END Network Abuse Act

When I read about this on FARS News today, I thought that I had finally caught them in spreading Fake News. But it is all true (link to Bill).

END for some reason is a recursive acronym and stands for "End National Defense", so the whole act is named "End National Defense Network Abuse Act".

Bipartisan Bill Aims to Tackle Rampant Child Porn Sharing on Pentagon Computers

Quote:

Originally Posted by FARS News “The notion that the Department of Defense’s network and Pentagon-issued computers may be used to view, create, or circulate such horrifying images is a shameful disgrace, and one we must fight head on,” Abigail Spanberger (D-Virginia) said in a statement on Tuesday as she and co-sponsor Mark Meadows (R-N. Carolina) introduced the End National Defense Network Abuse (END Network Abuse) Act in the House, RT reported. [...] Congress has known for at least a decade that child porn trading on Defense Department computers was a problem. Immigration and Customs Enforcement identified 5,200 people “subscribed to websites that were known to contain child pornography” during 2008’s Project Flicker investigation, including hundreds of individuals “affiliated with” the Defense Department, some of whom even used their government email addresses and military post boxes to register on the offending websites. Worryingly, dozens possessed some form of security clearance. While a handful of the offenders caught in Project Flicker received jail sentences, thousands more – up to 80 percent of those identified in the ICE report – did not, as “combating child pornography was not one of DCIS’ investigative priorities”, Spanberger and Meadows lament. This investigative blind spot leaves the Pentagon vulnerable to “blackmail, bribery, and other threats”, should employees with high security clearances become compromised through their weakness for child porn or other illicit activities conducted over Defense Department computers. The Defense Department’s network ranked 19th out of 2,891 internet service providers for peer-to-peer trading of child porn in 2018, according to the National Criminal Justice Training Center, suggesting the problem has only gotten worse in the 10 years since Project Flicker wrapped up. [...]

Known for over a decade? 5200 people? No consequences for 80%? 19th ISP in the country (imagine how many must be larger than the DoD network)? Wait, what? :jaw-dropp

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Democrat Rep. Frederica Wilson (FL) says that people who are “making fun of members o

https://twitter.com/RealSaavedra/sta...43587811258370

Democrat Rep. Frederica Wilson (FL) says that people who are “making fun of members of Congress” online “should be prosecuted”

It's nice that, in this time of political division in the US, that we can all be joined together in our shared hatred of such sheer ineptitude.

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More Judges Protecting Rapists

Quote:

The 16-year-old girl was visibly intoxicated, her speech slurred, when a drunk 16-year-old boy sexually assaulted her in a dark basement during an alcohol-fueled pajama party in New Jersey, prosecutors said. The boy filmed himself penetrating her from behind, her torso exposed, her head hanging down, prosecutors said. He later shared the cellphone video among friends, investigators said, and sent a text that said, “When your first time having sex was rape.” But a family court judge said it wasn’t rape. Instead, he wondered aloud if it was sexual assault, defining rape as something reserved for an attack at gunpoint by strangers. He also said the young man came from a good family, attended an excellent school, had terrific grades and was an Eagle scout. Prosecutors, the judge said, should have explained to the girl and her family that pressing charges would destroy the boy’s life. So he denied prosecutors’ motion to try the 16-year-old as an adult. “He is clearly a candidate for not just college but probably for a good college,” Judge James Troiano of Superior Court said last year in a two-hour decision while sitting in Monmouth County. Now the judge has been sharply rebuked by an appeals court in a scathing 14-page ruling that warned the judge against showing bias toward privileged teenagers. ... In the other case, the appellate division reversed another judge’s decision not to try a 16-year-old boy as an adult after he was accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in 2017. The second family court judge, Marcia Silva, sitting in Middlesex County, denied a motion to try the teenager as an adult and said that “beyond losing her virginity, the State did not claim that the victim suffered any further injuries, either physical, mental or emotional.” The appellate judges also upbraided Judge Silva, overturning her decision and noting that the teenager could be culpable because the 12-year-old was not old enough to provide consent in the first place.

Linky.

At least we are hearing about the cases because the appeals courts overturned them.

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Useful habits you honed from debunking conspiracy theories

I realised something yesterday while I was kicking ass at work solving problems.

You're developing great work habits in your spare time while finding original sources of information to show how online myths developed.

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Donald Trump is Selfish, Stupid, and Wrong

Trump tweets:

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Big 4th of July in D.C. “Salute to America.” The Pentagon & our great Military Leaders are thrilled to be doing this & showing to the American people, among other things, the strongest and most advanced Military anywhere in the World. Incredible Flyovers & biggest ever Fireworks!

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I served in the Army, and let me tell you, nothing sucks like being "voluntold" to participate in ceremonial activities on a holiday weekend. If Trump really wanted to honor and respect the troops, he'd make sure that not a single soldier, sailor, airman, or marine was on duty for any reason other than to safeguard the nation. A better president would ensure that Veterans Day and the 4th of July were official "no parades, no ceremonies" days for the armed services.

I feel terrible for the poor tank crews who have to put on a stupid show for the President, instead of spending the weekend in shorts and t-shirts with their families, cooking hotdogs and drinking beer.

I don't feel as bad for the fighter jocks, who I understand to be the type of chad who thinks going Top Gun *is* the holiday. But still.

Also, given the recent incidents involving US naval vessels, I'm not sure "most advanced and strongest" is the right look at the moment. The President should be cleaning house before inviting guests over to see it.

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Who started the flat Earth conspiracy and...

How many believe this and What do they believe?

From the YT channel "Today I found out"
Start at 1:49 in unless you want to hear a Dollar Shave sales pitch.
https://youtu.be/P4l9Y5OHqpk

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Nicaraguan authorities arrest suspected IS affiliates

Last week Nicaraguan authorities arrested four men possibly connected to Islamic State.

Quote:

Four men with suspected ties to the Islamic State militant group were captured on Tuesday by members of the Nicaraguan armed forces after entering the country illegally from Costa Rica, Nicaraguan police said. The identities of three of the men matched those of suspects featured in an alert attributed to U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) warning that three possible terrorists had recently arrived in Central America. In a statement, Nicaraguan police said two of the men were Egyptian nationals and the other two were Iraqi. The four were due to be deported back to Costa Rica, it added.

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