Feds Say That Banned Researcher Commandeered a United Airlines Jet

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Photo Credit: Wired A security researcher kicked off a United Airlines flight last month after tweeting about security vulnerabilities in its system had previously taken control of an airplane and caused it to briefly fly sideways, according to an application for a search warrant filed by an FBI agent.

Chris Roberts, a security researcher with One World Labs, told the FBI agent during an interview in February that he had hacked the in-flight entertainment system, or IFE, on an airplane and overwrote code on the plane’s Thrust Management Computer while aboard the flight. He was able to issue a climb command and make the plane briefly change course, the document states.

“He stated that he thereby caused one of the airplane engines to climb resulting in a lateral or sideways movement of the plane during one of these flights,” FBI Special Agent Mark Hurley wrote in his warrant application (.pdf). “He also stated that he used Vortex software after comprising/exploiting or ‘hacking’ the airplane’s networks. He used the software to monitor traffic from the cockpit system.”

Hurley filed the search warrant application last month after Roberts was removed from a United Airlines flight from Chicago to Syracuse, New York, because he published a facetious tweet suggesting he might hack into the plane’s network. Upon landing in Syracuse, two FBI agents and two local police officers escorted him from the plane and interrogated him for several hours. They also seized two laptop computers and several hard drives and USB sticks. Although the agents did not have a warrant when they seized the devices, they told Roberts a warrant was pending.

A media outlet in Canada obtained the application for the warrant today and published it online. (Read more from “Feds Say That Banned Researcher Commandeered a Plane” HERE)

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Clinton Foundation Donors Include Newsmax, Fox News Personalities, Many Other “Conservatives,” Media Groups

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Photo Credit: Politico By Josh Gerstein, Tarini Parti, Hadas Gold and Dylan Byers. NBC Universal, News Corporation, Turner Broadcasting and Thomson Reuters are among more than a dozen media organizations that have made charitable contributions to the Clinton Foundation in recent years, the foundation’s records show.

The donations, which range from the low-thousands to the millions, provide a picture of the media industry’s ties to the Clinton Foundation at a time when one of its most notable personalities, George Stephanopoulos, is under scrutiny for not disclosing his own $75,000 contribution when reporting on the foundation.

The list also includes mass media groups like Comcast, Time Warner and Viacom, as well a few notable individuals, including Carlos Slim, the Mexican telecom magnate and largest shareholder of The New York Times Company, and James Murdoch, the chief operating officer of 21st Century Fox. Both Slim and Murdoch have given between $1 million to $5 million, respectively. (Read more from “Clinton Foundation Donors Include Dozens of Media Organizations, Individuals” HERE)
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Listing of Some of the So-Called Conservatives, Groups that Donated to the Clinton Foundation

By ERIC HANANOKI

• Newsmax Media, Inc. The media company, which has billed itself as operating the “#1 Conservative Site in the Nation,” has made donations to the Clinton Foundation of between $100,001 to $250,000 and between $1,000,001 to $5,000,000.
• Donald J. Trump. Trump, a perennial-potential Republican presidential candidate, donated between $100,001 to $250,000 to the foundation.
• Richard M. Scaife. The late Scaife, who published the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, was described as “one of America’s leading funders of conservative causes.” He donated between $250,001 to $500,000 to the foundation.
• News Corporation Foundation. The foundation for News Corp., which is headed by Rupert Murdoch and was formerly the parent company of Fox News, donated between $500,001 to $1,000,000 to the foundation.
• James R. Murdoch. Murdoch, the co-chief operating officer of Fox News parent company 21st Century Fox and son of Rupert Murdoch, donated between $1,000,001 to $5,000,000.

High-Profile Republicans Have Supported The Clinton Foundation’s Efforts

Many Republican Party-affiliated individuals have attended and supported Clinton Foundation-affiliated events, including the annual Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) meetings. They include former first lady Laura Bush, Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch, former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, Sen. John McCain, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina, Republican billionaire T. Boone Pickens, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Bush Treasury secretary Hank Paulson, and former first daughter Barbara Bush. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Closest Adviser to Hillary Clinton is a “Brazenly Dishonest Cover-up Specialist”

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Photo Credit: NY Post If Congress really wants to get to the bottom of Hillary Clinton’s missing Benghazi and pay-to-play emails, it should call her consigliere Cheryl D. Mills to testify — under oath, and under the klieg lights.

. . . Mills, who served as the former secretary of state’s chief of staff and counselor, knows where the bodies are buried. After all, Hillary tasked her with “identifying and preserving all emails that could potentially be federal records.”

. . . Since the 1990s, Mills has been at Hillary’s side — first as a White House lawyer, then as her closest and most loyal adviser at the State Department, and now as a key member of the Clinton Foundation board, which is under fire for raking in hundreds of millions of dollars from dubious foreign sources in alleged influence-peddling deals.

The job of damage control has fallen to Mills through a parade of scandals. Her lack of cooperation is legendary. In fact, she’s been officially accused of both perjury and obstruction of justice.

Sworn affidavits, depositions and court rulings, as well as congressional reports and testimony, paint a picture of, to put it charitably, a brazenly dishonest cover-up specialist. (Read more from “Closest Adviser to Hillary Clinton is a Brazenly Dishonest Cover-up Specialist” HERE)

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Asian Groups File Lawsuit Against Harvard For Discriminatory Racial Quotas

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By FoxNews.com. An alliance of Asian American groups filed a federal complaint Friday against Harvard University, claiming that the school and other Ivy League institutions are using racial quotas to admit students other than high-scoring Asians.

More than 60 Chinese, Indian, Korean and Pakistani groups came together for the complaint, which was filed with the civil rights offices at the Justice and Education departments. The groups are calling for an investigation and say these schools need to stop using racial quotas or racial balancing in admission.

“We are seeking equal treatment regardless of race,” said Chunyan Li, a professor and civil rights activist, who said they’d rather universities use income rather than race in affirmative action policies. . .

The federal suits say that Harvard and UNC rely on race-based affirmative action policies that impact admissions of high-achieving white and Asian American students. The Harvard lawsuit also alleges that the institution specifically curbs the number of Asian Americans it admits each year.

Yukong Zhao, who organized the groups for Friday’s complaint, challenged Harvard to open its admission books to prove that Asians were not purposefully being put at a disadvantage. “We want to help this country move forward,” Zhao said. (Read more from the story about discriminatory racial quotas HERE)

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Asian Groups: Feds Should Step In and Change Harvard’s Admissions Process

By Camille Cava. A coalition of Asian-American organizations says the federal government should step in to change Harvard’s approach to admissions, accusing the university of racial discrimination.

In a complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education and the Justice Department on Friday, the coalition of more than 60 groups claims that the university unfairly holds Asian-American applicants to a higher standard. Asian-Americans have the lowest acceptance rates at Harvard University and other elite universities, the complaint alleges, despite having some of the highest test scores and overall academic achievement.

“People from all over the world came to America for equal opportunities. We are trying to bring those principles back to America,” said Yukong Zhao, a Chinese-American author who helped organize the coalition. “This isn’t just about discrimination and race. It is about justice for everyone, including (people of) all races, and social and economic statuses.” (Read more from this CNN article about discriminatory racial quotas HERE)

US Special Forces Conduct Successful Raid in Syria, Kill High-Value Target [+video]

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Photo Credit: Controversial Times According to a White House press release, United States Special Operations Forces (specifically Delta Force) have killed a senior ISIS official, Abu Sayyaf, during a covert operation inside of Syrian borders.

The team reportedly managed to capture the commander’s wife during the raid while Sayyaf himself was killed. The raid was carried out by United States forces at the authorization of President Obama. The team entered Syria via Blackhawk helicopters and Osprey aircraft. According to statements made by defense officials, US personnel were forced to engage in hand to hand combat after landing at a multi-story building where the raid took place.

According to the White House statement, at least 12 ISIS fighters were killed during the raid. American forces suffered no casualties.

Sayyaf is reportedly in charge of oil and gas operations for the terror group. The sale of oil and gas is one of the reasons ISIS has been able to amass such a large fortune so quickly. With top ISIS leadership in question, it was believed Sayyaf was becoming more and more involved with day to day operations and may have been in line to become one of the top officials in the organization.

(Read more from “BREAKING: US Special Forces Raid in Syria” HERE)

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WORTH REMINDING THEM: In 2013, the RNC Said Mark Levin Should Moderate a GOP Debate

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Given the recent debacle involving ABC News, George Stephanopoulos, and Politico — which highlights the incestuous and corrupt goverment-media axis — I thought it was worth revisiting the topic of GOP debate moderators.

Recall that Snufflapoulos moderated several GOP debates in 2012 with sickening results. In one instance, ABC’s “paid Democrat hitman” suddenly shifted the topic from job creation to “banning contraceptives”, which was the Ass Party’s bogus meme of the month.

In August of 2013, after significant criticism of its choice of moderators, the Republican leadership suddenly announced a willingness to embrace the conservative wing of the party.

Sean Spicer, the Communications Director of the Republican National Committee, made a surprising statement: he said that Mark Levin should moderate the GOP debates. Levin formally accepted the offer.

I was able to interview Spicer at the time and it’s worth revisiting his remarks.

Ross: Sean, a recent statement you made really caught conservatives by surprise — and in a positive way. You said you thought Mark Levin and perhaps other conservative thought leaders should moderate GOP debates. How serious was that statement and did the reaction catch you by surprise?

Spicer: That was a very serious statement. Obviously, we’re not at a point yet of picking debate forums or moderators, but we are definitely committed to energizing the conservative base. It’s common sense: anyone’s who listening to Rush, Levin, Hannity… they are addressing the issues that the grassroots are concerned with.

What I also find absolutely unbelievable is that in 2008 Chris Matthews, of all people, moderated two GOP debates. Yet why wouldn’t we insist on the converse situation?

Now is the time to remind the RNC that we will hold them accountable for their statements.

Mark Levin and Sean Hannity should each moderate a GOP debate.

And I guarantee the ratings would break records. I guarantee it. (See “WORTH REMINDING THEM: In 2013, the RNC Said Mark Levin Should Moderate a GOP Debate”, originally posted HERE)

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The Amtrak Crash: Why the FBI Lied and Why It Is No Freak Accident Lending the Possibility of a Terror Attack [+video]

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Photo Credit: Shoebat When the tragic Amtrak crash happened, initially, the media and the FBI reported that foul play or terrorism was ruled out. When this misinformation came out on the 13th of this month, Shoebat.com reported [that]:

. . .Two trains, separate incidents within three minutes from each other and both incidents caused damage on the engineer’s window (one confirmed due to a projectile) which now some photos surfaced of the Amtrak crash also showing signs of engineer’s window shatter. Whether this is another projectile or was caused by the crash is unknown, but what is known is that both incidents were either coordinated around the same time with damage to the engineer’s window. Were these simply due to accidents? One is not. But this new revelation begins to lessen the possibility that chance was involved and that foul play becomes a possibility. . .

Such concentrated shatter holes are not easily formed by flying debris. Train driver windows are 223 Type 1 standard windows which have “minimum requirements for glazing materials in order to protect railroad employees and railroad passengers from injury as a result of objects striking the windows of locomotives”.

The driver’s window are not the same as the side windows of passenger trains which must meet Type II standards. According to federal standards, the driver windows need to have glazing that will withstand a 40 grain .22 caliber bullet travelling at 960 feet per second, or a 24 lb cinderblock travelling at 44 feet per second. . .

Karl Edler, a retired engineer who drove the line hundreds of times, said an impact could help explain the wreck. When a train pulls out of the North Philadelphia station, the engineer usually twists the throttle “up to notch eight, which is engineer-speak for wide open,” he said. . .

“Usually, you just leave the throttle open until you get up to 80 miles per hour, then put on the brake for the curve,” he said. “Seems reasonable that something happened right about that time he would have started slowing down that kept him from taking the throttle off. He was startled by the impact or whatever. And by the time he realized it, it was too late.” (Please read more from “The Amtrak Crash: Why the FBI Lied and Why It Is No Freak Accident Lending the Possibility of a Terror Attack” HERE)

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Ted Cruz Becoming a Hit Among Wall Street Donors

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Presidential candidate Ted Cruz, a Tea Party favorite and leading figure in the 2013 government shutdown that rattled investors, isn’t the kind of politician who usually wins a lot of friends among Wall Street campaign donors.

The freshman Republican senator from Texas has none of the moderate tendencies that financiers often prefer in presidential candidates. Cruz relishes his image as an anti-establishment figure and boasts of his aversion to compromise. He has vowed to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and repeal President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare plan, commonly known as Obamacare.

Despite the uncompromising rhetoric, Cruz is winning praise from some potential Wall Street donors, including bankers and hedge fund managers, who told Reuters there is more to him than the conservative firebrand of the campaign trail. He has been courting financiers in their homes in New York and Greenwich, Connecticut, they said.

But the praise does not appear to be translating into cash donations – at least so far. Some potential donors on Wall Street said they had doubts about whether Cruz can win the 2016 election, when he would likely face off against Hillary Clinton.

A spokesman for Cruz said his campaign was happy with its initial fundraising effort and believed that the senator appealed to a wide range of people. (Read more from “Ted Cruz Becoming a Hit Among Wall Street Donors” HERE)

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Waco Police: Several Killed in Biker Gangs’ Shootout [+video]

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Police said at least nine people were dead and others wounded after a fight between rival motorcycle gangs at a Texas restaurant turned into a shootout Sunday afternoon.

Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton told CBS affiliate KWTX the gunfire began shortly after noon Sunday at the Twin Peaks restaurant, located in the Central Texas Market Place on Interstate 35.

KWTX reported eight bikers were killed at the restaurant and one other person died at a hospital. At least 18 people were hurt, according to Swanton, none of them police or bystanders.

Police initially said three gangs were involved, but later said factions from at least five gangs took part in the melee.

Swanton said the fight quickly escalated from fists and feet to chains, clubs and knives before the shooting began. He described it as “one of the most violent scenes I’ve seen in my 34 years as a police officer in Waco.” (Read more from “Waco Police: Several Killed in Biker Gangs’ Shootout” HERE)

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Creepy Ads Use Litterbugs’ DNA to Shame Them Publicly

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Photo Credit: Wired Next time you’re about to toss a cigarette butt on the ground, consider this freaky fact: It takes less than a nanogram (or less than one billionth of the mass of a penny) of your dried saliva for scientists to construct a digital portrait that bears an uncanny resemblance to your very own face. For proof look to Hong Kong, where a recent ad campaign takes advantage of phenotyping, the prediction of physical appearance based on bits of DNA, to publicly shame people who have littered.

If you walk around the city, you’ll notice portraits of people who look both scarily realistic and yet totally fake. These techno-futuristic most-wanted signs are the work of ad agency Ogilvy for nonprofit Hong Kong Cleanup, which is attempting to curb Hong Kong’s trash problem with the threat of high-tech scarlet lettering. It’s an awful lot like the Stranger Visions project from artist Heather Dewey-Hagborg, who used a similar technique a couple years back to construct sculptural faces as a way to provoke conversation around what we should be using these biological tools for.

In the case of Hong Kong’s Face Of Litter campaign, the creative team teamed up with Parabon Nanolabs, a company out of Virginia that has developed a method to construct digital portraits from small traces of DNA. Parabon began developing this technology more than five years ago in tandem with the Department of Defense, mostly to use as a tool in criminal investigations.

Parabon’s technique draws on the growing wealth of information we have about the human genome. By analyzing saliva or blood, the company is able to make an educated prediction of what you might look like. Most forensic work uses DNA to create a fingerprint, or a series of data points that will give a two-dimensional look at an individual that can be matched to pre-existing DNA samples. “We’re interested in using DNA as a blueprint,” explains Steven Armentrout, founder of Parabon. “We read the genetic code.” (Read more from “Creepy Ads Use Litterbugs’ DNA to Shame Them Publicly” HERE)

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