Yesterday, I managed to find the strength to take some trash and recyclables to the polycarts, and move the polycarts closer to the curb. Not all the way to the curb – pickup isn’t till Thursday – but close enough to be esier to get out on Wednesday. While i was doing that, the neighborhood cat stopped by. He doesn’t care much for the gourmet cat treats I got from Chewy. But I guess he figures that he comes by enough times I’ll eventually open something else (and he is right.) I honestly don’t know what he likes. The one flavor he really liked was Iams salmon, but he is over it now. Not that he needs food. I’ve started calling him “Bustopher.”
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Crooks and Liars – Insurrectionists’ Extremism Deepens In ‘Patriot Wing’ Of D.C. Jail
Quote – More than anything, they appear to focus on justifying their martyrdom. “We have been labeled the enemy, yet clearly we see tyranny as the enemy,” Reffitt wrote. “While our lawyers do our bidding and the judges do their duties, we remain resolute, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and singing the National Anthem all in unison, loud and proud most every day. All because we are us, we are you, we are all Americans and in here, we have no labels.” Click through for reality. This was prefictable. I don’t suppose the DC jail has any way to break them up. The Feds maybe coupd, but it’s probably not legal to tranfer them to federal facilities – yet.
The Daily Beast – ‘Delinquent’ Matt Gaetz Blocked from Practicing Law
Quote – The Daily Beast has learned that the Florida Bar has branded Gaetz as “delinquent” twice in the past two years. The organization temporarily cut him off in 2019 and again in 2020, because Gaetz failed to affirm that he is properly handling and protecting any clients’ money in trust accounts. Lawyers must abide by strict rules to ensure they are not stealing or misusing money that belongs to the people they represent. Click through for story. And this is just for failing to pay to renew his law license (or, as the author puts it, “not paying his bar tab”). Look at the next short take for what else is going n.
Democratic Underground – Justice Dept. Adds Two Top Prosecutors to Matt Gaetz Case
Quote – The Justice Department has added two top prosecutors from Washington to the child sex trafficking investigation of Representative Matt Gaetz, according to two people briefed on the matter, a sign of the complex and high-stakes nature of the inquiry into Mr. Gaetz, a Florida Republican who is one of former President Donald J. Trump’s closest congressional allies. The prosecutors — one a public corruption investigator with an expertise in child exploitation crimes, and the other a top leader of the public corruption unit — have been working on the Florida-based investigation for at least three months, the people said. Click through for detils. I like to use original sources, but cannot access the NYT. Do you suppose he deliberately did not pay for his license because he knew it would be a waste? I doubt it. He’s mot that smart.
Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”
We’ve talked a great deal here about technology used by governments to spy on its citizens. This article is a bit of an update on some of the latest technology. “Pegasus” – it sounds so benign, doesn’t it? Images of unicorns and My Little Ponies come to mind. And I won’t even go so far as to say “This is the dark side,” because this technology can definitely be used for good. (Don’t you just wish it were being used right this moment to track Bannon? And a few choice others?) But it wll never be used effectively for good as long as it is being used by people who think they can tell a “bad guy” by looking at someone.
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What is Pegasus? A cybersecurity expert explains how the spyware invades phones and what it does when it gets in
A woman holds a phone in front of the office of NSO Group, which makes a tool that can see and hear everything a phone is used for. Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images
End-to-end encryption is technology that scrambles messages on your phone and unscrambles them only on the recipients’ phones, which means anyone who intercepts the messages in between can’t read them. Dropbox, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo are among the companies whose apps and services use end-to-end encryption.
This kind of encryption is good for protecting your privacy, but governments don’t like it because it makes it difficult for them to spy on people, whether tracking criminals and terrorists or, as some governments have been known to do, snooping on dissidents, protesters and journalists. Enter an Israeli technology firm, NSO Group.
The company’s flagship product is Pegasus, spyware that can stealthily enter a smartphone and gain access to everything on it, including its camera and microphone. Pegasus is designed to infiltrate devices running Android, Blackberry, iOS and Symbian operating systems and turn them into surveillance devices. The company says it sells Pegasus only to governments and only for the purposes of tracking criminals and terrorists.
How it works
Earlier version of Pegasus were installed on smartphones through vulnerabilities in commonly used apps or by spear-phishing, which involves tricking a targeted user into clicking a link or opening a document that secretly installs the software. It can also be installed over a wireless transceiver located near a target, or manually if an agent can steal the target’s phone.
Pegasus can infiltrate a smartphone via the widely used messaging app WhatsApp without the phone’s user noticing. Christoph Scholz/Flickr, CC BY-SA
Since 2019, Pegasus users have been able to install the software on smartphones with a missed call on WhatsApp, and can even delete the record of the missed call, making it impossible for the the phone’s owner to know anything is amiss. Another way is by simply sending a message to a user’s phone that produces no notification.
This means the latest version of this spyware does not require the smartphone user to do anything. All that is required for a successful spyware attack and installation is having a particular vulnerable app or operating system installed on the device. This is known as a zero-click exploit.
Once installed, Pegasus can theoretically harvest any data from the device and transmit it back to the attacker. It can steal photos and videos, recordings, location records, communications, web searches, passwords, call logs and social media posts. It also has the capability to activate cameras and microphones for real-time surveillance without the permission or knowledge of the user.
Who has been using Pegasus and why
NSO Group says it builds Pegasus solely for governments to use in counterterrorism and law enforcement work. The company markets it as a targeted spying tool to track criminals and terrorists and not for mass surveillance. The company does not disclose its clients.
The earliest reported use of Pegasus was by the Mexican government in 2011 to track notorious drug baron Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. The tool was also reportedly used to track people close to murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
It is unclear who or what types of people are being targeted and why. However, much of the recent reporting about Pegasus centers around a list of 50,000 phone numbers. The list has been attributed to NSO Group, but the list’s origins are unclear. A statement from Amnesty International in Israel stated that the list contains phone numbers that were marked as “of interest” to NSO’s various clients, though it’s not known if any of the phones associated with numbers have actually been tracked.
A media consortium, the Pegasus Project, analyzed the phone numbers on the list and identified over 1,000 people in over 50 countries. The findings included people who appear to fall outside of the NSO Group’s restriction to investigations of criminal and terrorist activity. These include politicians, government workers, journalists, human rights activists, business executives and Arab royal family members.
Other ways your phone can be tracked
Pegasus is breathtaking in its stealth and its seeming ability to take complete control of someone’s phone, but it’s not the only way people can be spied on through their phones. Some of the ways phones can aid surveillance and undermine privacy include location tracking, eavesdropping, malware and collecting data from sensors.
Law enforcement agencies use cell site simulators like this StingRay to intercept calls from phones in the vicinity of the device. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office via AP
Governments and phone companies can track a phone’s location by tracking cell signals from cell tower transceivers and cell transceiver simulators like the StingRay device. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals can also be used to track phones. In some cases, apps and web browsers can determine a phone’s location.
Eavesdropping on communications is harder to accomplish than tracking, but it is possible in situations in which encryption is weak or lacking. Some types of malware can compromise privacy by accessing data.
The good news is, depending on who you are, you’re unlikely to be targeted by a government wielding Pegasus. The bad news is, that fact alone does not guarantee your privacy.
================================================================ Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, beside the fact that there is no microchip small enough to go through a needle of the size used to deliver the CoViD vaccine, isn’t it ironic – or wouldn’t it be ironic if irony were still alive – that anti-vaxxers carry cell phones with them everywhere they go?
Yesterday, The opera on the radio was “Orlando” by Handel. Baroque and Bel Canto oeras (1730-1830 approx) are famous for mad scenes, but they are usually for women. This one has a male mad scene, sung by a counter tenor. Most interesting. I also put meds together for the next two weeks. Annoying, but necessary.
Mother Jones – Substack Is Profiting Off Anti-Mask and Anti-Vaccine Newsletters
Quote – There’s one less frequently discussed way in which Substack actually might be endangering democracy: It’s become a conduit for public disinformation during a historic pandemic. Indeed, my search of Substack returned dozens of newsletters that suggested that vaccines and masks were ineffective and dangerous, and that “the media” had exaggerated the harms of COVID-19. Many of the newsletters that I found insisted that the government was suppressing evidence in favor of treatments that scientists have shown to be ineffective, like hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin. Other Substack newsletters made similar claims about unproven supplements and other fringe remedies. Click through for story. Social media is the modern nin-headed Lernean Hydra. Where is our Hercules?
Yesterday, I learned my friend James, who has already been through so much, was in the process f having surgery on his ankle (which had prior surgery, but the screws from that were loosening and coming out.) That, according to his surgeon, usually means an infection, but he wanted to get in and look at it before mronouncing. Sure enough, the pathology lab found one, and he now needs to be on IV antibiotics for 6 weeks before the reconstructive surgery can happen (because otherwise he would lose the leg. Where have we heard this before.) Prayers and good thoughts are invited. (And I also got the email that my ballot has been counted. Yay!)
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CNN – These are the 9 House Republicans who voted to hold Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress
Quote – Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming (January 6 committee member)
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania
Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington
Rep. John Katko of New York
Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois (January 6 committee member)
Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina
Rep. Peter Meijer of Michigan
Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan Click through for some background. Two, of course, are on the Subcommittee. But seven aren’t.
Wonkette – Another Criminal Investigation Into The Trump Organization? Sure Why Not!
Quote – In recent months, the district attorney’s office in suburban Westchester County, N.Y., has subpoenaed records from […] Trump National Golf Club Westchester, and the town of Ossining, which sets property taxes on the course, a sprawling private club that is perched on a hill north of New York City and boasts a 101-foot waterfall. The full scope of the investigation could not be determined, but the district attorney, Mimi E. Rocah, appears to be focused at least in part on whether Mr. Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, misled local officials about the property’s value to reduce its taxes, one of the people said. Click through for details. While it’s entertaining to see TFG screwing up in civil suits, criminal investigations are far more welcoe. I really could not care who puts him and/or his spawn behind bars, as long as someone does. (Incidentally, how can s perso hold his or her mouth in that position?)
The New Yorker – Borowitz Report – America’s Children Demand That Joe Manchin’s Salary Be Tied to Work Requirement
Quote – Declaring “no more government handouts,” millions of America’s children are demanding that all future salary payments to Senator Joe Manchin be tied to a work requirement. Tracy Klugian, who is nine years old, said that Manchin’s current arrangement, in which he is paid for no work whatsoever, amounts to “an obscene ripoff of the American taxpayer.” Click through for satire. I particularly like the implocation that children are smarter than adults. Sadly, that’s more often true than we like to admit.
Glenn Kirschner – Bannon is Poised to be the “Target” of a Grand Jury Investigation; Trump Poised to be a “Subject”
Meidas Touch – Matthew Dowd: Democrats are the ONLY party that supports democracy
The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party
MSNBC – Charlie Sykes: Understand The GOP Is Setting Itself Up For Restoration To Power. This is late, but it’s a good review and a good discussion
Really American – Trump Again Claims He Doesn’t Like To Be Peed On
City News – Heroic effort by international students saves lives of two hikers in B.C. A Sikh’s turban is both a religious symbol and a part of his identity. This is sort of as if you or I had taken all our clothes off to make that rope. I am so impressed – awed, really.
Beau – Let’s talk about Mayor Pete messing up the supply chain….
Yesterday, I received an email that my ballot has been received by the County Clerk’s office. I’ll get another email to confirm it’s been (or will be) counted, but I trust the clerk’s office, so I’m relieved. Full disclosure: As a veteran, I receive lots of free return address labels from veterans’ organizations, and most have patriotic imagery. I don’t use those that much, but I always make sure when I mail my ballot that it has a return address label with a big ol’ flag. I figure any GQP along the way who might be tempted not to deliver it will not be tempted when there’s a big ol’ flag on it. That may be paranoid … but these days …
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CBS News – Manslaughter conviction of 21-year-old Oklahoma woman who suffered miscarriage sparks outcry
Quote – [W]hile Poolaw’s case has garnered national attention, [National Advocates for Pregnant Women] says that her case is not unusual. The organization says it has documented over 1,600 cases involving the criminalization of pregnancy. More than 1,200 of those cases occurred in the past 15 years. “These cases include pregnant women who have been arrested for falling down stairs, drinking alchol, giving birth at home, being in a ‘dangerous’ location, having HIV, experiencing a drug dependency problem, or attempting suicide,” the organization tweeted. “The majority of women subjected to pregnancy-based prosecutions are low-income women, drug-using women, and women of color.” Click through for details. I should hope to shoot a brick it would spark outrage. It certainly sparks mine.
Pro Publica – Oath Keepers in the State House: How a Militia Movement Took Root in the Republican Mainstream
Quote – Dozens of Oath Keepers have been arrested in connection to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, some of them looking like a paramilitary group, wearing camo helmets and flak vests. But a list of more than 35,000 members of the Oath Keepers — obtained by an anonymous hacker and shared with ProPublica by the whistleblower group Distributed Denial of Secrets — underscores how the organization is evolving into a force within the Republican Party. ProPublica identified Clampitt and 47 more state and local government officials on the list, all Republicans: 10 sitting state lawmakers; two former state representatives; one current state assembly candidate; a state legislative aide; a city council assistant; county commissioners in Indiana, Arizona and North Carolina; two town aldermen; sheriffs or constables in Montana, Texas and Kentucky; state investigators in Texas and Louisiana; and a New Jersey town’s public works director. Click through for story. There have been crazies in the Republican Party for decades (and there also used to be people of honor, and I miss them). Now the crazies are organized.. and gaining ground.
HuffPost – New York City Declares Racism A Public Health Crisis
Quote – New York City’s Board of Health listed several specific actions tied to its declaration in a press release. These include working with other agencies to beef up data by reporting deaths, injuries and health conditions by race; pinpointing and amending policies that have contributed to racial health disparities; and plans and budgets on a wide range of matters that affect health like transportation, education, housing and economic opportunities. Click through. This took a couple of days to reach me and another day to get it posted, but it is so cool – and the best part is that it provides a model for other bodies to act.
