FBI Wants Tech To Track Social Media For Criminals And Terrorists Before They Act

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

Trump Pardons Israeli Drug Smuggler Judge Said 'Showed No Remorse Or Concern For His Victims'

From The Jerusalem Post:

US President Donald Trump pardoned Israeli-born Ronen Nahmani on Monday, who had served four years of a 20-year sentence for conspiracy to distribute synthetic drugs he bought from suppliers in China.

[…] "Today, President Donald J. Trump commuted the prison sentence of Ronen Nahmani, an action strongly supported by many notable leaders from across the political spectrum, like representatives Hakeem Jeffries and Mark Meadows," according to a White House statement.

"Mr. Nahmani is a non-violent, first-time offender with no criminal history. He has five young children at home and his wife is suffering from terminal cancer. These extenuating circumstances underscore the urgency of his request for clemency."

Nahmani's prosecutors argued that he should be sentenced to at least 10 years in prison, but the judge then dismissed the statement, saying the defendant showed no remorse or concern for his victims who used the synthetic drug.

You'll never guess who pushed for Nahmani's release!

Fighting for Nahmani's sentence to be shortened were first-rate lawyers, including Alan Dershowitz and Gary Apple, who previously represented American Chabad member Sholom Rubashkin, who was also released from prison following Trump's intervention. The president dismissed Rubashkin's sentence in December 2017 and he was subsequently released from prison.

Sholom Rubashkin, a money laundering fraudster who ran a horrific Kosher meatpacking operation in Iowa employing hundreds of illegal aliens, was Trump's second pardon after Joe Arpaio.

https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=60565

U.S. Air Force and Raytheon Join Navy and Lockheed Martin by Introducing Directed Energy Weapons

After many years of speculation as to weather the use of Directed Energy Weapons in war would be unleashed upon the world, we now have our answer.

Nearly 4 years ago, I wrote an article entitled, “Lasers and Electronic Warfare To Be Used in New World of Drones and Anti-Drones,” wherein I detailed the trend of shifting the spectrum toward the use of these new weapons. Now, over just the last few weeks we have seen multiple announcements from the military that they are, in fact, rolling out these programs.

The U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin were the first to announce a system called HELIOS (High-Energy Laser and Integrated Optical-Dazzler with Surveillance).

Fox News reported:

If swarms of enemy small attack boats armed with guns and explosives approached a Navy ship, alongside missile-armed drones and helicopters closing into strike range, ship commanders would instantly begin weighing defensive options – to include interceptor missiles, electronic warfare, deck-mounted guns or area weapons such as Close-in-Weapons System.

Now, attacks such as these will also be countered with laser weapons being added to the equation, bringing new dimensions to maritime warfare on the open sea.

By 2021, U.S. Navy destroyers will be armed with new ship-fired lasers able to sense and incinerate enemy drones, low-flying aircraft and small boat attacks — all while firing at the speed of light.

As you can see, much of the focus is centered around countering drone attacks. The new announcement from the U.S. Air Force also focuses primarily on this threat, both from the cheap and readily available quadcopter drones that can be modified, to much more advanced A.I. drone swarms. Their new contract has awarded $23 million to another mega defense contractor, Raytheon, according to MSN:

The 10-kilowatt lasers are to be mounted on small ground-based vehicles and aimed using an interface similar to a video game controller. The prototype laser weapons were built by Raytheon and incorporate a range of components from the commercial technology industry, including high-performance lithium-ion batteries, the same type used in electric vehicles.

Because laser weapons could fire constantly without wasting ammunition, military technology experts have theorized they could one day be useful in combating the small, remotely operated quadcopter drones that ISIS has used. They are also expected to be an effective counter against swarming attack drones, a concept that a handful of countries are exploring.

“The fact that it’s a laser weapon allows you to put energy in target at the speed of light. It can be an instantaneous heating event,” said Michael Jirjis, who leads the Air Force’s directed energy experimentation projects.

As nation after nation becomes wired for war and neutralizes then surpasses each other, new methods must be developed to maintain military supremacy. This is the nature of military conflict and one of the prime reasons why the world seems to have new security threats each and every day. It becomes one endless problem-reaction-solution loop that only serves to benefit those who are invested in each of the three components.

https://www.activistpost.com/2019/08/u-s-air-force-and-raytheon-join-navy-and-lockheed-martin-by-introducing-directed-energy-weapons.html

Resounding collapse of US-Israel organisation

Due to difficulties collecting donations that led to its bankruptcy, The Israel Project (TIP) on Wednesday closed its office in Israel, Haaretz reported yesterday .

The US NGO has faced a severe budget crisis and, according to the Israeli daily, is on its way to being completely shut down.

Haaretz said that the TIP’s office in Israel was cleared and all staff laid off, reiterating that the Jewish organisation will vanish very soon.

“They just have no money left, absolutely nothing,” one person who has worked closely with TIP over the years was reported as saying by Haaretz. This person also stated that work at TIP’s US office “has also come to a halt”, but TIP’s officials are now debating how to end operations.

Speaking to Haaretz, Lior Weintraub, TIP’s vice president and head of its Israel office, said: “TIP became the first casualty of the polarization in the pro-Israel community in America.”

After speaking with former employees and staff, Haaretz said that they described how the organisation – which for years was considered a leading enterprise in the field of Israel advocacy – went from being “the future of the pro-Israel community” to being on the verge of collapse.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190803-resounding-collapse-of-us-israel-organisation/