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Spotify buys company that detects “dangerous misinformation” and “harmful content”
Audio streaming service Spotify has acquired Kinzen – a company that detects and flags “dangerous misinformation and harmful content” within audio content by generating and analyzing audio transcriptions.
Spotify began partnering with Kinzen in 2020. In a blog post about the acquisiton, Spotify said Kinzen’s technology helps Spotify “analyze potential harmful content in multiple languages and countries.”
Kinzen has previously received funding from tech giant Meta and Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN). IFCN partners with Meta to “fact-check” posts on its platforms.
Kinzen also works with “content moderation service providers engaged by large technology companies,” consults with “public policy makers seeking to better understand and respond to harmful content,” and has previously partnered with other fact-checkers to detect “climate misinformation in audio.”
Kinzen’s technology works by using machine learning models to detect and flag “harmful language, language, claims, narratives, and policy violations” within the audio transcriptions it has generated.
Hacker Sentenced to Probation, No Prison Time, for Data Breach Affecting 100 Million People
A former tech worker from Seattle who was convicted of multiple charges related to the massive hack of Capital One bank and other firms back in 2019 has been sentenced to five years of probation after pleading mental illness.
Paige A. Thompson, 37, used a tool to scan Amazon Web Services (AWS) accounts to identify those which were misconfigured. She then used these misconfigured accounts to hack into networks of over 30 entities and download data, obtaining the personal information of over 100 million people. The data breach forced Capital One to reach a tentative $190 million settlement with affected customers. Capital One was fined $80 million by the Treasury Department for failing to protect data.
Thompson also planted cryptocurrency mining software on the hacked servers, collecting the income generated from such mining. Arrested in July 2019, she was found guilty by a federal jury in June 2022 following a seven-day trial.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik sentenced Thompson to time served plus five years of probation, including location and computer monitoring.
During the sentencing, Lasnik noted that time in prison would be “particularly difficult” for Thompson due to her being transgender and having mental health issues.
U.S. Attorney Nick Brown said that he was “disappointed” with the court’s decision and insisted that this is not what “justice looks like.”
“Ms. Thompson’s hacking and theft of information of 100 million people did more than $250 million in damage to companies and individuals. Her cybercrimes created anxiety for millions of people who are justifiably concerned about their private information. This conduct deserves a more significant sanction,” Brown said.
USDA Now Asking People to Register Their Vegetable Gardens for National Database
In a move that has many folks scratching their heads, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has renewed its push for the People’s Garden Initiative which now includes registering vegetable gardens nationwide. According to the USDA, the move is to foster a “more diverse and resilient local food system to empower communities to address issues like nutrition access and climate change.” But those who have been following the USDA closely for years know that they couldn’t care less about your health and nutrition.
To register your garden with the USDA, one must meet several easily obtainable standards.
School gardens, community gardens, urban farms, and small-scale agriculture projects in rural, suburban and urban areas can be recognized as a “People’s Garden” if they register on the USDA website and meet criteria including benefitting the community, working collaboratively, incorporating conservation practices and educating the public.
These standards essentially define every community garden in the country. Now, the government organization that shells out billions every year to companies whose products, like high-fructose corn syrup, are responsible for a massive epidemic of obesity across the planet, will have a database of them.
“We welcome gardens nationwide to join us in the People’s Garden effort and all it represents,” said Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, “Local gardens across the country share USDA’s goals of building more diversified and resilient local food systems, empowering communities to come together around expanding access to healthy food, addressing climate change and advancing equity.”
Secretary Vilsack added: “We encourage existing gardens and new gardens to join the movement. Growing local food benefits local communities in so many ways, and we offer technical resources to help. Also, it’s a great way to connect with your local USDA team members.”
Again, it is important to point out that the mission statement of the USDA does not involve anything to do with keeping Americans healthy. In fact, their track record over the years has done the complete opposite.
Homeless getting kicked out of shelters to make room for illegal immigrants in Eric Adams’ NYC
Multiple sources in the Bronx have alleged that New York’s homeless are being kicked out of shelters to make room for the illegal immigrants making their way to New York City.
“I’ve seen a high traffic of immigrants who are seeking political asylum overcrowding these shelters,” a high level Bronx community leader who wished to remain anonymous shared, “our local citizens who have been in these shelters for over 2 years have been kicked out and are sleeping in the streets and not getting the resources they need.”
She went on to share that the homeless population has “increased tremendously” sharing that they are now camping out in the train stations, buses, churches or squatting illegally in front of people’s homes.
Donnie “Kayborn” Rivers, who has run a nonprofit in the Bronx for the past seven years, had a similar story to tell. “You go to the train and there’s a lot of people sleeping on the train too..and i really feel that a lot of that is happening because of the people that’s coming, the immigrants that’s coming,” he said.
He further went on to detail how not only have the homeless population been overlooked by the city, but Mayor Eric Adams was quick to invest time, money and resources for the influx of illegal immigrants making their way to New York.
“The mayor just finished opening up a whole encampment up in Orchard Beach where they’re housing people from another country,” Rivers shared, “but our people still sleeping on the train and still sleeping outside.”
Adams, who invested 150 million dollars into the project, has since scrapped building the camps in the parking of Orchard Beach due to safety concerns.
Residents of the Bronx on Monday, organized a press conference calling out the humanitarian and safety concerns of building the camps in this location.
“It’s inhumane, it’s dangerous and it was not well thought out. I don’t think Mayor Adams even came to look at the site before doing it,” one resident stated, “Did he see that there was a playground there and just didn’t care?” she asked, pointing to the child’s playground located in the same parking lot as the camp.
US spies admit Ukraine killed Darya Dugina
US spies believe that the Moscow car bombing that killed journalist Darya Dugina in August was authorized by “parts” of the Ukrainian government, the New York Times reported on Wednesday. The anonymous intelligence officials also claimed Washington had not been involved in any way, would have opposed the operation if they had known about it, and “admonished” Kiev afterwards, none of which could be independently verified.
Dugina was killed on August 20, when the car she drove exploded on the outskirts of Moscow. Russian authorities blamed Kiev and named two Ukrainian nationals as the suspects, but never accused the US of having any role in the assassination.
“The United States took no part in the attack, either by providing intelligence or other assistance,” the anonymous officials told the Times. They “also said they were not aware of the operation ahead of time and would have opposed the killing had they been consulted,” according to the story, bylined by Julian E. Barnes, Adam Goldman, Adam Entous and Michael Schwirtz.
News & Conspiracies
The Western political/media class has been dismissing as “conspiracy theories” all claims that the U.S. is likely responsible for last month’s sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, even while leveling the exact same accusations against Russia without ever using that term. Which probably says a lot about the way that label has been used over the years, if you think about it.
At a U.N. Security Council meeting on Friday, U.S. envoy Richard Mills repeatedly accused Russia of promoting “conspiracy theories” in its Nord Stream accusations against the United States, saying that “our Russian colleagues have decided to instrumentalize the Security Council meeting to spread conspiracy theories and disinformation.”
“It’s important that we use this meeting not to foster conspiracy theories, but to focus our attention on Russia’s blatant violation of the Charter and its crimes in Ukraine,” Mills argues, after saying that “the United States categorically denies any involvement in this incident” and that there is no justification for “the Russian delegation raising conspiracy theories and mass disinformation in this Council.”
Mills then spends the remainder of his remarks insinuating that it is actually Russia who perpetrated the attacks, mentioning the word “infrastructure” no less than nine times in his arguments to establish that in Ukraine, Russia has a history of attacking critical civilian infrastructure similar to the pipelines.
MISSING MURDERS: Latest FBI homicide numbers OMIT New York and LA
On Wednesday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation released their national crime statistics report for 2021. However, that report leaves out key data from Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and other high-crime locales.
That report revealed that the murder rate had increased compared to the previous year.
According to a press release, the estimated number of murders nationwide increased from 22,000 in 2020 to 22,900 in 2021, a 4.3 percent jump.
The FBI explained that while murder and rape went up in 2021, robbery was down 8.9 percent, balancing things out, which they say resulted in a relatively consistent violent and property crime rate compared to 2020.
“It is important to note that these estimated trends are not considered statistically significant by NIBRS estimation methods,” they wrote, adding that “the nonsignificant nature of the observed trends is why, despite these described changes, the overall message is that crime remained consistent.”
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, however, the FBI’s latest report should be viewed with caution for a number of reasons.
Firstly, they explained, law enforcement agencies across the country have had to transition to the new National Incident Based Reporting System, which not all have done.
This has left sizable gaps in the reporting, including a lack of information from places known for having a higher than average crime rate.
Among the areas that have not switched over to the new system, and thus were not included in the 2021 report, are New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, which has stated that they don’t plan on making the shift until 2025.
Election Software CEO Arrested Over Data Theft, Storing Data on Servers in China
The head of Konnech Corporation, a Michigan-based software company, was arrested on Oct. 4 for allegedly stealing and storing personal data of Los Angeles County election workers on servers in China.
Konnech’s CEO Eugene Yu, 51, was arrested on charges of stealing “the personal identifying information” of LA County election workers, according to the LA County District Attorney’s Office.
Investigators also seized computer hard drives and other digital data relevant to the case. The office said that it would seek Yu’s extradition to Los Angeles.
According to the office, Konnech won a five-year, $2.9 million contract with LA County in 2020 for an election worker management system—named PollChief software—that was used by the county in the last California election.
The software was designed to assist with poll worker assignments, communications, and payroll, LA County District Attorney George Gascon said in a statement.
Under the contract, Konnech was supposed to securely maintain the data and only provide access to U.S. citizens and permanent residents. But investigators found that it stored the data on servers in China.
“In this case, the alleged conduct had no impact on the tabulation of votes and did not alter election results,” Gascon said. “But security in all aspects of any election is essential so that we all have full faith in the integrity of the election process.”
DC Council advances bill to let noncitizens vote
Washington, D.C.’s city council on Tuesday voted to advance a bill that would allow noncitizen residents to vote in local elections.
“Our immigrant neighbors of all statuses participate, contribute and care about our community in our city. They, like all DC residents, deserve a right to have a say in their government,” said D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen, introducing the bill during the Tuesday legislative meeting.
“They raise families here, contribute to their community. They run businesses that people depend on, and they pay taxes that we decide how to spend. Yet they have no ability to elect local leaders who make decisions about their bodies, their businesses and their tax dollars,” Allen said.
The bill would allow all noncitizen residents in the city who otherwise meet voting requirements to vote in local elections, including mayoral, school board and attorney general races — regardless of visa or documentation status.
The councilmembers voted 12-1 in favor of the bill on first reading, greenlighting the bill to go ahead for a final vote before it is sent to Mayor Muriel Bowser (D).
The bill comes as D.C. grapples with an influx of migrants transported into the city as Republican governors in three Southern border states protest the Biden administration’s immigration policies.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) alone has bused more than 10,000 migrants north to Democratic-led Washington, D.C., New York City and Chicago.
Abbott directly sent two buses to Vice President Harris’s Naval Observatory residence in D.C. as part of what he calls a protest of “sanctuary cities” and federal immigration policy. The action has drawn fire from many Democrats who say the governor is using the migrants as political pawns.
Councilmember Mary Cheh was the sole vote against the noncitizen voting bill.
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