you decide as I think Newsom is a sick MF

...that was working with DHS to spy on protestors back in 2020. Knock LA obtained documents via a FOIA request.

Quote:LAPD Is Using Israeli Surveillance Software That Can Track Your Phone and Social Media

Cobwebs Technologies was founded in 2015 by former IDF special operatives Omri Timianker, Shay Attias, and former Mossad official Udi Levy. The company is part of the controversial billion-dollar surveillance industry in Israel, where the technology is often tested on Palestinians before being implemented elsewhere in the world. During a 2014 trip to Israel, LAPD’s top brass saw firsthand how Israel used drones, social media surveillance software, and automatic license plate readers. Within five years of the trip, the department would be using all three. This year, Cobwebs was acquired by private equity firm Spire Capital, which owns the surveillance companies GeoTime and PenLink. The company currently has several contracts with local and federal agencies including the Texas Department of Public Safety (who use it to track migrants), the IRS, and the Department of Homeland Security.

LAPD purchased the nearly $200,000-per-year subscription to the technology in 2022 with the help of a $600,000 DHS grant that focuses on terrorism prevention in urban areas. Part of the purchase was a suite of over 50 digital tools, including surveillance and investigative software built by other companies. In the grant proposal for the technology,  LAPD said it would make it easier to share intelligence with federal police agencies.

Meta, the company behind Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, banned accounts used by Cobwebs and labeled it a surveillance-for-hire company. In a 2021 report, Meta found that Cobwebs was being used to target activists, opposition politicians, and government officials in Hong Kong and Mexico. The report pushes back against the surveillance company’s claims that it tracks only criminals and terrorists.

Social Media Monitoring and Data-Driven Profiling

It is not news that LAPD monitors your social media and surveils your online activity. It is also not news that your phone and computer are doing the same, sending you targeted ads based on the links you click and apps you use. Cobwebs can combine all of this data and turn it into intelligence for police with the help of two platforms: Tangles and Webloc.

Tangles is Cobwebs’ marquee platform. It uses AI and machine learning to automate its surveillance capabilities. The software’s AI is continually searching, scraping, and extracting information from the public’s online activity. This includes monitoring geotags of geographic locations, social media posts, and online communities, including those on the dark web.

Tangles allows police to create extremely detailed dossiers on people, either targeted by police or found by Cobwebs while scraping personal and online data. Per the company’s promotion material, the information it provides to police includes “locations, context, internal relations, group structures, [and] hierarchies,” as well as the influence of the target’s “social communities.” This data-driven profiling, as Cobwebs describes it, can infer a person’s social network, whether they are “likely perpetrators of violence,” and monitor changes in a person’s sentiment. Cobwebs says it can help police “prevent events before they occur.”

Quote:Cobwebs’ AI can also profile a person by using its deep image analysis to make “connections” the company claims are “invisible to the naked eye.” The software scans photos and videos to find connections in people’s faces and intentions in text and labels within those photos, labeling anything it deems suspicious. Cobwebs doesn’t elaborate on what connections the software makes or how it can assert intentions from an image.

In a case study, Cobwebs demonstrated how the software could’ve been used to prevent the Alexandria shooting in 2017. The company pointed to how police missed the intentions in the shooter’s social media posts, claiming their AI would have been aware of them: “It can take more than the human mind to comprehend complex situations, especially when it comes to taking available information into consideration within context.”

However, there can be real harm in police departments buying in on artificial intelligence and predictive analysis technologies that may be nothing more than buzzwords. Dave Maass with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting civil liberties in the digital world, says that “when an algorithm ‘underperforms’ or ‘fails to meet expectations,’ that could mean that innocent people are being harmed by faulty technology.”

The use of data-driven policing software relies on a technology known to be rife with bias and inaccuracies. Multiple studies have shown that the algorithms used in AI predictive policing models are racist and inaccurate.

Making matters worse are the shadowy algorithms and calculations used by Cobwebs. Since they’re proprietary, they aren’t accessible to the public, making it difficult to independently review them for bias or the use of bad data.

LAPD has previously used technology for predictive policing, including both Palantir and PredPol, which has led to the over-policing of Black and brown communities in Los Angeles. Their marquee predictive policing program to reduce gun violence, Operation Laser, was shut down in 2019 after internal audits found inconsistencies in its use. The department now uses “data-informed community-focused policing,” which activists and community organizers have pointed out is predictive policing by another name.

...

Buying Their Way Around the Fourth Amendment

Webloc, the other tool included in the department’s Cobwebs subscription, is the most invasive one. The application gives police warrantless access to anyone’s phone data. The software allows police to track where people have been, collect demographic data from their apps, and visualize it on a map.

The software can do this thanks to the “billions of data points” continuously harvested for their users to access. Those data points include detailed information about people not suspected of any crimes. This data can be obtained easily from data brokers and provide far more detailed information about a person’s life than the cell site location data police normally request. The data available through Webloc includes mobile advertising IDs from apps a person uses and other personal information including the gender, age, religion, and interests of the phone user. Webloc says it uses that data, along with their location, to create a “threat actor analysis.”

...

‘Ensuring the Public Is Informed’

LAPD’s largest bulk purchase of surveillance technology happened right before the passage of the department’s Acquisition and Annual Reporting of Certain Information Systems and Technologies policy. The bulk purchase of $600,000 worth of surveillance and investigative technology included payment to Cobwebs Technologies. LAPD passed the policy on August 17, 2022, and promoted it to ensure the public is informed about the technology it uses.

The department’s policy requires an application be filled out before acquiring new surveillance technology. That application must be submitted and discussed publicly at the Board of Police Commissioners meeting. The report outlines “an impact on individual privacy rights, civil liberties, or other constitutional rights.” The application also outlines the types of data collected, oversight policies, and plans to safeguard people’s rights. Eight pieces of surveillance software bought in the bulk purchase escaped this application process.

...

LAPD defends using Cobwebs, saying the information it gathers is open-source and publicly available. But Cobwebs is not available for use by the general public, nor does the general public have access to the breadth of information gathered by Cobwebs.

Dave Maass with EFF pushes back against LAPD’s claim:

“LAPD likes to play games and claims that if it’s public, there is no public interest in protecting it from police spying. … LAPD should learn from history and recognize that this kind of surveillance is damaging to everyone.”

This interview was posted on 11/29 for those who are interested. They cover many topics that should concern all Americans.

After saving the life of his royal father's usurper, Pelias (Douglas Wilmer), whom he fails to recognize, Jason (Todd Armstrong) is encouraged by the conniving murderer to begin a quest in search of the Golden Fleece. In doing so, Pelias hopes for Jason's death to thwart the prophecy that he will reclaim the throne. Along the journey, Jason is protected by the goddess Hera (Honor Blackman), and his crew includes Hercules (Nigel Green) and Acastus (Gary Raymond), a saboteur planted by Pelias.

This is a really cool flick if you've never watched it before, and especially if you enjoy that original stop motion animation movies
 The magic is done by one of the greatest stop animators of all time Ray Harryhausen. 



These old stop motion films are my absolute favorites. I remember watching Clash of the Titans with my dad as a little boy and loving the whole experience,  as well as it scaring the bejesus out of me. This is where my love for these type of movies stemmed from, and this is one of the greats of all time in that genre. Animators like Tim Burton, who is one of my personal favorite animators, get theyre love for making films from this guys work. 
The time and dedication it took to pull this off always amazed me. Such attention to detail and a zen patience to be able to pull it off with such style. So cool. I have so much respect and admiration for that fact.

Old school. This is an epic film and well worth the watch. 


A short video showing off the animation

Full movie

Attached Files

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I always thought Soros and Kissinger had the vampire baby blood transfusion thing going. I guess it has limits on effectiveness.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituarie...-obituary/

https://nypost.com/2023/11/29/news/forme...es-at-100/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/henry-kissi...-diplomat/

Can we get a new category titled "Idiots" by chance? 

In today's clownworld news we have crazed leftist who deny the atrocities that Hamas filmed themselves and posted on websites worldwide are not real!

LOL, Delusional. 

https://nypost.com/2023/11/29/opinion/le...-villiany/

Quote:Here’s fresh proof that Israel haters don’t live in reality: They’re now outright denying Hamas’ atrocities that the terrorists [i]filmed themselves.
[/i]

As Oakland’s City Council on Monday discussed a resolution calling for a ceasefire, much of the crowd opposed an amendment to condemn Hamas, calling it “anti-Arab.”

One resident said that Hamas rapes and baby-beheadings never happened, wildly claiming: “Israel murdered their own people on Oct. 7.”

Another: “The notion that this was a massacre of Jews is a fabricated narrative.”
Calling Hamas a terrorist organization is “ridiculous” and “racist,” testified yet another.
Lo and behold, the amendment got voted down, 6-2.

And it’s not just Oakland: Similar denials come from vandals defending their ripping down of hostage posters.
One reportedly even asked for proof that the hostages had even been taken.
Not even QAnon is this delusional — yet it gets a lot more press.

Remember: Hamas terrorists carried GoPros to record their massacres and hostage-takings on Oct. 7 because they were [i]proud[/i] of their atrocities.

Those sick videos show women being sexually assaulted, terrorists arguing over who got to behead a victim and a man bragging to his parents that he killed Jews with his bare hands.
The disgusting denial of the slaughter shows the giant gap between what American leftists[i] [/i]want to believe about Hamas and what Hamas is [i]proud[/i] of doing.

To cast Israel as the villain, they [i]have [/i]to deny all the evidence that these are war criminals, not beleaguered freedom fighters.

The White House is now fretting about how these folks may not show up to vote for Joe Biden next year, but he should take that as a badge of honor.

Quote:A cancer drug developed by Chinese scientists and recently approved by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will cost over 30 times more in the United States than in China, with two other Chinese cancer drugs set to experience similar price bumps in the US market.

However, even with the huge price mark-up in America, the Chinese cancer drugs will still be priced significantly less than similar drugs sold in the US.
On Monday, California-based Coherus Biosciences, which partnered with Shanghai Junshi Biosciences to market their Toripalimab drug, revealed the price of Loqtorzi, the name it is marketed under in the US.

In China, the cost of a single-dose vial of Toripalimab is around 2,000 yuan (US$280), according to Chinese cancer informational websites. The wholesale cost of a single-dose vial in the US will be US$8,892.03,  Coherus wrote in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. The American price is more than 31 times the price of the same drug marketed in China.

The raised price will still be 20 per cent less than Keytruda, America’s top selling PD-1 antibody drug – a type of inhibitor that helps keep the immune system in check – according to the FiercePharma analysis website.

In China, the price of the drug is based on enrolment into the national healthcare insurance system, and is not its wholesale price.

By the end of last year, 95 per cent of Chinese citizens were enrolled in the system with basic coverage – nearly universal access – according to the National Medical Insurance Administration.

The drug price spike is comparable to the illicit cocaine market. US media reports the American street value is 40 times that of the price in Colombia where the narcotic originates.

Following approval by the FDA for Toripalimab, two more Chinese-made cancer drugs have received approval for distribution in the US this month.

Fruquintinib, an oral medication developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical company HutchMed, was approved on November 9 to treat adults with previously treated metastatic colorectal cancer.

Efbemalenograstim alfa, an injectable drug developed by Evive Biotech, a global biopharma subsidiary of Hangzhou-based Yifan Pharmaceutical, received approval on November 16 to treat chemotherapy-induced neutropenia, or low levels of a type of white blood cells.

Fruquintinib, which will be marketed as Fruzaqla in the US by Tokyo-based Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, will also face a price bump similar to that of Toripalimab.

A box of 21 pills each containing 5mg of the drug is sold in China for around 7,500 yuan (US$1,050), according to Chinese medical news site Medical Valley. Its US wholesale price will be US$25,200 for the same amount of medication, according to a Takeda prescribing document, putting it at 24 times the cost in China.

Drug companies in the US have claimed the high cost of research and development is behind the price of drugs in the country, however a study published last year in the Journal of the American Medical Association challenged this idea.

The US has the highest prices for new drugs in the world, but the country’s federal health insurance agency historically has had no ability to negotiate these prices, according to the study.

The authors found that of the 60 drugs they studied – representing one-fifth of all drugs approved in their study time period of 2009 to 2018 – there was no association between estimated research costs and the drugs’ listed price.

“Drug companies charge what the market will bear,” the researchers said. This is influenced by demand for the drug, whether patients need to continuously take it, and existing market competition.

When Toripalimab was approved, there was speculation the drug could be priced at a significant discount compared with its main competitor on the US market. This stemmed from pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly promising that the Chinese PD-1 inhibitor they were seeking FDA approval for would come at a 40 per cent discount if approved.

But during an investor call after Toripalimab received approval, Dennis Lanfear, the chief executive of Coherus, said such a “heavily” reduced price was off the table, according to FiercePharma.

Keytruda, New Jersey-based Merck & Co’s main counterpart to Toripalimab, is also sold in China and its list price on entering the market was half its price in the US, according to FiercePharma.

Fruquintinib is an oral medication approved to treat patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, the first chemotherapy-free treatment option approved for patients with all types of the cancer in over a decade. It first received approval by the Chinese National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) in 2018.

Colorectal cancer – which begins in the colon or rectum – is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and third leading cause of cancer related deaths for both men and women in the US, according to the American Cancer Society. Worldwide, colorectal cancer was the third most prevalent type, Takeda said in a press release on the medication.

“For more than a decade there has been limited innovation for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer,” said Teresa Bitetti, president of global oncology business at Takeda.

Colorectal cancer accounts for 7.8 per cent of all new cancer cases diagnosed in the US, and 70 per cent of patients with the cancer will experience metastasis – when cancerous growths spread beyond the colon and rectum – according to Takeda.

“Metastatic cancer patients often present with inoperable disease … we must evaluate and consider treatment options that will improve overall survival without compromising quality of life,” Cathy Eng, a doctor at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre, said in a HutchMed press release.

The approval of Fruquintinib is based on two trials with more than 1,000 patients. During the trials, those who received the medication with supportive care had double the amount of progression-free survival compared to those who received a placebo and supportive care.

Patients receiving Fruquintinib had their risk of death cut by 34 per cent, according to Takeda. The most common side-effect of the medication was hypertension, followed by hand-foot syndrome and elevated protein in the urine, according to the FDA.

For the three Chinese drugs approved by the FDA this month, rights to market the product in the US belong to other companies.

While Takeda will manufacture and commercialise Fruquintinib outside China, HutchMed will receive royalties on net sales, and could receive other payouts if major milestones are hit by the drug, HutchMed said.

Efbemalenograstim alfa – which will be marketed as Ryzneuta in the US by New Jersey-based Acrotech Biopharma – will help prevent the side-effects associated with low neutrophil levels, according to the company.

Having low neutrophil levels increases a patient’s risk of infection, and chemotherapy-induced low levels often happen in the weeks after treatment, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

The drug, which was approved by China’s NMPA in May, has undergone 12 clinical trials involving more than 1,200 patients across the world, and found to be effective in cutting the time patients experience severe low neutrophil levels, Acrotech said.
Wang Xiaodong, co-founder of biotechnology firm BeiGene, said on the sidelines of the Hong Kong Laureate Forum this month that China would drive a boom in the research of innovative medicines.

“China has already caught up [with the West]. As long as a product is available overseas, Chinese companies will produce even more,” Wang said.

Bath time runs extra long these days so I have lots of time to think while I'm in the tub. Today's line of random thoughts shifted to people who for one reason or another that I have either gone for extremely long periods of time without having contact or whom I have completely cut out of my life permanently. While in each case the "straw that broke the camel's back" may have been different they all have one thing in common: victim mentality.

Nothing is ever their fault, they feel entitled  and like the world "owes" them. When they don't get their way they do their best to try to turn everyone against the object of their displeasure due to vindictiveness and the proven fact that "misery loves company". They never take responsibility for their actions  and never apologize for the things they do. 

Some might say they are narcissists, sociopaths, bi-polar, borderline personality, etc. but when push comes to shove their identity at its core is that of the perpetual victim. I see it plain as day.

This line of thought led me to consider today's society in general. Our society as a whole has been programmed to be a culture of victims. They were taught from early childhood that something was wrong with them and were constantly taken to doctors and fed various pharmaceuticals for the unforgiveable sin of just behaving like children whose parents were too busy or lazy to do the hard job of actually parenting them. They were not taught responsibility for their actions, rather they were taught that they were "mentally ill" and "it wasn't their fault" and now that they are technically adults many refuse to grow up and take responsibility for themselves or anything that they do or do not do. 

This culture blames their parents and/or grandparents for everything wrong with their lives but at some point you would think they would realize that they are adults and responsible for themselves. I myself had a horrific childhood, worse than most could ever imagine, but once I became an adult I realized that it taught me that I could survive anything and that I could accomplish whatever I put my mind to, that I didn't need to rely on anyone but myself and that after all I had been through everything that came after was a piece of cake. But I digress...

So the epiphany is that whether I realized it at the time or not apparently I had and continue to have no patience for victim mentality- even before I ever heard that particular term- and it explains why my circle keeps getting smaller and smaller as the culture of victims grows larger and larger. I don't have time or patience for such nonsense. I'm kind of glad the years I have left on this planet are far less than the years I have been here because I don't want to be here when everyone is a "victim" and they run out of people to blame. Imagine the horror that awaits when they have to face the fact that they are the victims of their own mindsets!

Enough rambling. Have a good night Rogues!

This has promise of actually being funny.

Not sure if we have any Doctor Who fans but they "Star Wars'ed" Doctor Who.... Maybe even worse than Star Wars.

Enjoy...