Tag: secrecy

Dallas police to limit more details on crimes from public view

Public information used by news outlets to report breaking news and neighborhood groups to monitor crime will be harder to access in Dallas.

Names are being redacted from public reports, and there are plans to delay real-time information about active crimes in the city.

City staff started quietly changing what shows up in open records and only said an “incident” spurred it. But it’s still unclear what that incident was. At least one member of the city council wants answers.

Certain records aren’t as open on the city of Dallas’ open records website.

The city stopped putting in the personal information for people who report or witness crimes. And it plans to redact more information and even delay real-time active 911 call data for 24 hours. 

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John F. Kennedy’s Nephews Urge Biden Administration to Release Final Documents Pertaining to Assassination

Two of former President John F. Kennedy’s nephews are calling on the Biden administration to release the final documents pertaining to his assassination in 1963 after the White House announced last week that it was delaying releasing them due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The records were set to be made public on Tuesday, but the White House released a memo on Oct. 22 stating that it would delay their publication until at least Dec. 15.

In the memo, the White House said the National Archives and Records Administration has concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic has had “a significant impact on the agencies” and that they require additional time to consult with government agencies to determine how much more information about the assassination can be released.

Following the memo, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Politico that the government’s delay in releasing the remaining documents is “an outrage.”

“It’s an outrage against American democracy. We’re not supposed to have secret governments within the government,” he said. “How the hell is it 58 years later, and what in the world could justify not releasing these documents?”

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Loudoun County Forces Parents To Sign NDA-Style Form To View CRT-Inspired Curriculum

Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) is requiring parents to sign a form comparable to a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to view a portion of the district’s new curriculum inspired by critical race theory, according to documents reviewed by the Daily Caller.

As part of LCPS’ broader equity agenda, the district spent approximately $7,700 to become a “licensed user” of Second Step Programs, a branch of the left-leaning non-profit organization Committee for Children. According to a copy of the NDA-style form reviewed by the Daily Caller, “eligible parents” at LCPS must sign the document to view the Second Step curriculum.

Curriculum presentations can only be given in person and parents cannot broadcast, download, photograph, or record “in any manner whatsoever.” Downloadable files of part of the curriculum are available on LCPS’ website, per Second Step’s copyright policy.

“I understand that the Authorized Presentation of Second Step Materials I am about to view is not a public event, and that copying, broadcast or recording of any kind is not permitted,” the form reads. “I agree to comply with the terms of the above Special License.”

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House Republicans Say Schiff Is ‘Blocking’ The Release Of Dozens Of Secret Russia Transcripts

Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee called on Rep. Adam Schiff Tuesday to release 53 transcripts of interviews from the House Intelligence Committee’s Russia probe, saying that the California Democrat has blocked the release of the documents.

The Intelligence Committee voted to release the transcripts in September 2018. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence reviewed the transcripts to redact all classified information and completed that process in May 2019. A spokesperson for the office told The Daily Caller News Foundation on May 31, 2019, that the review would be completed “very soon.”

But Schiff, who chairs the Intelligence Committee, has withheld the release of the documents for reasons he has yet to explain.

The transcripts include interviews with Obama administration officials, FBI officials who worked on the Trump-Russia probe, current and former Trump administration officials, and individuals who have insight into the infamous Steele dossier.

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Inside Lockheed’s Super-Secret Skunk Works Factory

Over the years, we’ve mentioned Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works Advanced Development Programs (ADP), formerly called Lockheed Advanced Development Projects, for its production of highly classified war machines. Engineers at this top-secret campus have developed the U-2, SR-71 Blackbird, F-117 Nighthawk, F-22 Raptor, F-35 Lightning II, and there are rumors of sixth-generation fighter jets in development. 

Located sixty-two miles north of Los Angeles, Skunk Works in Palmdale, California, opened its doors to a select group of reporters on Aug. 10, for the first time in eight years, according to Air Force Magazine (AFM). 

For defense and aviation journalists, having the ability to tour the state-of-the-art factory was equivalent to receiving a Golden Ticket to Willy Wonka’s factory. 

Skunk Works opened its doors to a select group of reporters during a ribbon-cutting ceremony of a new factory on its massive 539-acre campus. 

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Biden Administration Erased Afghan Weapons Reports From Federal Websites

The War in Afghanistan has always been a black box, but the Biden administration just made matters worse.

According to an admission obtained from the State Department, Biden officials recently directed federal agencies to scrub their websites of official reports detailing the $82.9 billion in military equipment and training provided to the Afghan security forces since 2001.

The scrubbed audits and reports included detailed accounting of what the U.S. had provided to Afghan forces, down to the number of night vision devices, hand grenades, Black Hawk helicopters, and armored vehicles.

Reports further quantified 208 aircraft and helicopters; 75,000 war vehicles – including 22 Humvees, 50,000 tactical vehicles and nearly 1,000 mine resistant vehicles; and 600,000 weapons – including 350,000 M4 and M16 rifles, 60,000 machine guns, and 25,000 grenade launchers.

The State Department admitted to removing the reports but justified the move as a way to protect Afghan allies. According to a spokesperson:

“The safety of our Afghan contacts is of utmost importance to us. The State Department advised other federal agencies of to [sic] review their web properties for content that highlights cooperation/participation between an Afghan citizen and the USG or a USG partner and remove from public view if it poses a security risk.”

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Navy’s ‘Area 51’ is a secretive base located in the Bahamas

The US Navy has its own secretive base in the Bahamas with some similarities to the Air Force’s Area 51 in Nevada.

The Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center — AUTEC — is even surrounded by its own mysteries involving UFOs, according to a report on Britain’s Express website:

READ: Area 51 shock: What is this secret US Navy base known as ‘underwater Area 51?’

Just as Area 51 is isolated between mountain ranges in remote areas, AUTEC’s location affords it some privacy and a unique testing area called the “Tongue of the Ocean” — or “TOTO.” The long, deep trench with a flat bottom provides a perfect area to test sonar and communication technologies in an area free from “noise.”

The base has been there, only about 120 miles from Florida’s coast, for 56 years.

Training in underwater warfare and a weapons range add to the base’s role in research and development.

But what’s this about UFOs? Express lists a couple of rumors:

  • Claims of aliens working with Navy personnel in the deep underwater base at the tip of the Bermuda Triangle
  • Time travel experiments

Looking for more detail? Sorry, that’s it.

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9/11 families to President Biden: Don’t come to our memorial events

Nearly 1,800 Americans directly affected by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks are opposing President Joe Biden’s participation in any memorial events this year unless he upholds his pledge to declassify U.S. government evidence that they believe may show a link between Saudi Arabian leaders and the attacks.

The victims’ family members, first responders and survivors will release a statement Friday calling on Biden to skip 20th-anniversary events in New York and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon unless he releases the documents, which they believe implicate Saudi officials in supporting the acts of terrorism. The group says that as a candidate Biden pledged to be more transparent and release as much information as possible but that his administration has since then ignored their letters and requests.

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