Tag Archive for: Bidens

Opinion: Biden’s multilateralism isn’t enough to defend America

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Over the past four years, international conditions have changed radically and returning to the multilateralism of the Bush-Obama years won’t offer Joe Biden the leverage needed to deal with China and Russia.

The freedom for swift action that authoritarian regimes enjoy permitted China to quickly suppress COVID-19 and register economic growth in 2020, while Europe and North America suffered greatly from the pandemic and a recession.

China advancing everywhere

Confident in the belief that its system is superior, Beijing is pushing out in all directions—repressing Hong Kong, forcibly assimilating ethnic minorities, continuing a naval buildup that threatens U.S. interests and allies in the Pacific, and co-opting the European Union.

Despite China’s human-rights transgressions, the EU recently signed an investment and trade agreement with Beijing. European leaders point to market-opening opportunities, leverage on Beijing’s climate change policies, and commitments to support labor rights.

However, Beijing has broken numerous commitments on trade and investment in the past, is violating its promise to maintain a two-system one-nation policy in Hong Kong, and appears reticent about commitments on climate change.

Globally, China is the largest source of new greenhouse gases, and no possible solution to the planet heating up is possible without curbing its fossil- fuel use. Last September, Beijing pledged to reach peak CO2 emissions by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2060 but China continues to build coal-fired plants. At the December Climate Ambition Summit, Beijing did not table any meaningful initiatives to reverse those plans.

China shows no remorse for failing to warn the world about COVID-19 and has sought to subvert the World Health Organization to avoid culpability. Now it is pressuring Australia and others who support a WHO investigation—and to refrain from taking issue with its treatment of Hong Kong and repression of Muslims in western provinces.

Europe recognizes threat, but does little

Trade and foreign investment are the cudgels Beijing uses to weaken Western resistance and punish critics. It is investing heavily in…

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Reporter shoots video of Biden’s inauguration security arrangements, Internet says ‘charge him for sedition’

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Just days after New Jersey Rep Mike Sherrill claimed that she witnessed lawmakers doing “reconnaissance” tours just a day before the Capitol riots, a right-wing media outlet was slammed for showing viewers the details of all security measures that have been taken to ensure that President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration will be a smooth and uneventful one. 

A series of videos were posted by Right Side Broadcasting that showed the specific roads blocked off in Washington, DC, and what security is at precise areas in the city. Photos of fences and trucks blocking roads in and around the venue of the event have been posted by multiple news outlets anyway, giving people a pretty good idea of the increased security measures.

Members of the U.S. National Guard arrive at the U.S. Capitol (Getty Images)

However, Right Side Broadcasting reporter Brian Glenn felt the need to walk through the streets, pointing out specific roads, corners, and directions in multiple videos. “We’re going to take you on a journey around the city here of what exactly is going on here, as is very much a different scene here in Washington, D.C.,” says Glenn in the video.

“Right Side Broadcasting News, a Trump supporting independent network with 1.39m YouTube subscribers, filmed an interesting livestream segment this evening doing a walkthrough of DC security measures for their audience. Over 254k people have watched the 36-minute video as of this tweet, in which Right Side Broadcasting Network anchor Brian Glenn shows his audience in detail where security checkpoints are, what they look like, and how to maneuver around locked down Washington DC,” a journalist for The Intercept captioned the video of Glenn’s pre-inaugural coverage. Legal analyst Marcy Wheeler characterized it as “Pro Trump media doing reconnaissance of the Inauguration security” on Twitter.

 

While a number of…

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TSA increases security at DC airport ahead of Biden’s Inauguration

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  • The Transportation Security Administration has ‘significantly increased’ security at DC airports ahead of Inauguration Day. 
  • Following the attacks at the Capitol building two weeks ago, TSA is processing hundreds of names with law enforcement agencies for a thorough risk assessment, according to a statement published Friday.
  • Similar to previous inaugurations, screening officers will be deployed to assist the Secret Service by screening individuals along the parade route and those authorized to attend the Inauguration in-person.

  • But TSA Media Relations manager Robert Langston told Insider that while the agency has a traditional role in security related to presidential inaugurations, “this year may be different in that there is still a pandemic and a different threat environment.”

  • Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

The Transportation Security Administration has ‘significantly increased’ security at DC airports ahead of Inauguration Day, the agency announced in a statement Friday. 

Following the attacks at the Capitol building on Jan. 6, TSA is processing hundreds of names with law enforcement agencies for a thorough risk assessment.

“Our intelligence and vetting professionals are working diligently around the clock to ensure those who may pose a threat to our aviation sector undergo enhanced screening or are prevented from boarding an aircraft,” the statement said.

Read more: Biden’s inauguration is raising tens of millions of dollars but won’t say how it’s spending the money

As in previous inaugurations, TSA officers will be deployed to assist the Secret Service by screening individuals along the parade route and those authorized to attend the Inauguration in-person. Beyond the Inauguration grounds, TSA has implemented additional layers of security at all three Washington, DC-area airports, according to the TSA statement.

Those security layers include more law enforcement and explosives detection canine teams, random gate screening, increased number of Federal Air Marshals on certain flights, and additional Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response teams to provide greater security presence at certain rail transportation hubs.

While the US…

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How Joe Biden’s Peloton Bike Could Be Hacked in the White House

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Back in the day, somewhere in mid-20th century time, people thought that in the year 2000 we would be driving flying cars. Jet packs would be the norm. You know, cool stuff like that. That vision… didn’t quite happen, but that doesn’t mean technology hasn’t made giant leaps. We have little computers in our pockets that can access practically any information in the world. We can order stuff offline and have it shipped to us day-of. We can also work out on a trendy smart bike at home, so long as someone doesn’t hack it, causing a national security threat that tugs at the somewhat frayed seams of our ever-fragile democracy.

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That seems to be the predicament that President-elect Joe Biden and his famed Peloton bike currently face as he makes his transition into the White House next week. As CNN reports, “Past presidents’ high-tech gadgets have typically required security vetting and retrofitting—especially when they connect to the internet or cell networks.” While that has worked in the past with things like the golf simulator Trump had installed, the Peloton may prove to be a bit trickier.

Speaking with Popular Mechanics, Max Kilger, Ph.D., director of the Data Analytics Program and associate professor in practice at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said, “If you really want that Peloton to be secure, you yank out the camera, you yank out the microphone, and you yank out the networking equipment.” For those keeping score, that basically leaves you with one of these bad boys:

stationary bike

Found Image Holdings IncGetty Images

We love a retro look. But that also means Biden’s favorite instructor won’t be able to inspire him with invasively personal sentiments like this one:

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Jokes aside, even Peloton has admitted that to a certain extent, there’s only so much you can do when it comes to the bike’s security vulnerabilities. It says,…

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