“…The urgency of the moment has trained a spotlight on Sebastian Gorka, the White House counterterrorism adviser tasked with drafting a blueprint for fighting homegrown and international threats. Nearly a year ago, Gorka declared a national counterterrorism strategy “imminent.” By July, he was “on the cusp” of unveiling the plan — a phrase he repeated three months later in October. And again in January.

To date, no strategy has appeared, and no explanation for the delay. When it is finally released, current and former counterterrorism personnel say, they expect a document rooted in politics rather than intelligence, with little detail on how to combat threats after a year of deep cuts across national security agencies.
(…)
At a time when hundreds of personnel typically would’ve been assigned to thwarting attacks amid international conflict, the administration “has gutted this capacity through firings, forced resignations, and slashed budgets,” a panel of national security analysts wrote in the journal Lawfare.

The Justice Department acknowledged in budget proposal documents that its National Security Division is facing “unprecedented personnel constraints,” struggling to keep up with increasing caseloads and a 40% drop in the number of prosecutors…”

~ Full article…

“…When online platforms violate their own privacy policies to sell your photos, have no fear: They just might have to pay an undisclosed settlement fee 12 years later. (Who says justice is dead?) According to Reuters, AI company Clarifai says it has deleted 3 million profile photos taken from dating site OkCupid in 2014. It follows a settlement reached last month between the FTC and Match Group, OkCupid’s owner…”

~ Full article…

“…The agent, who was on duty, was escorting Dr. Biden through the airport, accidentally shot and wounded himself in the leg around 8:30 a.m. Sources told KYW that the agent suffered a non-life-threatening injury and is expected to recover.

The firing is being described as a “negligent discharge” of his service weapon, said Secret Service spokesperson Nate Herring…”

~ Full article…

“…President Donald Trump called the situation “pretty serious stuff … I hope it’s random”, he told reporters Thursday. “We’re going to know in the next week and half.”

Trump added that he hoped the cluster of deaths and disappearances were coincidence, “but some of them were very important people and we’re going to look at it over the next short period,” he said.

Among the individuals who have gone missing is retired Air Force Major General William Neil McCasland, who was last seen on February 27 near Quail Run Court NE in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Investigators said McCasland left his phone, prescription glasses and wearable devices at home, and a gray U.S. Air Force sweatshirt was later found about 1.25 miles east of his residence.

Meanwhile, aerospace engineer Monica Reza went missing in June while hiking in the Angeles National Forest in California. She had previously worked on a government‑funded rocket materials project overseen by McCasland, according to reports.

They are among a cluster of cases that has been cited in online theories suggesting a broader pattern, including two scientists who were fatally attacked at their homes. But authorities have not confirmed any official link between the cases.

The disappearances have sparked theories that include potential UFO connections and espionage…”

~ Full article…

***

Dead Scientists And Microbiologists – Master List
2005

“…Marconi Scientists Mystery

In the 1980’s over two dozen science graduates and experts working for Marconi or Plessey Defence Systems died in mysterious circumstances, most appearing to be suicides., The MOD denied these scientists had been involved in classified Star Wars Projects and that the deaths were in any way connected. Judge for yourself…

March 1982: Professor Keith Bowden, 46
–Expertise: Computer programmer and scientist at Essex University engaged in work for Marconi, who was hailed as an expert on super computers and computer-controlled aircraft.
–Circumstance of Death: Fatal car crash when his vehicle went out of control across a dual carriageway and plunged onto a disused railway line. Police maintained he had been drinking but family and friends all denied the allegation.
–Coroner’s verdict: Accident.

April 1983: Lt-Colonel Anthony Godley, 49
–Expertise: Head of the Work Study Unit at the Royal College of Military Science.
–Circumstance of Death: Disappeared mysteriously in April 1983 without explanation. Presumed dead.

March 1985: Roger Hill, 49
–Expertise: Radar designer and draughtsman with Marconi.
–Circumstance of Death: Died by a shotgun blast at home.
–Coroner’s verdict: Suicide.

November 19, 1985: Jonathan Wash, 29
–Expertise: Digital communications expert who had worked at GEC and at British Telecom’s secret research centre at Martlesham Heath, Suffolk.
–Circumstance of Death: Died as a result of falling from a hotel room in Abidjan, West Africa, while working for British Telecom. He had expressed fears that his life was in danger.
–Coroner’s verdict: Open.

August 4, 1986: Vimal Dajibhai, 24
–Expertise: Computer software engineer with Marconi, responsible for testing computer control systems of Tigerfish and Stingray torpedoes at Marconi Underwater Systems at Croxley Green, Hertfordshire.
–Circumstance of Death: Death by 74m (240ft.) fall from Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol. Police report on the body mentioned a needle-sized puncture wound on the left buttock, but this was later dismissed as being a result of the fall. Dajibhai had been looking forward to starting a new job in the City of London and friends had confirmed that there was no reason for him to commit suicide. At the time of his death he was in the last week of his work with Marconi.
–Coroner’s verdict: Open.

October 1986: Arshad Sharif, 26
–Expertise: Reported to have been working on systems for the detection of submarines by satellite.
–Circumstance of Death: Died as a result of placing a ligature around his neck, tying the other end to a tree and then driving off in his car with the accelerator pedal jammed down. His unusual death was complicated by several issues: Sharif lived near Vimal Dajibhai in Stanmore, Middlesex, he committed suicide in Bristol and, inexplicably, had spent the last night of his life in a rooming house. He had paid for his accommodation in cash and was seen to have a bundle of high-denomination banknotes in his possession. While the police were told of the banknotes, no mention was made of them at the inquest and they were never found. In addition, most of the other guests at the rooming house worked at British Aerospace prior to working for Marconi, Sharif had also worked at British Aerospace on guided weapons technology.
–Coroner’s verdict: Suicide…”

***

Dead Microbiologists Linked to Ethno-Specific BioWeapons

“The two American scientists he had worked with were Benito Que, 52, and Don Wiley, 57. Both microbiologists had been engaged in DNA sequencing that could provide “a genetic marker based on genetic profiling.” The research could play an important role in developing weaponized pathogens to hit selected groups of humans”identifying them by race. Two years ago, both men were found dead, in circumstances never fully explained.”

“…Birol said Europe had “maybe six weeks or so [of] jet fuel left”, AP reported. His comments add to those of Airports Council International Europe, a lobby group that last week wrote to the EU’s energy and transport commissioners saying the bloc was three weeks away from shortages.

Airports and airlines tend to have about six weeks of fuel supplies in normal times, according to people in the industry. However, the Iran war has dragged on long enough that any extra reserves in the system are being used up, and other suppliers do not have enough capacity to replace supplies that come through the Gulf.

“In the past there was a group called Dire Straits,” said Birol. “It’s a dire strait now, and it is going to have major implications for the global economy. And the longer it goes, the worse it will be for the economic growth and inflation around the world.”

The impact will be “higher petrol prices, higher gas prices, high electricity prices”, Birol told AP, with some parts of the world “hit worse than the others”.

Some airlines have cancelled flights that would be loss-making because of higher fuel prices, particularly if they did not have hedging arrangements in place to insure against big increases…”

~ Full article…

“…A judge has granted the makers of the “ICE Sightings – Chicagoland” Facebook group and the Eyes Up app a preliminary injunction to stop the Trump administration from coercing platforms to take these projects down. Judge Jorge L. Alonso of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois found that the plaintiffs, Kassandra Rosado and Kreisau Group, are likely to succeed in their case, which alleges that the government suppressed protected speech under the First Amendment by strong-arming Facebook and Apple into removing ICE monitoring efforts.

Both Eyes Up and ICE Sightings – Chicagoland use publicly available information to keep tabs on ICE activity. But after pressure from Trump officials, they were removed from Apple’s App Store and Facebook, respectively. Similar apps including ICEBlock and Red Dot were also taken down from the App Store and Google Play. The lawsuit cites social media posts by former US Attorney General Pam Bondi and former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem that demanded and took credit for the removal of these apps. In a document filed on Friday, Alonso called these posts “thinly veiled threats.”…”

~ Full article…

“…According to Haaretz, historical research documents reveal several attempts by the Stern Gang to contact German officials.

One resulted in a document proposing “active partnership” with Germany in the war, based on “shared interests between German policy and Jewish national aspirations”, and a future alliance between a Jewish state and the German Reich.

One Stern Gang member, Natan Friedman, later known as Natan Yellin-Mor and a future member of the Knesset, wrote in 1943: “Germany has not yet been defeated and may still become our ally.”

These contacts with Nazi Germany did not succeed, but the Haganah monitored them closely, Haaretz reported…”

~ Full article…