Author: Freedomwat.ch Staff

This author has written 1563 articles

Trump announces trade war with Canada, retroactive 20% tax on lumber

"Claiming the U.S. has been 'taken advantage of' under the Clinton-era NAFTA trade deal, President Trump Monday night opened a trade war with Canada, announcing a retroactive 20 percent 'tax' on lumber imports, and promising a similar tax on Canadian milk. 'Canada has treated us very unfairly,' the president said in impromptu remarks at a reception for conservative journalists. 'We have been taken so advantage of,' he said, speaking it the Roosevelt Room. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who accompanied the president into the reception, said that the 'countervailing duty' would be retroactive 90 days." Continue reading →

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Bose accused of spying on end users, data mining via headphone app

"According to plaintiff Kyle Zak, the spying began when Bose released a mandatory Bose Connect application that all users must install to 'fully operate its wireless products.' What Bose didn’t draw much attention to, according to the suit, is that Bose Connect collects data on all the musical content or audio books that you listen to on its headphones. As the suit notes, this is a major invasion of privacy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBose accused of spying on end users, data mining via headphone app

Dad and Daughter Hauled Off United Flight, Assumed Sex Trafficker

"A dad returning from Mexico with his 3-year-old daughter was briefly detained on suspicion that he was engaged in sex trafficking. (And not to pile on, but it was a United flight.) Despite papa having her passport, his passport, and a notarized letter from the mom saying that she gave them her permission to travel, the authorities felt compelled to act upon a 'tip'—a tip that was nothing more than a passenger's hysteria-fueled hunch that 3-year-olds are being trafficked right and left in the USA." Continue reading →

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U.S. chooses Afghanistan for first “mother of all bombs” drop

"The Afghanistan strike had been in the works for a number of months, Martin reports. The weapon was brought into Afghanistan specifically for this mission. General John Nicholson, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, was required to get permission to use the weapon, but it’s unclear how far up the chain of command his request traveled." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. chooses Afghanistan for first “mother of all bombs” drop

British visitors to US to be ‘asked’ for passwords and phone contacts at airports

"British visitors to the US may be asked for social media usernames and passwords and their phone’s address book under new border checks being considered at US airports. The Trump administration is considering 'extreme vetting' scenarios in which even tourists from US allies such as the UK, France and Germany are subject to intense security checks, according to the Wall Street Journal. 'We will do it when we think there’s a reason to do it,' US Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly told a US Senate committee hearing last week." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBritish visitors to US to be ‘asked’ for passwords and phone contacts at airports

New York: Facebook Can’t Challenge Demands for User Data, Or Gag Orders

"Facebook is not allowed to tell their users that law enforcement is taking their data. And Facebook is not allowed to challenge these orders on behalf of their users. So in true kangaroo court fashion, the only people able to challenge the government are those forbidden from being told that the government is investigating them. Well isn’t that convenient for prosecutors. How are gag orders even Constitutional? You would think things like free speech and the right to know your accuser might cover that. But again, the government plays by no rules." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew York: Facebook Can’t Challenge Demands for User Data, Or Gag Orders

Doctor Bloodied, Dragged By Police Off Overbooked Plane So Employees Could Fly

"Video of police officers dragging a passenger from an overbooked United Airlines flight sparked an uproar Monday on social media, and a spokesman for the airline insisted that employees had no choice but to contact authorities to remove the man. As the flight waited to depart from Chicago's O'Hare Airport, officers could be seen grabbing the screaming man from a window seat, pulling him across the armrest and dragging him down the aisle by his arms. The airline was trying to make room for four of its employees on the Sunday evening flight to Louisville, Kentucky." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDoctor Bloodied, Dragged By Police Off Overbooked Plane So Employees Could Fly

The Real Surveillance Problem

"The real story—and scandal—of intelligence surveillance and incidental collection is the mass incidental collection and use of Americans’ communications without a warrant. Under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), countless Americans are subject to the same incidental collection that President Trump now thinks is a serious problem, and the rules for accessing and using those communications are far more lax than the Susan Rice process, and totally unrelated to foreign intelligence and national security." Continue reading →

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