From Asylum To The Keystone Pipeline, Obama’s Judges Continue Thwarting Trump

To the Lawyer Left, elections represent a policy choice only when Democrats win.

As I write on Friday, the restraining order hasn’t come down yet. But it’s just a matter of time. Some federal district judge, somewhere in the United States, will soon issue an injunction blocking enforcement of the Trump administration’s restrictions on asylum applications.

The restrictions come in the form of a rule promulgated jointly by the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, and a proclamation issued by President Trump. In conjunction, they assert that an alien who wishes to apply for asylum in the United States must act lawfully: An alien who is physically present here and wishes to apply must be in the country legally; an alien outside the country who wishes to apply must present himself at a lawful port of entry — not attempt to smuggle his way in or force his way in as part of a horde (i.e., no invasions by caravan)….

>>> continue reading: From Asylum To The Keystone Pipeline, Obama’s Judges Continue Thwarting Trump 

New Study Eviscerates Democrats ‘Climate Change’ Claims

Up to half the observed decline in Arctic sea ice is likely the result of natural climate cycles, according to a new study out of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL).

The study, published Monday, found that “internal variability contributes to about 40–50% of observed multi-decadal decline in Arctic sea ice” observed since the late 1970s, based on climate model simulations….

>>> continue reading: New Study Eviscerates Democrats ‘Climate Change’ Claims

These Brutal Reviews Of Facebook’s Portal Device Show Why No One Wants It In Their Home

Facebook insists that it’s not listening or watching the whole time, but many don’t believe the company.

Facebook is offering new video-calling devices powered by artificial intelligence. Judging by reviews, privacy concerns are going to make them a tough sell.

In its basic version, the Facebook Portal sells for $199, while the bigger Portal+ is priced at $349. Facebook started shipping the products on Nov. 8, after announcing them last month.

The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern distrusted the Portal so much that she refused to even bring it into her home. “I just couldn’t bring myself to set up Facebook’s camera-embedded screen in the privacy of my family’s home,” she wrote….

>>> continue reading: These Brutal Reviews Of Facebook’s Portal Device Show Why No One Wants It In Their Home

Why Facebook’s Long Reign May Be Coming To An End

Sears and Blockbuster fell because neither was able to adapt and grow with its consumer base. Is Facebook making the same mistakes?

Over the last several years, Facebook has gone from facilitating the free flow of information to inhibiting it through incremental censorship and account purges. What began with the ban of Alex Jones last summer has since escalated to include the expulsion of hundreds of additional pages, each political in nature. And as more people become wary of the social media platform’s motives, one thing is absolutely certain: we need more market competition in the realm of social media….

>>> continue reading: Why Facebook’s Long Reign May Be Coming To An End

The DEA And ICE Are Hiding Surveillance Cameras In Streetlights

“I can tell you this—things are always being watched.”

The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have hidden an undisclosed number of covert surveillance cameras inside streetlights around the country, federal contracting documents reveal.

According to government procurement data, the DEA has paid a Houston, Texas company called Cowboy Streetlight Concealments LLC roughly $22,000 since June 2018 for “video recording and reproducing equipment.” ICE paid out about $28,000 to Cowboy Streetlight Concealments over the same period of time.

>>> continue reading: The DEA And ICE Are Hiding Surveillance Cameras In Streetlights

China Developing World’s Most Massive Population Surveillance System

‘People who travel without a ticket, or behave disorderly or smoke in public area will be punished according to regulations.’

Imagine the sum of your existence shrunk to a score that is constantly being updated and affects every area of your life –your social and economic status, access to better schools and employment, a nicer apartment, access to newer rental cars, and even friendships. You might laugh it off and point out you have seen this one in that “Black Mirror” episode.

An episode in the third season of the British sci-fi series titled “Nosedive” is indeed about a world where people can rate each other in real time based on every interaction they have, and the score each one gets determine his quality of life. Relax, you may say, it’s totally fictional. But what if I tell you such a world  not only really exists, but is also much worse than the fictional one…?

>>> continue reading: China Developing World’s Most Massive Population Surveillance System

Chinese ‘Gait Recognition’ Tech IDs People By How They Walk

Chinese authorities have begun deploying a new surveillance tool: “gait recognition” software that uses people’s body shapes and how they walk to identify them, even when their faces are hidden from cameras.

Already used by police on the streets of Beijing and Shanghai, “gait recognition” is part of a push across China to develop artificial-intelligence and data-driven surveillance that is raising concern about how far the technology will go.

Huang Yongzhen, the CEO of Watrix, said that its system can identify people from up to 50 meters (165 feet) away, even with their back turned or face covered. This can fill a gap in facial recognition, which needs close-up, high-resolution images of a person’s face to work….

>>> continue reading: Chinese ‘Gait Recognition’ Tech IDs People By How They Walk

China Is The Top Long-Term Threat In Cyberspace

Here’s what we can do about it.

China is rising in economic and military might and presents the greatest long-term challenge to U.S. national interests—including in cyberspace. Three weeks ago, the current U.S. national security advisor, John Bolton, for the first time publicly attributed the hack of the Office of Personnel Management to China.

China is investing in military cyberspace forces and today’s cyber theft could be tomorrow’s influence operation or disruptive attack on infrastructure. So what should the United States do to prepare for the rise of Chinese power in cyberspace…?

>>> continue reading: China Is The Top Long-Term Threat In Cyberspace

Half Of Health Spending In The US Is Now Government Spending

US states continue to expand Medicaid, and it’s happening even in so-called “red states.” CNBC, for instance, reports how voters in “red states” Utah, Nebraska, and Idaho all approved ballot issues to expand Medicaid under new Obamacare provisions. Meanwhile, the voters in these states also handed control of state government to Republican governors and legislators.

At the state level at least, the expansion of government healthcare has now become pretty much a given in nearly all states outside of the South….

>>> continue reading: Half Of Health Spending In The US Is Now Government Spending

What It’s Like To Be A Medicare Enrollee: 4 Economic Lessons From My Last Doctor’s Visit

Patients’ remaining market power would vanish under “Medicare for All.”

The drumbeat continues for “single-payer” health insurance, or “Medicare for All.” How many proponents have first-hand experience with Medicare? How many opponents, for that matter? Economic principles are essential to any rational evaluation of these proposals, but on-the-ground experience helps, too. The following is a short story showing what it’s like to be a Medicare enrollee….

>>> continue reading: What It’s Like To Be A Medicare Enrollee: 4 Economic Lessons From My Last Doctor’s Visit