The CIA and the Media: 50 Facts the World Needs to Know

"Since the end of World War Two the Central Intelligence Agency has been a major force in US and foreign news media, exerting considerable influence over what the public sees, hears and reads on a regular basis. CIA publicists and journalists alike will assert they have few, if any, relationships, yet the seldom acknowledged history of their intimate collaboration indicates a far different story–indeed, one that media historians are reluctant to examine."

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What Country Is This? Forced Blood Draws, Cavity Searches and Colonoscopies

"Forced cavity searches, forced colonoscopies, forced blood draws, forced breath-alcohol tests, forced DNA extractions, forced eye scans, forced inclusion in biometric databases: these are just a few ways in which Americans are being forced to accept that we have no control over our bodies, our lives and our property, especially when it comes to interactions with the government."

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Documents burn as Trump escalates Russia conflict, ordering SF consulate vacated

"The order to leave the consulate and an official diplomatic residence in San Francisco — home to a longstanding community of Russian emigres and technology workers — escalated an already tense diplomatic standoff between Washington and Moscow, even for those who have long monitored activities inside the closely monitored building."

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YouTube Labels Ron Paul Videos “Not Suitable” For Advertising

"Wikileaks founder Julian Assange tweeted a screenshot of Paul’s 'Liberty Report' page showing that his videos had been labeled 'not suitable' for all advertisers by YouTube's content arbiters. Assange claims that Paul was being punished for speaking out about President Donald Trump’s decision to increase the number of US troops in Afghanistan, after Paul published a video on the subject earlier this week."

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465,000 patients have implanted pacemakers with critical security vulnerability

"Pacemakers from Abbott Laboratories contain critical flaws that allow hijackers within radio range to seize control while the pacemakers are running. The update will require patients to visit a clinic where doctors will put the pacemakers in backup mode while the firmware is being patched. The Abbott letter said that, for certain patients, the update should be performed 'in a facility where temporary pacing and pacemaker generator change are readily available, due to the very small estimated risk of firmware update malfunction.'"

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CIA sneaks undetectable ‘malicious’ implants onto Windows OS: WikiLeaks

"Windows machines are targeted by the CIA under ‘Angelfire,’ according to the latest release from WikiLeaks’ ‘Vault7’ series. The documents detail an implant that can allow Windows machines to create undetectable libraries. WikiLeaks says the leaked ‘Vault 7’ documents came from within the CIA, which has in turn refused to confirm their authenticity. Previous releases include details on CIA hacking tools used to weaponize mobile phones, compromize smart TVs and the ability to trojan the Apple OS."

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US government: We can jail you indefinitely for not decrypting your data

"The US government is fighting to keep a former police officer in prison because he claims not to be able to remember the code to decrypt two hard drives under investigation. The ex-cop has twice appealed the decision to detain him, once in federal court and once in the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals. His lawyers argue that holding him breaches his Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate himself. The government is also arguing that, as Rawls didn't use his Fifth Amendment rights in his initial appeal he can't try to use that defense now."

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Cop violently arrests nurse for refusing to draw blood from unconscious crash victim

"Detective Jeff Payne is suspended from blood-draw duties but remains in his role as a detective in the investigations unit. The patient was a truck driver who arrived at the hospital comatose after being badly burned in a crash with a vehicle driven by someone fleeing police, the Deseret News reported."

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The man who wanted to split California into six states now wants to make it three

"Tim Draper filed his proposed 2018 ballot initiative on Friday asking voters to split California into three new states: Northern California, California and Southern California. 'The citizens of the whole state would be better served by three smaller state governments while preserving the historical boundaries of the various counties, cities, and towns,' Draper wrote in the initiative's statement of findings."

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