Israel Becomes Involved In Spying Scandal In Poland

Anonymous Conservative mentioned this in today's news brief.  "Israeli producer had access to data harvested by Poland using Pegasus spyware, say prosecutors"--Notes from Poland. According to the article, in 2017, Poland, under the government of the Law and Justice (PiS) party, purchased Pegasus cell phone spy software from an Israeli company, NSO Group. PiS used the software to spy on Poles, including its political opposition. But it has been discovered that "[d]ata harvested from mobile phones by the Polish authorities using Pegasus spyware were transmitted outside Poland and were accessible to the tool’s Israeli producer, Polish prosecutors have revealed as part of an investigation into the use of Pegasus under the former government." Also:

Prime Minister Donald Tusk says that the case is “one of the biggest scandals in Polish history since the fall of communism”, and that it is “beyond any doubt” that the Israeli firm behind Pegasus, NSO Group, cooperates with Israeli intelligence.     

The article goes on to explain that "Pegasus is a powerful and controversial tool that allows the extraction of large amounts of data from mobile phones without users’ knowledge. A number of countries have been found to have used it to spy on opposition figures." 

    Today, the National Prosecutor’s Office released its latest findings, based on analysis by experts at the forensic research office of Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW).

    The experts confirmed that Pegasus allowed the harvesting of emails, instant messaging and text messages; the content of telephone conversations, both via mobile networks and internet calls; browsing histories, calendars and contact lists; photos, videos and other files; and location data.

    “Additionally, Pegasus allowed the use of the device’s built-in microphone and cameras to record audio and video in real time and take screenshots,” reports the National Prosecutor’s Office.

 It's bad enough that the Polish government was using the spyware against its political opponents, but the disturbing part was that NSO and, by extension, the Israeli military and/or intelligence services also had the data:

    The ABW experts also highlighted serious concerns over management and security of the harvested data, noting that Poland’s Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA), which was responsible for using the spyware, “did not have full control over the Pegasus system”.

    “The CBA did not have passwords to access some accounts with administrative privileges and some system components remained under the control of the manufacturer [NSO],” wrote the prosecutor’s office. “The server module responsible for infecting mobile devices remained under the manufacturer’s exclusive control.”

    Data transmitted through the Pegasus system travelled outside Polish territory, through “servers located in various parts of the world”, in a network managed by NSO and “beyond the CBA’s control”, found the experts.   

 NSO is currently on a U.S. blacklist from U.S. government purchases (although this does not apply to other entities), but that hasn't stopped government agencies using other spyware. 

• See also: "What is Pegasus spyware, and how to detect and remove it"--Norton. 
• Related: "Georgia Bought a $954,578 Chevy, but Officials Won’t Say What’s Inside"--PJ Media. While Georgia officials are keeping mum about what it can do, it is believed to include equipment to surveil web activity, extract the contents of cell phones and track cell phone locations.
• Related: "Texas Police Bought Chevy Tahoes That Can Track Your Phone on the Highway"--Yahoo. An excerpt:

Four Chevy Tahoes do not cost $4.5 million. The vehicles themselves ran about $600,000 combined — roughly $150,000 each. The remaining $3.9 million bought something far more interesting: FalcoNet, an Israeli-built surveillance app from Cognyte that impersonates a cell tower and forces every phone in range to connect to it. Your phone can't tell the difference. Neither can anyone else's. This isn't about reading your texts — it's about knowing exactly where you are. 

(See also this article from The Drive). Undoubtedly, this information will also find its way to Israel. 

• Related: "Do Dealerships Put Trackers on Cars?"--GPX. The article also lists some of the common places dealerships will hide GPS trackers. 

The NFA Changes--Is It A Trap?

While the ATF's guidance indicating that it would no longer be enforcing certain NFA provisions is a welcome change, we all know that it could change on a political whim. So what happens if we get that SBR or sound suppressor using a standard 4473 form and a few years down the road a new administration changes its mind? Will we face criminal prosecution for having relied on the ATF's new guidance? In the video below, Washington Gun Law President and attorney William Kirk discusses the case law that suggests that we should be protected from prosecution based on reliance on the ATF's pronouncement.  

 VIDEO: "Are Gun Owners Stepping Into an NFA Trap?"
Washington Gun Law (13 min.)

Diversity Is Our Greatest Weakness

If you were to Google whether diversity is a strength or a benefit, you would find countless articles indicating that diversity improves efficiency or output or is otherwise beneficial. But a recent paper published in the journal Theory & Society debunks that claim. The paper is entitled "The diversity hypothesis: A rapid scoping review of diversity and scientific output and impact in the natural and social sciences," and the author conclude: "Based on over 100 scientific articles, we find that only between 15% and 28% of results reported in the literature are consistent with the hypothesis, with the balance of the results not being consistent with it. Based on this, the scientific evidence implies that the Diversity Hypothesis should be rejected." That is, studies that had considered diversity based on sex, nationality, race, age, LGBT, institution, and geography, overwhelmingly were inconsistent with the diversity hypothesis--that diversity is our greatest strength. The only type of diversity where it did not hold true--but even here showed mixed results--was diversity of disciplines. 

A Lesson Here For Those Who Open Carry

 The New York Post reports on a "Shocking video shows 2 women leap on top off-duty cop at gas station — before trying to snatch his gun." The officer, according to the article, was working his second job as a security officer at the gas station/convenience store when he was assaulted by two black women. The Post relates (bold added):

    The crazed brawl started when one of the suspects, 20-year-old Nayonna Griffin, threw items at the officer, prompting him to approach her, according to charging documents seen by KDSK.

    Fellow suspect Shaniya Lewis, also 20, then intervened and struggled with the officer before throwing him to the ground, according to the charging documents.

    Lewis repeatedly punched the officer in the face while Griffin stomped on his head, before Lewis reached for the officer’s gun but was unable to remove it from its holster, police said.

It's hard to tell much about the holster from the photographs other than it was a drop leg holster, but it must have had a good retention system. 

More Trans Violence

The New York Post reports: "Trans attacker fatally stabs man, breaks knife off in his skull after being mocked for using women’s bathroom at McDonald’s." To be clear, the man that Kelly Day murdered was not part of the group that had mocked him/her at the McDonald's. Rather, the fatal incident occurred hours later, after the murdered man--Larry Young--got into an argument with Day before walking away, crossing a street to a gas station. Day followed Young and started arguing with him again, before attacking him. "Surveillance footage shows Day holding a knife above Young as he lay on the ground, before allegedly stabbing him 13 times in the head, neck and upper shoulders, the Tribune reported." Day then apparently called 911, claiming he/she had acted in self-defense, before fleeing the scene. Day changed her story in a subsequent 911 call. She is being charged with first degree murder. 

An Evolutionary and Spiritual Dead End

    A frumpy feminist named Lindsey Harrington gives her excuses on why she is an old maid in "The Glorious Freedom of a Child-Free Life." There is a funny thing about this article. Harrington relates how she first began considering going child-free her whole life after meeting "Mandy, a Toronto filmmaker who moved to Newfoundland for cheap oceanside real estate" who regaled the author with her (Mandy's) "much less conventional existence, hitchhiking to Mexico with her blue heeler and eating fire in a travelling circus." Yet, having decided to follow in Mandy's footsteps, the article is completely devoid of any of the life experiences for which the author supposedly gave up children. Perhaps she mentions some in her book, from which this is excerpted, but the article seems bereft of details of her supposedly better life. 

    The other odd thing about the article is the author's cluelessness.  Harrington acknowledges the demographic decline as a result of childlessness, writing:

... Despite Canada’s comparatively rich social safety net and support programs, we have one of the lowest birth rates in the world: 1.25 children per woman in 2024. More of us are choosing differently. In this age of climate catastrophe, economic disparity and social unrest, not having children feels like the logical and ethical choice. As fascism, housing prices and sea levels rise, the future for any theoretical children looks bleak. It seems more and more possible you could end up raising them in some Cormac McCarthy–esque dystopia.   

Yet she ends with this idiotic observation: "We might be the first generation to widely question motherhood, but we won’t be the last." Yet, as far as Harrington's family line is concerned, she will be the last. And so it will be for many other families and nations. But perhaps it is for the best when it comes to people like Harrington: evolution in action, so to speak. 

Furor? They Should Be Shouting Approval

From the Daily Mail: "Furore as Marine commander who liberated the Falklands says: Machine-gun the migrants' boats." 

    The commander who led the land operation to liberate the Falklands has triggered a furore by saying that boats carrying migrants across the Channel should be machine-gunned.

    'I would shoot them,' Major-General Julian Thompson told a documentary about mass immigration to Britain.

    The Home Office warned today that anyone taking the law into their own hands would face 'serious criminal consequences', while the Tories stressed that 'opening fire on migrant boats would be completely wrong'.

Why do the Tories believe it would be wrong? Because, as Thompson points out, "They come over here and rape our girls." And that's what the Tories want.  

Almost Forget ... Happy Indigenous Peoples Day

Any normal, mentally healthy person knows today to be Columbus Day. But for Leftists, it is Indigenous Peoples' Day. So let's learn about one of those indigenous cultures for which the Leftists pine:

 VIDEO: "The Real Horror of Aztec Sacrifice"
Simple History (10 min.)

VIDEO: Speeding Up Your Pistol Reloads

In this video, Massad Ayoob discusses how speed up your pistol reloads focusing on issues of efficiency. But he also has some tips for those suffering from arthritis or other hand impairments. 

VIDEO: "Reload Like a Pro: Semi-Auto Pistol"
Massad Ayoob - Facts and Firearms (16 min.)

John Wilder's Latest: Vivek Ramaswamy And Indian Migrants

John's latest piece is entitled: "Vivek And Dinesh Crashout Over Lifting Children, Hilarity Ensues." The article begins by looking at Ramaswamy's so far failing bid to become the next governor of Ohio, and ends by looking at Indian tribalism and disdain for white people. An excerpt:

    So, Indians can’t yet really impact an election in Ohio.  But not if Ramaswamy has his way.  He wants to reform the H-1B visa program by removing the cap on the number of Indians that can get an H-1B, allow “meritocracy” (i.e., fake Indian degrees) set what “merit” is, and speed it all up.

    How fast?  Vivek wants the population of Ohio to go from 11.9 million today to 15 million by the time his first term of governor is done.  That’s nearly 30% in four years.  I’m betting he wants to use H-1Bs to do this, so he can have Kolkata on the Cuyahoga River, I guess.  Makes the place feel homey.   

Read the whole thing.