... short-range air defence systems ...

Curious they were deemed to be needed within the US, where Qatar 1 was allowed to fly before the recent security fracas.

More from the article ...

... Chuck Redd hosted and performed at the Kennedy Center's annual Christmas Eve concerts for years, but he bowed out of performing at last December's planned gig, citing "the defiant and illegal name change happening to the Kennedy Center." The Kennedy Center -- or the Trump Kennedy Center, as it was then temporarily known -- subsequently sued Redd for breach of contract, only to have the suit thrown out in June.

In a statement Tuesday, Lisa J. Banks, one of Redd's attorneys, said: "The Trump-controlled Kennedy Center tried to silence opposition to its illegal name change by filing a meritless lawsuit against jazz musician Chuck Redd. The court rightly dismissed that breach of contract lawsuit, finding there was no contract and no damages, and was brought against Mr. Redd based on his protected opposition. Now the court has ordered the Kennedy Center to pay Mr. Redd's legal fees, which is appropriate as no citizen should have to spend time and money fending off baseless and politically motivated lawsuits filed by the Trump Administration." ...

Not just the NPS, but US taxpayer money in general.

Look at his apparent desire to pay out millions to the J6 criminals he pardoned.

@#3 ... But now he is just the poster child for today's GOP....rolled up in corruption, bribes and pedophilia. ...

Why does the GOP seem to prefer this type of candidate?

@#3

The issue I see here is the merging of Flock data with phone data.

That merged data creates a surveillance problem that is significantly larger than either of them used individually.

The timing of this DoJ opinion is curious.

There's a case that has become active in recent days ...

@#12 ... He did it to advise states according to the information he's privy to. Is that so hard for you to understand? ...

Yes.

However, if your current alias had stated it as ...

... He did it to advise states according to the misinformation he's privy to. Is that so hard for you to understand? ...

That would be a lot easier to understand.

More from the article ...

... After enough trips, software may treat some of those devices as a recurring electronic signature associated with the vehicle. Weeks later, one of the same device signals appears alongside a different car connected to an investigation. The signal itself may not contain its owner's name, but its previous association with a known vehicle gives investigators another clue they can use to work out who was carrying the device.

SignalTrace, a system marketed by the security company Leonardo, is designed to work alongside automatic license plate readers. The company says it can recognize groups of consumer devices that regularly move together, then associate them with license plate records and time-stamped locations. The pattern can then be searched even when a police investigator does not know the plate number. ...

Leonardo's new explanatory sheet states that SignalTrace "does not identify people." It says the system "only collects electronic signatures" from signals already being broadcast, such as Bluetooth or radio frequency identification tags. Those signatures, by themselves, do not disclose a person's identity. The company says the output must be corroborated through ordinary investigative methods. ...

Leonardo's SignalTrace product page says the system stores electronic fingerprints for later queries and can recognize a vehicle without seeing its license plate. A separate product sheet says the technology helps identify suspects through the mix of devices they carry. The patent behind the system describes targets that may be people or vehicles. It also describes searchable signatures that can be correlated with visual identifiers and used to track a target across locations. ...

More from the article ...

... In a 21-page opinion published Monday evening, the Office of Legal Counsel told the White House that the president can move to extend executive privilege, the right of the president to contain confidential communications within the executive branch, to advisers who do not work for the White House, but who provide him with direct advice.

The new opinion says that executive privilege can apply to private advisers of the president if the communications "relate to official presidential decisionmaking," are confidential, and involve conversations between the president and his direct team of advisers.

The opinion, which is not binding, comes months before a contentious midterm election that could result in Democrats winning one or both houses in Congress. If that were to happen, a barrage of investigations could follow and may expand the number of individuals potentially protected from future testimony or investigation.

Executive privilege is often asserted by the president in conversations with executive branch staff, like lawyers who work for the White House, but the new step could protect Mr. Trump's outside legal counsel and other advisers from divulging information in future congressional investigations or legal proceedings. ...

@#7 ... This isn't law. It's simply advice. ...

It is more likely putting down the groundwork for Pres Trump to withhold funding to states which do not comply with his EO.

More from the article ...

... Digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, came under pressure during the April-to-June quarter as investors shunned riskier assets amid uncertainty over U.S. interest rates, geopolitical tensions and persistent outflows from crypto investment products.

The results come as Trump Media seeks to generate new revenue from Truth API, a licensed data feed that will give banks and trading firms "the fastest" access to posts from influential Truth Social accounts, such as President Donald Trump's, whose posts often move global markets.

Trump Media has discussed charging as much as $100,000 a month for the Truth API product, Reuters and other media outlets have reported.

The company said on Monday it had signed more than 10 customer agreements for the feed that launched on August 1, adding that it was continuing to add partners.

"Our new Truth API product is already generating revenue, with more than ten customer agreements signed to date," the company's interim CEO, Kevin McGurn, said in a statement. ...

Another view ...

Meanwhile ...

More from the article ...

... "There's a deep irony that here we are in the capital of the free world, and our president is treating it like a police state," said Scott Michelman, legal director of the ACLU of the District of Columbia. "D.C. residents have lived with our National Guard troops in our neighborhoods for about a year, despite the absence of any genuine emergency and really any reason for them to be here."

The continued deployment will be a major test for a new batch of political candidates expected to take office after the midterms this fall. Residents will look to them to push back on the Republican president's encroachment into the city's affairs -- although they're limited in what they can do to counter it.

Temporary deployment goes on and on

On Aug. 11, 2025, Trump announced he was launching a federal law enforcement surge in Washington aimed at fighting crime. As of Aug. 4, more than 4,600 military personnel from D.C. and 24 states and territories were still deployed alongside unknown numbers of less visible federal law enforcement officers. Some are expected to be withdrawn toward the end of the summer. ...

@#1 ... "There was substantial other damage to the Reflecting Pool, also but, unfortunately, there is no video or proof, other than the damage, itself," ...

Well, there were the videos and photos of Pres Trump's SUV convoy driving over the Reflecting Pool.

Wait, what?

Didn't Pres Trump say he had video evidence of people in the Pool making a massive 300 foot-long cut in the liner?

More from the article ...

... "There was substantial other damage to the Reflecting Pool, also but, unfortunately, there is no video or proof, other than the damage, itself," Trump wrote on social media on Sunday. ...

Trump also said that there was "some contractor error done by rushing the job for a July 4th opening."

The president said that contractors were "working on the Pool, and it will reopen shortly," but said that "it was a very small area of this massive Pool" which was damaged, calling it "relatively inconsequential." ...

@#9

I wonder if Pres Trump would even understand this song from a children's cartoon ...

@#5

Well, Sen Cassidy is a physician, so for starters, he should have known better.

That aside, Sen Cassidy's vote just shows how much MAGA has corrupted things (politics, et al) in the government.

Sen Cassidy is probably singing ...

@#3 ... Will this guy have more luck than Pam Bondi pursuing baseless accusations against political opponents? ...

In that area the problem seems to be Pres Trump's apparent excitation of people who attack people (e.g., D.C. police) and then get a pardon for their actions.

Stated differently, have Pres Trump's apparent past actions been a precursor of what Judges who rule against him might have to face?

@#1 ... Sen. Bill Cassidy said Sunday that his vote pushing Todd Blanche's attorney general confirmation up to a Senate majority was not a "black-and-white decision." ...

Of course he might say that, trying to give the impression that he had a modicum of concern regarding the results of his ~decision.~

The reality seems to be more along the lines that he wants to stay in good graces with MAGA so that he can reap an income as a lobbyist, a role that many former Senators seem to move into..

More from the article ...

... Sen. Bill Cassidy said Sunday that his vote pushing Todd Blanche's attorney general confirmation up to a Senate majority was not a "black-and-white decision."

The Senate voted early Saturday morning to confirm Blanche 50-49, with Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska in opposition.

Blanche, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney and acting attorney general since Pam Bondi's ouster in April, climbed a steep hill to gain approval from some GOP senators largely due to his role in creating a $1.8 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" as part of Trump's settlement with the IRS.

...