The Smoke Eater For Jan. 30, 2020
Gitmo, #GayMemeThursday, more reasons to hate Facebook.
Good day, this is The Smoke Eater, for Thursday, January 30, 2020, and I care a lot.
Quick Hit
* The GitMo trial you're not hearing about * Mitch's Millions * The JEDI you weren’t looking for * The omnipotence of Facebook * And a treat from Vic Berger *
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The Other Tortured Trial
You probably haven't heard much about the GitMo trials, and that's a shame. Last week James Mitchell, the architect of the CIA's torture program, testified Abu Zubaydah -- who has been imprisoned for more then 13 years and never charged -- had been waterboarded more than 80 times. Mitchell said the CIA was "going to walk right up to the line of what was legal, put their toes on it and lean forward."
This week we're learning about the treatment of prisoners -- including that of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Doctors kept tack of near near-drownings, conducted "rectal rehydration" to train prisoners to follow commands, administered rectal cavity searches, and left prisoners shackled in positions that left them with swollen feet and legs. Mitchell and his partner, both psychologists (not doctors), became concerned about "water intoxication" after they water boarded so people of multiple sessions, so they alternated with pouring saline over prisoners.
On Monday Mitchell testified that he spoke with a lawyer at the Counter Terrorism Center on how to make threats without violating the Torture Convention. Mitchell then told KSM he would kill his sons if there were more attacks on the US. Mitchell then pointed at KSM from the stand and said, "Look over there, he's smirking." Reporting for the New York Times, Carol Rosenberg notes it's unclear if KSM made any reaction, and quotes Zeke Johnson, a program director for Amnesty International who was in attendance as saying the threats might have violated the Convention Against Torture.
Awful Garbage Monsters
Lawyers for Dylan Roof, the white nationalist convicted of murdering nine people during a 2015 shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Baptist Church in Charleston, South Carolina, argued in a legal brief that Roof felt his sentence, "didn't matter because white nationalists would free him from prison after an impending race war," according to a 321-page legal brief. The brief goes on to say that Roof is mentally disturbed, and as a result, did not receive a fair trail.
The Louisville Courier Journal was poking around some campaign finance data when it discovered that several of Trump's TV lawyers have been prolific donors to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. One donation from a member of Trump's defense counsel came less than two weeks after The Washington Post reported the whistle blower complaint that ultimately led to Trump's impeachment.
Gay Meme Thursday
According to a new Monmouth University poll, 47 percent of likely Democratic caucus goers in Iowa are confident about their choice, but that same poll also says 45 percent of voters could change their mind on caucus night. For some real in depth reporting about how the primaries are shaping up, check out Dan Balz latest piece, and listen the latest episode of David Ploufe's Campaign HQ.
Dave Weigel has a little more on those rumors of caucus night alliances I mentioned yesterday. Supporters of Bernie Sanders have been flirting with Andrew Yang and a DINO, and a number of candidates are getting peppered with questions on whether they'd consider a unity ticket with a rival.
In order to get all of us talking about him, Bloomberg's campaign has been releasing ads in all 50 states (including Puerto Rico), as well as some really weird shit online. First there was a #DogsFurMike ad featuring talking pups touting Bloomberg that came in response to the candidate's awkward handshake with dog while campaigning in Vermont. But what really got everyone talking was an ad endorsing the New York-based ice cream company, Big Gay Ice Cream. After internet tough-guys The Young Turks clutched their pearls, Fox News (and other Murdoch media properties) joined the confusion with homophobic outrage. As none of them bothered to make a half-assed attempt at ethical journalism, a cursory 3:30 am glance at the campaign's Twitter page shows someone had been spamming social media with LGBQT policies all day. #GayMemeThursday
Uncle Sam and the JEDI
Lockheed Martin's earnings exceeded estimates thanks to the rising tensions between the US and Iran. US troop presence has been steadily rising in the region, and yesterday the military brass took a tour of the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia to reassure the pimply-faced boots on the ground that they were just as important as drones, ballistic missiles, and "invisible" jets. In a related story, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has decided to grace the House with his presence for a public hearing on US policy in Iraq and Iran after being threatened with a subpoena.
Jill Aitoro has an interview with the DOD's chief IT officer, Dana Deasy. It's a little dull if you're not up to speed on the jargon, but all you need to know is that the DOD is moving head with the JEDI cloud-computing system. The idea for JEDI is to create a network so boots, flight suit inserts, the brass, and Uncle Sam can hash out strategery in real-time.
BONUS: When the old farts running DOD (finally) realized they had a 21st century problem they began courting tech companies big and small. The JEDI contract has been kicked around around big tech until it finally landed at Microsoft last year. Amazon is suing now government, arguing that the contract was unfairly given to Microsoft after Donald Trump, according to Jeff Bezos, "screwed Amazon."
Two academics have been accused of spying for China. Charles Lieber, the chair of Harvard's Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, was arrested and accused of lying to the DOD for years about about ties to China's Thousand Talents Plan, a program to recruit super nerds. Yanquing Ye and Zaosong Zheng were charged alongside Lieber in a scheme that, according to US authorities, was, "a massive, long-term campaign to steal US technology."
Meanwhile, In Not America...
French police clashed with firefighters in the ongoing protests over President Emmanuel Macrons pension reform plan. At one point several firefighters lit themselves on fire. Police responded with tear gas and water cannons.
A suspected terrorist attack in Burkina Faso has left 39 people dead. The attack comes as defense nerds warn about the rise of religious nuts with connections to terrorist groups.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was formally indicted on corruption charges yesterday. Bibi had claimed he was immune from prosecution for allegedly accepting $264,000 in gifts in exchanges for favorable news coverage. In response to Bibi's indictment, Benny Gantz, his rival in upcoming elections, tweeted, "The citizens of Israel have a clear choice: a prime minister who works for them or a prime minister busy with himself. No one can manage the country and in parallel manage three serious criminal cases."
Move Fast, Break Things
Just like everything else, Elizabeth Warren has a plan for disinformation. Warren says she will, "Push for new laws that impose tough civil and criminal penalties for knowingly disseminating [misinformation]," and calls on social media companies to label state-controlled media organizations. Warren's camp also pledges not to use disinfo in her campaign, though other 2020 Democratic candidates have made similar pledges (as opposed to Donald Trump, who actively creates and spreads disinformation). [Warren's Plan]
The Guardian built a database of the Trump campaign's 2019 Facebook ads in order to study the spending and their impressions. The campaign spent almost almost $20 million last year, and has a habit of blanketing the digital airwaves whenever Trump is facing a particularly bad day in the press, like revelations about his Ukraine scheme, or during the impeachment proceedings. The ads seemed designed to a few key things: harvest email addresses, beg for money, and peddle crazy bullshit (IN ALL CAPS).
Writing in The Information, Christopher Stern reports Republicans are warming up to Facebook now that it's hiring so many of their former colleagues.
Facebook is slowly revealing information about the Facebook Oversight Board, its 40-person Supreme Court of social media. This absolutely brilliant idea has a set of bylaws, procedures, and hierarchies, similar to the college fraternities that shunned Mark Zuckerberg. Casey Newton writes that it's only a matter of time before political ads face the internet court, commenting that the board's charter seems, "created specifically to rule on Zuckerberg’s stance on political ads." Zuckerberg's stance, you may recall, is that, anything goes (for the right price).
Facebook has launched a tool to show users some of the data it sucks up. Called, "Off-Facebook Activity," the thing thing is buried behind a maze of menus. Kate Cox has a write up at Ars Technica on how to best utilize the tool, and notes there isn't much you're going to be able to do to stop Facebook. [Off-Facebook Activity]
If you want to limit Facebook's from stalking you like obsessive ex-lover, I recommend switching back Firefox, and taking advantage of Mozilla's Facebook Container. If you have to use Facebook, use the semi-complicated Fluffbusting Purity extension. For mobile users, delete that crap: Uninstall Facebook, uninstall Facebook Lite, uninstall Facebook Messenger, uninstall Instagram and uninstall WhatsApp. Get a library card instead.
One More Thing...
I don't know what say about Vic Berger's most recent video masterpiece. It's amazing, and it's weird, and it’s uncomfortable, and I just had to share it with you. Your welcome, and I'm sorry.
OK, now here's a warm and fuzzy critter video! KITTIES!
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