28 Feb, 2023 15:19

White House pushes to renew controversial spying law

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act allows intelligence agencies to spy on anyone, anywhere

Attorney GeneralMerrick Garland and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines wrote to Congressional leaders on Tuesday, asking them to renew a post-9/11 lawallowing the US to spy on foreign targets anywhere in the world. While the law is explicitly intended to surveil foreigners, it has been used to monitor millions of Americans.

Section 702 of the 2008 amendment to the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act legalized the Bush administration’s secret wiretapping program, allowing US intelligence agencies to monitor messages from abroad made through American networks like Google. Set to expire at the end of the year, the White House is already pushing lawmakers toward its renewal.

“The information acquired using Section 702 plays a key role in keeping the United States, its citizens, and its allies safe and secure,”Garland and Haines wrote in their letter, describing the reauthorization of the law as “a top legislative priority for this administration.”

Garland and Haines, the latter of whom served as Deputy DIrector of the CIA under Barack Obama, claimed that information gathered using Section 702 was instrumental in foiling cyberattacks on the US, halting the trafficking of weapons of mass destruction, and thwarting foreign states’ attempts to recruit spies in the the US.

In a separate statement on Tuesday, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan described Section 702 as a “cornerstone of US national security.”

However, while Garland and Haines stressed that Section 702 cannot be “directed against Americans at home or abroad,” that is not the case. A report last year by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) found that the FBI alone made “fewer than 3,394,053” queries of US citizens between December 2020 and November 2021, based on data obtained under Section 702.

Although the law cannot be used to surveil Americans directly, it allows the US to gather intelligence on any American whom a foreign surveillance target contacts.

This intelligence is stored for five years, during which it can be searched – for example by name, phone number, or email address, by US intelligence agencies.

President Joe Biden will likely face opposition from some Republicans when it comes to renewing Section 270. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said last year that Congress “should not even reauthorize FISA.” Allies of former President Donald Trump previously condemned the FBI for abusing the FISA process to illegally wiretap the ex-president.

https://www.rt.com/news/572211-us-surveillance-act-restoration/

Anons get the word out for people to call their congressman and say NO a Million TImes! Do not reauthorize Section 702

28 Feb, 2023 14:12

NATO comments on Kiev’s membership prospects

Ukraine will become a member, but it won’t happen anytime soon, Jens Stoltenberg has said

(They know they are lying, Ukraine will never be allowed in NATO, they’d steal and sell on the black market every arms they get. And will blackmail EU and US leaders more if they are admitted)

The member states of US-led NATO have already agreed to accept Ukraine into their ranks, but that issue is not a priority at the moment, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday.

Speaking to journalists during a visit to Finland, Stoltenberg noted that although Kiev’s membership is welcomed,it is “a distant prospect” because the priority right now is to make sure Ukraine “prevails as a sovereign and independent state.”

He also added that after the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia ends, it is necessary to “ensure that history doesn’t repeat itself.” To that end, the NATO chief insisted that the bloc needs to “strengthen the military capabilities of Ukraine” and establish frameworks that would prevent Russia from launching any more attacks against Kiev.

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, who spoke alongside Stoltenberg, also proclaimed that the future of Ukraine is to be part of the European Union and NATO and stressed the need to continue providing military aid to Kiev. “The faster and the sooner we can give them more heavy weapons, the sooner the war will end,” Marin stated.

Meanwhile, Moscow has once again blasted the collective West for rejecting security talks and insisted that the US and its allies must change their approach to global security and take Moscow’s concerns into consideration.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Tuesday that Russia’s relations with the US and Europe “changed radically”when Moscow presented its draft security treaties to Washington, Brussels and Vienna in late 2021, all of whom stated they were “not ready to talk about anything.”

Peskov said the US and Europe “could have sat down at the negotiating table” long before the conflict in Ukraine started. “There would have been very complex, positional, sometimes irreconcilable talks, but they would have been under way. But they refused,” he said.

Now, NATO is fully involved in the hostilities, “their intelligence is working against us 24 hours a day,” and their weapons are supplied to Ukraine for free to shoot at Russia’s military and Ukrainian citizens, he said.

“The moment when NATO de facto became a participant in the conflict in Ukraine, the situation changed,” the spokesman added. “In fact, the NATO bloc is no longer acting as our conditional opponent, but as our enemy.”

https://www.rt.com/news/572207-ukraine-nato-membership-prospects/

(“It’s a distant prospect” is just like our parents used to say, “we’ll see” when we asked for things they would never give us.)

28 Feb, 2023 15:29

US Air Force sacks nuclear base staff

Six service members, including two commanders, were dismissed due to “loss of confidence”

The US Air Force has dismissed six military service members who were stationed at a key nuclear base, including two commanders. They were sacked over “loss of confidence” in their ability to perform assigned duties, according to an official statement.

The firings occurred at Minot Air Force Base in Ward County, North Dakota, which is the only US military base that hosts two legs of the nuclear triad. Minot is home to 28 B-52H Stratofortress nuclear-capable bombers and 165 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles, as well as associated equipment.

Colonel Gregory Mayer, the head of the 5th Mission Support Group, and Major Jonathan Welch, the 5th Logistics Readiness Squadron commander, were the two senior officers whose dismissal was announced on Monday by Air Force Global Strike Command.

“These personnel actions were necessary to maintain the very high standards we demand of those units entrusted with supporting our Nation’s nuclear mission,” Major General Andrew J. Gebara, commander of 8th Air Force, explained.

Four subordinates of the two commanders were axed as well. They held leadership positions but were not identified by either name or rank in the press release.

The Air Force declined to explain what exactly had led to the decision, but Gebara assured the public that the military remained “committed to the success of [its] no-fail mission” of strategic deterrence.

According to Air Force Times, Mayer has a 25-year-long career under his belt, with experience in civil engineering. He arrived at Minot last June and took charge of 1,900 airmen and military assets worth $4.3 billion.

There were several high-level dismissals at the base over the past two decades, the outlet noted. The facility also faced scrutiny over misconduct, including “widespread cheating on the monthly proficiency test for missileers, mishandling of nuclear weapons, unprofessional conduct and drug use,” the report added.

In 2013, Associated Press reported that an inspection of the base unearthed what one commander described as “rot,” including weapons safety-rule violations, possible code compromises and other failings being tolerated. The Air Forceremoved 17 launch officersfrom duty at the time.

https://www.rt.com/news/572201-leaders-dismissed-nuclear-base/

(Did they leak to the press that Bidan and the military were allowing a Chinese spy balloon fly above their base?)

28 Feb, 2023 13:02

Russia reports success against Ukrainian drone incursion

The aircraft had targeted civilian infrastructure but the military drove them off course, the Defense Ministry said

Kiev forces launched drone attacks on Russia’s southern Krasnodar Region and Adygea Republic, but they were successfully repelled by the military, the Russian Defense Ministry has reported. Images of one of the aircraft were apparently shared by a regional head.

The incursions happened in the early hours of Tuesday and targeted civilian infrastructure, according to a statement released by the ministry.Russian forces used electronic warfare to suppress the two drones, causing them to veer off course. One “fell in a field,”while the other “failed to cause any damage”to its target, the ministry said.

Earlier in the day, Adygea head Murat Kumpilov shared images showing the wreckage of an unidentified aircraft, which he said was discovered near the village of Novoye, located to the north of the provincial capital Maykop. The official said the crash resulted in no injuries, but caused minor damage to an outbuilding on a farm.

Meanwhile, there was afire overnight at an oil refineryin the city of Tuapse in Krasnodar Region. Municipal head Sergey Boyko said the blaze had broken out in a technical building, but did not spread to fuel tanks and was extinguished by firefighters within 30 minutes.

Some Russian media claimed, citing anonymous sources,that the fire was caused by a failed attack involving unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs). According to these reports, as many as two aircraft carrying explosives crashed some 100 meters from the fuel reservoirs, damaging a boiler room instead.

In Belgorod Region, which borders Ukraine,three drone wreckages were discovered in the provincial capital on Monday evening. One of the UAVs crashed through the window of an apartment building, prompting evacuation.

Some media claimed the drones were Ukrainian and carried British-made plastic explosives, based on images of the debris.

https://www.rt.com/russia/572199-russia-ukrainian-drones-infrastructure/

32 minutes ago

Censored Reporter Reveals NIH And Fact Checkers Worked Together To Silence The COVID Lab Leak Theory

https://rumble.com/embed/v28o50u/?pub=4

>>18423960

Thanks for that

>>18423932

Yes its the biggest fuck you, especially now that the military is going woke

>>18423922

Great list do you add to it daily? I’m sure theres a lot more journalists and NGOs, they are a cancer thats been growing since Bush Sn

From 2017

America’s Ukraine Hypocrisy

The extent of the Obama administration’s meddling in Ukraine’s politics was breathtaking.1/2

AUGUST 6, 2017 •Ted Galen Carpenter

There is an abundance of outrage in the United States about Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Multiple investigations are taking place, and Moscow’s conduct was a major justification for the sanctions legislation that Congress just passed. Some furious political figures and members of the media insist that the Putin government’s interference constitutes an act of war. One especially agitated House member even compared it explicitly to the Pearl Harbor and 9/11 attacks.

Such umbrage might be more credible if the United States refrained from engaging in similar conduct. But the historical record shows that Washington has meddled in the political affairs of dozens of countries—including many democracies. An egregious example occurred in Ukraine during the Euromaidan Revolution of 2014.

Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych was not an admirable character. After his election in 2010, he used patronage and other instruments of state power in a flagrant fashion to the advantage of his political party. That high‐​handed behavior and legendary corruption alienated large portions of Ukraine’s population. As the Ukrainian economy languished and fell farther and farther behind those of Poland and other East European neighbors that had implemented significant market‐​oriented reforms, public anger at Yanukovych mounted. When he rejected the European Union’s terms for an association agreement in late 2013, in favor of a Russian offer, angry demonstrators filled Kiev’s Independence Square, known as the Maidan, as well as sites in other cities.

Despite his leadership defects and character flaws, Yanukovych had been duly elected in balloting that international observers considered reasonably free and fair—about the best standard one can hope for outside the mature Western democracies. A decent respect for democratic institutions and procedures meant that he ought to be able to serve out his lawful term as president, which would end in 2016.

The extent of the Obama administration’s meddling in Ukraine’s politics was breathtaking.

Neither the domestic opposition nor Washington and its European Union allies behaved in that fashion. Instead, Western leaders made it clear that they supported the efforts of demonstrators to force Yanukovych to reverse course and approve the EU agreement or, if he would not do so, to remove the president before his term expired. Sen. John McCain (R‑AZ), the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, went to Kiev to show solidarity with the Euromaidan activists. McCain dined with opposition leaders, including members of the ultra right‐​wing Svoboda Party, and later appeared on stage in Maidan Square during a mass rally. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Svoboda leader Oleg Tyagnibok.

But McCain’s actions were a model of diplomatic restraint compared to the conduct of Victoria Nuland,the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs. As Ukraine’s political crisis deepened, Nuland and her subordinates became more brazen in favoring the anti‐​Yanukovych demonstrators. Nuland noted in a speech to the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation on December 13, 2013, thatshe had traveled to Ukraine three times in the weeks following the start of the demonstrations. Visiting the Maidan on December 5, she handed out cookies to demonstrators and expressed support for their cause.

The extent of the Obama administration’s meddling in Ukraine’s politics was breathtaking. Russian intelligence intercepted and leaked to the international media a Nuland telephone call in which she and U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Geoffey Pyatt discussed in detail their preferences for specific personnel in a post‐​Yanukovych government. The U.S‑favored candidates included Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the man who became prime minister once Yanukovych was ousted from power. During the telephone call, Nuland stated enthusiastically that “Yats is the guy” who would do the best job.

Nuland and Pyatt were engaged in such planning at a time when Yanukovych was still Ukraine’s lawful president. It was startling to have diplomatic representatives of a foreign country—and a country that routinely touts the need to respect democratic processes and the sovereignty of other nations—to be scheming about removing an elected government and replacing it with officials meriting U.S. approval….

https://www.cato.org/commentary/americas-ukraine-hypocrisy

>>18424098

2/2

Washington’s conduct not only constituted meddling, it bordered on micromanagement. At one point, Pyatt mentioned the complex dynamic among the three principal opposition leaders, Yatsenyuk, Oleh Tyahnybok, and Vitali Klitschko. Both Pyatt and Nuland wanted to keep Tyahnybok and Klitschko out of an interim government. In the former case, they worried about his extremist ties; in the latter, they seemed to want him to wait and make a bid for office on a longer‐​term basis. Nuland stated that “I don’t think Klitsch should go into the government. I don’t think it’s necessary.” She added that what Yatseniuk needed “is Klitsch and Tyanhybok on the outside.”

Thetwo diplomats also were prepared to escalate the already extensive U.S. involvement in Ukraine’s political turbulence.

Pyatt stated bluntly that “we want to try to get somebody with an international personality to come out here and help to midwife this thing [the political transition].”Nuland clearly had Vice President Joe Biden in mind for that role.

Noting that thevice president’s national security adviser was in direct contact with her, Nulandrelated that she told him “probably tomorrow for an atta‐​boy and to get the details to stick. So Biden’s willing.”

Both the Obama administration and most of the American news media portrayed the Euromaidan Revolution as a spontaneous, popular uprising against a corrupt and brutal government.

A February 24, 2014, Washington Posteditorial celebrated the Maidan demonstrators and their successful campaign to overthrow Yanukovych. The “moves were democratic,” the Washington Post concluded, and “Kiev is now controlled by pro‐​Western parties.”

It was a grotesque distortion to portray the events in Ukraine as a purely indigenous, popular uprising. The Nuland‐​Pyatt telephone conversation and other actions confirm that the United States was considerably more than a passive observer to the turbulence.

Instead, U.S. officials were blatantly meddling in Ukraine. Such conduct was utterly improper. The United States had no right to try to orchestrate political outcomes in another country—especially one on the border of another great power. It is no wonder that Russia reacted badly to the unconstitutional ouster of an elected, pro‐​Russian government—an ouster that occurred not only with Washington’s blessing, but apparently with its assistance.

That episode, as well as earlier ones involving Italy, France and other democratic countries, should be kept in mind the next time U.S. political leaders or the media publicly fume about Russia’s apparent interference in America’s 2016 elections. One can legitimately condemn some aspects of Moscow’s behavior, butthe force of America’s moral outrage is vitiated by the stench of U.S. hypocrisy.

https://www.cato.org/commentary/americas-ukraine-hypocrisy

Crowley: The Ukraine War Will Continue As Long As Joe Biden Illegitimately Occupies The White House

https://rumble.com/embed/v28o82a/?pub=4

28 Feb, 2023 16:24

Court orders Siemens to deliver trains to Russia

The German company has been accused of failing to meet its contractual obligations

The Arbitration Court of Moscow ruled on Tuesday that Siemens Mobility’s refusal to honor a contract signed with Russian Railways is illegal, and ordered the German firm to deliver high-speed trains.

Under the deal signed by the two companies in June 2019, a branch of the German multinational conglomerate focused on rail technology and intelligent traffic systems was to deliver 13 high-speed Sapsan trains from September 2022 to July 2023.

The total value of the supply contract amounted to €513.5 million ($546.2 million), according to Russian Railways.

Siemens was also to provide maintenance and repair for the trains during their entire serviceable life, which is 30 years. The cost of the additional maintenance agreement reportedly amounted to €583.1 million ($620.3 million).

At the time of signing the contract in 2019, Russian Railways operated 16 Sapsan high-speed trains. The company was planning to increase the number of journeys between Moscow and St. Petersburg, and Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod, using the new trains.

However, last October, Siemens Mobility notified the Russian company about the termination of the contract “due to the sanctions imposed on Russian legal entities,”the court ruling read.

“The sanctions legislation of the US and the EU contradicts public policy” and cannot be applied in Russia, the court ruled, adding that the defendant did not have a legal basis for terminating the contract unilaterally.

Moreover, the court highlighted that restrictive measures, according to the explanations of the EU, are not applied retroactively.

German concern Siemens and all its subsidiaries announced plans to withdraw from the Russian market last May. The company also said it would withdraw from joint ventures and terminate service contracts for maintenance with Russian Railways.

Siemens also said the decision was due to the inability to further fulfill its contractual obligations because of sanctions and the requirements arising from them.

https://www.rt.com/business/572206-russia-germany-siemens-trains/

>>18424118

Crowley says there are 150 Sars report (suspicious activities reports) at the Treasury on Hunter and Joe bidan.

Treasury refuses to release them to the House, which brings up these questions: obviously the Treasury under Trump were getting these SARs report (it was in the news back then) why didn’t the Treasury investigate and expose this under Trump?

Did Mnuchin refuse to do his job? Why? This could have been over in 2018, why didn’t they do this? It would have stopped the impeachments!

Anons do you have any good theories why treasury under Trump didn’t reveal and prosecute the corruption of the Bidans back then?

Is that where Guiliani started in investigating all the countries Bidans were in bed with?