U.S. Tech Program Fueling Iran Protests
January 21st, 2020Via: ZeroHedge:
After major protests hit multiple cities across Iran in November following a drastic government slash in gasoline subsidies which quickly turned anti-regime, broad internet outages were reported — some lasting as long as a week or more nationwide — following Tehran authorities ordering the blockage of external access.
And during smaller January protests over downed Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, more widespread internet outages were reported recently, likely as Iranian security services fear protest “crackdown” videos would fuel outrage in western media, and after months ago Mike Pompeo expressly urged Iranians in the streets to send the State Department damning videos that would implicate Tehran’s leaders and police.
But now Washington appears to have initiated the “Syria option” inside Iran: covertly fueling and driving “popular protests” to eventually create conditions for large-scale confrontation on the ground geared toward regime change.
Financial Times reports Washington’s ‘covert’ efforts are now increasing, and are more out in the open:
US government-funded technology companies have recorded an increase in the use of circumvention software in Iran in recent weeks after boosting efforts to help Iranian anti-regime protesters thwart internet censorship and use secure mobile messaging.
The outreach is part of a US government program dedicated to internet freedom that supports dissident pressure inside Iran and complements America’s policy of “maximum pressure” over the regime. A US state department official told the Financial Times that since protests in Iran in 2018 — at the time the largest in almost a decade — Washington had accelerated efforts to provide Iranians more options on how they communicate with each other and the outside world.
Google Critic Suggests His Wife’s Fatal Car Crash Was Not an Accident
January 21st, 2020Via: Daily Mail:
A high profile critic of Google, who accused the search engine of meddling in the 2016 election, has now suggested his wife’s fatal car crash was not an accident.
Robert Epstein, 66, said in July the internet giant’s methods ‘gave’ millions of votes to Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election.
In December he announced that his wife, Misti Dawn Vaughn, 29, died after her truck spun out of control along a road in California and into the path of a tractor-trailer.
On Sunday he tweeted: ‘Last year, after I briefed a group of state AGs about #Google’s power to rig elections, one of them said, “I think you’re going to die in an accident in a few months.” A few months later, my beautiful wife #Misti died a violent death. Makes you wonder.’
Epstein had earlier tweeted on January 4: ‘BTW, although losing Misti is devastating for me – there will never be another Misti in my life, after all – I AM STILL NOT SUICIDAL. Hear that, #Google? Hear that, #Hillary?’
He had earlier dismissed the idea that ‘#Google or #Hillary had anything to do with Misti’s death’, but seems to have changed his mind in recent days.
Epstein, a psychology professor at the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology, concluded that Google’s search methods ‘gave’ millions of votes to Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election.
As Virus Spreads to More Chinese Cities, WHO Calls Emergency Meeting
January 21st, 2020Here we go again.
Via: Reuters:
The death toll from a mysterious flu-like virus in China climbed to six on Tuesday as new cases surged beyond 300 and authorities fretted about the added risk from millions of Chinese traveling for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Round the world, airports tightened screening of travelers from China as officials confirmed the coronavirus strain is contagious between humans.
The World Health Organization (WHO) called a meeting for Wednesday to consider declaring a global health emergency.
The outbreak, which began in the central city of Wuhan, also sent shivers through financial markets as investors recalled the fallout from China’s Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2002/2003 that it initially covered up.
China to Reduce Consumption of Single Use Plastic
January 20th, 2020Via: Bloomberg:
China will curtail its consumption of single-use plastic in an effort to tackle a soaring amount of the discarded material that has quickly become one of the world’s most pressing environmental crises.
Non-degradable plastic bags will be banned in places such as supermarkets and shopping malls in major cities, as well as for the country’s ubiquitous food delivery services by the end of this year, according to a plan released by the National Development and Reform Commission on Sunday.
SAFIRE Project 2019 Update
January 19th, 2020Thanks to NH for posting this in The Case Against Reality – Prof. Donald Hoffman on Conscious Agent Theory and to Dennis for mentioning it to me.
Via: SAFIRE Project:
More: 2015: Michael Clarage: SAFIRE and the Electric Sun Model
Key Volkswagen Exec Admits Full Self-Driving Cars ‘May Never Happen’
January 19th, 2020Via: The Drive:
After years of sunny optimism and big promises, automakers are beginning to realize just how difficult it is to make a market-ready, full self-driving car. The CEO of Volkswagen’s autonomous driving division recently admitted that Level 5 autonomy—that’s full computer control of the vehicle with zero limitations—might actually never happen.
Related: Automakers Are Rethinking the Timetable for Fully Autonomous Cars
Amazon Wants Shoppers to Pay With a Wave of the Hand
January 18th, 2020Via: Bloomberg:
Amazon.com Inc. is planning to create terminals which would allow customers to make payments in-store with a wave of the hand, Dow Jones reports citing people familiar with the matter.
The company plans to pitch the terminals to coffee shops, fast-food restaurants and other merchants and has recently began working with Visa Inc., according to the report. Amazon is also in discussions with Mastercard Inc., and several card issuers have expressed interest in the project, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co.
Georgia Election Server Showed Signs of Tampering, Expert Says
January 17th, 2020Via: AP:
A computer security expert says he found that a forensic image of the election server central to a legal battle over the integrity of Georgia elections showed signs that the original server was hacked.
The server was left exposed to the open internet for at least six months, a problem the same expert discovered in August 2016. It was subsequently wiped clean in mid-2017 with no notice, just days after election integrity activists filed a lawsuit seeking an overhaul of what they called the state’s unreliable and negligently run election system.
The Display of the Future Might Be in Your Contact Lens
January 16th, 2020
Via: Wired:
Mojo Vision’s prototypes can enhance your vision or show you your schedule—right from the surface of your eyes.
A glance to the left. A flick to the right. As my eyes flitted around the room, I moved through a virtual interface only visible to me—scrolling through a calendar, looking up commute times home, and even controlling music playback. It’s all I theoretically need to do to use Mojo Lens, a smart contact lens coming from a company called Mojo Vision.
The California-based company, which has been quiet about what it’s been working on for five years, has finally shared its plan for the world’s “first true smart contact lens.” But let’s be clear: This is not a product you’ll see on store shelves next autumn. It’s in the research and development phase—a few years away from becoming a real product. In fact, the demos I tried did not even involve me plopping on a contact lens—they used virtual reality headsets and held up bulky prototypes to my eye, as though I was Sherlock Holmes with a magnifying glass.
Photos Show Bill Clinton, Ghislaine Maxwell on Epstein’s ‘Lolita Express’ Jet
January 16th, 2020In other news: Epstein Connection to CIA and DynCorp
Via: New York Post:
It was the president and the pedo.
Photos obtained by The Post on Thursday show former President Bill Clinton posing aboard Jeffrey Epstein’s private jet — dubbed the “Lolita Express” — with the sex fiend’s alleged procuress Ghislaine Maxwell and one of his rape accusers.
The slew of images reveal the former commander in chief’s 2002 trip to Africa with Epstein and a host of celebrities, including accused perv Kevin Spacey and comedian Chris Tucker.
In one photo, Clinton and Maxwell smile at the top of the plane’s stairs, with the ex-president resting his arms on the alleged madame’s shoulder.
Another image shows Clinton with his arm slung around Chauntae Davies, then 22, who has accused Epstein of raping her when she worked as his personal masseuse.
