AT&T says it cooperated with Russia probe special counsel in Cohen case

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Telecommunications giant AT&T Inc, which paid President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen at least $200,000, said on Wednesday it had cooperated fully with the special counsel in the Russia probe.

“When we were contacted by the Special Counsel’s office regarding Michael Cohen, we cooperated fully, providing all information requested in November and December of 2017,” the company said in a statement.

Via Reuters

Featured Image: Mike Mozart/Flickr

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Zuckerberg Denies that Facebook Uses your Phone’s Microphone to Spy on you…Hmm

Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared before Congress again today to finish off a second day of questioning on Capitol Hill. His appearance was voluntary and came as a result of the recent Cambridge Analytica data breach that saw the loss of 80 million plus Facebook users’ data.

Zuckerberg was questioned on a number of issues challenging Facebook including data usage, selling user data, privacy, the societal value of Facebook, Facebook’s political stance and how they censor outlets based on their political stance.

One of the longest running theories about Facebook was that it would collect information from your verbal conversations via your phone’s microphone while you have your phone on or around you. You likely experienced the following before: You are having a conversation with friends about a very specific brand, specific product and so forth. Then suddenly you hop on Facebook, having not searched for that product or brand at all, now there is an ad for that very product in your newsfeed.

Logically one would think the only way for this to happen would be that they are analyzing trigger words in your conversations. That, or they are somehow tapped into your consciousness and gathering data that way.

Congressman Larry Bucsh asked Zuckerberg on Wednesday whether or not Facebook does in fact mine data via your personal conversations using your phones microphone.

“My understanding is that a lot of these cases that you’re talking about are a coincidence,” Zuckerberg told Congress. This answer did not seem to go over so well based on the look on Bucsh’s face. Not just that, how could this truly explain the frequency and incredible accuracy of this phenomenon.

Zuckerberg was asked the question on both days of questioning as it has been one of the major questions surrounding Facebook spying. Still Zuckerberg stated that it was a “conspiracy theory,” and denied the practice with a flat “no.” He went on to say that he doesn’t know of any company using this tactic. Except for maybe the NSA? We know this tech exists, the question is does Facebook use it and are they willing to admit it?

Was he telling the truth? Does one even need to tell the truth during these types of hearings? While some of us think yes, in fact they don’t. And in many cases people have lied for us only to find out the truth a short time after.

Let’s not forget that former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told Congress the NSA does not “wittingly” spy on Americans. And yet only a few months later whistleblower Edward Snowden showed the entire world that the NSA was doing just that.

When it comes to news and information censorship, Facebook routinely does this to protect their own political position. We have seen this first hand when we share content that challenges Facebook’s own ideologies. Regardless of the fact our journalistic process uses facts, sources and proof that are well founded, Facebook views this as threatening information. Censorship has been intense from our perspective.

Reflecting On Why This Is Important

In December of 2017 I released an article stating Facebook would go through a deep awakening in 2018 due to the fact that their platform seems to be in need of a shift. Users are clearly unhappy and the social media giant has been using manipulative psychological tactics to prey on its users in order to keep them using the platform.

During a time where humanity’s consciousness is shifting so dramatically, this type of behaviour from companies won’t go unnoticed and people will begin to figure out what’s going on. Not only that, in a natural course of action companies will in essence ‘be outed’ for the things that aren’t in alignment with humanity truly thriving.

I feel this spotlight on Facebook is actually inspiring to see. While on one hand we can say it’s politics and congress trying to decide if they need to step in and help regulate, and on another hand dirty dealings, lies and deceit are coming to the surface in what is like a great unveiling where humanity can now reflect upon itself and what it does.

Is Facebook still of value to our daily lives when they do only what’s in the best interest of their business and not the user experience? Should we be spending so much time on a platform using tactics to manipulate us?

The barrage of ‘bad press’ for Facebook has been tough as they are losing users in the millions every month. In the end we learn another valuable lesson from this, when we, or companies, do things that don’t benefit the whole, our day or ‘reckoning,’ if you will, comes. What I mean by this is, as humanity we have to learn to do things that truly favor all involved or that do not harm nor take advantage of others simply for our individual benefit. This is a lesson being seen on the macrocosm but applies to the micro as well.

In your day, do you find yourself taking advantage of others? Running your business or your plans to benefit yourself more so than others? Why do you find yourself doing this? I believe we can all turn what we see in the ‘real world’ into an internal reflection for ourselves as well.

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WH Press Secretary: ‘No personal devices allowed in the West Wing’

New policy in the West Wing cracks down on leakers

WASHINGTON (INTELLIHUB) — White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders relayed a message that was directed at both guests and staff which made it clear that personal electronic devices will no longer be allowed inside of the West Wing at all.

Bloomberg News reporter Jennifer Jacobs broke the details on Twitter Thursday morning when she tweeted:

On West Wing personal cellphone ban:

“All personal devices for both guests and staff will no longer be allowed in the West Wing,” @PressSec says in statement.

“Staff will be able to conduct business on their government-issued devices.”

On West Wing personal cellphone ban:

“All personal devices for both guests and staff will no longer be allowed in the West Wing,” @PressSec says in statement.

“Staff will be able to conduct business on their government-issued devices.”https://t.co/UA1lhoh49m

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) January 4, 2018

The new policy is likely designed to deter leakers and fortify the inner sanctum.

©2018. INTELLIHUB.COM. All Rights Reserved.

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Completely Alone And Utterly Depressed

Do you ever feel like you have been completely abandoned by the world?  Do you struggle with feelings of loneliness, isolation and depression?  If so, you are far from alone.  Thanks to technology Americans are more isolated than they have ever been before, and as you will see below, this is really starting to cause a major national crisis.  Humans were designed to be social creatures, and researchers have found that a lack of interaction with others can cause major mental, emotional and social problems.  Not only that, it can also lead to premature death.  We actually have a need to love others and to be loved by them, and if those needs are not met the consequences can be quite dramatic.

Unfortunately, our society has evolved to the point where we hardly interact with one another anymore.  First of all, the size of the average household has declined from about 4.5 people to about 2.5 people over the past 100 years, and we lead the world in the number of one person households.

So for most of us, the number of people that we interact with in our homes is quite limited.

For children, at least there is quite a bit of interaction with others at school, but once you become an adult things are very different.

Most adults get up in the morning and drive by themselves to work.  Even if you take mass transportation, it is very rare to actually have a meaningful discussion with anyone.  I remember the days when I would take the Metro into Washington D.C. every morning, and most of the time there was complete silence even though the trains were usually completely packed during rush hour.  Most people would either close their eyes, read a book or spend the entire trip staring into their phones.

I have to say that cell phones have probably done more to damage real human interaction than almost any other invention in human history.  So many people just walk around like zombies obsessively staring into their little phones while life goes on all around them.  And it is the worst with young people.  For some of them, it is virtually impossible to get them to put those things down long enough to have a real conversation with them.

Once most Americans get to their places of employment there is some human interaction, but it is generally limited to topics related to work.  Yes, some very deep and meaningful relationships can be built at work, but these days that is fairly rare.

At the end of the day, most people get back into their vehicles and head home.  Perhaps a stop is made for a quick shopping trip, but randomly engaging other shoppers in conversation is not something that is typically done.

In the evenings, the vast majority of us spend several hours staring into our flickering television sets consuming whatever “entertainment” the corporate media giants have concocted for us.  Like the cell phone, the television has been one of the worst things to ever happen to human interaction.  In the old days, families would sit out on their front porches and get to know their neighbors, but these days a lot of people don’t know their neighbors at all.

What I am trying to point out is that we have become a deeply lonely nation, and some are describing this as “a public health crisis”…

Truly, a public health crisis is in the making. Transcending all demographics, loneliness is an epidemic which is literally killing us.

After 35 years of multiple studies, Brigham Young University researchers have found that loneliness and isolation increase the likelihood of premature death by 32 percent (on par with the risk of obesity). In our ever “connected” world of the Internet and social media, reaching out to someone is as easy as tapping a few buttons, but the amount of people that say they have no one to talk to has tripled in the last 20 years.

In addition to greatly increasing your risk of dying early, loneliness has a whole host of other negative health effects as well…

Research indicates that perceived social isolation (i.e. loneliness) is a risk factor for, and may contribute to, poorer overall cognitive performance, faster cognitive decline, poorer executive functioning, increased negativity and depressive cognition, heightened sensitivity to social threats, a confirmatory bias in social cognition that is self-protective and paradoxically self-defeating, heightened anthropomorphism and contagion that threatens social cohesion.

I don’t know what all of that means, but it sounds really bad.

Sometimes I wish that scientists would just speak to us in plain English.

Loneliness is particularly chronic among the elderly.  The following comes from the New York Times…

“The profound effects of loneliness on health and independence are a critical public health problem,” said Dr. Carla M. Perissinotto, a geriatrician at the University of California, San Francisco. “It is no longer medically or ethically acceptable to ignore older adults who feel lonely and marginalized.”

In Britain and the United States, roughly one in three people older than 65 live alone, and in the United States, half of those older than 85 live alone. Studies in both countries show the prevalence of loneliness among people older than 60 ranging from 10 percent to 46 percent.

If you have a parent or a grandparent that is living alone, please visit them on a regular basis.

You may never know how much it means to them.

Of course loneliness is a big problem on the other end of the age spectrum as well.  The following comes from U.S. News & World Report…

The American Freshman Survey collected responses from about 153,000 full-time, first-year students at more than 200 four-year public and private institutions in 2014. An increasing number of students – now 38.8 percent – said they spend less than five hours each week with friends, while just 18 percent said they spend more than 16 hours weekly with friends. It’s the opposite of the picture student responses painted in 1987, when two-thirds said they spent more than 16 hours each week socializing.

Those numbers are absolutely staggering.  Because so many of us are feeling so lonely and so isolated, it should come as no surprise that depression is at epidemic levels in this country.

In fact, the number of Americans that have been formally diagnosed with depression is increasing at a rate of about 20 percent a year, and at this moment approximately one out of every six Americans is on an anti-depressant or some other sort of psychiatric drug.

According to the New York Times, more than 30 million Americans are currently taking antidepressants, and each year more than 250 million prescriptions for antidepressants are issued.

As technology takes over our lives, the trends that I have discussed in this article will likely accelerate even more, and our need for real human interaction will become even greater.

So make it a point to reach out and love those around you, because our world is becoming a very cold place.

Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Stop Warrantless Cell Phone Searches at the Border

(ANTIMEDIA) In the waning years of the Obama administration, Customs and Border Protection agents had a bad habit of conducting warrantless searches of cellphones and laptops. Documents released to the American Civil Liberties Union under Freedom of Information Act requests revealed that Border Patrol agents searched over 6,500 people from October 2008 to June 2010. Though we are less than 100 days into the Trump Era, the focus on immigration raids and deportation seems to have contributed to an atmosphere of police state measures.

In early March, NBC News highlighted the rise in violations of basic rights, including an increase from 5,000 warrantless searches in 2015 to 25,000 in 2016. This data from the Department of Homeland Security also shows that an astonishing 5,000 people were searched along the border in February 2017. In response to these searches, four members of Congress have introduced legislation that would require border agents to get a warrant before performing a search of someone’s cell phone, laptop, or tablet. The bill was simultaneously introduced by Senator Ron Wyden and Representatives Jared Polis and Blake Farenthold. If the measure becomes law, it will require border agents to have probable cause and a warrant before accessing the contents of a device belonging to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. The bill also makes it clear that agents cannot hold individuals for more than four hours in an attempt to force them to unlock their devices.

“If the bill is passed it would effectively prohibit CBP from doing what it does now, which is searching and seizing devices of U.S. persons,” Neema Singh Giuliani, legislative counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, told The Intercept.

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Senator Wyden has often criticized invasive surveillance and violations of Fourth Amendment protections guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. In February, Wyden sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security seeking information on CBP searches. The Customs and Border Protection believes they have the right to search without warrants as part of their mission to secure the border. The CBP notifies the public of this belief in their tearsheet, which acknowledges that federal agents can search phones and make copies for forensic analysis. The CBP searches are backed by Supreme Court rulings that found people crossing the border have fewer protections under the Fourth Amendment. The court has not specifically ruled on whether or not cell phones are subject to force, although they have ruled that warrantless searches of phones are illegal inside the country.

“Searches of people at the border is an area where there’s a wide gap between what we think people’s rights are and what their facts are on the ground,” Nathan Freed Wessler, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, told Business Insider. “Various courts haven’t had an opportunity to weigh in on these issues yet, so CBP is operating with a lot of claimed authority and a lot of latitude.”

Until the Supreme Court weighs in, Border Patrol agents will continue to search electronic devices by the thousands. In fact, federal agents along the borders of the United States violate constitutional rights so often that it has come to be known as a “Constitution-Free Zone.” Earlier this year, it was reported that the White House is exploring the possibility of scanning the social media accounts of all incoming visitors to the United States. President Trump’s rhetoric and ramping up of police state measures in the name of fighting illegal immigration has set the tone for policing along the border. The new bill could potentially slow down the march towards a totalitarian border, but ultimately, it will take the people standing up — together — to fight against tyranny. We should be wary of those who attempt to sell security at the cost of liberty.

President Trump’s rhetoric and ramping up of police state measures in the name of fighting illegal immigration has set the tone for policing along the border. The new bill could potentially slow down the march towards a totalitarian border, but ultimately, it will take the people standing up — together — to fight against tyranny. We should be wary of those who attempt to sell security at the cost of liberty.

Creative Commons / Anti-Media / Report a typo

Conspiracy Theory Confirmed: Secret Docs Show Gov’t Covered Up Cell Phone Cancer Risks for Years

After years hidden from the public, California Department of Public Health officials have finally released a draft document outlining health concerns stemming from cellphone radiation — including multiple cancers and infertility.

“We have evidence of brain tumors and other head and neck tumors. We also have evidence of sperm damage in males, infertility in females,” explained Joel Moskowitz of U.C. Berkeley’s School of Public Health, who sued the state in 2016 under the California Public Records Act to obtain the information.

Although the Department of Public Health ultimately chose not to publish the document — both pages have since been emblazoned with “Draft and Not for Public Release” — its content is of critical import to cellphone users around the planet.

San Francisco affiliate ABC7 reports, “Moskowitz says there’s been a lot of pressure from the wireless industry to keep any kind of negative report on cellphones hidden from the public,” and, he notes,

“[T]hey’ve done a very good job at it, essentially following the same playbook that the tobacco industry used.”

Moskowitz’ conclusion seems apt. Despite the matter-of-fact tone with which the nature of cellphone health threats is presented, the document — appropriately titled “Cell Phones and Health” — reads more like a checklist for phone usage.

Following several simple guidelines parsed out by health officials could help prevent the development of brain and other cancers, as well as other afflictions. In fact, basic protocols like holding the phone at a distance, switching to speakerphone, or, most preferably, using headphones for conversations can all help reduce risk.

And CDPH’s Division of Environmental and Occupational Disease Control believes sufficient reason exists to be concerned, as the document states,

“Cell phones, like other electronic devices, emit a kind of energy called radiofrequency EMFs (electromagnetic fields). Health officials are concerned about possible health effects from cell phone EMFs because some recent studies suggest that long-term cell phone use may increase the risk of brain cancer and other health problems […]

“Several studies have found that people with certain kinds of brain cancer were more likely to have used cell phones for 10 years or more. Most of the cancers were on the same side of the head that people usually held their phones. Although the chance of developing brain cancer is very small, these studies suggest that regular cell phone use increases the risk of developing some kinds of brain cancer. Some studies have also linked exposure to EMFs from cell phones to fertility problems. As more studies are done and we learn about possible risks for cancer and other health problems linked to cell phone use, the recommendations on this fact sheet may change.”

Where the government chose a painfully neutral tone to discuss the gravity of possible side effects, others have been warning about the perils of cellphones for years.

“People need to know, people are unaware that cellphones as they are used now are not safe,” Ellie Marks of the California Brain Tumor Association, told ABC7.

Environmental Working Group (EWG) eight years ago released its own set of guidelines for safer cellphone operation, as well as a review of studies on cellphone radiation, including one from the “World Health Organization that linked cell phone radiation to brain cancer, and other studies that linked cell phone radiation to diminished sperm count and sperm damage.”

EWB reports officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention deny succumbing to pressure from the mobile phone industry — but nonetheless, the information in the health document could have been put to better use with a full, public release. As EWB continues,

“In human epidemiological studies, cell phone use has been linked to an increased risk of brain and salivary gland cancers. Studies from teams of scientists in several nations have raised troubling questions about possible associations between heavy cell phone use and altered brain metabolism, sleep disturbance, and even diminished sperm count and sperm damage. In 2011, the World Health Organization declared cell phone radiation a possible carcinogen.

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“Animal studies support the findings in people. A multi-year study from the U.S. National Toxicology Program found that male rats exposed to radio-frequency radiation from before birth through two years of age had a greater chance of being diagnosed with a brain cancer called malignant glioma, as well as developing a tumor found on the heart. The radiation levels to which the rats were exposed included levels that current cell phones are allowed to emit.”

EWB emphasizes more research and study must occur before the extent of risks from cellphones can be fully assessed, but cautioned sufficient evidence has been found in previous studies to be trepidatious about current FCC rules regarding the ubiquitous devices.

In the meantime, CDC and California health officials continue calling for further research — without releasing guidelines that offer at least minimal guidance for the least risky use of a cellphone.

“This could have perhaps saved some lives if it had been published by the department seven years ago,” Moskowitz lamented. “It’s disconcerting it has taken so long to issue this. And still, they are making it clear this isn’t their official position.”

CDPH cell phone document April 2014