39 billion, up from the $2.37 billion, or a 284% increase, up from 281%, year-over-year as was previously reported by the company. Total revenue for the company for the quarter was $663.5 million.

“Organizations are shifting from addressing their immediate business continuity needs to supporting a future of working anywhere, learning anywhere, and connecting anywhere on Zoom's video-first platform,” Zoom founder and CEO Eric S. Yuan said in a statement.

Zoom’s total cash, cash equivalents, and markets securities as of July 31 were $1.5 billion with a net cash flow of $401.3 million for the quarter compared to $31.2 million for fiscal Q2 2020. Free cash flow was $373.4 million compared to $17.1 million for Q2 a year ago.

Zoom reported that it had about 370,200 customers with more than 10 employees, which was up 458% from the same time last year.

Future guidance for the company for fiscal Q3 2021 included revenue between $685 million and $690 million and a full-year fiscal 2021.

Shares of Zoom were trading at $453.38 as of 10:34 a.m. EDT, up $128.28 or $39.46%.

https://www.ibtimes.com/zoom-shares-soar-over-40-workers-stay-home-during-coronavirus-pandemic-3038281

==August Shatters Another Gun Sales Record

Michigan Instructor: 'I have never seen a higher level of interest in guns'==

August 2020 saw more gun sales than any other August on record as Americans continue to rush to gun stores at a record pace.

A Washington Free Beacon analysis of FBI data released on Tuesday found a 57 percent increase in sales compared to August 2019. There were at least 1.6 million sales in August 2020. Only two previous Augusts had broken a million sales, though limitations in FBI reporting means that not every gun sale is captured in the data. August represents the sixth month in a row to set a new sales record with March seeing the most gun sales of any month in the history of the FBI background check system.

Sales thus far in 2020 have soared past previous years. Sales through the first eight months of the year are up 43 percent over the previous record.

https://freebeacon.com/2020-election/august-shatters-another-gun-sales-record/

ADL sees dangers in ‘militia movement’ behind Portland and Kenosha shootings

Center on Extremism analyst Alex Friedfeld delves into the emerging trend of armed gunmen at hot spots, who claim to ‘protect’ residents from BLM protesters as US unrest snowballs

JTA — Last week, a researcher who focuses on extremism said he was concerned that the fatal shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, could start a trend of similar deadly incidents at protests.

Then, three days later, something like it happened in Portland, Oregon: One man was killed following a night of clashes between supporters of US President Donald Trump and counterprotesters.

The alleged Kenosha shooter, Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, did not appear to be linked to any far-right organizations when he traveled there with an AR-15 rifle and killed two people on August 25 amid ongoing protests sparked by the police shooting of an unarmed Black man, Jacob Blake.

Multiple videos capture an incident in which Rittenhouse, of Illinois, appears to trip while running down a street and then shoots two people who are converging on him. Rittenhouse has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum.

The notion of a teenager crossing state lines with a semiautomatic rifle in hand to uphold public order shocked many Americans. But to Alex Friedfeld, an investigative researcher at the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, it was the latest sign of a disturbing trend — armed men showing up to scenes of unrest and, without training or a mandate, acting as self-appointed guardians of law and order.

That, Friedfeld says, isn’t that different from the Portland shooting. Police have not identified a suspected shooter or the victim there, though the latter has been identified as wearing a hat with the insignia of Patriot Prayer, which the ADL calls a far-right group.

The Anti-Defamation League is perhaps best known for its efforts to document and combat anti-Semitism, but its analysts actually monitor many interrelated forms of extremism. That’s why Friedfeld and his colleagues at the ADL and other anti-extremism groups have been closely monitoring for months as Black Lives Matter protests have swept the country. And with tensions sure to rise as the November presidential election nears, Friedfeld worries that others may follow Rittenhouse’s example.

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency spoke with Friedfeld about the Kenosha shooting, what it suggests about extremism in America and how the rising militia movement intersects with threats to Jews. Following the Portland shooting, JTA spoke with Friedfeld again about how the two shootings are related. That question-and-answer is appended at the end of this interview, which has been edited for length and clarity.

JTA: What are your reactions to the Kenosha killings and the circumstances surrounding them?

https://www.timesofisrael.com/adl-sees-dangers-in-militia-movement-behind-portland-and-kenosha-shootings/

>>10498552

oh andFUCK OFF ADL

WTF is this shit?

Royal Australian Mint unveils heartfelt initiative behind new $1 coin

The Royal Australian Mint has launched a new $1 coin in a world-first scheme where millions will be released into circulation.

Australians could soon find a new $1 coin in their wallets, but this one has a catch and its for the greater good.

The Royal Australian Mint has unveiled its new Donation Dollar, a $1 coin designed to be donated which 57 per cent of Australian said they would donate if they found one in their coin purse.

Millions of these coins will join circulation during the next few years with the aim to release 26 million eventually, or one for every Australian.

And they could appear in people’s wallets from as early as Wednesday with three million already released into circulation.

Each of the coins features a green centre with a gold ripple design. The hidden meaning behind the design is it is intended to act as a symbol of the ongoing impact each donation makes to those who need it most.

The Mint said the scheme comes in response to a difficult year for many Australians who faced the worst bushfire season on record, following by the coronavirus crisis which triggered economic recession.

The Australian Generosity Report found one in five Australian will require some degree of charitable aid over the next 12 months, either for themselves or family.

Royal Australian Mint CEO Ross MacDiarmid said the proposal should tap into Australians’ “spirit of generosity”.

https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/royal-australian-mint-unveils-heartfelt-initiative-behind-new-1-coin/news-story/024638d7abe884421eae0b1d7b1ef4bc