Like A Cheap Spy Novel

In my younger days I was a fan of the pulp fiction spy novel….my fave character was the CIA’s Sam Durell….he always got the best assignments and the most beautiful women…..it appears that in today’s world these cheap novels are coming to life……

Let me explain……

Surely most of you have an opinion on the Trump “Dirty Dossier”…well it matters not what we want to believe….this post is about a situation around the alleged document….

Do I need to recap the story so far….then go to Google and do your own work….

It appears that one of the players in this supposed incident is no longer with us….

The body of Oleg Erovinkin, who was suspected of helping , was discovered in his car.He was an aide of Igor Sechin – the ex-Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, who now heads up state-owned Rosneft oil.Mr Steele, the former British spy behind the , wrote in an intelligence report that he had a source close to Sechin.

Now it’s suspected that Erovinkin, who’s been called a key liaison between Sechin and Vladimir Putin, was that source.Media reports suggest his death was a result of foul play and it’s been speculated that the Kremlin is to blame.In his report dated July 19, 2016, Mr Steele said his source revealed alleged links between Trump and Putin.
Source: Donald Trump ‘dirty dossier spy’ found dead in back of car in Moscow | Daily Star
I am not siding with one side or the other……my only interests in this situation is the people that keep dying around Putin….I think there is more to these deaths than most want to admit.
Just saying…is it life imitating art?

Whistleblowing

Yep you guessed it!  Time for one of the Professor’s historic perspectives.  (and the peasants weep)

There is a wealth of opinions around those people that have leaked information to Wikileaks….to some they are heroes to others they are traitors….

My first experience with a whistle blower was Daniel Ellsberg and the release of the “Pentagon Paper”(you may dash for the Google button now you need the exercise)….then there was other major “blowers” Manning and Snowden….there have been others but they were minor compared to those three.

you may call these people anything you like but the fact is that whistle blowing is a duty to the nation…..

John McCain and Paul Ryan and numerous other super-patriots condemned President Obama’s pardon of Chelsea Manning.

In 1778 the Continental Congress ruled that “it is the duty of all persons in the service of the United States to give the earliest information to Congress or other proper authority of any misconduct, frauds, or misdemeanors committed by any officers or persons in the service of these states.”

Other pro-whistleblower legislation has been passed in recent years.

Apparently too many do not understand the term “duty”…..

Our nationalist leaders don’t care about any of this. They just want to make sure no one’s “gonna mess with us.” But as more of our misdeeds go unreported, more and more of the world is learning to hate us.

Personally, I have no problem with whistle blowers….any time we can expose the governmental darkness to the public light then they should be celebrated.

Class dismissed!

A Researchers Dream!

Finally!  Something of interest in the news!

This news may not do anything for some people….but for me it is a welcome sight…..now I can spend my day doing what I do best….research!

MY regular readers know that I prefer to do research and not take someone’s word on subjects like international relations and intel gathering…..I spend many hours pouring over documents and such trying to get at the meat of a problem or situation……

Finally, the CIA has released a butt-load of previously classified documents giving me something to do for awhile……

Decades ago, the CIA declassified a 26-page secret document cryptically titled “clarifying statement to Fidel Castro concerning assassination.”

It was a step toward greater transparency for one of the most secretive of all federal agencies. But to find out what the document actually said, you had to trek to the National Archives in College Park, Maryland, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. and hope that one of only four computers designated by the CIA to access its archives would be available.

But today the CIA posted the Castro record on its website along with more than 12 million pages of the agency’s other declassified documents that have eluded the public, journalists, and historians for nearly two decades. You can view the documents here.

Source: CREST | CIA FOIA (foia.cia.gov)

Of course all this is heavily redacted but yet there could be a wealth of information within the documents….late nights and lots of coffee…..

I have my new years present!  Thank you CIA

Obama Broadly Expands NSA Power

In the closing days of his presidency our president Obama has expanded the power of the NSA……and the chances of further abuses of our privacy…….a final shot, if you will…..

With just over a week left in office, President Obama has massive expanded NSA authority to share the personal communications swept up in their many warrantless wiretap schemes with America’s other 16 spy agencies.

The move aims to “relax” limits imposed by privacy laws by allowing the NSA to share raw data in a more or less limitless fashion with the other 16 spy agencies before the privacy laws are even applied to them. This is meant to get more eyes on the data collected.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who like Obama is out the door in about a week, defended the move, arguing that all the spy agencies will be bound by existing rules once they get ahold of and process the raw data. Privacy experts, however, note that the existing privacy protections aren’t great to begin with, and the expansion to so many different agencies just increases the risk of abuse.

(antiwar.com)

But there is more on this presidential move……

the Obama administration finalized new rules that allow the National Security Agency to share information it gleans from its vast international surveillance apparatus with the 16 other agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community.

With the new changes, which were long in the works, those agencies can apply for access to various feeds of raw, undoctored NSA intelligence. Analysts will then be able to sift through the contents of those feeds as they see fit, before implementing required privacy protections. Previously, the NSA applied those privacy protections itself, before forwarding select pieces of information to agencies that might need to see them.

Source: Why Is Obama Expanding Surveillance Powers Right Before He Leaves Office? – Defense One

Will any of this be overturned by the incoming president….or will these abuses be further extended?  All indicators point to the later.

To “WikiLeak” Or Not To “WikiLeak”

The group known as “Wikileak” has been making the news for several years now….Manning used them to expose secrets….Snowden used it to do the same thing……

In all that time there has been a back and forth on whether they are doing a service or just working to destroy the American society.

Now Wikileaks is at the center of this Trump thingy…..and his “ties” to Russia and the “hack” of the DNC….on and on and on……

While I was doing a bit of research into wikileaks I found an interesting article on a blog called XX Committee….

(Disclaimer:  Before some idiot from the right or left goes on some tear about what they perceive as my motive….let me say here and now….Grow up!  I am NOT condoning anything in this post.  I offer it to my readers purely as an FYI.)

The part played by Wikileaks in the Edward Snowden saga is an important one. The pivotal role of Julian Assange and other leading members of Wikileaks in getting Snowden from Hawaii to Moscow, from NSA employment to FSB protection, in the late spring of 2013 is a matter of record.

For years there have been questions about just what Wikileaks actually is. I know because I’ve been among those asking. Over two years ago, little more than two weeks after Snowden landed in Moscow, I explained my concerns about Wikileaks based on my background in counterintelligence. Specifically, the role of the Russian anti-Semite weirdo Israel Shamir, a close friend of Assange, in the Wikileaks circle merited attention, and to anyone trained in the right clues, the Assange group gave the impression of having a relationship with Russian intelligence. As I summed up my position in July 2013, based on what we knew so far:

Source: Wikileaks is a Front for Russian Intelligence | The XX Committee

Just a reminder…..do not embarrass yourself…..READ the damn disclaimer for you try to think of something to reply.

Closing Thought–04Jan17

While you were ripping paper off gifts or worried about the “millions” of people pouring across our border or ranting about all those “deplorables” that do not accept Trump…..a small thing was inching its way through the Congressional process…..

Has anyone heard of “Rule #41”?

(I will pause here for a Google search)

I lied….screw Google!

The FBI and other law enforcement agencies will be able to search multiple computers across the country with a single warrant thanks to a controversial rule change that takes effect on Thursday.

The expanded search power, known as “Rule 41,” is intended to make it easier for the FBI to carry out complex computer investigations. Until now, the government could only carry out a search of computers located in the district where the federal judge granted the warrant—typically only a few counties in a given state.

Rule 41 came about as part of a regular review of criminal procedure conducted by a conference of federal judges. After several years weighing the rule and a public comment period, the conference then submitted the suggested rule change to the Supreme Court, which then approved it to go into effect on Dec. 1.

(fortune.com)

If you really want to know about the “Rule”…then read it for yourself…….

Source: preliminary-draft-proposed-amendments – proposed-amendment-rule-41.pdf

Maybe paying attention would be better than worrying about something that has NOT happened and may never…..

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year….suckers!

From Dead Drops To Hacking

Everyone that visits IST regularly knows that do enjoy my history and dropping a bit of historical perspective from time to time.

So how can I change that in this New Year.

Since the “hacking” by the Russians there seems to be a bit of interests in the spy game as they say…..so let me drop some more history on you guys about the spying by the Russians over the decades…..

From sleeper agents in suburban America to an assassination in London and hacking of the US presidential election, the list of alleged activities by Soviet and Russian spies abroad is long.

Following US accusations that Russian spies tipped the vote in President-elect Donald Trump’s favour — by stealing Democratic Party information — here are some of the most brazen operations in the West.

Source: Flash – From dead drops to hacking: Moscow spies on world stage – France 24

Come on…..a beautiful redhead…..make me write bad checks….

Closing Thought–26Dec16

‘Tis the day after Christmas and I hope all went well on that special day for all my readers and followers…..now we prepare for the next big day…New Year’s.

One thought before I start……..Christmas that magical time for Christians….but did anyone notice that those good Christians in a time of “good will toward men” could not cease their vulgar attacks on any one that does not agree with their perverted mindset?  Good Christians everyone.

Enough…time to move on….

I am not a techno geek and I am a blogger and I use Twitter basically for news but many of my friends and readers are on Facebook….I am not one of those….I did not trust the Facebook format at all from the very beginning so I avoided it like a plague….these days our intel group is visiting our social media outlets regularly….at least they could do is leave a positive note……

But I read something about Facebook that is disturbing to me……

Facebook released its latest transparency report today, detailing government requests for user data for the first half of 2016. According to the report, government requests for account data increased by 27 percent globally as compared with the last half of 2015. The number of requests grew from 46,710 to 59,229, Facebook said.

The majority of the requests (56 percent) received from U.S. law enforcement contained a non-disclosure clause that prevented Facebook from notifying the user in question, the company noted.

As with prior transparency reports, Facebook also detailed the number of content restriction requests — that is, the requests from governments in response to postings that violate local laws.

Source: Government requests for Facebook user data up 27 percent in first half of 2016 | TechCrunch

I wonder how many “hacks” were done without the official “request”?

Call me paranoid if you like…but I would sooner kiss a rattlesnake than trust Facebook.

Thoughts?

See you guys tomorrow….have a day….chuq

The Ghost Of The USS Pueblo

Early Saturday morning I was having a hard time sleeping so I decided to watch some news……I found the Rachel Maddow Show…..she is so cute but she is just too damn redundant for me to watch often.

The show was about basically about the moves the China has made in recent years when we have a new president…..(oh Hell I hate typing this early…watch it for yourself)…..

https://t.co/Ox9Df4bklJ

As usual she was very through in her research but I took a different tack off of the piece……I remember on 23Jan68 the North Koreans captured a US Naval vessel, USS Pueblo……which was operating in international waters, according to the US……..is anyone old enough to remember this?

the USS Pueblo, a Navy intelligence vessel, is engaged in a routine surveillance of the North Korean coast when it is intercepted by North Korean patrol boats. According to U.S. reports, the Pueblo was in international waters almost 16 miles from shore, but the North Koreans turned their guns on the lightly armed vessel and demanded its surrender. The Americans attempted to escape, and the North Koreans opened fire, wounding the commander and two others. With capture inevitable, the Americans stalled for time, destroying the classified information aboard while taking further fire. Several more crew members were wounded.

Finally, the Pueblo was boarded and taken to Wonson. There, the 83-man crew was bound and blindfolded and transported to Pyongyang, where they were charged with spying within North Korea’s 12-mile territorial limit and imprisoned. It was the biggest crisis in two years of increased tension and minor skirmishes between the United States and North Korea.

All this was a continuing battle of intel between US and PRNK…..what does this have to do with Maddow’s talk?

Shen mentioned a couple of ships, US Navy ships, that were crewed by civilians….the Bowditch and the Impeccable….but they are research ships…..they are intel ships and I bet that half the crew are agents with some real scientist scattered in to make it appear legit.

The South China Sea is a hot bed of intel activity thanx to those islands that everyone in the region lays claim to….then there is the underwater  drone that China has lifted….

Pentagon officials are accusing the Chinese Navy of theft today after one of their ships made off with a US underwater surveillance drone, which officials described as “lawfully conducting a military survey” in the South China Sea.

Details on the incident are still emerging. The USNS Bowditch deployed 2 such drones somewhere in the South China Sea. The Pentagon described the incident as occurring “about 100 miles” from Subic Bay, which likely puts it in the vicinity of the Spratly Islands.

The Bowditch was being followed by a Chinese Navy vessel, the ASR-510, a Dalang-III class rescue and salvage ship. The Bowditch had its drones deployed about 500 meters from itself, and while Pentagon officials described the Bowditch itself as being in international waters, they weren’t clear whether the drones were. Obvious the US and China also have different concepts of whose maritime waters are whose in the South China Sea as well.

(antiwar.com)

Maddow said in her report that you can buy this drone on the market for about $155,000…but I bet that mine will not have the electronics in it that the one the Chinese scooped up has….wahtcha think?

This is all the same games that we have played for 60 years…..it is just a Game Of Spies……

Smile! You Are On A Candid Camera

Ever get the feeling that someone is watching you?  That weird feeling on the back of your neck that makes you feel uncomfortable……

You may not be imagining things…….

It’s no secret that American law has been building facial recognition databases to aide in its investigations. But a new, comprehensive report on the status of facial recognition as a tool in law enforcement shows the sheer scope and reach of the FBI’s database of faces and those of state-level law enforcement agencies: Roughly half of American adults are included in those collections. And that massive assembly of biometric data is accessed with only spotty oversight of its accuracy and how it’s used and searched.

The 150-page report, released on Tuesday by the Center for Privacy & Technology at the Georgetown University law school, found that law enforcement databases now include the facial recognition information of 117 million Americans, about one in two U.S. adults. It goes on to outline the dangers to privacy, free speech, and protections against unreasonable search and seizure that come from unchecked use of that information. Currently the report finds that at least a quarter of all local and state police departments have access to a facial recognition database—either their own or another agency’s—and law enforcement in more than half of all states can search against the trove of photos stored for IDs like drivers’ licenses.

Source: Cops Have a Database of 117M Faces. You’re Probably in It | WIRED

But do not fret…….it is for you own safety.

Described by the report’s authors as “unprecedented and highly problematic,” linked databases containing photographs acquired from driver’s licenses, government IDs and mug shots have provided federal, state and local law agencies with the images of about 48 percent of America’s adult population, according to the report.

Databases maintained by the FBI historically have included the biometric information of individuals associated with criminal activity, but those systems in recent years have been linked with the driver’s license photo databases of 16 states and counting. Following a yearlong investigation and a review of more than 100 records requests, the authors of the report wrote that these systems are highly unregulated and officially “out of control.”

Do you really think that all this is for your own safety?

If so then you probably already own a bridge in Brooklyn.

NOTE:  Starting Monday with 2 weeks left before the election…I will be hitting the vote in a full court press…..just in case you would prefer reality TV……

Enjoy your weekend my friends…….chuq