Reposting from graveyard shift

The CIA Rebranded: Don't Worry, We're Woke Now!

The CIA unveiled a trendy new logo this week and it's already being mercilessly mocked. As one graphic design commentary website put it:

The CIA's new rebrand includes a refreshed logo (below) which retains its predecessor's circular shape – and very little else. With its bold, black-and-white typeface and wavy lines, the internet is wondering whether the CIA has been taking logo design inspiration from techno music posters.

https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/78986/the-cia-rebranded-dont-worry-were-woke.html

Switzerland: Billionaire Beny Steinmetz Goes on Trial for Bribery

Israeli businessman Beny Steinmetz went on trial on Monday in Geneva for allegedly forging documents and bribing the wife of Guinea’s former president in order to secure an iron ore mining concession in the West African country.

Beny-SteinmetzIsraeli businessman Beny Steinmetz (Photo:Avimagen777, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)The billionaire owner of mining company BSG Resources (BSGR) and two of his business associates are accused of paying late President Lansana Conte’s wife approximately US$10 million for the right to develop the vast Simandou iron ore in the country’s south.

The defendants are also accused of forging documents in order to conceal the bribes, according to a copy of the indictment seen by OCCRP.

Steinmetz’s co-defendants include French national Frederic Cilins, a former adviser to BSGR who in 2014 was sentenced to two years in prison by a New York court for obstructing a U.S. criminal investigation linked to the alleged bribery in Guinea.

The other co-defendant is Belgian national Sandra Merloni-Horemans who directed Onyx Financial Advisors, a Geneva-based firm which created companies used by BSGR in Guinea. Onyx established Pentler Holdings, a British Virgin Islands company through which bribes were allegedly paid to Mamadie Toure, Conte’s widow.

Mamadie Toure is also due to appear in court as a witness, as are several former BSGR executives.

Steinmetz’s legal team has dismissed the accusations, telling Reuters in December that the charges had “no basis in fact or in law.”

“Beny Steinmetz never paid a cent to Mme. Mamadie Toure. Beny Steinmetz never signed forged documents,” Marc Bonnant, Steinmetz’s Geneva-based lawyer said.

Steinmetz faces up to 10 years in prison, according to an announcement by the Public Prosecutor's Office filed last summer.

The criminal trial is the latest chapter in an international legal saga that has stretched more than a decade.

BSGR was awarded the lucrative Simandou rights in 2008 just weeks before the death of former president Lansana Conte.

But the rights were revoked in 2014 after a corruption probe launched by Guinea’s new president, Alpha Condé, found that BSGR had obtained them through bribery.

BSGR hit back with an arbitration claim against Guinea at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. In 2019, the arbitration was suspended pursuant to a private agreement.

Meanwhile, Brazilian multinational corporation Vale S.A., which had partnered with BSGR in the Simandou project, was in 2019 awarded $2 billion by a London arbitration court which found that BSGR made fraudulent representations to induce Vale to invest in the project.

In further recovery efforts, Vale launched separate proceedings against Steinmetz personally and several former BSGR executives. In December 2019, an English judge ordered a worldwide freezing order against Steinmetz.

Steinmetz has sought new evidence to challenge the London arbitration, hiring Israeli private intelligence firm Black Cube to gather information which the Israeli businessman argues shows that Vale at the time wrongly concluded that the mining rights were obtained through bribery but made the investment anyway.

BSGR also brought a $10 billion lawsuit in New York against billionaire philanthropist George Soros and his pro-democracy organization Open Society Foundations. BSGR alleges that Soros lobbied the government of Guinea to strip BSGR of its mining rights. The case is pending.

Steinmetz in 2016 was arrested and placed under house arrest in Israel while authorities investigated allegations he had arranged bribes to ensure BSGR could secure the Guinean mining rights.

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/13599-switzerland-billionaire-beny-steinmetz-goes-on-trial-for-bribery

>>12468251

Steinmetz and European, US advisers on trial for mining ‘corruption pact’ in West Africa

Swiss prosecutors allege that the Israeli billionaire and business associates bribed a wife of the former Guinean president to obtain lucrative mining rights.

Lawyers, bankers and professional advisers in Europe and the United States enabled corruption in one of the world’s poorest countries, Swiss officials allege in a highly-anticipated criminal case that opens today.

Prosecutors in Geneva allege that Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz forged documents and masterminded a “corruption pact” over five years to pay millions of dollars in bribes to obtain lucrative mining rights in Guinea, West Africa. Steinmetz and his company, BSG Resources, bribed Mamadie Touré, a wife of Guinea’s then-president, Lansana Conte, to develop the Simandou iron ore mine, prosecutors said in an indictment provided to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

Prosecutors have also charged former Steinmetz adviser Frederic Cilins, and Sandra Merloni-Horemans, the director of an advisory firm that worked for Steinmetz’s companies. Both allegedly forged documents and participated in the bribery scheme, prosecutors said.

Wells Fargo Bank in Florida and Philadelphia, JPMorgan in London, attorneys in Manhattan and Florida, a Swiss wealth manager and the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca provided services that enabled the corruption, according to the indictment. The lawyers, banks and advisers are discussed in the indictment but have not been charged.

“The Simandou case is of enormous importance, as it is an extremely rare occurrence of company officials being held to account for classic bribery methods,” said Daniel Balint-Kurti, a London-based freelance journalist who spent years investigating the case. “Skilled practitioners of the legal, financial and PR arts are central to enabling corrupt deals,” Balint-Kurti said.

The prosecutor who opened the case in 2019 said he would seek prison terms of up to ten years, according to Reuters. Steinmetz has previously denied wrongdoing. “The charges have no basis in fact or in law,” Marc Bonnant, Steinmetz’s attorney, said last month. “Beny Steinmetz never paid a cent to Mme. Mamadie Toure,” said Bonnant, who also contested prosecutors’ allegations that she was married to President Conte at the time of the alleged payments.

Cilin’s attorney, Jean-Marc Carnicé, told ICIJ that his client “did not corrupt any public official and did not use any forged document or did not forge any document.” Cilins will “plead full acquittal,” Carnicé said.

Merloni-Horeman, through a lawyer, declined to answer questions. “My client is not a public personality and does not wish to have a name in the media,” said attorney Corinne Corminboeuf Harari.

Prosecutors allege that Steinmetz conspired with others between 2005 and 2012 to promise and grant “advantages” to Conte and Touré as part of a “corruption pact.” Touré was then Conte’s “fourth wife and a very influential person in his entourage” who “intervened directly and personally in BSGR’s Guinea project,” according to prosecutors. Touré is not a defendant in the criminal case and has previously helped related investigations in the United States. She has been summoned to appear as a witness on Wednesday, Bloomberg reported.

Touré was paid approximately $10 million through a web of offshore companies and foreign bank accounts in Israel, the Bahamas, Switzerland and the United States, prosecutors said. In one 2011 transaction, prosecutors allege, Touré received half a million dollars in a Wells Fargo account in Miami. Global Witness, a nonprofit investigative organization, previously revealed that Touré owned multiple properties in Jacksonville, Florida.

Steinmetz’s company BSGR also used bank accounts with JPMorgan in London and with Société Générale in Paris, among others, to allegedly pay bribes. Wells Fargo told ICIJ that it was not a party to the legal case in Switzerland. “Wells Fargo follows applicable laws and regulations, has robust policies in place to adhere with legal obligations, and appropriately cooperates with legal authorities,” a spokesperson said. The other banks declined to comment or did not respond.

https://www.icij.org/investigations/panama-papers/steinmetz-and-european-us-advisers-on-trial-for-mining-corruption-pact-in-west-africa/

Criminals Increasingly Interested in Deep Fake Technology

A San Francisco-based cyber analytics specialist warned last week that the use of deep fake video and audio technologies could become a major cyber threat to businesses within the next two years.

Artificial IntelligenceScience fiction is becoming reality. Deep fake video and audio technologies are getting more and more developed, with criminal groups adopting those technologies to use them for their activities. (Photo: Gerd Altmann, Pixabay)Deep fake technology creates convincing fictional video or audio content that can easily be used to spread misinformation. Such videos mostly show digitally-created fake well-known people saying or doing what they have in reality never have said or done.

CyberCube underlined in its latest report Social Engineering: Blurring reality and fake, that the “ability to create realistic audio and video fakes using AI (artificial intelligence) and machine learning has grown steadily.”

It reminded that recent technological advances and the increased dependence of businesses on video-based communication have accelerated developments, prompting criminals to invest in technology to exploit this trend.

“New and emerging social engineering techniques like deep fake video and audio will fundamentally change the cyber threat landscape and are becoming both technically feasible and economically viable for criminal organizations of all sizes,” the author of the report, CyberCube’s head of cyber security strategy, Darren Thomson, warned.

Due to such technical development, and an increased usage of technology, spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been more and more video and audio samples of business people now accessible online. Cyber criminals therefore “have a large supply of data from which to build photo-realistic simulations of individuals, which can then be used to influence and manipulate people,” according to CyberCube.

The data and analytics platform also pointed out a technology created by the University of Washington – mouth mapping – which can be used to “mimic the movement of the human mouth during speech with extreme accuracy.”

“Imagine a scenario in which a video of Elon Musk giving insider trading tips goes viral – only it’s not the real Elon Musk. Or a politician announces a new policy in a video clip, but once again, it’s not real,” CyberCube’s Darren Thomson said.

He claimed that such deep fake videos, used in political campaigns, were already seen.

“It’s only a matter of time before criminals apply the same technique to businesses and wealthy private individuals,” Thomson warned.

He added that it could be “as simple as a faked voicemail from a senior manager instructing staff to make a fraudulent payment or move funds to an account set up by a hacker.”

Besides the deep fake video and audio technology, CyberCube said it also examines the “growing use of traditional social engineering techniques – exploiting human vulnerabilities to gain access to personal information and protection systems.”

“One facet of this is social profiling, the technique of assembling the information necessary to create a fake identity for a target individual based on information available online or from physical sources such as refuse or stolen medical records,” read the report.

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/13600-expert-criminals-increasingly-interested-in-deep-fake-technology

Pompeo 28 min delta may be done in 30 - 2 days ahead of schedule

Daily Caller editor-in-chief unloads on the New York Times for misidentifying reporter as 'rioter'

'I know things were a hectic, but I find it rather shocking the ease with which the NYT invented a story about a credentialed reporter out of whole cloth and then published it'

The Daily Caller's editor-in-chief, Geoffrey Ingersoll, blasted the New York Times on Monday after the Sunday edition of the paper falsely identified a credentialed reporter with the outlet as a rioter and falsely accused him of participating in violent activity at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

POLL: Do you have hope for 2021?

Over the weekend, the Times published an essay by Timothy Snyder, the Levin professor of history at Yale University, commenting on the Capitol Hill riots that took place last week and asserting that the "post-truth" Trump presidency is a precursor to fascism. Embedded in the article is a photograph of Richie McGinniss, a videographer with the Daily Caller.

McGinniss was reporting on the riots on location at the Capitol when the photograph was taken. He was photographed shirtless at a door to the Capitol that had previously been attacked by rioters with the mob. In the picture, he can be seen gesturing to Capitol Police, who are visible through shattered windows on the other side of the door.

In the photo caption, the Times originally identified McGinniss as a "rioter" and said that "he punched the door after being pepper-sprayed and forced out of the building."

None of that was true, according to McGinniss, who said that immediately prior to the photo, he was dosed with pepper spray and removed his shirt because it was "burning my skin." He explained that he had lost his phone in a "melee." He claimed that in the photo he's gesturing to police to help him find his phone.

@andrewkimmel @GPIngersoll @nytimes It was soaked in pepper spray and burning my skin. Immediately prior to the pho… https://t.co/XmR2hFTMpb

— Richie🎥McG🍿 (@Richie🎥McG🍿)1610378105.0

On Sunday, the Times added a correction to the essay, saying, "A picture caption with an earlier version of this essay misidentified the shirtless man shown outside a broken window at the Capitol. He was a videographer working for The Daily Caller, a right-wing website, not one of the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol."

A new caption on the photo reads: "A videographer for The Daily Caller, a right-wing website, after being pepper-sprayed during the mayhem at the Capitol, 3:45 p.m."

The correction does not make mention of the removed allegation that McGinniss "punched the door" or was "forced out of the building."

In a Twitter thread, Ingersoll angrily accused the Times of inventing "a story about a credentialed reporter out of whole cloth."

For those who don't know, Sunday's @nytimes published an image of @RichieMcGinniss, referred to him as a "rioter" a… https://t.co/iEKukRhDSa

— Geoffrey Ingersoll (@Geoffrey Ingersoll)1610367485.0

Ingersoll also blasted the Times' correction, accusing the paper of implying that the Daily Caller's reporter "was somehow adjacent to the violence and property destruction."

"This is sickening behavior from the paper of record," Ingersoll tweeted.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/daily-caller-editor-unloads-on-nyt

Situation Outside Capitol Building as Democrats Present Bill to Impeach President Trump

Top Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer, have accused Trump of inciting violence and urged Vice President Mike Pence to remove Trump from office using the 25th Amendment, declaring the president incapable of executing his duties.

Sputnik is live from Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, as Democratic lawmakers introduce a bill to impeach US President Donald Trump following the violent clashes that occurred last Wednesday.

Last week, Trump supporters gathered near the Capitol protesting against the certification of Joe Biden's election victory, citing voter fraud. A group of demonstrators breached the building, prompting a mass evacuation of lawmakers. The riot claimed at least five lives overall.

https://sputniknews.com/us/202101111081732721-situation-outside-capitol-building-as-democrats-present-bill-to-impeach-president-trump/

WARNING: DO NOT ATTEND Armed Protests at State Capitols Before Inauguration! – POSSIBLE SINISTER PLOT HATCHED BY RADICAL LEFT TO TAKE AWAY GUN RIGHTS!

WARNING! There are several armed protests at state capitols across the country before inaugural ceremonies next week.

WE ARE URGING YOU NOT TO ATTEND!

WE BELIEVE THIS IS LIKELY A SINISTER ATTEMPT TO TAKE AWAY YOUR GUNS!

Think about this– Last week the demonic left used the assault on the US Capitol to take away your First Amendment right of Free Speech. Tens of thousands of Americans were removed from social media along with the US President.

The far left tech giants took away President Trump’s ability to communicate freely to the American public.

The next planned operation is to take your guns.

WE ARE VERY CONCERNED THE RADICAL LEFT IS USING THIS TO START A FIREFIGHT AND TAKE AWAY YOUR GUN RIGHTS!

The left is unafraid.

The Democrats just STOLE a massive landslide election from President Trump.

They removed your right to freely communicate online last weekend.

NOW THEY ARE GOING FOR YOUR GUNS.

Aaron Katersky reported: “Armed protests are being planned at all 50 state capitols from 16 January through at least 20 January, and at the US Capitol from 17 January through 20 January,” according to an FBI bulletin obtained by ABC. A group is calling for “storming” state, local, and federal government courthouses and administrative buildings in the event President Trump is removed prior to Inauguration Day, per an FBI bulletin obtained by ABC. The FBI has “received information about an identified armed group intending to travel to Washington, DC on 16 January. They have warned that if Congress attempts to remove POTUS via the 25th Amendment a huge uprising will occur,” according to a bulletin obtained by ABC.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/01/warning-not-attend-armed-protests-state-capitols-inauguration-possible-sinister-plot-hatched-radical-left-take-away-gun-rights/

or

RED4

Big Tech Merges With Big Government

The Big Tech cartel already owns the means of public discourse, and aggressively exploits this leverage to suppress alternative viewpoints. But we won’t see true tyranny until it merges with the federal government under Democrat rule.

The Daily Caller reports:

At least 14 people who President-elect Joe Biden has picked to serve either in his administration or to advise his transition have worked for the Big Tech firms that cracked down earlier this week on President Donald Trump and a social media site popular with conservatives.

The POTUS has been permanently banned from Twitter, his primary means of circumventing the vociferously hostile media to reach the public. Amazon has forced Parler off the Internet, after Apple and Google censored its app.

Apple’s top lobbyist was a chief adviser to the Biden transition team. A former Facebook executive will serve as staff director in the Biden White House, and a former Twitter executive will serve as chief spokesperson for the National Security Council under Biden.

Current and former executives at those firms and two others, Google and Amazon, fill out other positions in the incoming Biden administration, or his transition team. …

Executives from the big tech firms have also joined Biden’s transition to help review nominees to fill spots at federal agencies in the Biden administration, according to a database maintained by the Biden-Harris team.

Big Tech likely can veto important nominations. It has moved deliberately to solidify its de facto power over us by getting its hands on the coercive power of Big Government:

Reuters reported last month that major tech firms like Amazon, Facebook and Google were lobbying the Biden transition team to place executives in various administration roles.

According to Reuters, the executives were seeking positions in the Commerce, State and Defense Departments, as well as the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Office of Information & Regulatory Affairs.

The writing on the wall is as starkly threatening as BLM/Antifa graffiti:

While many Republicans have criticized Trump and his mob of supporters over the Capitol riots, the social media purge has stoked concerns that the major tech companies have too much control over communications platforms.

Don’t expect any more mercy than Parler got when the leftist ideologues who run Google/Amazon/Apple/Facebook/Twitter have the full force of the US government at their disposal.

https://moonbattery.com/big-tech-merges-with-big-government/

Video: Senator Jensen Under Investigation For Telling the Truth About COVID-19

In the following video, Senator Scott Jensen of Minnesota warns of a “danger that we need to talk about.”

“The cancel culture is happening, … but the fact of the matter is COVID-19 has opened a door into a tremendously vicious political non-discussion.”

Watch his full statement below.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/senator-jensen-under-investigation-again-covid-19-skepticism/5734093

Polling Shows NO CHANGE In Trump Approval Ratings Despite Media, Big Tech Onslaught

Despite Twitter’s permanent suspension of President Trump and the mainstream media’s efforts to smear him as responsible for Capitol violence, his approval ratings have remained unchanged.

Numbers from Rasmussen Reports show that following both of these events, his approval rating has shifted either one or two percentage points – exclusively trending upwards.

This includes an increase of two percent – from 47 percent to 49 percent – on January 7th, the day immediately after the pro-Trump rally in Washington, D.C. and certification of electoral college results.

https://thenationalpulse.com/breaking/trump-approval-ratings/