Surveillance Video of Criminals Now ‘Racist’

California’s Bay Area Rapid Transit officials are refusing to release surveillance video of assaults aboard its trains, saying to do so would “create a racial bias” and accusing the media of exploiting the images for ratings.

BART announced last week it would also no longer issue press releases about crimes on the transit system, instead submitting incidents to the website CrimeMapping.com.

“Disproportionate elevation of crimes on transit interfaces with local media in such a way to unfairly affect and characterize riders of color, leading to sweeping generalizations in media reports and a high level of racially insensitive commentary directed toward the District through our social-media channels, email and call centers,” assistant general manager Kerry Hamill said.

Recent incidents of onboard violence have attracted media attention, with reports of passengers’ phones and other property being taken and some passengers being beaten. Most incidents have been linked to the Coliseum station in Oakland.

A woman had her phone snatched June 30 in a swarming attack by “about a dozen teenagers,” who got off the train at the Coliseum stop. Two days before, four teens took a cellphone from a passenger they attacked at the Dublin station. On April 22, 40-60 teens boarded the train at the Coliseum station and robbed seven passengers and beat up two. (Read more from “Surveillance Video of Criminals Now ‘Racist'” HERE)

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China’s Intelligence Networks in United States Include 25,000 Spies

Beijing’s spy networks in the United States include up to 25,000 Chinese intelligence officers and more than 15,000 recruited agents who have stepped up offensive spying activities since 2012, according to a Chinese dissident with close ties to Beijing’s military and intelligence establishment.

Guo Wengui, a billionaire businessman who broke with the regime several months ago, said in an interview that he has close ties to the Ministry of State Security (MSS), the civilian intelligence service, and the military spy service of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

“I know the Chinese spy system very, very well,” Guo said, speaking through an interpreter, in his first American interview. “I have information about very minute details about how it operates.”

Guo said he learned about Chinese spy activities from Ma Jian, a former MSS vice minister, and Ji Shengde, former PLA military intelligence chief.

Ma was director of MSS’s No. 8 Bureau, in charge of counterintelligence against foreign targets—including diplomats, businessmen, and reporters—until he was swept up in a Beijing power struggle in December 2015. He was expelled from the Communist Party and imprisoned in January. (Read more from “China’s Intelligence Networks in United States Include 25,000 Spies” HERE)

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Trump Says Senate Democrats Have Confirmed Only 48 of His 197 Nominees

President Donald Trump’s first tweets on Tuesday dealt with Democrat obstructionism, the need for Republicans to repeal and replace Obamacare, and his effort to bring the Olympics to Los Angeles.

“The Senate Democrats have only confirmed 48 of 197 Presidential Nominees. They can’t win so all they do is slow things down & obstruct!” he wrote at 7 a.m.

On that same subject, President Donald Trump retweeted an item from “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday morning. The retweet quoted Mark Short, the White House director of legislative affairs, as blaming Sen. Chuck Schumer for “running an unprecedented campaign of obstruction aginst the President’s nominees for high-ranking posistions in government.”

At Monday’s off-camera White House news briefing, Short noted:

It’s July 10th, and we do not have deputy secretaries at the Small Business Administration, the Department of Interior, the Department of Energy, HUD, HHS, OMB, and the Department of Defense. Senate committees have cleared 32 of our nominees who are still waiting for a floor vote.

(Read more from “Trump Says Senate Democrats Have Confirmed Only 48 of His 197 Nominees” HERE)

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Multiple Human Remains Found on Pennsylvania Farm in Search for Missing Men

Authorities in Pennsylvania said early Thursday they have found multiple sets of human remains in search for four missing men and were able to identify one of the victims.

Dean Finocchiaro, 19, was identified as one of the men recovered in a 12-feet-deep common grave on a sprawling farm in Solebury Township, which is 30 miles north of Philadelphia, authorities said . . .

Finocchario, Mark Sturgis, 22, Tom Meo, 21, and Jimi Tar Patrick, 19, were all last seen seven days ago. Patrick’s family members said Sturgis and Meo worked together and Finocchiaro was a mutual friend.

Authorities on Wednesday arrested the son of the property’s owners– 20-year-old Cosmo DiNardo– on charges that he tried to sell Meo’s car for $500 on July 9, a day after he was last seen. The 1996 Nissan Maxima was found on the DiNardo’s farmland.

It is unclear how the four men knew DiNardo, if at all. DiNardo was originally released Tuesday evening to his parents’ home in Bensalem while FBI agents sifted through mounds of dirt from a deep pit they dug on the farm about 20 miles away. Police cadets combed the vast cornfields nearby. (Read more from “Multiple Human Remains Found on Pennsylvania Farm in Search for Missing Men” HERE)

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CIA Director Pompeo Admits Convincing Trump Over ‘Disproven’ Chem Weapons Attack in Syria

Ever since the tragic launch of 59 Tomahawk missiles into Syria by the United States took place in April, the entire incident has been represented as a one-man show by the corporate and even by the alternative media. The corporate press, which virtually never gives Trump a break on any issue real or imagined, was strangely approving of The Donald after his war crime while his detractors in the alternative media were presenting the act as that of a madman who is frighteningly close to the red button.

On June 25, veteran journalist Seymour Hersh released a bombshell article revealing a number of facets regarding the alleged chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun, Syria and the resulting volley of Tomahawk missiles fired by the United States at the al-Sha’aryat airbase in response. Hersh’s article provides the reader with what many of us already knew and wrote about at the time; i.e. that the Syrian military did not conduct a chemical weapons attack and that the United States was fully aware of that fact. Still, the U.S. government opted to use the attack as a justification for launching 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airbase that resulted in the deaths of Syrian soldiers, civilians, and children from the nearby village.

Hersh’s article shows that not all key personnel were on board with the decision to launch Tomahawk missiles at al-Sha’aryat or even of the whole Syria/Iraq mission. The article reveals real concerns amongst knowledgeable personnel that the Russians will not continue to act as the cooler heads and that Russia has long wanted peace in the region. Most notably, it reveals the fact that there is a “secret agenda” moving forward in regards to Syria, Iraq, and Russia. Hersh’s article also points to the President as the individual who made the decision to launch attacks in Syria, against the advice of the military and intelligence community. In fact, Hersh’s article makes the entire incident appear as if it were the Trump show from beginning to end.

While Hersh’s article provides valuable information, it is becoming more and more evident that what Hersh came across was either an intentional leak or, perhaps even more accurate, only part of the story.

I wrote at the time that what is most likely here is not the situation that Hersh presents. It is more likely that the U.S. military and intelligence apparatus colluded with their corporate media department and capitalized on this incident and Trump’s narcissism and perceived political necessity. It is more likely that “advisors” like Trump’s rabid Zionist son-in-law who has been given frightening levels of access to the President and the government in an official capacity as Trump’s senior advisor, simply told the President that launching missiles was what he was expected to do by the Deep State and Trump complied. Trump could also have been told by advisors that the story was already out and the narrative already accepted and therefore he had to do something to appease the pro-war leftists, Democrats, and Republicans.

In this regard, Hersh’s article is possibly a limited hangout operation, not on the part of Hersh, but on the part of the intelligence community who wish to do more damage to the President’s public support and his ability to act independently of the “deep state.” It is their ability to announce the tragic massive fraud of Khan Sheikhoun while looking like the level heads and the good guys of the situation. Trump, of course, comes off looking like the lone assassin, the lone madman so eaten up with narcissism that he is putting the country at risk. But while Trump is undeniably a narcissist and he is undeniably putting the country at risk, it is the fact that he is listening to and obeying the deep state apparatus that is the danger, not that he is ignoring them.

While most of the above is informed speculation, it is also put into proper historical context, not only in the Trump administration but also in the history of other administrations over the past several decades, most notably that of Kennedy and Nixon, neither of which point to a promising end for Trump.

Backing up my own suspicions is the current Director of the CIA, Mike Pompeo. In a recent speech to the INSA Leadership Dinner on July 11, Pompeo was giving a typical dinner speech about the harrowing world of the intelligence community, how tough it is to have his position, the importance of it, etc. During the course of the speech, however, Pompeo let a very interesting tidbit slip. Pompeo said:

I got a call from the President one afternoon back in April. He wanted to talk about some disturbing images that were coming in from Syria. I’m sure you saw many of them yourselves—scenes of innocent civilians writhing in agony, the apparent victims of a chemical weapons attack.

The President had a very direct message for me: Find out what happened. So we immediately assembled a crack team of Agency experts. They began piecing together the evidence, working closely with some outstanding partners from across the Intelligence Community.

The next day the President called his cabinet together. As we sat down, he turned to me and asked what we had learned. I told him that the IC had concluded that a chemical weapon had indeed been used in the attack, and that it had been launched by the Syrian regime.

The President paused a moment and said: Pompeo, are you sure? I’ll admit that the question took my breath away. But I knew how solid the evidence was, and I was able to look him in the eye and say, Mr. President, we have high confidence in our assessment.

The President never looked back. Based on the Intelligence Community’s judgment, he made one of the most consequential decisions of his young administration, launching a strike against the very airfield where the attack originated.

So I can assure you that when it comes to having the confidence of the Commander in Chief, CIA and the Intelligence Community are in great shape.

In other words, Pompeo is directly contradicting Hersh’s sources, saying it was not Trump who led the show but the intelligence community. Of course, Trump, being President is ultimately responsible for making the wrong decision but notice that, according to Pompeo himself, Trump demanded answers as to whom committed the attack. It was the intelligence community that came back to the President with assurances Assad was responsible.

Obviously, given all of the evidence surrounding Khan Sheikhoun, the idea that Assad committed a chemical weapons attack is ludicrous. It simply did not happen. The United States has no evidence that the incident was what it claims and all of the evidence produced by the Syrians, Russians, and independent researchers points to the contrary, even toward the fact that the entire incident may have been planned to set up the Syrian government so as to provide justification for an attack on Syria by the United States.

So what Pompeo is admitting to is, at best, providing the President with faulty intelligence. However, we know from the Hersh leaks that the intelligence community was already well aware of the fact that the Syrian government did not commit a chemical weapons attack. With that in mind, it appears that Pompeo has admitted to lying to Trump regarding the guilty party in Khan Sheikhoun and the existence of chemical weapons. At the very least, he managed to create a paper trail that leads right to the door of the CIA.

Is anyone surprised? (For more from the author of “CIA Director Pompeo Admits Convincing Trump Over Disproven Chem Weapons Attack in Syria” please click HERE)

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Another NYT Anonymous ‘Bombshell’

ANOTHER ANONYMOUS BOMBSHELL …

NYT “email” bombshell … If you’ve turned on cable news this morning, you are probably hearing about a “bombshell” email report from the New York Times. That’s when I went to the Times website to read the email for myself. Except they don’t have it. What they have is “three people,” who are never named, telling the Times about the email. Color me skeptical.

What they leave out … The Russian lawyer in question had a relationship with the DC firm that hired someone to prepare the infamous unconfirmed dossier on Trump, at the behest of Democrats. The Independent, a left-leaning online newspaper in the UK, reported on the connection regarding Fusion GPS. For the record, the Independent is now owned by a Russian oligarch, which is not disclosed in their reporting.

Stelter is giddy (again) … CNN’s media critic is again acting more like a lapdog than a watchdog regarding his media brethren. In his daily email, he touted the NYT “bombshell” and how Fox didn’t cover the “reporting.” There was no mention by Stelter of the anonymous sourcing the story was based upon.

Levin explains the real bombshell … CR Editor-in-Chief Mark Levin explained on his radio program last night that the real story the media should be reporting is that James Comey brought classified material home. Take a listen. (For more from the author of “Another NYT Anonymous ‘Bombshell'” please click HERE)

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State Passes GOP Senator’s Bill Allowing Gun Seizure Order Without Gun Owner’s Knowledge

Oregon lawmakers passed legislation co-sponsored by Sen. Brian Boquist (R-Dallas) that allows a judge to issue an ex parte ruling for the confiscation of an individual’s firearms.

The bill is SB 719, and it has now passed Oregon’s House and Senate. It creates an Extreme Risk Protection Order, which forces the subject of the order to hand over all firearms, as well as his concealed carry permit if he possesses one.

NRA-ILA reports:

Based on a California law enacted in 2014, SB 719A would create a so-called “Extreme Risk Protection Order” (ERPO) that could be obtained by a law enforcement officer, family member, or household member in an ex parte hearing to deprive someone of their Second Amendment rights without due process of the law.

The ex parte aspect of the law means the bill does not require the gun owner to be present for part of the hearing in which the judge decides whether guns should be taken from him. (Read more from “State Passes GOP Senator’s Bill Allowing Gun Seizure Order Without Gun Owner’s Knowledge” HERE)

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Voice-Activated Smart Home Technology Used to Make Arrest in Assault Case

A new type of court case is slowly but demonstrably taking shape within the American legal system: alleged crimes being detected from data supplied by smart home devices.

In December of last year an Arkansas murder case made headlines not so much for the death itself, but how a suspect was brought into custody. James Bates hosted a party at his Bentonville home on the night of November 21st, 2015. At some point during the event a man drowned in a hot tub on the property. Bates claimed to have found the victim the next morning when he awoke, stating that it was a tragic accident, but Arkansas police obtained smart water meter readings that showed an anomaly between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. Based solely on this data – and obtained without a warrant – Bates was arrested and charged with 1st degree murder.

Somewhat ironically, James Bates subsequently requested recordings from his Amazon Echo to defend himself against these charges. So far Amazon appears to be fighting this request. At stake could be the very nature of the 1st, 4th and 5th Amendments to the Constitution in addition to the freedom or incarceration of James Bates.

Meanwhile, another case has presented itself in New Mexico where a voice-activated smart device called law enforcement during an alleged altercation. As reported by ABC News:

Eduardo Barros was house-sitting with his girlfriend and her daughter Sunday night at a residence in Tijeras, some 15 miles east of Albuquerque. The couple got into an argument and the altercation became physical, according to the Bernalillo County Sheriff Department’s spokesperson, Deputy Felicia Romero.

Barros allegedly wielded a firearm and threatened to kill his girlfriend, asking her: “Did you call the sheriffs?” A smart speaker, which was hooked up to a surround sound system inside the home, recognized that as a voice command and called 911, Romero said.

(Emphasis added)

After an hours-long standoff, the suspect was taken into custody and charged. In this case, law enforcement is touting smart technology as having “saved a life.” And apparently the presiding judge is accepting the evidence regardless of how it was obtained, saying that there was indeed probable cause for the arrest – no warrant needed.

Vin Armani and Aaron Dykes cover this emerging privacy crisis in the following two videos and how the American legal system might adjust to a modern life filled with pervasive surveillance devices.

(For more from the author of “Voice-Activated Smart Home Technology Used to Make Arrest in Assault Case” please click HERE)

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Drain the Scandal Swamp: Fox News’ Eric Bolling Spills Secrets on D.C.

Fox News host Eric Bolling says corruption in Washington has been around since D.C. became the nation’s capital but it’s getting worse, is a plague on both parties and President Trump is in a unique position to uproot the system.

That’s the focus of Bolling’s latest book, “The Swamp: Washington’s Murky Pool of Corruption and Cronyism and How Trump Can Drain It.”

Bolling, an unabashed Trump supporter, told WND and Radio America politicians have been corrupted by all sorts of vices since America’s founding, but he said the infusion of big-time lobbying money really changes the game into what Americans witness today.

“As more and more money got introduced, the type of scandal changed, and they all became money scandals,” Bolling explained. “Literally hundreds of billions of dollars come to D.C. on an annual basis to find a home in lawmakers’ pockets for votes. Everyone became corrupt. Everyone became up for sale.”

He said many lawmakers come to Washington with the best of intentions, but the system quickly swallows them up. (Read more from “Drain the Scandal Swamp: Fox News’ Eric Bolling Spills Secrets on D.C.” HERE)

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‘Refugee’ Infectious Diseases Sparking Alarm

Minnesota pays out millions every year in welfare for refugees, but there are secondary costs that never get tabulated.

In fiscal 2017, which ended last last week, the state spent $1.5 million to combat three infectious disease outbreaks — including the largest measles outbreak in three decades, which was concentrated in the Somali refugee community. And health officials notified legislative leaders this week that they want to tap a special public-health fund to offset additional costs.

Dr. Ed Ehlinger, Minnesota Health commissioner, told the Star-Tribune his department will need another $600,000 for fiscal 2018 to help control the spread of measles, drug-resistant tuberculosis and syphilis.

The state has had 78 confirmed cases of measles this year, in an outbreak that began in March. Of those 78 cases, 64 have been in the Somali refugee community. The outbreak is now showing signs of being under control, with no new cases reported this month. But the costs continue to pile up.

Health Department officials want $100,445 to continue prevention work. About half the money would go toward hiring a “temporary employee” to conduct outreach to the Somali community, including efforts to increase measles vaccination rates, the Star-Tribune reported. (Read more from the author of “‘Refugee’ Infectious Diseases Sparking Alarm” HERE)

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