"2019 is likely to prove to be the last year when Social Security tax revenues and interest income exceeded benefit payments. As such, the Trust Fund is going to become a net ‘redeemer’ of treasury debt in 2020 for the first time since 1982, and it is likely to remain a redeemer until it runs out of money sometime around 2035. Once the fund runs out, benefits will be cut automatically unless Social Securiy tax rates are raised." https://thesoundingline.com/the-social-security-trust-fund-is-finally-going-to-start-irreversibly-drawing-down-in-2020/
"The group, which is a separate force from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, operates under the state-sanctioned militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces. Many of them are supported by Iran..."Our battle with America and its mercenaries is now open to all possibilities,” Kataeb Hezbollah said in a statement around midnight Sunday. “We have no alternative today other than confrontation and there is nothing that will prevent us from responding to this crime.”...A spokesman for Kataeb Hezbollah denied that the group was behind the rocket attacks on U.S. bases, including the one that killed the American contractor, saying Washington is using them as a pretext to attack his group." https://dailygerm.com/2019/12/30/tensions-escalating-after-us-bombed-iranian-militia-25-dead/
"To take revenge for the death of one of its mercenaries the U.S. air force attacked five camps where Kata'ib Hizbullah and other Iraqi forces were stationed... KH positions that were hit were in the western Anbar desert, 450 kilometer away from Kirkuk...The al-Qaem/al-Bukamal border station is the only open one between Iraq and Syria which is not under U.S. control. The U.S. was furious when the Iraqi prime minister Adil Abdul Mahdi allowed it to be established. It was previously attacked by Israel...The strikes were in total disregard of Iraqi sovereignty and against forces under direct command of the Iraqi state...Here is video of the bloody aftermath...Iraqi PMU Asai'b Ahl al-Haq statement on the American attack on Iraq tonight...''The American military presence has become a burden for the State and a source of aggression against our forces and therefore it has become mandatory for all of us to expel them from Iraq.''" https://www.moonofalabama.org/2019/12/after-us-strike-on-iraqi-forces-its-troops-will-again-have-to-leave.html
"Neither Oklahoma nor Kansas has “red flag” laws through which relatives or police can obtain a court order to remove firearms from someone’s possession. However, the proposals in those states also would prevent local city and county governments from enacting such laws. They would even go so far as to make it a felony for someone to help enforce such an order...Dahm filed his proposal in September, and it may have been the first of its kind." https://apnews.com/852cd866a0272abe993363cbc375e2e7
"New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s decision to up the police presence in multi-ethnic neighborhoods to combat a rise in antisemitic hate crimes has received push-back from liberal Jewish groups that contend the measures will further divide communities...The measures include stepping up police patrols in neighborhoods including Borough Park, Midwood, Crown Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Williamsburg, as well as establishing community-based neighborhood safety coalitions overseen by the Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes...In addition, the city announced an increased NYPD presence at houses of worship and during local events. Six new surveillance towers and additional security cameras will be installed throughout the neighborhoods." https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/30/new-york-antisemitic-attacks-policing
"The person said Prince...continues to support the Trump administration’s goal of removing Maduro but believes State Department efforts to reach that goal have failed and new alternatives — which the person did not specify — need to be tried." https://apnews.com/0641c2b37886a08240d0ba64c9319699
"United States Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin recently raised some eyebrows this week during a CNBC interview, commenting that cash isn’t laundered or used for nefarious activities, but Bitcoin definitely is." https://beincrypto.com/bitcoin-is-laundered-cash-isnt-claims-treasury-secretary-mnuchin/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=bitcoin&utm_content=tay
"Buttigieg’s new roster of endorsements from former high-ranking CIA officials, regime-change architects, and global financiers should raise more questions about the real forces propelling his campaign." https://thegrayzone.com/2019/12/30/coup-plotters-cia-agents-mayor-pete-endorsers/
"This year EFF and our colleagues have been fighting over access mechanisms like the CLOUD Act in the United States, the US-UK CLOUD Act Agreement, the upcoming US-Australia CLOUD Act Agreement, proposals for a US-EU agreement, the European e-evidence proposal, and cross-border data exchange systems proposed in amendments to the Council of Europe’s Budapest Convention (which we commented on in February and November). Some of these are bilateral deals involving just two countries, but others—especially the European and Budapest Convention mechanisms—could potentially involve dozens of countries, rapidly ushering in legal changes that allow officials in any one of them to get personal information from companies in any other." https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/12/foreign-police-want-bypass-privacy-laws-and-courts-get-data-abroad
"U.S. military officials publicly touted the August 22, 2008, Azizabad raid – Operation Commando Riot – as a victory. A high-value Taliban target had been killed; the collateral damage was minimal; the village was grateful...None of it was true...The Taliban commander escaped. Dozens of civilians were dead in the rubble, including as many as 60 children. The local population rioted...USA TODAY spent more than a year investigating the Azizabad raid and sued the Department of Defense to obtain almost 1,000 pages of investigative files previously kept secret because it had been deemed “classified national security information.”...The architects behind this corner of the war – and those profiting from the security contract – did not understand the difference between who they were supposed to be fighting, employing and protecting." https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2019/12/29/security-guards-afghan-warlords-mass-civilian-casualties/2675795001/
"In addition to wiping out one of the best chances that debt-strapped Millennials ever had to obtain a decent standard of living, the Secure Act will also involuntarily push that Millennial into a higher tax bracket in the years he is forced to take outsized distributions from a large, inherited IRA...According to the Congressional Research Service, tax revenues raised from this change in the well-settled law would result in an extra $15.7 billion flowing to the deeply indebted Federal government...And if you’re looking for villains to blame, you can start with the AARP which had the unmitigated gall to take the heat off of Congress and endorse the passage of this assault on the little guy’s wealth...The real brainchild pulling the levers behind a dark, grimy curtain is the Insured Retirement Institute (IRI)..." https://archive.md/qiQwS
"Last week, Congress gave European Union countries and big oil a holiday season gift: $1 billion to facilitate the importation of U.S. fracked gas. The legislation called the European Energy Security and Diversification Act was tucked into $1.4 trillion budget bill signed into law on December 20th by President Donald Trump." https://www.truthdig.com/articles/democrats-are-using-russiagate-to-push-for-fracking/
"On Thursday, Asst. Porum Police Chief David Ray Kash, 49, was arrested and charged for crimes associated with the sexual assault of two small children: a nine-year-old and a seven-year-old." https://thefreethoughtproject.com/chief-prison-sexual-assault-children/
"The mini portable water-filtration plant—known as The Ninja—has been developed and is currently being tested by university scientists. It could be in use in 2020...Initial tests have shown that the 1.5-meter-squared treatment plant can purify dirty water drawn from the pond into water meeting the United Kingdom drinking standards at a rate of 500 liters (approx. 132 gallons) per hour." https://m.theepochtimes.com/uk-scientists-develop-machine-to-purify-dirty-water-into-drinking-water-in-minutes_3186021.html
"A Sudanese court sentenced 29 members of the national intelligence service to death by hanging on Monday (Dec 30) over the killing of a teacher in detention in February during protests that led to the overthrow of former president Omar al-Bashir." https://www.straitstimes.com/world/africa/sudan-sentences-27-intelligence-agents-to-hang-for-teachers-killing?cx_testId=20&cx_testVariant=cx_4&cx_artPos=2#cxrecs_s
"The Cav Roadmap sets out the future vision for how Scotland can benefit from and contribute to the sector...According to a recent report by The Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT), more than 95% of the vehicles on the road in the UK will be connected vehicles by 2025." https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-50948624
"The new technology is intended for use with shoulder-fired missiles called Man-Portable Air-Defense Systems (MANPADS), Dutch researcher Jos Wetzels told a cybersecurity conference here in Leipzig, Germany on Saturday. Wetzels said the system was laid out in a batch of CIA documents published by WikiLeaks in 2017 but that the files were mislabeled and attracted little public attention until now." https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-missiles/cia-devised-way-to-restrict-missiles-given-to-allies-researcher-says-idUSKBN1YY1BF?il=0
"Al Jazeera has heard harrowing new testimony from people who say they were detained and tortured in camps in China...Most are Uighurs, but there are also people from other minority groups such as ethnic Kazakhs... https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/ethnic-kazakhs-detained-tortured-chinese-camps-191230193900576.html
"Today, governments are winding down once-expansive intelligence networks as artificial intelligence and biometric data becomes more commonplace. CIA operatives, especially, are finding it difficult to work covertly due to the rapid advancements in technology..."The foundations of the business of espionage have been shattered," former CIA official Duyane Norman told Yahoo News in a reportpublished Monday...In airports around the world, the implementation of face-scanning technology promises quicker processing, but it's exactly the type of automation that is making it hard for spies to move across borders without being noticed." https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/cia-troubled-as-biometric-tracking-and-digital-footprints-pull-spies-from-the-shadows
"Microsoft sued a cyber-espionage group with North Korean links tracked as Thallium for breaking into its customers' accounts and networks via spear-phishing attacks with the end goal of stealing sensitive information, as shown by a complaint unsealed on December 27." https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/microsoft-takes-north-korean-hacking-group-thallium-to-court/
"Pakistan has once again drawn the attention of important world capitals to the Modi government’s intentions of staging a false flag operation to divert the world attention from the grave human rights violations in India and the Occupied Kashmir — something that it has done in the past." https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/591360-fm-shah-mehmood-qureshi-warns-of-false-flag-operation-by-india
"The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) announced today that it launched a probe on TikTok after Rep. Song Hee-kyeoung of Liberty Korea Party warned of potential personal information mishandling by the Chinese company back in October...Rep. Song warned that certain user information, including location data, collected by TikTok might be shared with the Chinese government." https://news.softpedia.com/news/security-risks-trigger-tiktok-investigation-in-south-korea-528726.shtml
"Russian and Ukrainian gas companies say they have finalized a slew of contracts ensuring uninterrupted transit of Russian natural gas to Europe...Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed the agreements that were signed late Monday, saying they will allow Ukraine to get at least US$7 billion in transit payments from Russia over the next five years." https://globalnews.ca/news/6349987/russia-ukraine-gas-transit/
"China's agriculture ministry said Monday that it had approved two new genetically modified crops for import from the U.S., reported Reuters...According to Reuters, the new crops approved for import were Corteva AgriScience's DAS-81419-2 soybean and 55-1 papaya, developed by the USDA and Hawaii University." https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/china-approves-new-gmo-crops-us-imports
(11/09/19) "Recently a black hat hacker showed how they could weaponize satellites in space to microwave people on the ground, and the Chinese and Russians used microwave radiation to fry the atmosphere above Europe, and now the US Army, as part of a broad counter-unmanned aerial systems strategy, is pushing forward with the US Air Force (USAF) to develop a high-powered microwave weapon...using microwaves to short out the electronics of drones in flight, which would cause them to crash – unless that is they’re fried by lasers first, which, thanks to nanotech they already have defenses against..." https://www.fanaticalfuturist.com/2019/11/the-usaf-deploys-its-first-microwave-drone-killing-weapon/
(09/27/19) "The United States announced it will ship a prototype of Raytheon’s “Phaser” high-power microwave beam counter-drone system to Saudi Arabia for operational evaluation." https://m.theepochtimes.com/us-deploys-drone-killing-microwave-phaser-weapon-to-middle-east_3098697.html
(Today) "Japan successfully zaps drones with microwave beams...Defense agency tests system that could shoot down multiple aerial threats" https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/Japan-successfully-zaps-drones-with-microwave-beams
"Senior journalist Nasarullah Khan filed an appeal in the Sindh High Court on Monday against an anti-terrorism court’s judgement that convicted him under anti-terrorism law for possessing literature of banned organisations...Khan, who has been associated with an Urdu daily, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment on November 26 for possessing literature and magazines of banned organisations that incited hatred against state institutions and government, besides having links with activists of a proscribed organisation...According to the prosecution, the Counter Terrorism Department had arrested the journalist after receiving information from a spy in the Soldier Bazaar area on November 11, 2018, and seized from his possession four backdated magazines of Nawa-e-Afghan Jihad..." https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/591409-journalist-moves-shc-against-conviction-on-terrorism-charges
"Rose, who is Staten Island’s first Jewish congressional representative, announced in a media release that he will be holding the event on Jan. 15 in his capacity as chair of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism...“We must address this crisis head-on, which is why my first Subcommittee hearing of the new year will be focused directly on anti-Semitic domestic terrorism, how the government is responding, and what more can be done,” Rose said." https://www.silive.com/news/2019/12/rep-rose-announces-congressional-hearing-on-response-to-anti-semitic-terrorism.html
"Iranian state media are reporting that the country’s paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has seized a foreign tanker and crew that it says were carrying illegal oil...The December 30 reports did not say what country’s flag the ship was flying...Iranians said the vessel was carrying more than 1 million liters of fuel...Some reports suggested there were 16 Malaysian crew members aboard the ship, while others said 12 “foreign nationals” were detained with the ship." https://www.eurasiareview.com/31122019-iran-seizes-tanker-with-illegal-oil-in-hormuz/
"US Congress is demanding that the Department of Energy investigate an aging, cracking US nuclear waste dump threatened by climate change and rising seas in the Marshall Islands...As part of the new National Defense Authorization Act, signed last week by US President Donald Trump, the energy agency must submit a report by mid-June on the risks that Runit Dome poses to the people, environment and wildlife of Enewetak lagoon - the site of 44 nuclear bomb detonations during the Cold War." https://i.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/118542742/us-nuclear-waste-dump-in-the-pacific-threatened-by-rising-seas-is-leaking
"Verizon believes drones present a growth opportunity for its budding 5G network and aims to be the first carrier to connect 1 million 5G drones flights...Just a few months later, the company deepened its commitment to the drones by purchasing drone operation company Skyward...Drones with a 5G connection can use AI to more efficiently complete complicated tasks. The ability to quickly transmit data enables drones to be enhanced with AI..." https://www.businessinsider.com/verizon-highlights-5g-drone-opportunity-2019-12
"Indonesia's state-owned aerospace company Dirgantara Indonesia introduced on Monday two prototypes of new medium-altitude long endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (MALE UAV) designed for both civilian and military uses. The drone will help the government ward off territorial threats from the archipelago and keep an eye on potential threats including smuggling, terrorism and natural resource thefts, the company claimed...In its development, the aircraft will be armed with missiles as well...The military version of the drone will require a separate certification from the Ministry of Defense, expected by the end of 2021." https://jakartaglobe.id/tech/indonesia-introduces-first-medium-range-drone-to-tackle-terrorism-forest-fires
"NEW DELHI: Employees working at 48 airports...will soon have biometric access to these high security zones...on Monday launched the Biometric-enabled "centralized access control system" (CACS) and e-BCAS (Bureau of Civil Aviation Security) project training module..." https://m.timesofindia.com/business/india-business/biometric-access-for-employees-at-48-airports-soon-govt-launches-the-system/articleshow/73035704.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
(India) "In a bid to check the feasibility of implementing biometric attendance in all schools affiliated to the state education board, the state government is set to test the system in nearly 120 schools on a pilot basis. The system will be in place for three months, after which the government will take a final decision on it. A private agency has been given the task of installing the biometric systems." https://m.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/120-state-board-schools-set-to-get-biometric-system-on-pilot-basis/story-AijVaH6N5PZVPC39xOYvFP.html
"Future growth plans include getting involved in government projects related to driving licenses, social security and national population registry. Mantra Softech is already working on solutions for airports and subway lines, reports Economic Times...So far, the Indian company boasts to have sold over 2.3 million biometrics-based devices in India, with major growth plans for Africa and UAE." https://www.biometricupdate.com/201912/mantra-softech-develops-fingerprint-scanner-with-optical-sensor-targets-government-projects
"A top prosecutor of the organized crime unit of Colombia’s prosecution was assassinated on Sunday in one of the biggest blows against law enforcement in recent years...Libreros, who was named Colombia’s best prosecutor in 2014, was murdered by two assassins on a motorcycle while driving through the south of the city." https://colombiareports.com/one-of-colombias-top-organized-crime-prosecutors-assassinated/
"Reaffirming their historic memory, Panamanians recalled on Sunday that in December 1989, the United Nations General Assembly condemned the United States invasion of Panama and demanded an immediate end to Washington's intervention...Resolution 44/240 was approved on the afternoon of December 29, 1989, just nine days after the worst massacre in Panamanian history..." https://www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=50474&SEO=panamanians-recall-that-un-condemned-1989-us-invasion
"This year, US President and xenophobe-in-chief Donald Trump finagled "safe third country agreements" with Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, allowing theUnited States to deport aspiring asylum seekers to the very region many of them are fleeing in the first place...Indeed, the fact that the homicide rates in the three allegedly "safe third countries" are consistently among the highest in the world should be an easy indicator that they are anything but safe. Femicides abound...The US's own role in fuelling violence in Central America's Northern Triangle has been well known for decades - from its habit of backing right-wing dictators anddeath squads to its continuing support forhomicidal state security forces. In the aftermath of the US-facilitated coup in Honduras in 2009, that nation became more unsafe than ever...US complicity in the appalling unsafety of the Northern Triangle is the sheer volume of US weapons circulating in the region...In March, Foreign Policy reported that Trump was "sending guns south as migrants flee north", with his administration "push[ing] to weaken oversight of gun exports"." https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/called-safe-countries-unsafe-191228125542912.html
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