Bitcoin Price Expected to Drop to $6,200, According to Eerily Prescient Fractal – U.Today

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Disclaimer: The opinion expressed here is not investment advice it is provided for informational purposes only. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of U.Today. Every investment and all trading involves risk, so you should always perform your own research prior to making decisions. We do not recommend investing money you cannot afford to lose.

Bearish forecasts are appearing one after another on Crypto Twitter as analysts seem to be expecting the bears to start dominating the market again.

As reported by U.Today earlier, the @nebraskangooner entrepreneur and trader expects the Bitcoin price to drop to $6,200 soon. He bases his negative forecast on the fractal analysis.

The price may first rise to see $7,500, he says, and then. His expectation is $6,200.

The analyst @CryptoMichNL says that at the moment on the charts Bitcoin has got out of the wedge pattern. The analyst still hopes that the price will break upwards at the $7,400 level. However, he admits that a bearish reversal towards $6,900 is also an option.

Earlier, the same analysts expectations were more bullish. He tweeted:

I don't think we're going that much further down.

Taking into account the approaching Bitcoin halvening in May 2020, he said he believed that the market wouldstart surging rather than dropping.

Another crypto trader seems to be bearish on Bitcoin, at least until the year ends. KailCrypto has posted a chart on TradingView where he shows that the price of the flagship currency is likely to plunge - down to $6,000 by the time 2019 is over.

Image via TradingView

Overall, market expectations concerning the price of Bitcoin remain bullish, despite the bearish short-term forecasts mentioned above.This is due to the approaching halving in less than half-a-year.

The crypto analyst PlanB on Twitter says that the run-up to the halving is not bearish at all. However, he is surprised not to see any front running on the market yet.

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Bitcoin Price Expected to Drop to $6,200, According to Eerily Prescient Fractal - U.Today

Can Bitcoin surge back to $14,000 before the new year? – Yahoo Finance

Two years ago, Bitcoin was approaching its all-time high following a colossal bull market throughout 2017.

Just one year later, Bitcoin slumped all the way down to $3,150 at the peak of a gruelling bear market.

This year is poised to be different again, with Bitcoin hovering between critical levels of support and resistance in a phase of the market that is neither bear nor bull.

From a short-term perspective, the recent drop in price from $10,350 to $7,300 over the past five weeks is clearly not ideal for Bitcoin bulls, but this is nothing new.

Bitcoin has been through a jaw-dropping amount of booms and busts over the past few years, and a 30% move is nowhere near as volatile as it used to be.

One technical factor that will undeniably put pressure on price is the exponential moving average death cross on the daily chart, which has happened just three times since 2014.

On the two previous occasions, Bitcoin slumped by more than 60%, but the market is far different now compared to previous years, with mainstream companies now taking cryptocurrency seriously as shown by Facebooks planned launch of Libra in 2020.

If Bitcoin can rally to the upside and negate the current death cross, the market would enter an extremely bullish phase, although a surge of retail interest is still needed in order for Bitcoin to reach the dizzying heights of 2017.

Data from Google Trends indicates that interest in Bitcoin is 87% down since 2017, with the hype and mania failing to reemerge from the previous bull market.

The only feasible way to see retail investors buy back into the market would be if Bitcoin can break its all-time high of $20,000. This would suggest that another meteoric rally is on its way, but it would still need to trigger a reversal from a technical perspective.

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Can Bitcoin surge back to $14,000 before the new year? - Yahoo Finance

The Nonprofit Push to Make Giving Tuesday About #GivingBitcoin – Bitcoin Magazine

Black Fridays history is complicated. The U.S. tradition of shopping on the day after Thanksgiving dates back to the early 20th century, though the term wasnt coined until the 1960s. Since then, the event has unravelled into a multiday scramble for door-busting deals; for some, it now begins on the day of Thanksgiving itself and has extended its influence into such offshoot events like Cyber Monday, a day of digital shopping discounts.

It has also given rise to Giving Tuesday. As its name implies, Giving Tuesday is meant to encourage philanthropy and charity in response to the consumerism that has come to define the days after Thanksgiving.

And as sats-back programs like Fold and Lolli embrace the post-Thanksgiving traditions with their own deals for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, one organization wants to put Bitcoin at the forefront of Giving Tuesday.

The Giving Block, a nonprofit that provides bitcoin payment-processing solutions for charities and other nonprofits, is launching perhaps the widest-reaching bitcoin charity campaign for this years Giving Tuesday.

Bitcoin Tuesday, as its called, is calling all hodlers to fork over some of their sats in the name of goodwill and philanthropy.

We have two #BitcoinTuesday goals one donation goal, one adoption goal, The Giving Block co-founder Patrick Duffy told Bitcoin Magazine. The donation goal raise $1,000,000 in cryptocurrency for nonprofits. The adoption goal get 1,000,000 people to see positive Bitcoin content. Imagine if campaigns like this happened every day. Think about how much easier it would be to talk about Bitcoin at the dinner table. That's why we're doing this.

The Giving Block team believes that bitcoin donations have not gained as much traction for Giving Tuesday as one might expect (according to a 2019 report by Tech for Good, only 2 percent of global nongovernmental organizations and nonprofits accept bitcoin as a donation option, up by 1 percent from 2018).

This may be in part because of the learning curve that comes with using bitcoin. Thats why The Giving Blocks first hire was tasked with going from nonprofit to nonprofit to glean where the pain points were in accepting BTC donations and how it could convince board members to adopt a crypto-based donations solution.

For an oft-malign digital currency sometimes associated in pop culture with the dark underpinnings of the web, bitcoin actually has a rich history of philanthropy. Examples include the $85 million Pineapple Fund, which Duffy said [changed his life] and [inspired] the creation of the company, and projects like BitGive and Helperbit.

Duffy finds that bitcoin donations should be a no-brainer given that, like stocks, these donations are exempt from capital gains tax. This could be enough to incentivize donations, he believes, along with what he calls the high-five effect: where bitcoiners still see nonprofits accepting bitcoin as abnormal. So they'll send some crypto as a 'high five' for joining the crypto community.

The Giving Block features roughly 100 different nonprofits for donating, including The Human Rights Foundation, the Mona Foundation, No Kid Hungry, Save the Children and the Tor Foundation. When you donate through the platform, the organization converts your bitcoin donation into cash for the recipient and provides you with a tax receipt. In addition to bitcoin, it also takes ether, litecoin and zcash, among other altcoins.

In hopes of boosting donations, The Giving Block wants to make sats-powered philanthropy go viral with the #GivingBitcoin hashtag. Its already off to a good start; Rainn Wilson (best known for his role as Dwight in The Office) recently tweeted his support for the effort.

With a celebrity like Wilson behind the movement and a history of bitcoin-bolstered altruism, Duffy hopes that campaigns like this will turn hodlers into donors and spread adoption across the globe.

It will be nonprofits that bring Bitcoin mainstream, he said. Their incentives all align with Bitcoin's unique properties. Transparency/traceability, cross border payments, micropayments/donations, stabilizing communities under unstable regimes issuing unstable fiat. Nonprofits are about to send Bitcoin adoption parabolic.

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The Nonprofit Push to Make Giving Tuesday About #GivingBitcoin - Bitcoin Magazine

How the Upcoming Bitcoin Halving Compares to Previous Cycles – Bitcoin News

For those standing very close to the crypto charts, it might be easy to get discouraged by the gloomy nature of recent markets. However, new comparisons of the current halving cycle to those in the past have emerged and might put some wind back into the sails of traders, hodlers, and cryptocurrency enthusiasts in general.

Also Read: As Halving Interest Grows, Spectators Discuss Miner Hoards and Capitulation

Though crypto prices took a big dip in November, with BTC falling 30% from a high of $9,486 to a bottom of around $6,575, hash rates on both the BTC and BCH chains have held relatively steady as the next block reward halving approaches. Data also points to miners hoarding coins in view of the upcoming subsidy reduction, as the event is generally viewed as price favorable. In combination with these factors, new analysis has emerged which might suggest that in spite of the recent bearish climate, things might be more on track than previously supposed.

The image above aligns the block reward halving points of three cycles (the latter half of pre-halving and the first half of post-halving), with the three cycles anchored at a common line of 100% of the cycle low. The first two cycles which are completed, and the pre-halving phase of the current cycle are displayed. Interestingly, the movements in the latter half cycles appear to follow a similar trend. As creator of the graphic, @Chartsbtc, states on their Twitter post:

Each cycle is 210,000 blocks (~4 years). This chart starts half way through the cycle and goes half way into the next cycle. This is my attempt to show the lows prior to halving and the peaks post halving but keep everything centered around the halving.

The graphic is compelling, and has many hoping for great moves price-wise in 2020 and beyond. Discussing the methodology of creating the graphic further, @Chartsbtc explains why the green price action line does not touch the 100% cycle low level: The low was a intraday price and the chart only plots the closing prices to the nearest 105th block. I wish I actually had prices per block. They further note that viewers should Keep in mind that each cycle peak will likely be lower than the prior one. Even so, should the trend repeat BTC could see a post-halving peak around $80,000. Still, this is all speculation, and other factors must be kept in mind.

With the Bitcoin Core halving estimated to be taking place in mid-May, 2020, and the Bitcoin Cash halving to likely occur a month earlier, speculation of course abounds. Other factors playing into market perception and possibly price, such as proliferating development surrounding the BCH chain, and a trend of businesses dropping BTC as a payment method due to fees and congestion (not to mention an overall shift in attitude in the BTC community from user to mere hodler), could also have unexpected affects. If the projections of the above halving data are correct, however, everyone may be in for an interesting ride in 2020.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or as a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, fair use.

Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here.

Graham Smith is an American expat living in Japan, and the founder of Voluntary Japanan initiative dedicated to spreading the philosophies of unschooling, individual self-ownership, and economic freedom in the land of the rising sun.

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How the Upcoming Bitcoin Halving Compares to Previous Cycles - Bitcoin News

The Best of the Last Two Years of The Joe Rogan Experience – Phoenix New Times

Joe Rogan has released 434 podcasts in the two short years since he last performed in Phoenix.

In an apt illustration of the shows flexibility, this sample starts with Krystyna Hutchinson and Corinne Fisher, the hosts of the Guys We Fucked podcast and ends with presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard. The conversations with Andrew Yang and Elon Musk provided an exponential bump to the formers donor pool and sank Tesla stock by nine percent overnight. This period also saw his already massive audience expand.

It's not inconceivable that professors of the future will study The Joe Rogan Experience and will struggle to explain to their undergrads how a man who had built a public profile by forcing people to drink horse semen on Fear Factor was influencing presidential primaries and major companys stock prices. The podcast offers a rare insight into the everyday demeanor of the worlds most important people and an unhurried platform for them to dive into the topics that concern them.

You (probably) dont have time for 1,000 hours of podcast listening, so heres a selection of the seven best episodes of the past two years in time for Rogan's appearance at Comerica Theatre on Friday, December 6, and Saturday, December 7.

This journalist is a fascinating caricature of modern health fads. Each of his descriptions of the experimental supplements and treatments he tries is packed with so much jargon, they seem feasible. In a moment of self-awareness, he tells Rogan, I do a lot of a guinea pig stuff, and Im not dead yet.

Highlight:At 17:53, when prompted by a description of what he happened to do that day, Greenfield describes the elliptical machine of the future having an outrageous array of benefits.

Whether you think of Alex Jones as a virtuosic performance artist or a belligerent conspiracy theorist, this is him at his Alex Jones-iest. Delivered over four hours of inhuman intensity, he spins an intricate web of alternative world history, touching on (among many other things) the sixth dimension, Planned Parenthoods baby part harvesting operation, and the connection between Nazis and aliens.

Highlight: At 33:54, enjoy what happens after Jones says, The worlds not imitating Blade Runner. Blade Runner is a preparation for whats coming.

A lot of people smoke joints and talk about robots, the AI-induced apocalypse, and flamethrowers but most of them dont do it with Elon Musk.

Highlight: At2:10:27, Musk succumbs to Rogans peer pressuring and smokes weed in front of the world.

For whistleblower Edward Snowden, Rogan made an exception to his policy of having his guests physically in the studio. Rogan is mostly silent for this nearly three-hour conversation.

Highlight: A mesmerizing, 40-minute answer to the question: When did you realize the government went too far?

A healthy portion of episodes are unsophisticated comic relief. Comedian Theo Von fits the bill perfectly.

Highlight: At 50:30, Von discusses his relationship with pornography with a hilarious diversion through an enlightening period in his life where he lived with rich people. Eventually, Von flatters and aptly summarizes Rogans message by saying, I feel like you lead a lot of men in their aspirations to control their beings and be on top of themselves.

Rogan and Neil deGrasse Tyson are a match made in the stars. The podcast host isn't afraid to ask smart people dumb questions. The astrophysicist is an unpretentiously explains otherworldly concepts.

Highlight: At the top of the show, deGrasse Tyson beautifully articulates his love for Vincent van Goghs Starry Night.

Rogan is an outspoken critic of Twitters habit of blocking people, so when he was a little easy on the website's CEO Jack Dorsey a while back, fans freaked out. In response, he arranged for Round Two with an interesting panel of Dorsey, journalist Tim Pool, and lawyer Vijaya Gadde.

Highlight: In this clip, Cook and Gadde address ifTwitter has a bias against conservatives in who and what they ban.

Joe Rogan is scheduled to perform at Comerica Theatre on Friday, December 6, and Saturday, December 7. Tickets are $35 to $95 via Ticketmaster.

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The Best of the Last Two Years of The Joe Rogan Experience - Phoenix New Times

Amazon’s ‘The Report’ Condemns Not Only Bush but Obama for Turning a Blind Eye to Torture – The Daily Beast

The Report, Scott Z. Burns film about the CIA Torture Report, makes slow-going research and paper pushing compelling, and it does it while maintaining an astonishingly high level of adherence to the literal truth of what happened to the men imprisoned by the American government at black sites like Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, using dialogue usually taken verbatim from the record. Starring Adam Driver as (real person) Daniel Jones, who worked for California Senator Dianne Feinstein to compile an investigation into the CIAs so-called enhanced interrogation techniques post-9/11, The Report offers a vital condemnation not only of the Bush administrations trigger-happy cronies, but of the Obama administrations ultimately cynical post-partisan fantasies.

Heres a bit of living history: Both administrations supported and enabled the CIA in equipping and promoting war criminals, including CIA intelligence officers like Jose Rodriguez and Gina Haspel. The latter is now the director of the agency and was nominated by the Trump administration and confirmed by the majority Republican senate. The film notes that, to date, not one of the CIAs torturerstheir names still have not been releasedhas been held accountable.

The practice of enhanced interrogationan updated brand of torturewas developed by two barely credentialed psychologists, Bruce Jessen and James Mitchell, who had no experience in interrogation or criminal justice. Mainly, they were overconfident, blood-sucking mediocre white guys looking for vengeance; the CIA, which had already known for decades that torture doesnt even work (besides being immoral and itself criminal) welcomed the psychologists unscientific methods as long as the governments legal team could spin a defense for them. In the film, actor Pun Bandhu plays John Yoo, the UC Berkeley law professor who, as the Deputy Assistant U.S. Attorney General under George Bush, authored the legal memos that provided that defense and became known as the Torture Memos. Fictional Yoo provides the exact justification the real Yoo came up with in the memos: As long as there is no organ failure or death, anything goes, from gouging eyes to pouring acid on a prisoners body.

As Adam Drivers Daniel Jones indignantly yells in explanation to Feinstein (played by a rigid yet convincing Annette Bening), the CIAs torture of prisonerssome of whom the FBI, not the CIA, had already gathered enough intel on to prosecuteensured that no one actually responsible for 9/11 could ever be brought to trial. And on top of that, torture didnt even work, contrary to the narrative of the Oscar-nominated Bin Laden assassination film Zero Dark Thirty. Despite Jones and his teams painstaking research into emails, memos, and even an internal CIA report that confirms the agencys own incompetence and corruption, no one seems to care much within the Obama administration, including the president himselftheres a re-election to be secured and drone strikes to carry out under the CIAs supervision.

Burns, who also penned Steven Soderberghs The Laundromat, originally planned to write and direct a dark comedy film that focused on Jessen and Mitchell. The Laundromat, which Soderbergh admits drew from the narrative style of Adam McKays The Big Short, didnt work precisely because of its overwrought machinations and confused tone (but not, its important to point out, because of its comedy). Im glad Burns opted to take on this story from Jones perspective rather than again borrowing from McKays playbook of unwittingly legitimizing tyrants and liars. It makes for a film that, rather than gawking at the gall of blood-thirsty cynics, soberly examines their horrible methods, revealing powerful alliances that span not only the halls of power but reach across the aisle as well. The Reportunlike McKays dramedies and the practice of tortureis effective, emphasizing humanity as it exposes evil.

The Report offers a vital condemnation not only of the Bush Administrations trigger-happy cronies, but of the Obama administrations ultimately cynical post-partisan fantasies.

Jones is a regular guy who, not unlike Jessen and Mitchell, wants to beat the bad guys. At the start of the film, he meets with Obamas chief of staff Denis McDonough, who encourages to him get experience in the FBI or on the Hill before trying to get a job with the executive branch. Jones, a bit of a boy scout, eventually finds himself under the direction of Feinstein, whom we later learn has been charged with creating the report only because Obama refuses to task his own branch with the investigation, not wanting to ruin his chances at post-partisan governmental bliss. Over the course of the investigation, Jones develops much of the integrity that evades Obama and his people. Jonesalong with a team that the film compresses to six and then three people, but was actually around 20refuses to turn away from the CIAs abuses. He fights to have the truth revealed without compromise, which takes the form of gratuitous redactions by the CIA which are sanctioned by Obama via McDonough.

The film ends up emphasizing the limits of Jones boy scout behavior, even though it is in service a righteous cause. Jones meets with a New York Times National Security reporter and considers pulling an Edward Snowden by leaking the full 6,000-page report to the press. Feinstein has already told Jones that she believes Snowden is a traitorwhistleblowers dont figure into her ideas of justice. Jones is not so sure, and during their meeting, the Times reporter reveals the extent of Obamas complicity in suppressing the investigation. This information isnt enough to sway Joneshe ultimately believes he has to take the legal, governmental recourse and doesnt leak the document. A 582-page summary is released by Congress instead (a recent New York Times story revealed how close even the summary was to being suppressed). None of the real names of those directly accountable are in it, and no onemuch like with Obamas big bank bailoutgoes to jail.

Ultimately, liberal ideologya belief in incremental reform and justice through institutions rather than peopleconvinces Jones that he shouldnt blow the whistle. But, to this day, Jones is enraged at the continued lack of accountability in the wake of the report. The summary was released to the public but what resulted was mostly strategically crafted speeches by statesmen like the late Republican senator John McCain and handwringing by concerned citizens; Obama, for his part, admitted, in an absurd turn of phrase, that we tortured some folks. CIA agents both complicit and directly involved in torturing detainees were not simply given a pass but promoted within the agency.

The liberalism of Obamas government and Feinsteins office did not rock the boat by design. If you watch closely, youll see that The Report is not a triumphant film, which is exactly why it has fallen under the radar. The movie not only testifies to the importance of exposing ugly truths, but suggests that self-sacrifice and rebellion may be required for justice to ever be served. Obama, who recently cautioned millennials against leftist revolution, is still preaching his credo of rule-following moderation. If he had gotten his way before, most media outlets would still be reporting that our government had delivered us to safety by way of torture. We would do well to learn from the former presidents example by rejecting it.

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Amazon's 'The Report' Condemns Not Only Bush but Obama for Turning a Blind Eye to Torture - The Daily Beast

You, Too Can Be a Whistleblower – Yonkers Times

Eric Schoen

This too is Yonkers, by Eric W. Schoen

Whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a personwho exposes any kind of information or activity that is deemed illegal,unethical, or not correct within an organization that is either private orpublic. Because of this, a number of laws exist to protect whistleblowers.Definition courtesy of WikiPedia.

We keep hearing that word and think that itis someone who has supernatural powers and information no one else knows. Weget the impression that the person is exposing information at such a high levelthat he or she needs Secret Service protection 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,365 days a year.

Well friends, I am hear to tell you that youtoo could become a whistleblower. It can be done completely anonymously fromthe comfort of your home. All you need is a computer, a phone, or a piece ofpaper and a stamp. Before we get into the details let me tell you about mywhistleblower experiences.

It happened over 30 years ago which proveswhistleblowing in not a new phenomena. All the participants in the scheme arelong gone from Yonkers. I knew of an agency that was getting funding for jobtraining and using the money to pay salaries and not doing any type of crediblejob training.

They got the money through a quid pro quo (afavor or advantage granted or expected in return for something). The agency andits supporters backed a political candidate and in return that candidate whowas chairperson of the organization with the money gave the agency what youwould call a no show contract. I was in a position to audit the agencyreceiving funds. You cant audit an agency that does no work. In this case theminimal work the agency was doing was limited to a specific group of people andnot open to the general public as it was supposed to be.

I started by calling the State InspectorGeneral of the agency where the money was coming from. It was federal money being channeled through thestate. I started at the state level but my whistleblower complaint quickly gotelevated to the federal level. I wanted to remain anonymous and they agreed toit. They knew I had the goods.

We chatted on the phone several times andagreed to meet in the parking lot of the old Parkside Diner on South Broadway.The agent, investigator whatever he was called told me the color and type ofhis car and I gave him my car details and where to meet me in the lot. I gavehim the information I had, documents that proved my claim, and we chatted in mycar for about an hour.

Fortunately my car did not blow up. Inretrospect the investigator should have at least brought me coffee andbreakfast.

Two other quick whistleblower stories. Iworked in a building where people were constantly getting sick from therecirculated air. I filed an anonymous complaint with the Federal EnvironmentalProtection Agency and they came out to test the air.

Another time I anonymously called the YonkersFire Department as the office I worked in had moved filing cabinets aroundmaking it unsafe to reach the exits in case of an emergency. Our wonderful YonkersFire Department came out (mind you within minutes after I made the call) andsaw that the filing cabinets were in an unsafe position blocking exits andpaths to the exits. They made the office move the filing cabinets so that theywere not a fire hazard.

Yes friends, if I can be a whistleblower youcan too. Most times you can remain anonymous. Visit whistleblowers.org for excellent information. That website will help you Know YourRights.

Whistleblowing takes preparation. Deciding which law youshould report under is in many ways the single most important decisionaffecting the outcome of a case. Give as much information as possible (i.e.,names of alleged offenders, victims, witnesses, etc., and leads on anyapplicable data, documentation or other evidence).

Lets start at the top. Want to file a complaint about somethingthe President did? Or one of his Advisors or Members of his Cabinet? It alldepend on the specific fraud committed. oversight.gov lets you report waste,Disclose wrongdoing about a federal government agency, program, contract orgrant. Most federal agencies have Inspector Generals that accept whistleblowercomplaints.

Senators or Congressman? The House and Senate Committee on Ethics(ethics.senate.govor

ethics.house.gov)can Investigate alleged violations of the Code of Official Conduct or of anyapplicable rules, laws, or regulations governing the performance of officialduties or the discharge of official responsibilities and Committeerules . Then if need be Report to appropriatefederal or state authorities substantial evidence of a violation of any lawapplicable to the performance of official duties that may have been disclosedin a Committee investigation.

State officials? Office of the New York State Comptroller has a confidential, toll free hotline.Call 1-888-672-4555 weekdays, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. to make youranonymous complaint. ag.ny.gov puts you in touch with the Attorney Generalsoffice.The Attorney General serves all New Yorkers in numerousmatters affecting their daily lives. Specifically, the statutory and common lawpowers to protect consumers and investors, charitable donors, the public healthand environment, civil rights, and the rights of wage-earners and businessesacross the State.

Authority also includesthe activities and investigations of the State Organized Crime Task Force andMedicaid Fraud Control Unit.

In Westchester County, theBoard of Ethics handles ethics complaints. According to the County Website,there is no phone number but they list an attorney as contact, Asst. CountyAttorney David Polizzi dppd@westchestergov.com .

Yonkers has an Office ofthe Inspector General, Brendan McGrath. Email Brendan.McGrath@yonkersny.gov , Call 914-377-6107 or Fax:914-377-6990. They also have a link on theirpage on the Yonkers website where you can make an anonymous complaint.

When in doubt you can also visit FBI.gov/tips or contact the NewYork FBI office

26 Federal Plaza, 23rd Floor New York, NY10278-0004 newyork.fbi.gov

(212) 384-1000 Regional corruption hotline.

Tips about criminal activity taking place in Yonkers? Text tip411and when prompted enter YPD. The Yonkers Police Internal Affairs Division has a24 hour a day hotline, 914-377-7331. For the Fire Department contact (914)377-7526 Monday through Friday. Obviously for a Police or Fire or MedicalEmergency DIAL 911.

Another important web address. For Internet complaints visit ic3.gov . Thats the Federal Internet CrimeBureau.

So there you have it. You, Too Can Be the next Edward Snowden.

Reach Eric Schoen at thistooisyonkers@aol.com. Follow him onTwitter @ericyonkers. Listen to Eric Schoen and Dan Murphy on the WestchesterRising Radio Show Thursdays from 10-11 a.m. On WVOX 1460 AM, go to WVOX.comand click the arrow to listen to the live stream or download the WVOX app fromthe App Store free of charge

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You, Too Can Be a Whistleblower - Yonkers Times

Conspiracy Theory4 days ago Why the Snowden incident didn’t have to happen EXECUTIVE SUMMARY – NOQ Report

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Edward Snowden stole very sensitive classified information from the National Security Agency [NSA] while working for contractor Booz Allen Hamilton in Hawaii. He fled the country and divulged national security secrets. Here is why it did not have to happen.

There are specific actions which Booz Allen Hamilton and NSA could have taken to intercept Edward Snowden before he boarded an international flight at Honolulu International Airport. We are not going to look at why Snowden did what he did. Much has already been written about that. Rather we are going to consider what could have been done to prevent the Illegal disclosure.

In 2013, Edward Snowden and his thumb drive full of classified NSA documents boarded a plane and changed the world forever.

I first learned of this matter from an article published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on June 9, 2013 entitled, Hawaii man was source of National Security Agency leaks. He had left the country nearly three weeks earlier.

On June 24, 2013, South China Morning Post [SCMP] published an article entitled, Snowden sought Booz Allen job to gather evidence on NSA surveillance.

The following are excerpts from that SCMP article based on Snowdens admissions while he was in Hong Kong:

Fugitive whistle-blower reveals for first time he took job at US government contractor with the sole aim of collecting proof of spying activities

My position with Booz Allen Hamilton granted me access to lists of machines all over the world the NSA hacked, he told the Post on June 12. That is why I accepted that position about three months ago.

During a live global online chat last week, Snowden also stated he took pay cuts in the course of pursuing specific work. He said: Booz was not the most Ive been paid.

He spent the time collecting a cache of classified documents as a computer systems administrator at Booz Allen Hamilton.

Asked if he specifically went to Booz Allen Hamilton to gather evidence of surveillance, he replied: Correct on Booz.

The documents he divulged to the Post were obtained at Booz Allen Hamilton in April, he said.

Two days after Snowden broke cover in Hong Kong as the source of the NSA leaks, Booz Allen Hamilton sacked him.

An email request was sent three times over a five-day period to Booz Allen Hamilton Media Relations at their head office in McLean, Virginia. Voice mails were also left for two persons there. A third person was reached on his cellphone but said that he was on medical leave and could not assist.

Here is a copy of the request and the questions which were posed in a conscientious effort to allow the company to give their side of the issue:

Booz Allen Hamilton

Media Inquiries

My name is David Ware. I am a journalist with an online publication called NOQ Report.

https://noqreport.com/author/david-ware

I am researching an article about why Edward Snowden was not intercepted before he could leave the United States with classified information while he was employed by Booz Allen Hamilton in Hawaii. I want to give you the opportunity to respond to the following questions before publication.

1 Do you confirm that Edward Snowden was employed by Booz Allen Hamilton in May-June 2013?

2 If so, at which NSA facility was he assigned and what was his official capacity there?

3 Did Snowden take leave in May 2013 and, if so, what was his stated purpose and destination?

4 What were the dates of his leave and on what date did you become concerned as to his whereabouts?

5 What were your actions and the dates to try to locate him?

6 What and when were your communications and coordination with NSA about Snowdens absence?

7 Did you learn that classified information was compromised and that Snowden could potentially have it in his possession, and if so, when and how did you become aware of that?

8 Did you know the nature of the medium on which that classified information was taken out of the NSA facility, and, if so, what medium was it?

9 Specifically, were there reasons to suspect that Snowden might have the classified information on a thumb drive in his possession?

10 Were any actions taken by Booz Allen Hamilton to intercept Edward Snowden and prevent him from divulging the classified information, and, if so, what and when were those actions?

11 If you are aware of NSA actions to intercept Snowden and the classified information, could you please describe those actions and their dates?

12 Did Booz Allen Hamilton or NSA have reason to believe that Edward Snowden may have committed a crime, and, if so, on what date did you become aware of that and what were your relevant actions and dates?

13 If you are unaware of NSA actions or are unable to discuss what you do know, could you please provide a name and contact at NSA who can do so?

14 Are there any other comments that you wish to provide about the issue of Edward Snowden?

This article will consider whether specific timely action could potentially have stopped Edward Snowden from boarding a flight at Honolulu International Airport with classified information in his possession. Your responses to these questions and additional comments will be included verbatim and in their entirety without being edited.

This story will be published on or after 11/23/2019 unless you request more time to supply the answers.

Mahalo,

David Ware

No response from Booz Allen Hamilton whatsoever was received.

Per Wikipedia:

On March 15, 2013 three days after what he later called his breaking point of seeing the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, directly lie under oath to Congress Snowden quit his job at Dell.

At the time of his departure from the U.S. in May 2013, he had been employed for 15 months inside the NSAs Hawaii regional operations center, which focuses on the electronic monitoring of China and North Korea, the last three of which were with consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton.

That being the case, it is absolutely incomprehensible that Booz Allen Hamilton hired him immediately and he began working for them at NSA. There could not have been an independent background security investigation conducted by Booz Allen Hamilton under those circumstances. As Snowden himself has admitted, he took the position specifically to obtain and divulge sensitive classified NSA data.

So, our first concern is that Booz Allen Hamilton did not apparently vet Snowden as to why he left Dell. NSA allowed him to change contractors and continue working at their super-secret facility in Kunia, Hawaii.

Snowden had been employed for no more than 6 weeks by this company, so he would not have had a significant amount of sick leave or annual leave accrued by May 1st. Yet he was absent until he departed the country on May 20th. He and his girlfriend moved out of their rented house in nearby Kunia at that time. It would be important to know how much leave he was authorized and whether any actions were taken by Booz Allen Hamilton or by NSA to locate him.

Did NSA realize that classified information had been compromised before Snowden divulged it publicly from outside the United States? If not, why not? If so, what actions were taken to intercept him and to recover / secure the data?

If the breach was known, did Booz Allen Hamilton or NSA suspect that Snowden might have it in his possession on a thumb drive?

Most importantly, was there reason to believe that Snowden may have committed a crime? If so, what action was taken to apprehend him?

The National Crime Information Center (NCIC) is a computerized index of missing persons and criminal information and is designed for the rapid exchange of information between criminal justice agencies. Users access the NCIC computer located at FBI headquarters through regional or State computer systems or with direct tie-ins to the NCIC computer. The data is stored in 12 files: article, boat, Canadian warrant, gun, interstate identification index, license plate, missing person, securities, U.S. Secret Service Protective, unidentified person, vehicle, and wanted person.

If a federal arrest warrant had been issued on Edward Snowden and entered into NCIC, he would have been identified and apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the boarding gate of any international flight from Honolulu or other city. A warrantless outbound border search could have been conducted and the stolen data would have been recovered and prevented from leaving the United States in his possession. A thumb drive or other electronic media could have been detained. CBP would have turned him over to the agency holding the warrant.

But, even if there was not enough for NSA to obtain an arrest warrant, NCIC is not the only way CBP could have been alerted. If CBP had known before Snowden left the USA, a nationwide alert could have been entered and he would still have been identified prior to boarding an international flight. He would have been questioned at the gate and a warrantless border search would still have found any stolen classified information in his possession.

So, there you have it. The problem is that CBP was not alerted about Snowden before he left the country.

If Booz Allen Hamilton and/or NSA did not suspect Edward Snowden of stealing sensitive classified information before he divulged it from Hong Kong, then there are serious deficiencies in the security posture of both.

If they did know and suspected Snowden, they did not take appropriate timely action to notify CBP before he could get out of the country.

Frankly, it is hard to believe that an agency as reputable as NSA and a contractor with such a long positive track record as Booz Allen Hamilton did not have reason to believe that Snowden was the culprit sooner rather than later.

Therefore, the only logical conclusion is that they failed to coordinate with CBP to stop him from taking the compromised classified information abroad and divulging it there.

This did not have to become the notorious international incident that it is today. Snowden could have had his day in court and faced justice here in the United States instead of lurking in Moscow.

The author of this article is a retired United States government employee with 42 years combined active duty military and civilian service who was the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Representative at the Hawaii High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area [HIDTA] and collocated Hawaii State Fusion Center at the time of the Snowden incident.

I became aware of this matter strictly through open sources after Snowden had already flown from Honolulu to Hong Kong. We cannot redo the past. Whats done is done and cannot be undone.

For the record, I have worked with Booz Allen Hamilton over the years and still have a very positive impression of the overall contribution they make to our national security as a contractor with various government agencies. I also respect the publicly misunderstood role of NSA. I was aware of their existence long before the Snowden affair.

For six and a half years now, I have wished that Booz Allen Hamilton or NSA would have made a timely notification to CBP about Snowden. But, they didnt. Life goes on.

The merger of Customs inspections with Immigration inspections into DHS/CBP on March 1, 2003 was a game-changer that merits a thorough analysis in an article all its own.

The relevance in this context is that the mission of the late, great U.S. Customs Service [USCS] was preempted and usurped by the focus on non-U.S. citizens. Customs, which was established in 1789, the same year the U.S. Constitution was ratified, was a Treasury Department agency tasked with protecting and collecting the revenue along with preventing the smuggling of contraband across our borders whether by U.S. citizens or otherwise.

I hope this assessment of what went wrong in the Snowden affair will:

In fairness, despite the passing of the deadline without response, if Booz Allen Hamilton wishes to provide answers to the questions which were posed to them, they will be duly considered and we will do a follow-up article. NSA is also welcome and invited to tell us your side of the story.

As for Edward Snowden, just hold that thought and tell it to the judge and jury. Besides, we dont speak Russian.

We are currently forming the American Conservative Movement. If you are interested in learning more, we will be sending out information in a few weeks.

Original post:
Conspiracy Theory4 days ago Why the Snowden incident didn't have to happen EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - NOQ Report

Top 5 things to know about open source and the cloud – TechRepublic

Cloud software is impeding open source software companies from making a profit. Tom Merritt explains the five things you need to know about open source and the cloud.

Open source software has revolutionized how companies work, but cloud software like AWS has been making it harder for open source software companies to make money. When you can get cloud services based on open source software, there's no need to pay a company for the services around that software. Here are five things to know about open source and the cloud.

SEE: Deploying containers: Six critical steps (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

In the end, it's about how these companies and the open source community adapts to change. Redis Labs and MongoDB are both healthy, successful companies, but the motivation behind open source changed for them and they had to adapt. As cloud services continue to become huge, it may affect other systems as well. If nothing else, it's interesting to see that open source software principles seem to be holding on during what is a significant test for them.

You don't want to miss our tips, tutorials, and commentary on the Linux OS and open source applications. Delivered Tuesdays

Image: iStockphoto/yuriz

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Top 5 things to know about open source and the cloud - TechRepublic

Linux phones need to succeed and it isnt just about privacy – SlashGear

Android and iOS may be the mobile platforms today but there have always been attempts to push other horses into the race. Most of them used the Linux kernel just like Android but a few were more direct efforts to bring some of the Linux desktop stack to mobile in one form or another. Thanks to changes in the industry, particularly in electronic components and production, there has been a steady rise of such attempts to create true Linux and truly open source phones, with Purisms Librem 5 and PINE64s PinePhone leading the way. These are primarily targeted at a small hobbyist market and at users that value privacy and security above all else. But while those are valid and desirable goals, its actually important that these Linux phones become more mainstream in order to cultivate a healthier and better mobile market in general.

What is a Linux phone anyway? If you simply take the kernel into account, then Android can be considered at the very least a Linux-based phone. That definition definitely doesnt satisfy Linux users or even Google itself, mostly because Android doesnt fit the image of what the Linux operating system, not just the kernel, represents.

The Linux operating system, or some would say GNU/Linux, isnt simply defined by the Linux kernel or even a singular software feature. It is, instead, defined by an ecosystem of both software and the people that make the software that revolves around openness. In other words, open source software, open hardware, and open development. While its technically possible to run proprietary software on Linux, thats the exception, not the rule. A Linux phone, then, is one that runs primarily on open source software and promotes a culture of openness and collaboration, at least more than Android does, despite being open source.

That open source culture isnt just important for things like privacy, security, or even ethics. It is also crucial to pushing forward mobile technology that seems to have stagnated due to the markets most important element: profits. Android and iOS are developed by companies that, in the final analysis, are driven by the need for revenues. Any changes to these platforms are made with the end of selling phones and services primarily in mind. Somewhere along the way, they also become beholden to what paying customers want or what they believe consumers will want to pay for. In other words, they try to settle on whats safe and popular.

Thats not to say companies making Linux phones are running charities. Manufacturing phones require money and these organizations need to do a delicate balancing act between getting enough profit to keep the lights on without succumbing to corporate greed. But because they are not too tied to the prospect of making huge margins, they are able to play around with features and ideas you will never find on mainstream commercial phones.

Hardware privacy switches, the ability to install any Linux operating system of choice, or even modular, repairable phones are things that will make companies like Samsung go out of business, at least as far as making phones is concerned. Linux phones, in contrast, have the freedom and the capacity to play around with ideas and test them faster than any Android OEM would dare. They are rich seedbeds of innovation and experimentation that could push mobile technology forward.

The US ban on Huawei should be a wake-up call to both Android and iOS users and developers. It shows how these platforms are practically at the beck and call of one country. It also shows how the open source Android platform has become intricately tied to Googles proprietary software, though with good reason. Google Play Services offer features and capabilities that few are able to match. The challenge for the mobile market is to do exactly that.

Huaweis Harmony OS will try to do that but it will most likely fail. It will try to match Googles Android piece by piece and it will be subject to the same limitations and problems that an even more proprietary commercial platform will have to face. Linux users sometimes face the same compatibility problem with proprietary apps and services but they are not chained to those by nature. There are alternatives available and have the ability to make more when really needed.

Linux phones arent just about privacy and security. Theyre also about openness and experimentation. Just like what it did on desktops, these Linux mobile devices could challenge the status quo. They can introduce changes not only to the way mobile software is developed but also how manufacturers and assemblers do business. They can change the mobile landscape for the better, that is if fans and believers in a truly open ecosystem take the risk to invest in such a future.

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Linux phones need to succeed and it isnt just about privacy - SlashGear