PRIVACY: ‘Geofence’ Warrants Threaten Every Phone User’s Privacy.

Last month, the federal district court in DC issued an opinion in the case of one of the many defendants who stands accused of sacking the Capitol in the wake of the 2020 election.

And with it, Judge Rudolph Contreras became the first federal district judge to approve a “Geofence” warrant, endorsing a recent police innovation: searching the cell phone history of every American to check who happened to be in the area of some potential crime.

The “Geofence” in this context refers to cell phone location data collected by Google from users of its Android operating system, as well as iPhone users who use apps such as Google Maps. Location tracking can be turned off, but most users allow it for the convenience of getting directions, tracking their daily jog, or finding the nearest Chipotle. The Government’s warrant demanded location history for every Google account holder within a range of longitude and latitude roughly corresponding to the Capitol building on the afternoon of January 6, 2021, along with similar data from that morning and evening (to filter out Hill staff and security guards).

It’s not clear this information was even needed: This defendant was apprehended within the building that day, carrying knives and pepper spray, and features on various security cameras — his whereabouts are not in question. Many of his coreligionists were considerate enough to live stream their antics themselves. While tracking down every participant in what was dubbed the Beer Belly Putsch is impractical, prosecutors have not lacked for defendants, or for evidence against them. But the government nonetheless decided to resort to a level of mass surveillance without precedent in history or criminal law.

Of course they did. A higher court needs to slap down Judge Rudolph Contreras, hard.

NEW VIDEO FROM AMERICA’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD: California Fleein’ (Beach Boys Parody).

MY NEW YORK POST COLUMN: Privatizing Fascism: How Team Biden is getting more and more corporations to do its bidding.

MORE LIKE THIS, PLEASE: JJ Reddick just called out ESPN live on-air for its anti-white racism … judging by the response of his cohosts, it struck a nerve.

SURVEY FINDS MOST AMERICANS WANT TO KNOW TRUTH ABOUT COVID: A new I&I/TIPP survey finds that 69 percent want now-classified intelligence reports on the virus’ origin to be made public and 76 percent want a serious congressional investigation.

The survey of 1,370 registered voters nationwide has a 2.8 percent plus or minus margin of error and is full of strong signs that huge majorities of Americans want the truth and don’t believe what they’ve been told since January 2020 by federal officials.

Not coincidentally, House Republicans have mounted multiple Covid origin investigations, which are this week beginning to accelerate their digging. Considering all the other lies coming out of government in recent years, the phrase “target-rich environment” is taking on new meaning.

I DON’T KNOW ART BUT I KNOW WHAT I DON’T LIKE: ChatGPT Pens an Ode to Biden.

ICYMI, FROM MOLLIE HEMINGWAY, A WAKEUP CALL: “We Are In An Information War, And It’s Being Waged By Government Agencies.”

DEAL OF THE DAY: O-Resilio Men‘s Workout Shoes for Gym Lifting. #CommissionEarned

THE CORBYNIZATION OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY CONTINUES APACE: The Vanishing — The erasure of Jews from American life.

GRADUALLY THEN SUDDENLY: Consumers Hit A Brick Wall: January Credit Growth Craters As Interest Rates Soar.

Bottom line is simple: while US savings (especially excess covid savings) were spent long ago and flatlined near record lows in recent months, it was all up to credit cards and other sources of (repurposed) credit – like pretending one’s student loans are actually going to, you know, studying when instead they were used to buy iPhones, TVs, booze and onlyfans subs – to drive consumers.

However, the recent surge in rates has meant that even the indomitable US addiction to credit is finally coming to an end, and the result is a sharp slowdown in credit-funded purchases, alongside an upward inflection in savings as US consumers are realizing the good old stimmy days are gone and more money has to be set side, and thus not spent.

As the wise man said, anything that can’t go on forever will stop.

MAGICAL SORKINISM:

Among the worst disasters for progressivism in recent decades has been the work of Aaron Sorkin, whose impossibly articulate ratatat dialogue made it way too easy to imagine sexy technocrats saving the world. It’s great entertainment, but normalized unreasonable expectations of the flawed human beings who happen to have high IQs and impeccable credentials.

As a child of the New Left, I never missed The West Wing: it was irresistible catnip for my adolescent hopes and dreams, and so much more satisfying than whatever was on the news—except for the eloquent public intellectuals on the Bill Moyers show on PBS. Later, as an idealistic policy major at Brown, I was surprised and disappointed to find basically nobody operating on that level.

It was only when I’d lucked into joining the Moyers organization that I began to understand how such Sorkinesque eloquence was manufactured each week—not with deliberate dishonesty, but ever more misleading as years passed and the scene grew shallower.

We’d typically tape on Thursday or Friday mornings to turn around by Friday nights. Being of Bill Moyers’ approximate height, I was tasked with showing up early to fill his chair as gruff union guys set up cameras and lighting. Then, as Bill’s blogger and research assistant, I’d watch live interviews from the control room to highlight quotable moments.

Uncut conversations were eye-opening; it was astonishing how often our esteemed guests hemmed and hawed and got basic facts embarrassingly wrong. And how many came off batshit crazy: one, later an anchor on MSNBC, speculated that Captain Sully’s Miracle on the Hudson—visible from our west side offices—had been God blessing the Obamas.

Drafting the Moyers Blog and promotional listings, I’d sit in with producers and video editors to consult on coalescing broadcasts. They were like wizards, casting away awkwardness and errors to sculpt artful vignettes of the most compelling bits of conversations that often stretched well over an hour or more.

So many of the most rousing clips came from when guests were at their most factually inaccurate, and editors deftly dipped in and out to pull and seamlessly reassemble the very best parts. It was wondrous alchemy, and a privilege to work with super-talented creatives, but the reality of our academic pundits remained the same.

Viewers, or at least those motivated enough to weigh in, frequently testified that their social-democratic faith had been wavering until they’d seen whichever inspiring interview affirming what they’d always believed. I always found that frustrating, wondering if they might have reacted more thoughtfully to the real deal than the perfected package that aired.

Our problem is, the “best and the brightest” are neither.

QUESTION ASKED: The American Left Rigs Elections Everywhere Else, so Why Wouldn’t They Do It Here?

YOU ONLY NEED CENSORS WHEN YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO HIDE: Chuck Schumer Calls for Censoring Tucker Carlson Over J6 Coverage.

Related (From Ed): Was it over when the Germans and the Soviets bombed Pearl Harbor?

Ken Burns compares Tucker to both Soviets & Nazis for releasing new J6 video:

"The way the Nazis would build a Potemkin village, Tucker Carlson is doing the same thing with the footage from 1/6. It's a rewriting of history at the most dangerous level." pic.twitter.com/CZxLgHhPef

— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) March 7, 2023

FROM SARAH A. HOYT: BARBARELLA, THE CENTER CANNOT HOLD, #1

#CommissionEarned

A note: for reasons known only to the publisher, this was put in erotica comics. That’s false advertising in both directions. There are suggestions of lovemaking, but nothing is shown, not even full naked breasts. Pfui. PG-13. At worst. In this issue the worst is …. kissing.

BARBARELLA IS BACK IN A NEW STAR-SPANNING EPIC!
BARBARELLA SETS OUT ON A DESPERATE MISSION TO STOP INTERGALACTIC WAR BETWEEN GODLIKE BEINGS!
Beyond the edge of known space lies…the Unnamable. Myth? Gods? Malevolent force? No one knows. No one but the one force in the universe that can stand against the Unnameable: the Architects, hidden guides of our galaxy for untold eons.
Enter Barbarella, on a desperate quest to find and convince the Architects that a war with the Unnameable will spell the death of Every. Living. Thing.
Get ready for tension, excitement, espionage, and the secret of how to defeat an empire. Fun, romance, and cosmic adventure beyond the furthest reaches of the galaxy!

A COMMON TALE: The Suicide of Xavier University. “Skeptical of the old verities, embarrassed by its past, Xavier appears manifestly unmoored by its philosophical collapse into postmodernity.”

Its faculty and administrators couldn’t resist the peer pressure, when they should have thought more carefully about who their peers were.

ANOTHER LIBERAL EATS THE RED PILL:  Nate Silver blasts ‘crazy’ COVID lockdowns that closed churches, kept museums open.

That’s fine. I want to see repentance!

GOOD:  George Gascon Loses Lawsuit to the Tune of $1.5 Million.

‘LEARN TO CODE’ THEY TOLD US:  Meta to lay off thousands more just weeks after cutting 11,000 jobs: report.

Also, Zuck it, Zuck!

I FEAR Y’ALL DONE PICKED THE WRONG STATE TO PLAY THE FOOL:  Rich New Yorker among protesters arrested in Atlanta ‘Cop City’ violence.

JUSTICE FOR JAKE:  Jan. 6 Footage: Capitol Police Escorting a Calm ‘QAnon Shaman’ to Senate Floor.

SOME OF US BELIEVE THE BORDER SHOULD JUST BE CLOSED:   Lindsey Graham Wants to Use Military Against Mexican Drug Cartels.

AND NOW WE KNOW WHAT SIDE HE’S ON:  Mitch McConnell Slams Tucker Carlson and Fox News Over J6 Video Release.

Our regards to your Chinese in laws, Mr. McConnel.

READER FAVORITE: GTHUNDER Digital Night Vision Goggles Binoculars. #CommissionEarned

DISCRIMINATION IS DISCRIMINATION, NO MATTER IF IT’S CALLED DIVERSITY OR EQUITY:  Fighting The Injustice of DEI Discrimination: “What did that person do wrong other than be born with the wrong skin color?”

BEFORE YOU PACK YOUR BAGS FOR WHAT LOOKS LIKE GREENER PASTURES:  Running Away.