Schumer: Secret Service director must testify about Mar-A-Lago vulnerabilities

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday called on outgoing Secret Service Director Randolph Alles to testify about potential security vulnerabilities at Mar-A-Lago after a Chinese woman was arrested trying to enter the property with malware.

“The outgoing Secret Service director must testify before Congress as soon as possible about the potential security vulnerabilities at Mar-a-Lago involving a Chinese national arrested with malware, and other counterintelligence and national security threats," Schumer said in a statement.

"The public and Congress need to know the extent to which adversarial governments — like China — and their agents are attempting to gain access to, or conduct electronic surveillance on, conversations or other information regarding national security at President Trump’s properties," he added.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said earlier Monday that President Trump is removing Alles from his position as director of the Secret Service, adding that he will be "leaving shortly." His successor, James Murray, is expected to take over the position starting in May.

Schumer's statement comes after Yujing Zhang, a Chinese national, was arrested as she tried to enter Mar-A-Lago's pool. Federal prosecutors alleged in a filing last week that she entered the club with a thumb drive containing malicious software and multiple passports.

Federal prosecutors added at a hearing in Florida on Monday that she also had multiple USB drives, thousands of dollars in cash, a second cellphone and five SIM cards.

The Miami Herald reported that federal authorities are probing possible Chinese spying targeting Mar-a-Lago, Trump's private club in Palm Beach, Fla., including looking into Zhang.

But Trump downplayed concerns about security on the propriety last week, saying they had "very good control."

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/437902-schumer-secret-service-director-must-testify-about-mar-a-lago-vulnerabilities

Is he wanting to the vulnerabilities for personal use? Kek

What a jackass.

Colorado, Alabama and California emerge as favorites for Space Command headquarters: report

The Air Force is zeroing in on military bases to potentially house President Trump’s proposed U.S. Space Command, with the short list of contenders located in Colorado, Alabama and California, according to CNN.

An Air Force memorandum obtained by the network identified six potential bases, four in Colorado and the other two in California and Alabama, according to CNN. While the memo indicated the findings were approved by Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, an Air Force spokesperson told the network that Air Force personnel have not yet sent a list of base candidates to Wilson.

The memo puts the “projected manpower” for the base at 1,450 personnel, including 50 contractors, 827 civilians, 183 enlisted personnel and 390 officers, according to CNN. About 350 of the personnel would come from the existing Joint Force Space Component Command, currently part of U.S. Strategic Command.

The reported finalists are Colorado's Buckley Air Force Base, Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Peterson Air Force Base and Schriever Air Force Base, the Army’s Redstone Arsenal in Alabama and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

“Placing United States Space Command on a Department of Defense space installation will align the command with critical space force expertise and provide resident military, civilian, and commercial space manpower for United States Space Command recruiting and retention,” a document attached to the memo said, according to CNN.

The Senate Armed Services committee is set to hold its first hearing on Trump’s Space Force proposal this week.

“A coherent space strategy is an integral part of our National Defense Strategy,” committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.) said in a statement. “I look forward to hearing from Pentagon leadership about what they see as the necessary capabilities of a space force, the costs and benefits associated with their solutions, and what our full range of options are.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/437898-colorado-alabama-and-california-emerge-as-favorites-for-space-command-headquarters

Why the hell would we want our space force HQ to be in CA???

Dutch F-16 makes emergency landing after plane shoots itself

A Dutch F-16 fighter jet flying a training exercise over the Netherlands scored a direct hit — on itself — when the pilot fired the aircraft’s 20mm rotary cannon.

Sometimes, even inanimate objects will do anything to get out of training.

The Royal Netherlands Air Force pilot was able to make an emergency landing at Leeuwarden Air Base after the plan suffered “considerable damage,” according to a report from Dutch state media.

At least one round ripped through the jet’s exterior, the report said, while munition fragments were also found in the aircraft’s engine.

“This is a serious incident," Wim Bagerbos, inspector general at the Netherlands Department of Defense, told Dutch media.

“We therefore want to fully investigate what happened and how we would be able to avoid this in future.”

U.S. aviators, of late, have dealt with a boon of aircraft mishaps, most notably incidents involving mid-air oxygen system failures resulting in a spike of reported physiological episodes.

But a plane firing on itself, especially with its own autocannon, is almost unheard of — and impossible.

Thomas W. Attridge Jr. became the first pilot to do so in September 1956 when, flying as a test pilot for Grumman, the 33-year-old former Navy officer shot down his own F11F-1 Tiger, similar to the variant used by the Blue Angels during the 1960s.

At an altitude of 20,000 feet, Attridge entered into a dive while firing the Tiger’s 20mm rotary cannon.

Continuing the dive all the way to 7,000 feet, Attridge exhausted the gun’s ammunition before the plane was hit by what he presumed to be a bird strike.

Before long, however, the engine began to fail, and his emergency return to the Grumman airstrip was cut short as he crashed through a thicket of trees just short of the runway.

Attridge would survive the crash, with numerous broken bones, and go on to work on the Apollo Lunar Module.

The investigation into his crash found that the rounds he fired during the rapid descent experienced enough drag to drastically slow their velocity.

As the plane’s acceleration increased, it managed to gain on its own rounds before miraculously connecting in mid-air.

No definitive explanation for the Dutch F-16 mishap has been provided, but in any event, an American-made plane has made history once again.

An investigation remains ongoing.

https://www.militarytimes.com/off-duty/military-culture/2019/04/08/dutch-f-16-makes-emergency-landing-after-plane-shoots-itself/

WTF….

>>6099839

Another variable in the 'networked devices' conversation would be why the push for everyone to be on a digital currency if there are so many vulnerabilities.

There are MANY obvious reasons we should never go full digital currency but there are not so obvious reasons to why it would be good.

Watchdog issues rare 'alert' that EPA data on toxic substance releases inaccurate

The top watchdog overseeing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a rare "management alert" Monday warning that the agency’s public data on toxic substance releases are not accurate.

EPA’s Inspector General (IG) Office said the inconsistencies were “of sufficient concern to warrant immediate reporting.”

The emergency letter from EPA’s acting inspector general to the head of the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention warned that certain information the EPA released publicly about its toxic chemical releases did not match with internal EPA data.

“As a result, the public is not receiving complete and timely information about environmental conditions affecting human health,” the letter read.

Specifically, the alert referred to missing data pertaining to releases of hazardous substances from Publicly Owned Treatment Works. The government watchdog discovered that there were substantial differences between the publicly listed data on the total number of pounds of toxic chemicals released into the environment and internal datasets EPA handed over separately to the IG.

The IG found the discrepancy while auditing EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), which annually collects information about toxic chemical releases reported both industrial and government facilities. Chemicals covered by the TRI cause cancer or other chronic human health effects.

The discrepancies EPA found referred to releases between 2013–2017.

The watchdog said the discrepancy will likely be the most troubling to local communities or global researchers who use the data in their analysis.

“The OIG’s audit of the EPA’s TRI data is ongoing, we found this information to be of sufficient concern to warrant immediate reporting,” the IG wrote in its letter.

The IG office asked EPA to respond within 15 days to announce actions taken to correct the identified discrepancies.

An EPA spokesperson said the agency “developed and deployed corrections” within three business days of hearing from the IG internally.

“Additionally, EPA has determined that the glitches did not impact the recently released 2017 National Analysis,” the spokesperson said.

At least one environmental organization heavily criticized the improperly released public information.

“The TRI is the most important tool guaranteeing Americans the right to know about toxic chemical pollution in their own backyards,” said Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group.

“EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler should take the inspector general’s warning seriously and move immediately to restore the integrity of the TRI.”

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/437908-watchdog-warns-in-rare-alert-that-epa-data-on-toxic-substance