Daily Archives: 12. Februar 2020


12.02.2020 - 21:43 [ theGrayzone.com ]

Media darling Pete Buttigieg was in unit that worked with the CIA in Afghanistan

While official records linking the ATFC to the CIA do not appear widely in available government documents, their collaboration is an open secret. One early report by the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, an advocacy organization for the US intelligence community, noted “the cell has about two-dozen members drawn from the Drug Enforcement Administration, US Central Command, the Treasury Department and the CIA. The FBI is expected to join soon.”

Global news wire Agency France-Presse characterized ATFC as “a multi-agency organization currently comprising about 30 specialists on loan from the Department of Drug Enforcement, Department of the Treasury, Department of Justice, Department of Defense’s CENTCOM, the CIA and the FBI.”

12.02.2020 - 21:30 [ Common Dreams ]

Trump’s Border Wall Is an Ecologist’s Nightmare

The Tohono O’odham Nation penned a powerful letter to the U.S. Border Patrol calling for a halt to the destruction, stressing the many tragedies occurring on their sacred lands: bulldozers ripping up their ancestors’ burial sites, their water resources being stolen, and the agency consistently ignoring their pleas for consultation.

12.02.2020 - 21:02 [ 8newsnow.com ]

Nevada Democrats will use paper ballots for early voting; still little known about caucus tool

There are still some questions about a new caucus “tool” that is supposed to help Nevada Democrats count votes.

8 News Now spoke with Nevada State Democratic Party Chairman William McCurdy II, but he would not go into any details about what exactly the “tool” is or how it works.

We do know that it is an iPad with preloaded software.

12.02.2020 - 20:35 [ Anne M. #NotMeUs / Twitter ]

Wait. Candidates have to pay for the recanvass because the Iowa Democratic Party screwed up the process and the results? That seems unfair, to say the least.

12.02.2020 - 20:24 [ theHill.com ]

Iowa Democratic Party says it plans to begin recanvass of caucus results on Sunday

The party is expected to provide the campaigns with details related to the timeline of the recanvass and the costs for which campaigns will be responsible. After that, the campaigns will have 24 hours to decide whether they want to proceed with the recanvass.

Once the process begins Sunday, the party said, it is expected to last for two days.

12.02.2020 - 20:19 [ CNN / Twitter ]

Andrew Yang, who suspended his political campaign on Tuesday in New Hampshire, says he isn‘t yet publicly endorsing a candidate but that he will support „whoever the Democratic nominee is.“

12.02.2020 - 20:13 [ theHill.com ]

Deval Patrick drops out of 2020 race

Patrick said in a statement announcing his withdrawal that he still believes his record as governor dealing with health care, the Boston Marathon bombing and more made an effective case for his candidacy, but he did not have the momentum necessary to move forward.

12.02.2020 - 20:10 [ junge Welt ]

Weg frei für Kampfjetprojekt

Im Mai 2019 hatten Bundestagsabgeordnete von Union und SPD in einem Schreiben an das Verteidigungsministerium die Berücksichtigung »deutscher Interessen« verlangt.

12.02.2020 - 20:06 [ junge Welt ]

Kriegsspiele vor Siko

Der Herstellung von Kriegsgerät komme in Deutschland »strategische Bedeutung« zu, heißt es in dem Papier. Ziel der Bundesregierung sei es, immer auf innovative und leistungsfähige Waffenschmieden zurückgreifen zu können. Damit wäre nicht nur für die Bundeswehr, sondern auch für profitable Rüstungsexporte gesorgt. Die Sicherheitskonferenz kann kommen.

12.02.2020 - 18:28 [ teleSUR ]

Airline Workers Confront Juan Guaido Over New Sanctions

In a video that circulated on social media networks, an employee of Conviasa claims to Guaidó, who asked Europe and the United States the endure of the sanctions against Venezuela. “Guaidó, you are a traitor to your country”, the worker express.

12.02.2020 - 18:03 [ teleSUR ]

Argentina: Massive Marches Against International Monetary Fund

In Buenos Aires, marches will move towards the Plaza de Mayo and the National Congress where the Economy Minister Martin Guzman will explain the current situation of Argentine indebtedness.

12.02.2020 - 17:35 [ Parker Asmann / Portal amerika21.de ]

Welche Folgen hat die andauernde US-Unterstützung für Honduras?

Honduras ist ein wichtiger regionaler Verbündeter der USA. Dass die Regierungen dort sich kriminell verhalten, stört dabei nicht, mein Parker Asmann

12.02.2020 - 16:43 [ Portal amerika21.de ]

Neue US-Sanktionen gegen Venezuela, Drohungen gegen Russland und Ölkonzerne

Die US-Regierung hat Sanktionen gegen die staatliche venezolanische Fluggesellschaft Conviasa verhängt. Sie befördere „korrupte Regierungsvertreter“, heißt es zur Begründung.

12.02.2020 - 16:31 [ teleSUR ]

Brazil: Bolsonaro Is Pushing Teachers Towards a National Strike

Besides being harmed by a government that keeps their salaries low, Brazilian teachers are being affected by budget cuts that deteriorate educational infrastructure and materials.

12.02.2020 - 15:41 [ Portal amerka21.de ]

Mordfall Marielle Franco: Milizenführer von Polizei in Brasilien erschossen

Der ehemalige Abgeordnete und jetzige Senator Flavio Bolsonaro hatte zudem die Mutter und die Ex-Frau des jetzt getöteten Magalhães beschäftigt. Darüber hinaus steht Magalhães und der Präsidentensohn gemeinsam in Verdacht, in einen Korruptionsskandal verwickelt zu sein.

12.02.2020 - 15:02 [ Ayman Mohyeldin, Anchor & Co-host of @mjfirstlook (M-F at 5am) on @MSNBC / Twitter ]

So I just want to understand this system: The candidate who lost the popular vote in Iowa got more delegates than the winner. Then in New Hampshire he loses the popular vote again but this time still gets the same number of delegates as the person who ACTUALLY won more votes?

12.02.2020 - 15:00 [ MSNBC ]

Sanders wins NH, but Buttigieg will get same number of delegates

NBC News projects that Bernie Sanders has won the NH primary, Pete Buttigieg came in second, and Amy Klobuchar will come in third. But Steve Kornacki explains how Buttigieg will get the same number of delegates as Sanders.

12.02.2020 - 13:54 [ Taniel / Twitter ]

The IDP results are still riddled with errors. They are mathematically incoherent. In some cases they don‘t conform to what local precincts are reporting. They can claim what they want. Thankfully, the press isn‘t bound to just account. That‘s where we come in. Let‘s dig in.

(10.02.2020)

12.02.2020 - 13:50 [ New York Times ]

Faulty Iowa App Was Part of Push to Restore Democrats’ Digital Edge

(04.02.2020)

Still, when Iowa Democrats, on the advice of the national party, abandoned plans to have caucus results called in by phone because of security concerns and instead build an app, they chose Shadow from multiple bidders, according to a state party official.

12.02.2020 - 13:27 [ Cybertalk.org ]

Tele-voting gets a veto

(03.09.2019)

“We concur with the advice of the DNC’s security experts that there is no tele-caucus system available that meets our standard of security and reliability given the scale needed for the Iowa and Nevada caucuses and the current cyber-security climate,” says Tom Perez, Lorraine Miller, and Jim Roosevelt, of the DNC Rules and By-Laws Committee, in a joint statement.

12.02.2020 - 13:08 [ Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering - ufl.edu ]

UF Engineer Testifies Before U.S. House Committee about Election Security

(22.01.2020)

“Currently, there is no known way to secure a digital ballot. At this time, any election that does not employ paper ballots cannot be secured,” Dr. Gilbert said. “Therefore, the report recommended that Internet voting, and specifically the electronic return of marked ballots, should not be used at this time.”

House Administration Committee Chairperson Zoe Lofgren commended Dr. Gilbert on the presentation of the report’s findings and the excellent work done by the National Academies. She noted that the report was “the guts of what we ended up putting in our SAFE [Securing America’s Federal Elections] Act that’s now pending in the Senate.”

12.02.2020 - 12:51 [ Human Experience Research Lab / University of Florida ]

About Prime III

The name Prime III was chosen because it‘s a third generation voting system. Dr. Juan E. Gilbert defines voting systems by generation. First generation voting was done with mechanical equipment and paper, e.g. lever machines, punch cards, etc. Second generation voting uses computers, e.g. optical scan, DRE. Third generation devices are multimodal, e.g. Prime III, AutoMark. These are machines that accommodate multiple voters on one machine using multimodality. Prime III is a third generation voting device that allows voters to cast their ballot using touch, voice or both..

12.02.2020 - 12:38 [ verifiedvoting.org ]

Prime III

After piloting Prime III in selected wards in the 2014 primary election, the New Hampshire Department of State modified the software to accommodate the requirements of the state’s election code and debuted the system in the Presidential primary on February 9, 2016. Prime III can also be used through Gilbert’s other voting systems: Balloting and Televoting. The Balloting system enables voters to fill out their ballots online or through their phone. Once the ballot is completed, the voter will get a QR code that can be scanned at a Prime III-enabled voting machine to speed up the voting process.Televoting allows military and overseas voters to fill out their ballots through Prime III online and have it printed back at their home precinct.

12.02.2020 - 12:10 [ Time.com ]

New Hampshire’s Midnight Primary Is Using Accessible Voting Machines For the First Time

(11.02.2020)

Roughly 19% of New Hampshire voters have a disability, according to James Ziegra, a staff attorney at advocacy group Disability Rights Center-New Hampshire, who will be onsite to see Butler’s vote in Hart’s Location.

12.02.2020 - 12:06 [ Politico.com ]

Why New Hampshire says it won’t be the next Iowa

(10.02.2020)

All New Hampshire voters vote with paper ballots, which they either mark by hand with pens or pencils or indirectly using touchscreen voting machines.

12.02.2020 - 10:40 [ Kim Iversen / Twitter ]

Sanders literally had more votes in both Iowa and New Hampshire and yet is somehow LOSING in the national delegate count to Buttigieg.

Buttigieg 23
Sanders 21
Warren 8
Klobuchar 7
Biden 6

Democrats for Democracy eh?

12.02.2020 - 10:37 [ CNN ]

The 2020 New Hampshire primary: Sanders and Buttigieg each win 9 delegates

Here‘s CNN‘s estimate of the New Hampshire delegate count:

Bernie Sanders: 9
Pete Buttigieg: 9
Amy Klobuchar: 6

Combined with Iowa delegates, Buttigieg now has a total of 23, Sanders has 21 and Klobuchar has 7.

12.02.2020 - 10:31 [ Tagesschau ]

US-Vorwahlen in New Hampshire Sieg für Sanders – Schlappe für Biden

Sanders, der 78 Jahre alte Senator aus Vermont, lag demnach bei 26 Prozent, gefolgt von den moderat-pragmatischen Bewerbern Pete Buttigieg (24,3 Prozent) und Amy Klobuchar (19,9 Prozent). Weit abgeschlagen folgten die Senatorin Elizabeth Warren und der frühere Vizepräsident Joe Biden, die bei den Delegiertenstimmen leer ausgehen dürften.

12.02.2020 - 02:31 [ TASS ]

NASA to keep using Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft in 2021 fiscal year — budget proposal

NASA will keep using Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft to deliver its astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2021 fiscal year that starts on October 1, NASA said it its 2021 budget request summary, published on Monday.

12.02.2020 - 02:08 [ Greek Reporter ]

Italian Navy Frigate Conducts Military Exercises With Cyprus off Larnaca

According to a press release issued by the Italian Embassy in Nicosia, the frigate is conducting patrolling operations in the Eastern Mediterranean, for presence and surveillance activities, in compliance with international law and to safeguard national interests.

12.02.2020 - 02:08 [ RonPaulLibertyReport / Youtube ]

Trump‘s 2021 Budget: Big Gift For Military Spendthrifts

10.02.2020 – The annual charade of the Executive branch presenting a budget proposal for the next year began today. President Trump presented a massive $4.8 trillion budget proposal that gives the impression of slashing domestic spending while boosting spending on militarism. Do we really need what the Pentagon is buying?

12.02.2020 - 01:45 [ Association of the United States Army ]

2021 Budget Boosts Training, Exercises

From Defender-Pacific to combat training center rotations, the Army is continuing its push to increase readiness in 2021.

The Army’s $178 billion budget request for fiscal year 2021 includes $68.1 billion for operations and maintenance, which includes funding for training at home stations, at the combat training centers and overseas.

12.02.2020 - 01:20 [ The Economic Times ]

India may show greater willingness to resist Chinese assertiveness in Indo-Pacific: CRS report

India, the US and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China‘s rising military maneuvering in the region, which is a large swathe of land and sea stretching all the way from the west coast of the US to the shores of east Africa…
Thus, Prime Minister Modi has articulated a vision of a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific, and India has engaged Russia, Japan, Australia, and other Indo-Pacific countries as potential balancers of China‘s influence while remaining wary of joining any nascent security architectures that could antagonise Beijing, the CRS said.

12.02.2020 - 00:53 [ German Foreign Policy ]

Im Osten des Indischen Ozeans

Im Jahr 2014 banden Washington und New Delhi Tokio erneut in ihre jährlich abgehaltene „Malabar“-Kriegsübung ein; seit 2015 wird die Manöverserie, die bereits in den 1990er Jahren als ein bilaterales indisch-US-amerikanisches Projekt begann, in aller Form als trilaterale Maßnahme unter Einschluss Japans durchgeführt. Im November 2017 traf auch der Quad erstmals wieder zusammen.