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Read my contributions at RYOT for more stories that fly below the radar
IRS possessed Stingray cellphone surveillance gear, documents reveal
[The Guardian]
The Guardian reports that the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been confirmed as being one of 13 US Federal government agencies known to have purchased the cellphone dragnet equipment known as Stingray. The 'cell-site simulators' pretend to be cellphone towers in "order to strip metadata and in some cases even content from phones which connect to them." The information can be acquired using "a low-level court order called a PEN register, also known as a “trap and trace." Users are unaware that the cellphone data has been diverted.
Experts: Global Conflicts Boost Airlift Sustainment Market
[Defense One]
Talk about creating a demand. "The global military maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) market, which supports aircraft from the Air Force’s C-130s to unmanned helicopters. The forecast market growth is due to strengthening defense budgets across the world, healthier economies in Europe, and a spike in global conflicts — particularly in the Middle East and Ukraine. The MRO sector peaked in 2011 at $66 billion, while casualties were declining in Afghanistan and the US was pulling out of Iraq, Chrisman said. The market has sharply declined each year since and bottomed out at $55.6 billion in 2015, he said."
Russian Ships Near Data Cables Are Too Close for U.S. Comfort
[New York Times]
The Official Organ of the USG is reporting that
"Russian submarines and spy ships are aggressively operating near the vital undersea cables that carry almost all global Internet communications, raising concerns among some American military and intelligence officials that the Russians might be planning to attack those lines in times of tension or conflict...While there is no evidence yet of any cable cutting, the concern is part of a growing wariness among senior American and allied military and intelligence officials over the accelerated activity by Russian armed forces around the globe." This 'wariness' comes despite the fact that the NSA has allegedly been tapping the same types of cables for decades.
NY Police Union Calls for Boycott of Quentin Tarantino
[The Wrap]
“When I see murders, I do not stand by . . . I have to call a murder a murder, and I have to call the murderers the murderers,” the “Django Unchained” director told a crowd of protesters in Washington Square Park, saying that cops are too often “murderers.” The rally came four days after NYPD Officer Randolph Holder was fatally shot in the head while chasing a gunman in East Harlem. When asked about the timing of the rally, Tarantino called it “unfortunate.” Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, said in a statement Sunday to the New York Post, “It’s no surprise that someone who makes a living glorifying crime and violence is a cop-hater, too."
Murray and Levinson Do Not Rock the Kasbar
[War is Boring]
“We’re at war, dude,” the boozy booker says. “The faucet is open.” The review of this film makes it sound like a 'updated' version of The Sapphires, which of course was itself an 'updated' version of Good Morning, Vietnam. Which is to say that war may be heck, but that doesn't mean there isn't room to make a quick buck or two.
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