Musk as well made good on a promise to bring about more transparency to Twitter. He gave journalists Matt Taibbi and Bari Weiss access to all of the internal communications regarding the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story.

The day before the bombshell report by Matt Taibbi, I tweeted a reply to Elon Musk requesting my previous suspended account, as well as a few friends who have been suspended for dubious reasons to have our accounts reinstated. This included my prior account Guy Squiggs, as well as Joshua Smith, the Vice Chairman of the Libertarian Party.

Taibbi’s report the following day was as shocking as it was entertaining. Elon Musk has his own spin on Occam’s Razor, the law stating that the simplest explanation is the most likely. Elon’s Razor, on the other hand, states that the most entertaining outcome is the most likely. Elon’s Razor proved accurate, as tweet #8 in Taibbi’s 36 tweet long report especially stood out to me. I, Guy Squiggs, was in that tweet. Of course I was.

In this tweet the world saw my previous account being “requested for review” by the Biden Campaign, and then being “handled.” Musk himself responded to this particular tweet asking, “If this isn’t a violation of the Constitution’s First Amendment, what is?” Then in the next tweet we learned that the same thing had happened to actor James Woods. He appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show vowing to file a lawsuit, and I will be closely paying attention.

Large Twitter accounts such as Scott Presler and Libs of TikTok were sharing screenshots of my old account which has been permanently suspended for about two years now. This disclosure for Taibbi might possibly be providing context for that suspension.

This all began on October 14th 2020, when New York Post published a bombshell exposé revealing emails recovered on a laptop that belonged to Hunter Biden. Both Twitter and Facebook heavily throttled the story and prevented it from being spread, and Twitter took the extraordinary step of locking New York Post from its Twitter account. 

Twitter cited a “hacked materials” policy, but Taibbi revealed that Twitter executives didn’t believe that reason would hold up. The materials published were no longer the property of Hunter Biden, so his consent is no longer needed. They were the property of the repair shop he abandoned the laptop at, whose owner willfully turned over this material.

Following the censorship of New York Post, with the corporate mainstream media claiming the story was Russian disinformation, I set out looking for leaks of this material. Many photos from the laptop were leaked on Parler, where I spent an unfortunate amount of time looking at Hunter Biden’s nudes so you don’t have to. One photo however really alarmed me, which I censored and shared to Twitter. This tweet can be viewed in its original integrity in the archives on wayback, despite the account being suspended.

The photo, like many released on Parler, showed Hunter exposing himself (which was censored prior to being posted on Twitter). Behind Hunter however was a balcony where a girl was sitting. She appeared to be young, but the question was how young? That was the question, and that was the tweet’s entire purpose. This was the tweet that the Biden campaign requested to be removed. It’s also still a question I think is worth an answer.

While I have always wanted my old account back, now I heavily desire its return as it is part of a profound moment in history. That account vindicates everything conservatives believed was happening against them, but only up until now could be proven. I understand that the mass reinstatement of accounts is a work in progress, but I would humbly beg Twitter to reinstate the accounts listed in my pinned tweet. I also will eagerly be paying attention to any steps James Woods takes.

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The post From Apple To Amazon, 18 Tech Bigwigs Are Going To Meet With Trump appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

by Micah J. Fleck

I have never liked or trust Geek Squad. Their customer service ratings were often full of reviews by customers who felt violated by overly snoopy (and sometimes, even thieving) technicians. Now, there is an explanation for why these intrusive tactics occurred: Geek Squad was at times utilized as a front for FBI spying through citizens’ computers. Trained by the government organization to “accidentally” discover information about us while working on our computers, the techs in Geek Squad’s employ were reportedly acting agents of federal domestic surveillance.

According to OC Weekly:

Recently unsealed records reveal a much more extensive secret relationship than previously known between the FBI and Best Buy’s Geek Squad, including evidence the agency trained company technicians on law-enforcement operational tactics, shared lists of targeted citizens and, to covertly increase surveillance of the public, encouraged searches of computers even when unrelated to a customer’s request for repairs.

To sidestep the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition against warrantless invasions of private property, federal prosecutors and FBI officials have argued that Geek Squad employees accidentally find and report, for example, potential child pornography on customers’ computers without any prodding by the government. Assistant United States Attorney M. Anthony Brown last year labeled allegations of a hidden partnership as “wild speculation.” But more than a dozen summaries of FBI memoranda filed inside Orange County’s Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse this month in USA v. Mark Rettenmaier contradict the official line.

One agency communication about Geek Squad supervisor Justin Meade noted, “Agent assignments have been reviewed and are appropriate for operation of this source,” that the paid informant “continues to provide valuable information on [child pornography] matters” and has “value due to his unique or potential access to FBI priority targets or intelligence responsive to FBI national and/or local collection.”

Other records show how Meade’s job gave him “excellent and frequent” access for “several years” to computers belonging to unwitting Best Buy customers, though agents considered him “underutilized” and wanted him “tasked” to search devices “on a more consistent basis.”

To enhance the Geek Squad role as a “tripwire” for the agency, another FBI record voiced the opinion that agents should “schedule regular meetings” with Meade “to ensure he is reporting.”

That’s nice. Good to know that the marketplace is totally free of government meddling, and all.

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By Micah J. Fleck

I was able to book an interview with Ken Bone (the sudden star of the second 2016 presidential debate who asked the only real questions of the night) during an appearance Mr. Bone made at CPAC 2017. It was short, but sweet, and the most surprising take-away for me was that this man is much more than a meme; he is a brilliant activist for liberty. And one we should all consider supporting.

Right from the start. Mr. Bone was amicable and friendly. When I explained to him that I wrote for a publication that was more “non-partisan” than most he was likely to speak to at this event, he gave the perfect response: “Oh, now I like that!”

But what does Bone actually think about the two party system? Is it broken in his eyes? According to him, the answer is certainly yes.

“Just look at my Twitter account today,” Mr. Bone was quick to point out. “A l0t of people who were my fans because they thought I was just a joke or a meme are now angry at me for going to a convention where there are going to be Republicans. That’s proof right there that the two-party system is in trouble.” He went on to clarify that while the party leaders themselves are somewhat to blame, it’s largely the tribalist mentality of the voters that has snowballed into the irreconcilable split between factions of identity politics. When asked if he was a pessimist or an optimist about the future considering all this, Mr. Bone gave a very fair answer. “I think once people see more and more that the solution is often not located on one extreme or the other but rather in a place of conversation and debate, they will start to come around.”

One of the ways Ken hopes to  usher in this era of conversation and debate is by providing access to better funding to third party and other low-profile major party candidates in order that they might be able to adequately compete with the well-funded establishment candidates in office elections. Victory Holdings, a company Bone is now affiliated with, aims to turn all potential small candidate donors into a comprehensive network that is just a button-press away via a new app called “Donor Dex.” The idea, if successful, is for this new app to make it easier for grassroots candidates to raise more money faster so that they can afford the proper advertisement and active campaigning necessary to be a threat to big name opponents. In this way, fresh ideas will more easily be heard, and actual debates will become the norm again.

I must admit, I too feel for the idea that Ken was just a walking meme. But after interviewing him and finding out just what he’s all about and just how much good he aims to do through his fame and his own activism, I have no choice but to tip my hat to a truly brilliant, productive man who frankly seems to be doing more for the liberty movement than many self-proclaimed libertarians are.

Godspeed, Mr. Bone. Godspeed.

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By: Luke Rosiak

Three brothers who managed office information technology for members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and other lawmakers were abruptly relieved of their duties on suspicion that they accessed congressional computer networks without permission.

Brothers Abid, Imran, and Jamal Awan were barred from computer networks at the House of Representatives Thursday, The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group has learned.

Three members of the intelligence panel and five members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs were among the dozens of members who employed the suspects on a shared basis. The two committees deal with many of the nation’s most sensitive issues, information and documents, including those related to the war on terrorism.

Also among those whose computer systems may have been compromised is Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Florida Democrat who was previously the target of a disastrous email hack when she served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 campaign.

The brothers are suspected of serious violations, including accessing members’ computer networks without their knowledge and stealing equipment from Congress.

Jamal handled IT for Rep. Joaquin Castro, a Texas Democrat who serves on both the intelligence and foreign affairs panels.

“As of 2/2, his employment with our office has been terminated,” Castro spokeswoman Erin Hatch told TheDCNF Friday.

Jamal also worked for Louisiana Democrat Rep. Cedric Richmond, who is on the Committee on Homeland Security.

Imran worked for Reps. Andre Carson, an Indiana Democrat, and Jackie Speier, a California Democrat. Carson and Speier are members of the intelligence committee. Spokesmen for Carson and Speier did not respond to TheDCNF’s requests for comments. Imran also worked for the House office of Wasserman-Schultz.

Then-Rep. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat, employed Abid for IT work in 2016. She was a member of House committees dealing with the armed services, oversight, and Benghazi. Duckworth was elected to the Senate in November, 2016. Abid has a prior criminal record and a bankruptcy.

Abid also worked for Rep. Lois Frankel, a Florida Democrat who is member of the foreign affairs committee.

The three men are “shared employees,” meaning they are hired by multiple offices, which split their salaries and use them as needed for IT services. It is up to each member to fire them from working.

A criminal investigation into five unnamed people began late last year related to serious and potentially illegal violations of House IT policies, Politico reported Thursday. Chiefs of staff for the members were briefed Thursday by the Sergeant-at-Arms.

Capitol Police spokeswoman Eva Malecki said the investigation was still ongoing, and arrests have not been made but staff were “asked to update their security settings.”

Buzzfeed reported Friday that one of the affected members claimed “they said it was some sort of procurement scam, but now I’m concerned that they may have stolen data from us, emails, who knows.”

Jamal did not return a request for comment from TheDCNF at a personal email address, while emails to House addresses in the three mens’ names bounced back Friday.

Buzzfeed reported that the Sergeant-at-Arms told staff that the subjects were four men who were brothers and one woman. It did not name them.

Another man, Omar Awan, is a senior IT specialist for the House’s Chief Administrative Officer. An email to his House address did not bounce back Friday, but did not receive a response.

Abid, Imran and Jamal share a house in Lorton, Virginia, that is owned by Hina R. Alvi, a woman. Alvi is also a House IT employee who works for many of the same members as the three brothers, as well as the House Democratic Caucus.

Signs of trouble have long been visible in public records. The Congressional Credit Union repossessed Abid’s car in 2009, and he declared bankruptcy in 2012, facing multiple lawsuits.

Security-sensitive jobs typically require background checks for credit and legal problems that can create pressures to cash in on access to secret information and documents.

Alvi has multiple second mortgages. She did not respond to TheDCNF’s request for comment.

Jamal, who public records indicate is only 22 years old and first began working in the House when he was 20, was paid nearly $160,000 a year, or three times the average House IT staff salary, according to InsideGov, which tracks congressional salaries. Abid was paid $161,000 and Imran $165,000.

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Researchers from the University of California San Diego (UCSD) have invented a temporary tattoo-style patch that can detect the level of alcohol in a wearer’s system and send it directly to their phone or smartwatch.

The patch uses commercial tattoo-paper fitted with silver electrodes that creates a five-minute long current, which triggers a gel strip that releases a drug to induce sweat. Once the sweat comes into contact with the electrodes, it is able to gauge the level of alcohol in the wearers system, and sends the results to their phones or watches, according to a Wednesday Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Spectrum (IEEE) article.

“Right now, the tattoo is designed for one-time use,” Patrick Mercier, electrical and computer engineering professor at UCSD, told IEEE. “Place, detect, dispose.”

Researchers fitted nine volunteers with the patch both before and after consuming alcohol, and the results were an accurate reflection of alcohol levels in their systems.

There are other ways to assess alcohol levels, but both have drawbacks. Testing blood is the most accurate way to assess whether someone is drunk, but it is extremely invasive because it requires a finger-prick. This new technology would allow law enforcement the ability to accurately gauge the concentration of alcohol in someones system thru non-invasive means.

Whereas breathalyzers can be beaten in court and also give false positives from using items such as mouthwash and prescription medications.

The patch would do away with the issue of false positives.

“Our sensor does not give those kinds of false positives,” Jayoung Kim, graduate student at UCSD’s Materials Science & Engineering Program, told The Daily Caller News foundation in an email.

“The reason is that breathalyzer’s measure alcohol vapor from mouth and environmental air. Our sensor measures alcohol in perspiration fluid.”

The personal breathalyzer market has seen serious growth over the past decade. ABC News said the market share was $27 million in 2005. PR Newswiresays the market for personal breathalyzers had spiked to $284 million in 2011, and they estimate that number to skyrocket to $3.2 billion by 2018.

The researchers are now working on a patch that could monitor alcohol levels around the clock, which could be used for research purposes.

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The post This Temporary Tattoo Tells Your Phone How Drunk You Are appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

Ride-hailing services in China are now legal after several of the country’s regulators approved a new legal framework to guide how such companies can operate in the country.

Uber and similar ride-sharing companies are banned in several places in America, including the whole state of Nevada.

Just like in America, ride-sharing startups like Uber and Lyft have revolutionized the transportation realm in China. Uber and Didi Chuxing, China’s Uber knock off, have become so popular in the world’s largest market that the two companies are in a fundraising race in order to obtain territorial domination. Unlike America though, China now has a comprehensive law that applies to all, according to The New York Times.

The US not having an all encompassing federal law permitting such businesses has caused many legal discrepancies in various ordinances around the country, from parts of Florida to the increasingly popular city of Austin, Texas.

China’s latest decision allows an American internet company to potentially permeate Chinese society and culture; something the government rarely authorizes.

China is not a typical example of a freedom loving, pro-competition country. But this move may put the pressure on the US government to create a similar policy to help settle legal debacles that create uncertainty across the country.

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As if he were deaf to these concerns, Donald Trump today called for Russian hackers to commit espionage against the United States for the purpose of exposing Hillary Clinton’s lost emails.

The New York Times reports:

Donald J. Trump said Wednesday that he hoped Russia had hacked Hillary Clinton’s email, essentially encouraging an adversarial foreign power’s cyberspying on a secretary of state’s correspondence.

“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Mr. Trump said, staring directly into the cameras. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”

Mr. Trump’s call was an extraordinary moment at a time when Russia is being accused of meddling in the U.S. presidential election. His comments came amid questions about the hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s computer servers, which researchers have concluded was likely the work of two Russian intelligence agencies.

Later in the news conference, when asked if he was really urging a foreign nation to hack into the private email server of Mrs. Clinton, or at least meddle in the nation’s elections, he dismissed the question. “That’s up to the president,” Mr. Trump said, before finally saying “be quiet” to the female questioner. “Let the president talk to them.”

Trump’s suggestion was immediately seized upon by the Clinton campaign, which is now accusing Trump of encouraging espionage. As far as the theories spreading like brush fires that Russia is aiding the Trump campaign, Trump just poured gasoline on them.

If Trump is joking, and he may well have been, it is poorly timed and ill-executed. National security matters should not be a laughing matter for would-be presidents. What’s next, is Trump going to jokingly invite ISIS to sabotage Hillary’s campaign?

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Hackers are selling a leaked list of suspected criminals and terrorists on the black market for as little as $2,300, according to digital tech news website Motherboard.

The news comes just weeks after a data security researcher revealed the list was left unsecured online, exposed to hackers. The list is a massive database of 2.2 million people suspected of criminal activities, including over 93,000 potential terror suspects and people with suspected ties to terrorism.

Motherboard reports that multiple vendors are offering to sell the list, and one of the sellers told Motherboard that he has already sold it to three buyers for $6,600 each, which he claimed was as a “nice” return for “something that was lying around.”

The list, known as World-Check, is managed by Thompson Reuters and used by the world’s largest banks, law firms, intelligence agencies and other clients in order to vet individuals who are suspected of terrorist activities. The list is also used to vet for money laundering, organized crime, bribery, corruption, and other activities that would present a risk to clients.

Security researcher Chris Vickery posted on Reddit June 28, that he obtained a copy of the World-Check database from mid-2014. Vickery also asserted that “no hacking was involved in the acquisition of this data.” The researcher explained the acquisition is a leak, but not directly from Thompson Reuters.

Vickery told TechCrunch June 29 the leak was due to a database software error where the information was “mistakenly” configured for public access. Vickery said that SmartKYC, a London-based financial services firm was likely responsible for the software error, according to TechCrunch.

Following the incident, Thomson Reuters released a statement acknowledging a “third party” exposed information from the World-Check database. Thomson Reuters even thanked Vickery, releasing a statement that said, in part, “We are grateful to Chris Vickery for bringing this to our attention, and immediately took steps to contact the third party responsible.”

Thomson Reuters told Motherboard Wednesday it, “takes the security of its global systems extremely seriously however does not discuss the actions it takes against any threats, actual or perceived, publicly.”

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The post Confidential List of Over 93K Suspected Terrorists is Available Online For as Little as $2,300 appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

The new app shows you a list of your rights when filming police and alerts you when someone nearby is filming an incident. This is a wonderful example of the market providing technology that improves lives — in this case, it may even save them.

The post New ‘Mobile Justice’ App Automatically Sends Your Video of Police to the ACLU appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.