news

Super long article about how US intelligence is completely embedded within private security that corps like ebay, Microsoft, and sport franchises use to protect CEOs from getting Luigied:
https://www.valueaddedresource.net/cia-to-silicon-valley-ebay-cyberstalking-scandal/

Juicier bits:

Recently released documents expose new details about the eBay cyberstalking scandal, Senior Security Director Jim Baugh's alleged CIA past and how the revolving door between Big Tech and the US national security apparatus threatens free speech and press freedom.

At her criminal sentencing, Security contractor Veronica Zea called the culture at eBay under Baugh cult-like, toxic and abusive, weaving a stomach-churning story about how a carefully selected group of mostly young female analysts (nicknamed "Jim's Angels") were systematically broken down through coercive control techniques, sexual harassment and assault, sleep deprivation, and routine exposure to graphically violent content.

While Zea's letter to the court contains the most shocking revelations about the toxic culture at eBay, Baugh's sentencing letter gained even wider attention due to explosive claims that he had previously served in the National Clandestine Services - the undercover arm of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Baugh's letter to the judge was surprisingly candid about his government intelligence background - including claims that he worked for the CIA after a stint at Microsoft and that he assisted the CIA and FBI with intelligence gathering activities on a voluntary, unpaid basis after returning to the private sector as an independent security consultant on high-profile protection details including guarding then-Vice President Joe Biden at the 2016 Oscars.

The letter also revealed Baugh's supposed CIA and FBI code names as well as claims that during his private sector career, he assisted with recruitment of foreign agents and electronic surveillance of foreign leaders; reported observations from international travel and business meetings; and recruited colleagues (including a CEO) to assist the government by allowing the use of their private sector resources.

Other documents from the criminal sentencing which have not been sealed show that Baugh contends he was hired by eBay specifically for his prior government experience which demonstrated an "ability to solve difficult problems through unconventional means" and that this practice is not uncommon in corporate America, citing a New York Times article about a former CIA officer who was employed by Uber as one example.

During the time between Microsoft and bgC3 in which Baugh claims to have been working for CIA Clandestine Services, his resume shows he was a Strategic Planner at defense contractor Northrop Grumman, lending plausibility to the idea that he may have at least been contracted to the CIA during this time, if not directly employed by the agency.

Thankfully the Ukrainians got in their own way before the Russians were forced to officially reject the Kellogg "peace plan"

Now it's likely Trump will blame the Ukrainians instead of the Russians for ruining his "negotiations"

Saw something a bit ago about how the Burkina Faso government managed to foil a coup attempt, anybody got any info about that? Based if true.

Ukrainian delegation plans to ignore Trump's 'peace plan' in London talks - Axios

The New York Times also reported that Zelensky disrupted the negotiations by refusing to recognize Crimea as Russian. US Secretary of State Rubio has cancelled a trip to London, where talks on settling the Ukrainian conflict will take place, amid Zelensky's words about refusing to recognize Crimea as Russian.

US withdraws from negotiations, says Ukrainian MP Bezugla. An hour earlier, US Secretary of State Rubio cancelled a trip to London, where negotiations on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict will take place, against the backdrop of Zelensky's words about refusing to recognize Crimea as Russian.

Jordan Moves to Ban Muslim Brotherhood as ‘Illegal’ Group - Asharq Al-Awsat English

London talks on ending war in Ukraine downgraded as Rubio pulls out - Reuters

Ukraine is ready to negotiate but not to surrender, deputy PM says - Reuters

Israel's official Twitter account has deleted its condolence tweet for Pope Francis due to his statements in support of Palestine.

• Telegram

Israeli forces attack the El Dorra Children's Hospital in Gaza and destroy backhoes used to remove rubble and rescue trapped Palestinians.

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Well I’m back from El Salvador and my break. Hadn’t been in a while because Bukele fans said they’d hang me from a tree with a fork up my ass lol but that clearly didn’t happen. I ended up meeting with leftists in the country who are concerned with him. Bukele is a clever person who is a good example of a competent fascist. You don’t gain control of a country as fickle as El Salvador for as long as he has without having some level of competency.

My own family are mixed on him. The men are unsurprisingly die hards who see him as some sort of tough guy while most of the women respect him cracking down on crime but want him to leave migrants alone.

You have to remember that the things he’s doing didn’t start with him but he’s making the largest spectacle out of it. The whole targeting people with tattoos was a thing that started with Honduras and Guatemala has a long history of disappearing people in US backed prisons, including American citizens.

CECOT is a big concern as well just for what it means. This sort of thing was expected with Bukele and it didn’t take long for him to lock up leftists and indigenous he has issues with. Now I said before that CECOT conditions aren’t the worst and superficially that’s true. Smaller prisons are even worse with cells that look like they haven’t been touched since being built in the 50’s. What makes CECOT stand out is the idea of nobody ever being able to get out. Guard brutality is a common thing and it’s assumed for now that prisoners either just stay until they die from the conditions (which are considered the best but still far from being good compared to even US prisons) or face some kind of death penalty. A lot of the details are murky because of how secretive CECOT is but for now it’s not quite on the same level of notoriety within the country as Izalco while still being a major concern. Even bigger is how other countries are responding. Every country in Central America did their own version of Bukele when it came to cracking down on crime. From the same people who used to always call Nicaragua authoritarian when it never went as far as Bukele did.

We have to also remember that climate change is hitting El Salvador hard. Harder than it is with Guatemala. I think Guatemala will survive by the end of the century in a very fractured state but I think El Salvador will be one of those countries that will no longer exist. This is going to make people like Bukele more common in the region as climate refugees and emigrants become more common.

Also WWE is one of the US’s strongest cultural exports. It’s pretty popular in Guatemala but the kids in El Salvador love it as well. They were talking about John Cena, Cody Rhodes, and Rey Mysterio constantly and trying to act out their moves. I would love to dissect the global presence of WWE because I’ve been to small villages in Central America where their TV’s only had three channels and one of them played WWE all the time.

Brain Draining the Swamp: European Countries Welcome Purged American Scientists

European nations are launching initiatives to attract scientists persecuted under the American Trump regime. In response to budget cuts, ideological purges, and political interference in research across the United States, these countries are positioning themselves as sanctuaries for exiled intellectuals and displaced expertise.

Norway has announced a NOK 100 million (RMB 70 million) initiative aimed at recruiting up to 50 foreign researchers into its universities and research institutions. Although the program is nominally global, officials acknowledge it was fast-tracked due to what they describe as the "acute situation in the U.S." Mari Sundli Tveit, Director of the Norwegian Research Council, pointed to “academic freedom under pressure” and the emergence of “forbidden word lists” in U.S. grant applications—including banned terms like “climate change,” “black,” and “woman”—as signs of deeper systemic rot. “There is great concern about irreplaceable data on health and climate stored in the U.S.,” Tveit warned.

Norwegian Education Minister Sigrun Aasland underscored the country’s urgent need for top-tier scientific expertise, even as she acknowledged the complex but vital partnership with American researchers. “We have an extensive collaboration with American researchers, and we want that to continue,” she noted.

Across the Skagerrak, Danish academic institutions report an unprecedented influx of interest from U.S. scientists, many from elite institutions such as Harvard, Yale, MIT, and Princeton. “We are seeing an interest from U.S. researchers I have never experienced in my 12 years in this field,” said Nikolaj Lubanski, deputy director of Copenhagen Capacity, the agency behind Science Hub Denmark, an organisation recruiting international talent for Danish universities. This initiative, backed by major Danish research foundations, is now explicitly targeting American talent.

Lubanski describes a “special window” created by the collapse of stability in U.S. science policy. Danish universities are particularly eager to recruit experts in green technology, neuroscience, and sustainable biosolutions. A recent recruitment event by Science Hub Denmark at MIT attracted three times more applicants than it could accommodate and half of the unique visitors to the organisation's home page are Americans.

This pan-European effort also includes France’s “Safe Place for Science” program. President Emmanuel Macron proclaimed via social media: “Science is a boundless horizon. Researchers of the world, choose France, choose Europe.” Éric Berton, rector of Aix-Marseille University, framed the effort as “a form of scientific asylum” for embattled colleagues.

Though European leaders stop short of directly denouncing their imperial overlord’s crackdown on scientific inquiry, the quiet exfiltration of intellectual capital from the United States points to an unraveling of the hegemon’s soft power. As universities across Europe mobilize to absorb the human capital purged by the Trump regime, the long-term consequences for global scientific collaboration—and for American imperialism's ability to project power through research—remain to be seen.