https://nypost.com/2021/10/28/facebook-changes-its-corporate-name-to-meta/
Facebook changes its corporate name to ‘Meta’ amid torrent of scandals
Facebook revealed its new corporate name on Thursday, rebranding the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp as “Meta” as it grapples with a torrent of scandals.
The tech giant’s old name just “doesn’t encompass everything that we do,” founder Mark Zuckerberg said in a lengthy online event.
Zuckerberg said the new name is part of the company’s long-term plan to create a “metaverse” — a virtual reality world where users can socialize, work, play games and create art. In a Thursday demo, a user wearing a headset walked the streets of ancient Rome, while another attended a virtual reality rock concert and afterparty.
The change comes as Facebook seeks to shake a torrent of scandals after whistleblower Frances Haugen leaked company research showing Instagram’s negative effect on teens’ mental health, Facebook’s struggles to stop human trafficking on its platform and the widespread sharing of false news about elections on its sites.
A defiant Zuckerberg — who has not publicly responded to calls to testify in Congress amid the scandals — indirectly addressed the issue during the event and accused critics of being stuck in the past.
“With all the scrutiny and public debate, some of you might be wondering why we’re doing this right now,” said Zuckerberg. “Some people will say that this isn’t a time to focus on the future, and I want to acknowledge that there are important issues to work on in the present. There always will be.
“For many people, I’m not sure there will be a good time to focus on the future,” Zuckerberg added in an apparently sarcastic jab.
Nevertheless ,the new name quickly provoked jeers on social media, with many critics noting that the move looked like a desperate attempt to change the subject.
“This all happened because zuckerberg never meta girl until college,” quipped one Twitter user.
“No Meta what you call Facebook it sucks,” said another.
https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/exit-of-top-public-health-agency-official-leaves-questions-on-chinese-military-involvement-with-high-security-disease-lab
Exit of top public health agency official leaves questions on Chinese military involvement with high-security disease lab
Iain Stewart played a central role in government efforts to block publication of documents regarding the firing of two scientists from a Winnipeg microbiology lab
>Iain Stewart played a central role in government efforts to block publication of documents regarding the firing of two scientists from a Winnipeg microbiology lab
The recent departure of the head of the Public Health Agency of Canada could stymie opposition efforts to uncover details surrounding a high-security microbiology lab in Winnipeg, where two scientists were fired earlier this year for undisclosed reasons.
The Liberal government announced over the Thanksgiving weekend that Iain Stewart would be stepping down as president of PHAC, to be replaced by Harpreet Kochhar, a veterinarian by training and long-time public servant. Stewart will return to head the National Research Council, where he served before his one-year designation at the public health agency.
Stewart presided over PHAC at an extraordinary time, overseeing a restructuring of the department during a global pandemic. He also played a central role in the government’s efforts to block the publication of documents that detailed the firing of the two scientists, Xiangguo Qiu and her husband Keding Cheng.
In a rare parliamentary move, Stewart was forced to appear before the Speaker of the House of Commons in June 2021 for a public admonishment, where he was reprimanded for declining to supply the hundreds of pages of un-redacted documents to a special committee. Weeks later the federal government took House Speaker Anthony Rota, a Liberal member, to court, to determine whether it had legal authority to withhold the documents. It dropped the court proceeding shortly after the election call earlier this year.
Observers say Stewart’s return to the NRC is likely to slow any efforts by opposition parties to secure those records in the next parliamentary session, removing a key figure with first-hand knowledge of the issue.
“I think the government is grateful to send him back to his sort of place of origin,” said Elaine Dewar, a journalist and author of On the Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years: An Investigation.
“To me, this looks like foot dragging.”
Qiu and her husband were escorted out of the National Microbiology Lab (NML) in Winnipeg in July 2019 amid an RCMP investigation. Their security clearances were revoked, and the pair was later fired in January 2021. The laboratory is Canada’s only level-4 security facility, equipped to handle some of the world’s deadliest pathogens.
https://nationalpost.com/news/an-ontario-school-board-undergoes-review-of-every-book-in-every-library-to-cull-those-harmful-to-students
An Ontario school board undergoes review of every book in every library to cull those 'harmful' to students
'Some people are concerned this is going to be a book banning': trustee
Graham Shantz, in charge of human resources and equity services at the Waterloo Region District School Board, leads the book culling review.
“We recognize as our consciousness around equity, on oppression work and anti-racist work has grown, we recognize some of the texts in the collections that we have are not appropriate at this point,” Shantz said at the meeting.
“We will be doing a review of each of our library collections at each of our schools over the next few years and removing any of those texts that can be harmful to either staff or students.”
In the past, libraries emphasized adding books rather than removing them, Shantz said.
“We’ve done a great job over the years of adding collections that promote the diversity, both of our workforce and our students and our community as a broader point, but we haven’t spent the concentrated effort that we need to spend on ensuring that we’re removing inappropriate or texts that are questionable and don’t have the pedagogical frameworks that we need.”
No information was provided about the criteria for assessing books. Shantz did not respond to requests for more information on the process prior to deadline.
Joanne Weston, school board chair, told National Post the pruning details are a work in progress.
“As part of the 2021-2022 operational plan, staff set a goal to develop a framework to formalize the process. This framework is being developed as part of our ongoing efforts to ensure each and every child feels welcomed,” Weston said.
“I have confidence that staff will centre student achievement and wellbeing during the development of the framework and the review.”
The board’s communications officer, Estefanía Brandenstein, said a library review, “with the removal and inclusion of books, is a routine process at all libraries across the country,” but said details on the board’s policy or its process were not available.
At the school board meeting, Watson asked Shantz if the review will extend to books used in the classroom.
Shantz said many teachers maintain “a mini-library” in their classroom and he hopes the process will be applied to those as well.
“Part of the work that we want to do is also promote this framework so teachers can expand their consciousness, utilize the framework to evaluate what they have in their classroom as well.”
>literally stripped naked and slapped until the stupid leaves them
they would die where they stand confused and scared man
https://nypost.com/2021/10/28/bidens-build-back-is-failing-because-it-was-never-a-good-idea/
Biden’s ‘Build Back’ is failing because it was never a good idea
It’s true that President Biden is a terrible politician.
He’s failed to bring the country together. It’s clear he can’t even bring the Democratic Party together, though the policy disagreements were there from the start. He overpromised and underdelivered (provided his new “framework” even passes at all). The only thing that’s guaranteed is that he’s pleased no one.
That’s why the press will be filled with political stories saying that Biden “failed” and, because they are lefties themselves, bemoaning why certain things couldn’t pass.
But let’s not forget the truth behind the political maneuvering: This was never a good idea to begin with.
How did the Democrats think they could pass a multitrillion-dollar welfare plan when they only had a tied Senate thanks to two Georgia special elections? What made them think they had a mandate? When their more sensible members were already against it? Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) likely spoke for the majority of Americans when he said he’d be fine with … nothing.
But no, cries Sen. Bernie Sanders (Marxist-Vt.). All the polls show support! Well, yes. People are never going to say no in an opinion poll to extra checks and free services. But they’re also smart enough to see that eventually the government runs out of money. They see the results of Bidenomics — the high inflation, the empty shelves, the meager 2 percent GDP growth — and say, No, thank you.
>teachers can expand their consciousness, utilize the framework to evaluate what they have in their classroom
>How long until this becomes un-ignorable, because it's everywhere?
CLiMaTe CHaNGe
DiSiNFoRMaTioN
https://nypost.com/2021/10/28/15m-in-relics-looted-by-nyc-art-dealer-returned-to-india-prosecutors/
$15M in relics looted by NYC art dealer returned to India: prosecutors
Millions of dollars worth of looted Indian treasures seized as a part of a long-running probe into a crooked Manhattan antiquities dealer were finally returned to their home country on Thursday, prosecutors announced.
The 248 relics — valued at $15 million — were repatriated during a ceremony attended by India Consul General Randhir Jaiswal, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said.
Of those, 235 were linked to “temple raider” Subhash Kapoor, who has been under investigation by the DA’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit and US Homeland Security since at least 2011.
Among the items returned Thursday was a $4 million bronze statue of the Hindu deity Shiva dating back to the 12th Century.
The disgraced dealer was busted in 2012 while traveling through Germany and hauled to India, where he remains jailed, accused of trafficking in sacred idols stolen from religious sites.
A few weeks after his arrest, federal agents seized more than $100 million dollars worth of rare sculptures from Kapoor’s since-shuttered Upper East Side gallery Arts of the Past and four Manhattan storage sites.
Authorities say Kapoor — who is the subject of a US extradition request — was a key player in an art smuggling ring that looted and exported precious items from various countries in Southeast Asia.
Kapoor allegedly traveled the world searching for antiquities stolen from temples, homes and archaeological dig sites and illegally smuggled them into the US.
He then created fake ownership histories for the ancient pieces and peddled them through his Madison Avenue gallery, according to court documents.
The more than decade-long investigation into Kapoor has turned up 2,500 antiques valued at $143 million, prosecutors said.
“Today’s event also serves as a potent reminder that individuals who maraud sacred temples in pursuit of individual profit are committing crimes not only against a country’s heritage but also its present and future,” Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance said in a statement.
IS IT THOUGH
I like the belly shlop
https://www.justice.gov/
cost savings and lies
https://www.webex.com/
Wanna see my backsplash?
>Will the Pepe Burma Band be playing at the Concertation camp?
It would make it all worth while.
https://www.lawfareblog.com/lawfare-podcast-pete-strzok-declining-fisas-and-human-source-handling
The Lawfare Podcast: Pete Strzok on Declining FISAs and Human Source Handling
Pete Strzok is a former counter-intelligence official at the FBI. He is the author most recently of an article in Lawfare entitled, “The Sussmann Indictment, Human Source Handling, and the FBI’s Declining FISA Numbers.” It's an article that makes an interesting connection between a sentence in the indictment of Democratic lawyer Michael Sussmann and some data on FISA applications released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. They may seem unconnected, but Strzok argues that there may be a deep connection between the two, and he sat down with Benjamin Wittes to discuss it. They talked about the anomaly of the Sussmann indictment; about how it was the tip of a very large iceberg of investigations of officials, agents and analysts who worked on the Crossfire Hurricane investigation; and about the shocking decrease in the number of FISA orders issued over the length of the Trump presidency.
https://www.lawfareblog.com/sussmann-indictment-human-source-handling-and-fbis-declining-fisa-numbers
>https://www.lawfareblog.com/sussmann-indictment-human-source-handling-and-fbis-declining-fisa-numbers
The Sussmann Indictment, Human Source Handling, and the FBI’s Declining FISA Numbers
By Peter Strzok
Friday, October 22, 2021, 10:45 AM
Late in the evening of Oct. 6, attorneys for former Department of Justice attorney and former Perkins Coie partner Michael Sussmann filed a motion for a bill of particulars relating to his indictment by Special Counsel John Durham. The indictment charges Sussmann with one count of making a false statement to the FBI in September 2016, in conjunction with providing allegations that computer systems connected to the Russian Alfa Bank had anomalous contact with an internet domain associated with the Trump Organization.
[Full disclosure, I had a minor role in the events in question, insofar as I transferred the material Sussmann gave to Jim Baker, the FBI’s general counsel at the time, to the personnel who ultimately supervised and looked into the allegations.]
At the time Sussmann’s indictment was returned, by coincidence I was taking a look at data from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s (ODNI’s) Annual Statistical Transparency Report and noticed a precipitous drop in the volume of the intelligence community’s use of complex investigative techniques, such as those authorized by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). I believe these two issues are connected.
What, you may ask, do Sussmann’s indictment and the declining number of FISA orders have to do with each other? Far more than you might think.
The Oct. 6 motion filed by Sussmann’s attorneys lays out his claim that the indictment failed to state the charges against him with sufficient specificity to allow him to effectively defend himself, and it asks the judge hearing the case to direct the government to provide additional detail about the crime Sussmann is alleged to have committed.
>By Peter Strzok
While I share many of the concerns about the indictment laid out by Benjamin Wittes in a September Lawfare post, what caught my eye in Sussmann’s motion has relatively little to do with its merits. Sussmann’s lawyers write:
Without prejudice to any other pretrial motions Mr. Sussmann may bring on the matter, Mr. Sussmann is also entitled to additional particulars regarding the alleged omissions in the indictment, including regarding the legal duty, if any, that required him to disclose the allegedly omitted information the Indictment suggests he should have disclosed.
This paragraph of the motion is a response to Durham’s allegation that Sussmann
concealed and failed to disclose, (i) SUSSMANN had spent time drafting one of the white papers he provided to the FBI General Counsel and billed that time to the Clinton Campaign, and (ii) the U.S. Investigative Firm—which at the time was also acting as a paid agent of the Clinton Campaign—had drafted another of those white papers.
This idea points to a significant issue: omitting information is both frequent and problematic when dealing with human sources of information in federal investigations. By its terms, 18 U.S.C. § 1001 makes it a crime to “falsif[y], conceal[], or cover[] up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact.” Does that mean that any material omission by any human source in any federal investigation is a crime?
>Peter Strzok
In other words, don’t imagine that the national security damage to the FBI from the Trump administration has been fixed. Don’t lull yourself into thinking that legacy investigations are limited to the past and aren’t causing present harm. The longer they continue—and Durham’s endeavors have now far outpaced the length of Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigation—the longer any administrative punishment lies in abeyance waiting for the criminal investigations to conclude, and the greater the damage to the FBI’s ability and willingness to investigate the powerful.
Sussmann’s prosecution may seem unconnected to this effect. He was, after all, not a counterintelligence professional, but a source. But it’s part of the same broad pattern in which those who participated at whatever level in the efforts to investigate Russian intelligence activity have faced years of scrutiny for behaviors that are the norm, not the exception, in high-stakes investigations. Of course, those investigators exist not in a vacuum but, rather, within an organization of co-workers who have watched their respected colleagues persevere through this gauntlet, undoubtedly questioning whether the risk of pursuing complex investigations is worth the potential personal and professional cost. As the FISA numbers show, the country is already paying a price for this Sisyphean cycle of review.