And Another!
https://twitter.com/ChadPergram/status/1158079278082416641
Meanwhile in Hong Kong
The government of Hong Kong has warned that the ongoing protests could devolve into a "very dangerous situation" after demonstrators filled the streets, squaring off with riot police as traffic came to a complete standstill.
🇭🇰 HAPPENING NOW: Riot police fire tear gas in Hong Kong's Causeway Bay district on the 9th consecutive weekend of #HongKongProtests #香港 #反送中 pic.twitter.com/EdmeuE5hoO
— Bloomberg TicToc (@tictoc) August 4, 2019
Sunday marked the third consecutive day of demonstrations out of a nine-week protest which began with outrage over a controversial bill which would have allowed suspects to face extradition to mainland China - a measure which has been paused but not taken off the table. Since then, demonstrators have demanded that arrested protesters be exonerated, along with the implementation of universal suffrage.
Protesters staged two massive rallies on opposite sides of the city, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Thousands marched in the largely residential area of Tseung Kwan O while more rallied in Kennedy Town on the west side of Hong Kong Island.
In the city’s Western district, police fired tear gas to disperse protesters who deviated from the approved rally location. Later, many suddenly decided to head to Causeway Bay, a popular shopping and entertainment district, occupying a busy thoroughfare. Sirens blared across the city as a group of protesters blocked the entrance to the cross-harbor tunnel, causing a massive traffic jam. -WSJ
On Sunday night, Hong Kong authorities said that the unrest was a "blatant violation of law, wanton destruction of public peace and violent attacks on the police will harm Hong Kong's society, economy and our people's livelihood," adding "Such acts have already gone far beyond the limits of peaceful and rational protests for which the government and general public will not condone under any circumstances."
"Otherwise they will push Hong Kong into a very dangerous situation."
On Saturday, police and protesters clashed across five districts, with multiple police stations besieged and hundreds of activists confronting riot police.
The antigovernment protest movement has appeared to gain steam even as police use more aggressive tactics to bring it to heel. After tense confrontations last weekend, police arrested dozens and took what many here viewed as a hard-line step by charging them with crimes that carry prison terms of as long as 10 years. Police said they arrested more than 20 people in relation to Saturday’s protests, including for unlawful assembly and assault. -WSJ
Press freedom? Riot police have kept flashing the lights to obstruct journalists from doing their work #hongkongprotests #hongkong pic.twitter.com/Kpv2k3HJ9r
— Jeffie Lam (@jeffielam) August 4, 2019
"If the government is waiting and hoping the protests fade out on their own, they are going to be disappointed," said attorney Antony Dapiran, who authored a book on dissent in the city.
When the protests began in June, an estimated two million people marched against the extradition bill. Since then, local business leaders say the movement is taking an economic toll - as they have reported soft sales vs. last year. One firm found that travel bookings to Hong Kong appear to have fallen.
"They hurt me from my back. No warning."
This Tseung Kwan O resident says he's bleeding after being attacked by police #香港 #反送中 #HongKongProtests pic.twitter.com/VG96VNplpZ
— Bloomberg TicToc (@tictoc) August 4, 2019
That said, the protests show no sign of slowing down - as the mostly younger demonstrators say they are angry over bleaker political and economic prospects than their parents faced. Hong Kong is one of the world's most expensive places to live, and has one of the largest disparities in wealth to boot.
"The situation is really precarious," said Hong-Kong human-rights lawyer Albert Ho, who told the WSJ "Right now, there are a lot of young people out there who feel they have nothing to lose, who feel they are looking at the end of rule of law, of a legal system, of a culture."
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-08-04/very-dangerous-situation-hong-kong-government-issues-warning-protests-become
https://twitter.com/Jim_Jordan/status/1158071717446729729
The Federal Bureau of Investigations aims to acquire access to a “social media early alerting tool” that will help insiders proactively and reactively monitor how terrorist groups, foreign intelligence services, criminal organizations and other domestic threats use networking platforms to further their illegal efforts, according to a request for proposalamended this week.
“With increased use of social media platforms by subjects of current FBI investigations and individuals that pose a threat to the United States, it is critical to obtain a service which will allow the FBI to identify relevant information from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other Social media platforms in a timely fashion,” the agency said in the RFP.
“Consequently, the FBI needs near real-time access to a full range of social media exchanges in order to obtain the most current information available in furtherance of its law enforcement and intelligence missions.”
Though the request was initially released on July 8, the FBI amended it this week to extend the relevant dates: The agency’s answers to vendors moved from July 25 to Aug. 7, and the proposal due date shifted from Aug. 8 to Aug. 27. Though the original proposal listed the anticipated award date as Aug. 30, it could be pushed back due to these changes.
Still, the proposal comes at a time when society is growing accustomed to the painful reality of the weaponization of social media outlets to cause harm. Earlier this year, a mass shooter in New Zealand opened fire at two mosques killing 50 people and injuring many more - he posted a 74-page manifesto and images of his weapons online ahead of the attack and livestreamed the shooting directly on Facebook Live. And the shooter who killed three people at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California Sunday also previously posted online about an 1890 racist manifesto, which has been deemed a “staple among neo-Nazis and white supremacists on extremist sites.”
“It is an acknowledged fact that virtually every incident and subject of FBI investigative interest has a presence online,” the bureau said in the project’s statement of objectives.
“The mission critical exploitation of social media enables the Bureau to proactively detect, disrupt, and investigate an ever growing diverse range of threats.”
The FBI ultimately wants an interactive tool that can be accessed by all headquarters division and field office personnel via web browsers and through multiple devices. Interested vendors should have the capabilities to offer the agency the ability to set filters around the specific content they see, send immediate and custom alerts and notifications around “mission-relevant” incidents, have broad international reach and a strong language translation capability and allow for real-time geolocation-based monitoring that can be refined as events develop.
And when it comes to specific persons-of-interest and suspects already involved in open investigations, the bureau wants the ability to obtain their full-scope social media profiles from across the various platforms and insights into their affiliations with various groups across the world wide web.
“Items of interest in this context are social networks, user IDs, emails, IP addresses and telephone numbers, along with likely additional account with similar IDs or aliases,” the agency said.
The firm-fixed-price contract will be awarded on a best-value basis and will include one base year and four one-year option periods.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-08-04/fbi-wants-tech-track-social-media-criminals-and-terrorists-they-act
Democrats are calling on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to bring the Senate back in session to vote on gun control legislation in response to two mass shootings that killed 29 people in less than 24 hours.
A Saturday shooting at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart left 20 people dead and 26 more wounded. Federal authorities are treating it as a case of domestic terrorism and will pursue federal hate crime and firearm charges, officials said Sunday. A separate shooting early Sunday morning in Dayton, Ohio, left nine dead and 27 wounded.
Democrats are asking McConnell to call Senate, which is currently on a month-long recess, back to vote on a background check bill passed by the Democratic-controlled House in February.
"El Paso, Dayton, one awful event after another. @SenateMajLdr McConnell must call the Senate back for an emergency session to put the House-passed universal background checks legislation on the Senate floor for debate and a vote immediately," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer tweeted Sunday morning.
El Paso, Dayton, one awful event after another. @SenateMajLdr McConnell must call the Senate back for an emergency session to put the House-passed universal background checks legislation on the Senate floor for debate and a vote immediately.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) August 4, 2019
"Mitch McConnell should bring the Senate back into session immediately to pass HR 8, the gun safety bill that has already passed the House. That's a first step to addressing our serious gun violence epidemic," Sanders tweeted.
Mitch McConnell should bring the Senate back into session immediately to pass HR 8, the gun safety bill that has already passed the House. That's a first step to addressing our serious gun violence epidemic.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) August 4, 2019
When asked by CBS's "Face the Nation" host if he supports returning to D.C. for a vote, Sen. Tim Scott (D-S.C.) said he'd "be happy to go back."
"I'd leave tonight. I'll go tomorrow, it doesn't matter to me. This is such an important issue," Scott said.
.@SenatorTimScott on whether he’d return to Washington if a special session is called to take up gun legislation: “I’d leave tonight. I’ll go tomorrow. It doesn’t matter to me.” pic.twitter.com/R8ZYMILfnF
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) August 4, 2019
Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown also said McConnell should call for Senate to come back into session to pass the universal background check bill.
Rep. Harley Rouda (D-Calif.) tweeted it is "time for a special session of congress to make this mass shooting the last."
"I’m heartbroken and disgusted. Thoughts and prayers from NRA apologists in Congress are insulting to victims. Their silence is deafening— It makes them permissive, even complicit in this epidemic," he tweeted.
I’m heartbroken and disgusted.
Thoughts and prayers from NRA apologists in Congress are insulting to victims. Their silence is deafening— It makes them permissive, even complicit in this epidemic.
It’s time for a special session of Congress to make this mass shooting the last.
— Harley Rouda (@HarleyRouda) August 4, 2019
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did not explicitly call for a special session, but she tweeted that McConnell should "explain to the people why" he hasn't called for a vote on the bill the House passed in February.
The House passed the bill with overwhelming Democratic support, and some support from Republicans.
A spokesperson for McConnell did not immediately return a request for comment.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/456107-democrats-call-for-special-session-on-gun-reform-after-two-deadly-mass
It's more to make Republicans look bad:
D's: Look, we're ready to come back and pass legislation that will end all this gun violence but the Repubs won't let us"