NationStates

Immortan Khan wrote:

Kannap wrote:
Need a balkanized republic for those who don't partake in team sports

I'm afraid they're to be sent to the mines and latifundas to support the war effort.

Kannap wrote:

Immortan Khan wrote:I'm afraid they're to be sent to the mines and latifundas to support the war effort.

Suppose I can always try to emigrate to Canada or something.

Immortan Khan wrote:

Kannap wrote:
Suppose I can always try to emigrate to Canada or something.

Never encountered Canadian hockey fans, huh?

Kannap wrote:

Immortan Khan wrote:Never encountered Canadian hockey fans, huh?

Look, at least give us a city-state for distance runners or something.

Immortan Khan wrote:Joint Saints-Braves forces collapse in the face of the Philadelphia Eagles-Minnesota Vikings offensive supported by the Flyers Cossack Host.

NUMEROUS FEDERAL AGENCIES, including several branches of the military, buy video surveillance equipment that can’t legally be used in U.S. government systems and that is made by Chinese companies sanctioned on national security grounds, records and products reviewed by The Intercept indicate.

The agencies purchased blacklisted hardware through a network of American resellers that claimed the camera systems were in compliance with the sanctions. Those claims in numerous cases had little apparent basis, according a joint investigation with IPVM, a video surveillance industry research publication.

The security sanctions originated in the 2019 iteration of Congress’s annual defense policy and funding bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act. They barred Dahua and Hikvision, two of China’s leading manufacturers of security cameras, from selling their products to the federal government, citing concerns that such sales could let the Chinese government remotely spy on federal facilities.

But public purchase records show that since the sanctions were put in place, the Air Force, Army, Navy, Veterans Affairs, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense all purchased camera systems containing or consisting of hardware that IPVM determined was in fact originally manufactured by Dahua or Hikvision and sold under another brand. IPVM visually compared both hardware and software of the camera systems and, in some cases, physical disassembled cameras. Listings posted to GSA Advantage, a marketplace for federal vendors to sell their wares to the government online, show that rebranded Dahua and Hikvision cameras are still freely available for purchase under different brand names.

The sales raise questions of due diligence, transparency, and the seriousness of even the toughest-appearing sanctions, as the U.S. government has not provided the public with any evidence that Dahua and Hikvision are spying on customers. At the same time, it’s not clear how effectively the government is able to police the sale of allegedly dangerous technology: The sheer quantity of products available through the GSA e-commerce portal “just grew into a beast that at some point became unmanageable,” according to Denise Buczek, who runs a consultancy for businesses who list their products on GSA Advantage. Burczek noted that while the General Services Administration is in her experience very diligent about removing prohibited items that are brought to its attention, “a lot of things start to fall through the cracks that GSA, at this point cannot physically have the resources to monitor, or to follow up with.” There is simply too much available for sale to be sure of what it all truly is.

GSA spokesperson Kim Armeni told The Intercept in an email that GSA contractors are required to comply with the provisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, or FAR, which provides rules for government purchases and contracting practices and was updated in 2019 to implement the NDAA’s Hikvision and Dahua ban. Armeni noted that “GSA has multiple means to vet vendors and products sold on GSA Advantage” but did not elaborate on these methods. Of all the federal customers, only two responded to requests for comment. The Army, which records show purchased a Dahua DVR resold by Global Data Center Inc. under the Amcrest brand name in September 2020, said it relies on attestations by its vendors. “Companies that propose on federal contracts are required to assert their compliance with various Federal Acquisition Regulation and Defense supplement provisions and clauses,” Army Lt. Col. Brandon Kelley wrote in an email. “This piece of equipment, which was purchased through the GSA website, is a DVR used to store video footage of fish at the Mill Creek Project near Walla Walla, Washington. The team that purchased it observed that neither AMCREST nor GDC Inc. were listed as prohibited companies, and saw no indication that they may have been associated with any prohibited companies.”

An Amcrest representative told The Intercept in an email that “Amcrest cameras and security products are conceptualized and designed by Amcrest in Houston, TX,” and that “Amcrest works with various contract manufacturers from around the world (Mexico and China) to complete the design, assembly, and physical manufacturing processes.” The representative confirmed that its wares are not NDAA compliant, meaning they can’t legally be sold to the federal government.

An analysis by IPVM determined that the Amcrest AMDV10814-1TB-C DVR resold to the Army by Global Data Center is in fact a Dahua XVR4104 in slightly different clothing: While the unit’s front panel appears to have been modified in the Amcrest version, both models have identical side ventilation panels, and, crucially, their array of rear ports is identical, indicating that they’re using the same inner circuitry. Both devices also appear to come with nearly the exact same software, though Amcrest has given its version some new coloring. Reached via email, Global Data Center vice president Chris Davis told The Intercept “We had and have no wrongdoing to do with this matter [sic]. We had no knowledge that Amcrest or Bosch were selling and shipping anything other than the exact Amcrest or Bosch products they advertised and sold,” adding that “If they then, on their own, shipped banned 3rd party products, this was not done with our knowledge, consent or approval. This was unbeknownst to us and anyone else that may have bought these products.” Davis also noted that he had recently been informed of the situation by the GSA itself, “and have fully cooperated with them and provided all information requested that clearly proves without any doubt that Global Data Center, Inc. had nothing to do or any involvement whatsoever with this matter.”

Bosch spokesperson Anne Insero told The Intercept that “Global Data Center purchased the video recording products through distributors, as Bosch does not have a direct purchase relationship with the company,” and added “We have been transparent with any customer inquiries related to NDAA compliance.” Amcrest did not reply to a request for comment on Global Data Center’s claim. The Air Force, which records show bought Dahua cameras and a Hikvision security camera system, said through spokesperson Capt. Joshua Benedetti that the camera purchases were made under the purview of the Army and that the camera system had been acquired before the Federal Acquisition Regulation rule banning such a purchase went into effect. But the records show a transaction date more than a month after the ban was implemented. Asked about this discrepancy, Benedetti said he would investigate but did not provide an update in time for publication.

The issue of NDAA violations appears to be ongoing: In the course of our reporting, a federal surveillance camera vendor contacted IPVM, apparently mistaking them for a camera reseller and not a publication that covers cameras, asking if they could help supply four Hikvision-manufactured cameras to install at the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela.

The State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service declined to comment.

[...] The byzantine ecosystem of federal procurement, filled with small, generically named firms like SPS Industrial and Global Data Center, can make it difficult to tell at a glance what anyone is actually buying. These resellers are often simply middlemen for larger North American camera manufacturers like Honeywell and Speco, which are, in turn, often buying Chinese hardware in bulk and, as shown by IPVM’s research, doing little more than slapping on a new logo and sending it on its way. In order to represent themselves as the manufacturer, companies must attest that they have “substantially transformed” any items they list on GSA Advantage that were originally made elsewhere, but the listings and transactions reviewed by The Intercept offer little indication that the equipment was meaningfully altered or reconfigured beyond some aesthetic changes. Many surveillance systems arrive at the customer’s door looking and functioning identically as they would if they carried their original Hikvision or Dahua mark, and often come preloaded with these companies’ software interfaces, making their genuine identities knowable if one cares enough to look. Because the actual manufacturers of camera systems sold to the federal government are obfuscated through layers of resellers, the very companies the 2019 NDAA made out as dire Chinese threats are still selling products that end up delivered to the government agencies the defense bill was supposed to protect.

Immortan Khan wrote:

Foundhome Republic wrote:The problem with those secession movements is that it does not address the core issue that is dividing the country. It is not a North Vs. South issue like during the last illegal armed insurrection attempt. Currently, it is a rural vs. urban divide that is fueling tensions. This is shown in how Texas Democrats had to flee the state to preserve the rights of the urban populations being stripped of their voting rights by the Republican lead—and rural based—legislature. It is shown in how the rural Republican extremist/populists movement in Idaho is attempting to annex parts of Oregon and Washington, and leaving out the urban coastal regions.

Rural-urban this, Norf vs Souf that. These are the real American balkanization demarcation lines.

Couldn't find one for the NHL, most likely they'll be used as crack assault troops or undergo some sort of cossackization.

An Alan Smithee Nation wrote:Tucker Carlson thinks the NSA are spying on him, they deny it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-57663136

Major-Tom wrote:

Immortan Khan wrote:

(Image)

Yikes

You have to imagine that these numbers don't genuinely reflect those who are truly "committed" to secession. I feel the numbers are inflated by respondents who feel more that secession is interesting as a concept rather than as a goal to commit to.

Over the last six months, government officials and journalists have surfaced damning information that suggests New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration attempted to diminish the true pandemic death toll in the state’s nursing homes. State attorney general data revealed that New York’s public tally of nursing home deaths may have undercounted the fatalities by up to 50 percent, and the New York Times uncovered efforts by Cuomo’s aides to stop health officials from sharing that data with state lawmakers and the public. These moves coincided with a time when Cuomo was trying to ink a multi-million-dollar deal for a book about his handling of the COVID crisis, capitalizing on the image he’d cultivated as a hard-charging hero of pandemic leadership when New York City was the COVID epicenter in the spring of 2020.

On Friday, the Justice Department disclosed that it has declined to further investigate what happened in New York. In letters sent to several lawmakers, DOJ said that it would not open a civil investigation into New York’s handling of the pandemic in nursing homes. In a letter to Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), who plans to challenge the three-term embattled incumbent in New York’s gubernatorial race in 2022, the department said that it had requested information from the state of New York last summer. “We have reviewed the information provided,” wrote deputy assistant attorney general Joe Gaeta. “Based on that review we have decided not to open a [Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act] investigation of any public nursing facility at this time.”

Meanwhile, New York’s handling of death toll data at nursing homes is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the US attorney’s office in Brooklyn and by the FBI. Cuomo also faces an unrelated state inquiry over allegations of sexual harassment, after nearly a dozen women came forward with accusations against him this spring.

The DOJ also declined to open investigations into the pandemic response in nursing homes in Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Each of these three states had issued policies at the height of the first COVID wave in the spring of 2020 that required nursing homes to admit COVID-19 patients, despite the lack of adequate testing and the high risk for severe COVID complications or death among nursing homes’ elderly populations. These “must-admit” orders appeared as nursing homes became some of the hardest-hit locations. As my colleague Molly Schwartz explained in February: When the coronavirus first appeared in the US, nursing homes were an epicenter of infection and have continued to have the highest mortality and infection rates of any population. Infections rates in nursing homes surged to a high in late November following Thanksgiving travel, and the death counts continue to rise, peaking at 7,004 weekly deaths in nursing homes alone the week of January 14. As of February 2, 153,159 of the 443,751 Americans who have died from COVID-19—a whopping 35 percent—are residents of long-term care facilities; they account for less than 1 percent of the US population.

Last summer, the Justice Department—then under Trump administration leadership—requested more information from these three states, as well as New Jersey, to assess whether their “must-admit” policies may have caused pandemic deaths in nursing homes. On the basis of this information, the DOJ had opened an investigation in New Jersey. But Friday’s announcement from the department effectively ended the chances of a federal probe in the other three states.

Saiwania wrote:I saw that China supposed owns $2 billion worth of agriculture in the US. This is a big problem that should be undone because its unacceptable. I'd be keen to see all of China's US holdings to be seized or forcibly sold off. China can have the $2 billion sent back to them.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/1 ... ase-499893

Maineiacs wrote:

Immortan Khan wrote:Rural-urban this, Norf vs Souf that. These are the real American balkanization demarcation lines.

Couldn't find one for the NHL, most likely they'll be used as crack assault troops or undergo some sort of cossackization.

Here's the NHL

And apparently the White Sox, Clippers, and Jets have no fans?

New haven america wrote:

Maineiacs wrote:
Here's the NHL

And apparently the White Sox, Clippers, and Jets have no fans?

Outdated map, Seattle got the Krakens.

The Black Forrest wrote:Well now. Senator Ranger Tom Cotton thinks the US has an under-incarceration problem.

https://www.businessinsider.com/tom-cot ... lem-2021-7

Jeriga wrote:https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/obama-team-left-pandemic-playbook-for-trump-administration-officials-confirm


Why on earth isn't this being talked about more. I know this is over a year old, but there's over 600k dead Americans and it feels like heads should be rolling. I'm just so discouraged that Trump through out and dismantled the only plan we had and there are no consequences for him.

Why on earth do we live under such an incompetent government.

New haven america wrote:

Jeriga wrote:https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/obama-team-left-pandemic-playbook-for-trump-administration-officials-confirm


Why on earth isn't this being talked about more. I know this is over a year old, but there's over 600k dead Americans and it feels like heads should be rolling. I'm just so discouraged that Trump through out and dismantled the only plan we had and there are no consequences for him.

Why on earth do we live under such an incompetent government.

People were talking about it.

The Black Forrest wrote:Well now. Senator Ranger Tom Cotton thinks the US has an under-incarceration problem.

https://www.businessinsider.com/tom-cot ... lem-2021-7

New haven america wrote:

Jeriga wrote:https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/obama-team-left-pandemic-playbook-for-trump-administration-officials-confirm


Why on earth isn't this being talked about more. I know this is over a year old, but there's over 600k dead Americans and it feels like heads should be rolling. I'm just so discouraged that Trump through out and dismantled the only plan we had and there are no consequences for him.

Why on earth do we live under such an incompetent government.

People were talking about it.

The Black Forrest wrote:

New haven america wrote:People were talking about it.

Yup and the Trump supporters tried to ignore it, downplay it, and change the message.

We see that now. People saying “we suggest you get a shot but leave that to your ‘personal choice’ “

Sounds like law suits are being planned.

Cannot think of a name wrote:

Fartsniffage wrote:
Bless. I love that you did this. GMS will ignore it though. He lies all the time.

He's kind of lied himself into a corner at this point. Now it's just lies on top of lies, like a little pillow fort of lies.

A My Pillow fort of lies, even.

The Temple of the Computer wrote:

The Black Forrest wrote:Well now. Senator Ranger Tom Cotton thinks the US has an under-incarceration problem.

https://www.businessinsider.com/tom-cot ... lem-2021-7

What level of stupidity do you have to be at to say that the US has an under-incarceration problem?