President Donald Trump said Wednesday that U.S. forces had seized a “very large” oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, a major move against the South American country.

“As you probably know, we have just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large, the largest one ever seized actually,” Trump said at an event at the White House.

The White House did not provide additional details about the vessel. A person familiar with the matter, granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive seizure, said the ship was en route to Cuba. The oil, the person said, would be sold by state firm Cubametales to Asian energy brokers.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/10/us-seizes-venezuelan-oil-tanker-00685289

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that U.S. forces had seized a “very large” oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, a major move against the South American country.

“As you probably know, we have just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large, the largest one ever seized actually,” Trump said at an event at the White House.

The White House did not provide additional details about the vessel. A person familiar with the matter, granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive seizure, said the ship was en route to Cuba. The oil, the person said, would be sold by state firm Cubametales to Asian energy brokers.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/10/us-seizes-venezuelan-oil-tanker-00685289

https://www.inc.com/chloe-aiello/the-government-wants-these-clean-tech-companies-to-die-their-founders-say-not-so-fast/91260523?mvgt=cEn20uUwAVQz

cross-posted from: news.abolish.capital/post/1280…

At a time when the American public, and especially Democratic voters, express overwhelming distrust of artificial intelligence and Big Tech, the top House Democrat is being accused of failing to meet the moment.

On Tuesday, in preparation for an executive order to be signed this week by President Donald Trump, which would seek to block states from implementing new AI regulations, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) unveiled his own effort to cozy up to the industry, whose major players have set aside more than $200 million to push out anti-AI politicians during the 2026 midterms, according to the New York Times.

Jeffries announced the creation of a “House Democratic Commission on AI and the Innovation Economy,” which will “develop policy expertise in partnership with the innovation community, relevant stakeholders, and committees of jurisdiction.”

What immediately caught the eye of critics was the list of fellow Democrats Jeffries picked to serve on the commission. It will be co-chaired by Reps. Ted Lieu (Calif.), Josh Gottheimer (NJ), and Valerie Foushee (NC), with Reps. Zoe Lofgren (Calif.) and Frank Pallone (NJ) serving as ex officio co-chairs.

As Sludge reported Tuesday: "The panel’s leaders rank among the House Democrats with the deepest ties to Big Tech and AI, from holding millions of dollars in tech stock to the contributions they’ve raised for their campaigns and the Republican-backed deregulation bills they've signed onto."

In July, Gottheimer introduced a bill along with Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) "that would require financial regulators to create 'AI Innovation Labs' where firms could experiment with AI-driven financial products under looser regulations and without the normal threats of enforcement actions."

Gottheimer is also a major stakeholder in Microsoft, which has invested tens of millions of dollars into AI and nearly $7.5 million on lobbying in 2025 so far. Beyond the almost $100,000 in contributions Gottheimer has received from Microsoft, he is also a former executive who received anywhere from $1 million to $5 million last year from his stock holdings in the company, according to financial disclosure forms. He also frequently trades in other AI power players like Amazon, Meta, and Dell.

Lofgren, meanwhile, has accepted more money from the Internet industry over the course of her career than all but one other current House Democrat—including $265,000 from Google, $115,000 from Apple, and $110,000 from Meta, according to data from OpenSecrets.

In September 2024, Lofgren co-sponsored a bill introduced by Rep. Jay Abernolte (R-Calif.) which "would create a federal 'center for AI advancement and reliability' that it would instruct to work closely with private companies and other stakeholders on developing 'voluntary best practices and technical standards for evaluating the reliability, robustness, resilience, security, and safety of artificial intelligence systems.'"

Foushee, a member of the corporate-backed New Democrat Coalition, rode to Congress in 2022 with more than $1 million from the Protect Our Future political action committee, which was backed by former FTX CEO and convicted fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried.

In response to Trump's industry-friendly "AI Action Plan" in July, Foushee and the New Democrats unveiled their own "Innovation Agenda," which called for federal tax credits to companies that "reskill" workers and perform private research and development as well as federal investments in apprenticeships and "labor market data modernization."

Jeffries has neglected to take a position on Trump's proposal to preempt state regulations. Last Monday, he told reporters, "That conversation hasn't been brought to the leadership level yet."

In his statement announcing the Democratic commission on Tuesday, Jeffries said, "It is important that American companies continue to thrive" in the arena of AI, while "at the same time, Congress must consider what policies are needed to prevent bad actors from exploiting this transformative technology and inflicting harm upon the American people." However, he did not specifically mention Trump's pending block on state regulations.

— (@)

A poll released Friday by the progressive group Demand Progress showed that Americans across the political spectrum are unsettled by AI's influence in Washington: 68% of respondents overall said they were more worried that "the US government will not regulate artificial intelligence enough," as opposed to just 21% who feared too much regulation. While Democrats and independents were somewhat more concerned about underregulation at 71%, Republicans largely shared those fears, with 62% saying they feared the government would not regulate AI enough.

The consensus was even stronger regarding Big Tech's power over AI policy, with 78% of respondents overall saying it had too much influence. This included 81% of Democrats and independents and 74% of Republicans.

With this in mind, many critics were puzzled by Jeffries' decision to stack his AI commission with some of the industry's top allies.

— (@)

As Aaron Regunberg wrote in the New Republic last month, harnessing anger against the rapid, largely unregulated expansion of expensive, energy-sucking AI data centers was an essential part of Democrats' victories across the board in November's off-year elections:

In New Jersey, Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill’s closing argument was a pledge to freeze electricity rates, which have soared because of data-center demand.

In Virginia, Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger won after pledging to make data centers “pay their own way,” and many Democrats went even further.

At least one candidate, John McAuliff, flipped a seat in the House of Delegates by focusing on tying his Republican opponent to the “unchecked growth” of data centers, with an ad that asked, “Do you want more of these in your backyard?”

And in Georgia, Democrats won their first nonfederal statewide races in decades, earning 60% of the vote against two Republican members of the Public Service Commission by criticizing Big Tech “sweetheart deals” and campaigning for policies “to ensure that the communities that they’re extracting from” don’t end up with their “water supplies … tapped out or their energy … maxed out.”

"This is the most populist moment of voter rage I've ever seen, and the leading Democrats are absolutely hostile to the idea of doing anything to address Silicon Valley's massive power," said Matt Stoller, an anti-monopoly expert.

"Anticorruption is one of the strongest arguments with the broadest appeal in American politics right now, but the Democratic leadership simply refuses to stop tanking it," added Matt Duss, a former advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

"I have never seen a gulf this wide between Democratic leadership and the party writ large," said author Zachary D. Carter. "The top is corrupt, the base is raging against corruption."

---

From Common Dreams via This RSS Feed.

In October, The Electronic Intifada filed a freedom of information request with the Office of the Attorney General of New York State seeking documents related to Betar’s noncompliance with New York’s nonprofit fundraising laws.

The reply from the attorney general’s office on 3 December stated that “the records that respond to your request are exempt from disclosure and have been withheld” because “the documents requested were compiled for law-enforcement purposes and would, if disclosed, interfere with law-enforcement investigations or judicial proceedings.”

The attorney general’s response cited a state law that allows records to be kept from the public if a law enforcement agency determines that releasing them could interfere with an ongoing investigation, deprive a person of a fair trial, disclose information or sources relating to a criminal investigation or reveal criminal investigative techniques.

https://electronicintifada.net/content/ny-withholds-records-zionist-group-betar-citing-law-enforcement-probe/51106

cross-posted from: news.abolish.capital/post/1281…

The world's leading genocide prevention group this week accused former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of "outright genocide denial" for comments last week attributing young Americans' opposition to Israel's US-backed genocide in Gaza on social media.

Speaking last week at the Israel Hayom Summit in New York, Clinton asserted that young people's support for Palestine stems from the fact that they are "getting their information from social media, particularly TikTok," adding that many younger Jewish Americans “don’t know the history and don’t understand" the Israel-Palestine issue.

On Monday, the Philadelphia-based Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security—named for Raphael Lemkin, a lawyer and Holocaust survivor who coined the term genocide—published a statement arguing that "Secretary Clinton’s framing is not at all an accurate reflection of why Americans are growing more critical of Israel."

"Young Americans of all political stripes have not fallen prey to propaganda, though that is always a legitimate concern," the institute said. "Rather, they have consumed two years of videos depicting Israel’s genocide against Palestinians that have been uploaded by Palestinian journalists, ordinary people trying to survive in Gaza, [Israel Defense Forces] soldiers, and ordinary Israelis themselves."

"There has been no convincing refutation of the sheer amount of raw evidence of genocide coming out of Palestine," the institute contended. "Young people in the US are not stupid or gullible. They simply reject genocide—something the secretary might consider doing as well."

Wow: Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention (named for Holocaust survivor Raphael Lemkin, who coined term "genocide") calls Clinton's remarks "genocide denial.""Young people in the US are not stupid or gullible. They simply reject genocide – something the Secretary might consider doing as well."

[image or embed]
— Prem Thakker ツ (@premthakker.bsky.social) December 9, 2025 at 11:15 AM

LIGP continued:

Secretary Clinton appears not to be bothered by the reality of genocidal violence—in fact, she did not mention anything about it. Her concern is, rather, in her words, “the narrative”—the fact that these crimes are no longer hidden and are now being livestreamed and documented in real time, making it harder for her and others to control it. TikTok cannot be blamed for the fact that many members of Gen Z understand that Israel is committing genocide, since so many other people, including those who never look at TikTok, also hold that view. Apart from the Lemkin Institute, the vast majority of large, mainstream human rights organizations, the [United Nations], and many scholars as well as international legal bodies have denounced Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide. Many carefully researched reports by international organizations have established that Israel’s crimes meet the international legal threshold for genocide. We encourage the former secretary to read them.

"The Lemkin Institute continues to support students and young people worldwide for having the courage to stand up for their convictions, to speak truth to power, and to fight against the scourge of genocide in Palestine and elsewhere," LIGP added. "Secretary Clinton’s remarks are not only inaccurate—they are also a shameful example of the lengths to which people complicit in genocide will go to to deny its existence."

The institute's rebuke of Clinton's comments came as the International Court of Justice in The Hague adjudicates a genocide case against Israel filed by South Africa and supported by around two dozen nations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant—who ordered the "complete siege" of Gaza that fueled famine and disease—are also wanted by the International Criminal Court, also located in the The Hague, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity including murder and forced starvation.

Lemkin's denunciation also comes amid a tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, a truce Israeli forces have broken more than 500 times, according to officials in the Palestinian exclave. Israeli officials say Palestinian resistance fighters have violated the ceasefire more than 30 times.

Since the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, Israel's annihilation and siege of Gaza have left more than 250,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing and around 2 million more forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened. Israeli military data suggests that of the the more than 70,000 Palestinian deaths, over 8 in 10 were civilians.

Through it all, the United States has backed Israel with more than $21 billion worth of weaponry and diplomatic support including repeatedly vetoing United Nations Security Council ceasefire resolutions.

---

From Common Dreams via This RSS Feed.

cross-posted from: hexbear.net/post/6989649

cross-posted from: news.abolish.capital/post/1252…

The struggle of veteran freedom fighter, and prominent leader of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Movement, Marwan Barghouti, came back to the fore this week after his family had received an anonymous “intimidating” call, claiming that he was subjected to systematic brutal torture and abuse by his jailors.

Barghouti’s son, Qassam, wrote in a Facebook post on Friday, December 5:

“I woke up this morning to a phone call from a released prisoner, who told me: your father was physically destroyed; they broke his teeth, kept beating him, cut off part of his ear, and broke his fingers just for fun.”

“What should I do? Who should I talk to? To whom should we turn? We are living with this nightmare daily… Oh God, have mercy. My father is now 66 years old. Oh God, where do we find the strength?” Qassam added.

Barghouti’s son clarified in another post hours later that he and his family were not able to reach out to the unnamed freed prisoner, who informed them about his father’s condition:

“We are still trying to reach the released prisoner who contacted me this morning, but we have not yet been able to. We have contacted all possible official and legal authorities to help us obtain any information, but we have not been able to do so either. I apologize for causing concern to many of my loved ones due to my emotional reaction to the call. I hope my father and all the prisoners are well; that is all that matters to us.”

Israel is seemingly trying to end Barghouti’s life

The incident was perceived by many as an attempt to end Marwan Barghouti’s life, especially after the Trump administration had brought forward a proposal in October, suggesting the release of the consensual Palestinian political leader, so he would rule post-war Gaza.

The proposal had already provoked the ire of Israeli officials, above all Israel’s Minister for National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has unleashed an unprecedented crackdown against the Palestinian Prisoners’ Movement since January 2023.

Even before the US government put forward the suggestion, Ben-Gvir had intentionally targeted Barghouti, in particular, by releasing a video, showing him threatening the iconic Palestinian national figure inside his jail in August.

Barghouti’s condition sparked an international outcry

In response to the new development regarding Marwan Barghouti’s condition in Israeli prison, more than 200 public figures from different nationalities over the globe joined an international campaign calling for his release.

“We express our grave concern at the continuing imprisonment of Marwan Barghouti, his violent mistreatment and denial of legal rights whilst imprisoned. We call upon the United Nations and the Governments of the World to actively seek the release of Marwan Barghouti from Israeli prison,” the statement reads.

The post Israeli plot to assassinate Marwan Barghouti sparks international outcry appeared first on Peoples Dispatch.

---

From Peoples Dispatch via This RSS Feed.

Palestinian groups express ‘grave concerns’ over Marwan Barghouti’s safety

Palestinians express alarm following ‘intimidating’ call to family of imprisoned leader alleging new abuse.

^{Lyndal Rowlands (Al Jazeera)}

cross-posted from: hexbear.net/post/6989654

cross-posted from: news.abolish.capital/post/1253…

Consumer advocates on Tuesday called on the Federal Trade Commission and state officials to investigate artificial intelligence-enabled pricing experiments used by Instacart, the grocery shopping app millions of Americans rely on, that charge up to 23% more for some shoppers than others when they buy the same item at the same store.

Consumer Reports joined the advocacy group Groundwork Collaborative and the labor-focused media organization More Perfect Union to uncover Instacart's pricing experiments enabled by Eversight, an AI pricing software that Instacart acquired in 2022. The company's CEO said last year that the experiments have helped the company “to really figure out which categories of products our customers [are] more price sensitive on"—in other words, to tailor prices based on a customer's shopping habits, whether they're near a competing store, and other factors.

The groups' study, Same Cart, Different Price, describes how researchers ran five tests with 437 participants, studying the prices of a basket of items bought at two Target stores and three Safeway stores using Instacart.

In one test at a Safeway in Washington, DC, shoppers logged on to the app to buy a carton of eggs from the same brand at the same time and found that the price they were given varied widely. Some shoppers were charged just $3.99 for the eggs, while others saw a price as high as $4.79—20% higher.

Shoppers at a Safeway in Seattle saw a 23% difference in prices for Skippy peanut butter, Oscar Mayer turkey, and Wheat Thins crackers. At two different Safeways in Washington, DC, Instacart quoted shoppers at one store a price that was 23% higher than at another for Signature Select Corn Flakes.

"It’s time for Instacart to close the lab. Americans shopping for groceries aren’t guinea pigs and shouldn't have to pay an Instacart tax.”

For the same basket of groceries, shoppers at the Seattle store were asked to pay as much as $123.93, while others were charged just $114.34.

"The average price variations observed in the study could cost a household of four about $1,200 per year," said Groundwork.

Justin Brookman, director of tech policy at Consumer Reports, said Instacart's tactics "hurt families who are simply trying to purchase essential groceries."

"At a time when everyday Americans are struggling with high prices, it is particularly egregious to see corporations secretly conducting individual experiments to see how much a person is willing to pay," said Brookman. "Companies must be transparent and upfront with people about pricing, so that they can make informed choices and keep more of their hard-earned money. We encourage the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general to investigate Instacart’s pricing tactics."

Groundwork noted that Instcart's website acknowledges that it runs price tests, but states that "shoppers are not aware that they’re in an experiment" and are having their grocery prices selected for them via algorithm.

While Instacart has claimed its price experiments are "negligible," the groups emphasized that they're being used "against the backdrop of the fastest increase in food prices since the late 1970s."

After previous reporting on companies' use of "shrinkflation," "dynamic pricing," and other practices that keep prices high even as pandemic-era labor and supply chain issues have subsided, "today’s report shows Instacart’s experiments are yet another way corporate pricing tactics are squeezing American families," said Groundwork.

The study did not find evidence that Instacart is giving shoppers different prices based on their ZIP code or income, as companies like Amazon, Delta Air Lines, and Home Deport have been accused of doing.

But the groups said Eversight gives the company the capability to use that data to make pricing decisions tailored to particular shoppers.

“Instacart is quietly running pricing experiments on millions of shoppers during the worst grocery affordability crisis in a generation, and it’s costing households as much as $1,200 a year,” said Groundwork Collaborative executive director Lindsay Owens. “They have turned the simple act of buying groceries into a high-tech game of pricing roulette. When the same box of Wheat Thins can jump 23% in price because of an algorithm, that’s not innovation or convenience, it’s unfair. It’s time for Instacart to close the lab. Americans shopping for groceries aren’t guinea pigs and shouldn't have to pay an Instacart tax.”

The groups credited some state and federal lawmakers who have begun to take notice of pricing practices like Instacart's; US Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) introduced the Stop AI Price Gouging and Wage Fixing Act in July with the aim of prohibiting the use of automated systems to set prices. New York has enacted the first-of-its-kind Algorithmic Pricing Disclosure Act, which requires companies to prominently disclose to customers, "This price was set by an algorithm using your personal data" when they use methods like Instacart's. Other state legislation has been introduced in Colorado, California, and Pennsylvania to ban the use of surveillance to set prices.

The groups called on the FTC to take action under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which bans "unfair methods of competition." Those could include “'price discrimination not justified by differences in cost or distribution,' which appears to match Instacart’s pricing experiments and fluctuations," the report reads.

The FTC could also bring enforcement cases or initiate rulemaking to officially label AI-enabled pricing strategies as an "unfair or deceptive practice," affirming that companies who use them are breaking a consumer protection standard.

"Fair and honest markets are the bedrock of a healthy economy," reads Tuesday's report. "Companies like Instacart offer great convenience, but they are increasingly pursuing corporate pricing practices that unfairly decouple the price of a product from its true cost. As more consumers learn about, and decry, these practices, perhaps companies will change course. But if they do not, policymakers should intervene and require them to change their practices."

---

From Common Dreams via This RSS Feed.

thelastaxolotl [he/him]

2025-12-09 18:00:33

Report Exposes Instacart's Hidden AI Price Experiments That Could Cost Families $1,200 Per Year

cross-posted from: news.abolish.capital/post/1253…

Consumer advocates on Tuesday called on the Federal Trade Commission and state officials to investigate artificial intelligence-enabled pricing experiments used by Instacart, the grocery shopping app millions of Americans rely on, that charge up to 23% more for some shoppers than others when they buy the same item at the same store.

Consumer Reports joined the advocacy group Groundwork Collaborative and the labor-focused media organization More Perfect Union to uncover Instacart's pricing experiments enabled by Eversight, an AI pricing software that Instacart acquired in 2022. The company's CEO said last year that the experiments have helped the company “to really figure out which categories of products our customers [are] more price sensitive on"—in other words, to tailor prices based on a customer's shopping habits, whether they're near a competing store, and other factors.

The groups' study, Same Cart, Different Price, describes how researchers ran five tests with 437 participants, studying the prices of a basket of items bought at two Target stores and three Safeway stores using Instacart.

In one test at a Safeway in Washington, DC, shoppers logged on to the app to buy a carton of eggs from the same brand at the same time and found that the price they were given varied widely. Some shoppers were charged just $3.99 for the eggs, while others saw a price as high as $4.79—20% higher.

Shoppers at a Safeway in Seattle saw a 23% difference in prices for Skippy peanut butter, Oscar Mayer turkey, and Wheat Thins crackers. At two different Safeways in Washington, DC, Instacart quoted shoppers at one store a price that was 23% higher than at another for Signature Select Corn Flakes.

"It’s time for Instacart to close the lab. Americans shopping for groceries aren’t guinea pigs and shouldn't have to pay an Instacart tax.”

For the same basket of groceries, shoppers at the Seattle store were asked to pay as much as $123.93, while others were charged just $114.34.

"The average price variations observed in the study could cost a household of four about $1,200 per year," said Groundwork.

Justin Brookman, director of tech policy at Consumer Reports, said Instacart's tactics "hurt families who are simply trying to purchase essential groceries."

"At a time when everyday Americans are struggling with high prices, it is particularly egregious to see corporations secretly conducting individual experiments to see how much a person is willing to pay," said Brookman. "Companies must be transparent and upfront with people about pricing, so that they can make informed choices and keep more of their hard-earned money. We encourage the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general to investigate Instacart’s pricing tactics."

Groundwork noted that Instcart's website acknowledges that it runs price tests, but states that "shoppers are not aware that they’re in an experiment" and are having their grocery prices selected for them via algorithm.

While Instacart has claimed its price experiments are "negligible," the groups emphasized that they're being used "against the backdrop of the fastest increase in food prices since the late 1970s."

After previous reporting on companies' use of "shrinkflation," "dynamic pricing," and other practices that keep prices high even as pandemic-era labor and supply chain issues have subsided, "today’s report shows Instacart’s experiments are yet another way corporate pricing tactics are squeezing American families," said Groundwork.

The study did not find evidence that Instacart is giving shoppers different prices based on their ZIP code or income, as companies like Amazon, Delta Air Lines, and Home Deport have been accused of doing.

But the groups said Eversight gives the company the capability to use that data to make pricing decisions tailored to particular shoppers.

“Instacart is quietly running pricing experiments on millions of shoppers during the worst grocery affordability crisis in a generation, and it’s costing households as much as $1,200 a year,” said Groundwork Collaborative executive director Lindsay Owens. “They have turned the simple act of buying groceries into a high-tech game of pricing roulette. When the same box of Wheat Thins can jump 23% in price because of an algorithm, that’s not innovation or convenience, it’s unfair. It’s time for Instacart to close the lab. Americans shopping for groceries aren’t guinea pigs and shouldn't have to pay an Instacart tax.”

The groups credited some state and federal lawmakers who have begun to take notice of pricing practices like Instacart's; US Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) introduced the Stop AI Price Gouging and Wage Fixing Act in July with the aim of prohibiting the use of automated systems to set prices. New York has enacted the first-of-its-kind Algorithmic Pricing Disclosure Act, which requires companies to prominently disclose to customers, "This price was set by an algorithm using your personal data" when they use methods like Instacart's. Other state legislation has been introduced in Colorado, California, and Pennsylvania to ban the use of surveillance to set prices.

The groups called on the FTC to take action under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which bans "unfair methods of competition." Those could include “'price discrimination not justified by differences in cost or distribution,' which appears to match Instacart’s pricing experiments and fluctuations," the report reads.

The FTC could also bring enforcement cases or initiate rulemaking to officially label AI-enabled pricing strategies as an "unfair or deceptive practice," affirming that companies who use them are breaking a consumer protection standard.

"Fair and honest markets are the bedrock of a healthy economy," reads Tuesday's report. "Companies like Instacart offer great convenience, but they are increasingly pursuing corporate pricing practices that unfairly decouple the price of a product from its true cost. As more consumers learn about, and decry, these practices, perhaps companies will change course. But if they do not, policymakers should intervene and require them to change their practices."

---

From Common Dreams via This RSS Feed.

Casar-Tlaib Bill Would Ban Corporations From Using AI to Set Prices, Wages

"The idea that employers would leverage surveillance data to exploit a worker in a desperate position and offer them a lower wage is appalling," said Rep. Rashida Tlaib.

^{stephen-prager (Common Dreams)}

cross-posted from: yall.theatl.social/post/852991…

From WABE Politics News:

Mega billionaire Elon Musk, in a friendly interview with his aide and conservative influencer Katie Miller, said his efforts leading the Department of Government Efficiency were only “somewhat successful” and […]

#Atlanta #WABE #AtlantaPolitics #AtlantaNews #theATLBot

https://www.wabe.org/elon-musk-says-doge-was-only-somewhat-successful-and-he-wouldnt-do-it-again/

https://iz.ru/en/node/2005659

The paper argues that we are hitting a wall with current AI because we are obsessed with number crunching instead of structure.

Belabes posits that modern AI is too focused on statistical minimization and processing speed, which reduces everything to collections of numbers that inherently lack meaning. You lose the essence of what you are actually trying to model when you strip away the context to get raw data. The author suggests a pivot to Alexandre Grothendieck's Topos theory, which provides a mathematical framework for understanding geometric forms and preserving the deep structure of data rather than just its statistical number crunching.

Topos theory focuses on finding a new style space that acts as a bridge between different mathematical objects. Instead of just looking at points in a standard space, a topos allows us to look at the relationships and sheaves of information over that space, effectively letting us transfer invariants from one idea to another. It creates a way to connect things that seem totally unrelated on the surface by identifying their common essence. Belabes links this to the idea of conceptual strata where something that looks like noise or insignificant data in one layer might actually be critical structure in another layer. It's a move away from the binary notion of significant versus insignificant data and toward a relativistic view where significance depends on the conceptual layer you are analyzing.

The author uses literary examples like Homer and Dostoevsky to show that authentic meaning often precedes the words used to express it, whereas our current digital systems treat language as a closed loop where words define other words. Current AI essentially simulates discourse without the underlying voice or intent. By adopting a Topos-based approach, we might be able to build systems that respect these layers of meaning and read slowly to extract the actual shape of the information. It is basically a call to stop trying to brute force intelligence with bigger matrices and start modeling the actual geometry of thought.

The basic insight of sewer socialism is bringing people into your politics by improving their lives in obvious ways. “You win someone’s trust through an outcome” is how Mamdani puts it. The sewer socialists of Milwaukee made the case that municipal ownership of systems like sanitation, water, and power could deliver services more efficiently and more equitably than private ownership. They solved practical problems for their constituents while constructing working examples of a postcapitalist political economy in miniature.

The same method can be applied to the internet. Call it “digital sewer socialism.” Socialist elected officials in New York, Seattle, and beyond can craft policy interventions that increase the quality of life for residents by addressing the difficulties that arise in their relationship with technology. These interventions can be carried out in such a way that, by modeling socialist principles, they win wider support for socialist ideas.

Digital Sewer Socialism

With the rise of AI slop and overall “enshittification,” it is increasingly the case that the internet is failing to address the public’s needs. What we need is sewer socialism for the digital realm — and it can start at the municipal level.

^jacobin.com

cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/40142430

Winter storms are expected to hit Gaza today. Child malnutrition in Gaza remains at crisis levels. Only a third of Gaza’s children are enrolled in school. Israel remains the foremost state perpetrator of journalist killings in 2025 for the third consecutive year. More than 100 Palestinians are detained Wednesday in a sweeping raid on the West Bank. Bolivia restores full diplomatic ties with Israel. President Donald Trump says Russia is “obviously” winning in a wide-ranging interview with Politico. The U.S. military installs Google’s AI technology. A Senate report finds that immigration officials have detained and brutalized at least 22 American citizens. The U.S. sanctions a “transactional network” funding the RSF in Sudan, but fails to mention the UAE. UNICEF estimates 10 million have been displaced in Sudan. Nigerian soldiers are detained in Burkina Faso. The M23 pushes toward the city of Uvira in eastern Congo. Dozens are killed after intra-gang fighting in Haiti, six are killed in an attack on a security installation in northwest Pakistan, and the death toll rises in border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia. A new Drop Site report uncovers that Jeffrey Epstein, contrary to previous claims, was de facto chief financial officer of Leslie Wexner’s pro-Israel philanthropic foundation.

Peter Link

2025-12-10 19:05:09

Brutal winter storms in Gaza put 850,000 people at imminent flood risk; Over 100 Palestinians detained in West Bank; U.S. military onboards Google’s AI

Winter storms are expected to hit Gaza today. Child malnutrition in Gaza remains at crisis levels. Only a third of Gaza’s children are enrolled in school. Israel remains the foremost state perpetrator of journalist killings in 2025 for the third consecutive year. More than 100 Palestinians are detained Wednesday in a sweeping raid on the West Bank. Bolivia restores full diplomatic ties with Israel. President Donald Trump says Russia is “obviously” winning in a wide-ranging interview with Politico. The U.S. military installs Google’s AI technology. A Senate report finds that immigration officials have detained and brutalized at least 22 American citizens. The U.S. sanctions a “transactional network” funding the RSF in Sudan, but fails to mention the UAE. UNICEF estimates 10 million have been displaced in Sudan. Nigerian soldiers are detained in Burkina Faso. The M23 pushes toward the city of Uvira in eastern Congo. Dozens are killed after intra-gang fighting in Haiti, six are killed in an attack on a security installation in northwest Pakistan, and the death toll rises in border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia. A new Drop Site report uncovers that Jeffrey Epstein, contrary to previous claims, was de facto chief financial officer of Leslie Wexner’s pro-Israel philanthropic foundation.

Brutal winter storms in Gaza put 850,000 people at imminent flood risk; Over 100 Palestinians detained in West Bank; U.S. military onboards Google’s AI

Drop Site Daily: December 10, 2025

^{Drop Site News}

cross-posted from: lemmy.world/post/40010335

In early September, a woman, nine months pregnant, walked into the emergency obstetrics unit of a Colorado hospital. Though the labor and delivery staff caring for her expected her to have a smooth delivery, her case presented complications almost immediately.

The woman, who was born in central Asia, checked into the hospital with a smart watch on her wrist, said two hospital workers who cared for her during her labor, and whom the Guardian is not identifying to avoid exposing their hospital or patients to retaliation.

The device was not an ordinary smart watch made by Apple or Samsung, but a special type that US Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) had mandated the woman wear at all times, allowing the agency to track her. The device was beeping when she entered the hospital, indicating she needed to charge it, and she worried that if the battery died, ICE agents would think she was trying to disappear, the hospital workers recalled. She told them that, just days earlier, she had been put on a deportation flight to Mexico, but the pilot refused to let her fly because she was so close to giving birth.

The woman’s fear only grew from there, according to the hospital workers. Her delivery wasn’t progressing the way the care team hoped, and she needed a C-section, a procedure that requires doctors to use a cauterizing tool to minimize bleeding. To prevent possible burning and electrocution, patients are instructed to take off all jewelry or metals before the surgery. The mandatory watch had no way to be easily removed, nor was information about whether it would be safe to wear during the procedure readily available. Hospital staff didn’t know how to contact ICE to ask what to do. When hospital staff told the woman they might have to cut the smart watch off, she panicked, the workers said.

Staff eventually did remove the device, and ICE agents did not show up at the hospital during the delivery. The nurses said they do not know what happened to the woman after she left the hospital with her baby.

The woman was one of three pregnant patients wearing a location-tracking smart watch whom these two workers encountered in their ER in the last few months, they said.
BI Inc and alternative to detention

The watches are built and operated by BI Inc, a company specializing in monitoring tech that runs the US government’s largest immigrant surveillance operation. The program, Alternative to Detention (ATD), allows select immigrants to await their day in court at home rather than in detention, provided they subscribe to intense monitoring.

When immigrants are enrolled in ATD, they are assigned one or more types of supervision. Some have to wear an ankle monitor, some a smart watch. Some are required to complete regularly scheduled facial recognition scans at their home using a BI Inc app, others are mandated to go into a BI Inc or ICE office for regular in-person check-ins.

The smart watch, officially called the VeriWatch, was introduced two years ago by BI Inc. It was first piloted under the Biden administration and framed as a more discrete alternative to the less digitally equipped ankle monitor, which BI also manufactures and supplies to ICE. As the Guardian previously reported, immigrants wearing the ankle monitors have complained about the stigma that comes with wearing the conspicuous device as well as physical pain caused by the monitors, including electric shocks and cuts from devices that are strapped on too tightly.

Nearly 200,000 people are currently enrolled in the program, and many of them have become increasingly fearful of being considered out of compliance as the Trump administration works to deport immigrants en masse. There have been several cases of people in the program showing up to a mandated, regular in-person check-in with immigration officials, believing they will continue in the ATD program, only to be detained.

All three women encountered by the Colorado hospital staff were reluctant to take their monitors off, fearing that doing so would trigger an alert to ICE or BI Inc, the staff said, even if removing the device was deemed medically necessary.

One of the women went into the ER for a C-section and was diagnosed with preeclampsia, a complication that can cause significant swelling. Staff were worried her smartwatch would cut off her circulation.

“She was in tears about it. She had this deep fear that ICE was going to come to the hospital and take her baby,” one of the staff said. The hospital worker’s shift ended before the patient underwent the C-section. They said they do not know whether the staff who took over the patient’s case convinced her to cut off the watch.

The confusion and fear surrounding the wrist monitor caused delays in the hospital’s ability to provide adequate and necessary care for these women, the workers said, though the patients delivered their babies safely.

“Waiting and trying to figure these things out even when things are not super emergent can cause something emergent to happen,” one of the workers said. “Sometimes in birth, doing a C-section 20 minutes before something bad happens can prevent it.”

The workers pointed out that when they treat patients wearing a monitor issued by the state Department of Corrections, there is a protocol in place to remove it ahead of medical procedures.
Trump’s chaotic crackdown

Hospital staff from across the US who spoke to the Guardian say the confusion brought on by monitoring devices is just one of several ways Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown is affecting medical care, and comes as immigrant patients are increasingly fearful of seeking out treatment.

One of the staff at the Colorado hospital said she’s had at leastthree pregnant patients show up for their first-ever prenatal appointment at anytime between 34 and 38 weeks – well into their third trimester and long after pregnant women are recommended to begin going to consistent doctor appointments.

In California, hospital workers have also noticed a drop this year in immigrants not just seeking emergency care but also showing up for regular doctor visits or vaccinations, according to the California Nurses Association president, Sandy Reding.

“Obviously it has a cascading effect,” Reding said. “If you don’t see your doctor regularly then the outcomes are worse and you wait until you have a crisis to go to the ER.”

In Chicago, CommunityHealth, one of the largest volunteer-based health centers in the country, documented an overall drop in visits per patient and patient retention between 2024 and 2025 due to immigration enforcement activity in the city. In June, the organization observed a 30% dip in patients showing up for their appointments and around a 40% drop in patients picking up their medication since Trump took office.

Neither ICE nor BI Inc responded to requests for comment. ICE previously told the Guardian that there is no evidence the ankle monitors have caused physical harm and that the ATD program was effective at increasing court appearance rates among immigrants facing removal.
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Vague procedures, concrete problems

The lack of procedure to have ankle or wrist monitors removed in medical emergencies has affected more than just pregnant women. In one July 2025 case, ICE responded to a man’s request to remove his ankle monitor because of a medical issue by detaining him, according to a court petition filed on his behalf by immigrant rights group Amica, which the Guardian reviewed.

The man came to the US from Bangladesh to seek political asylum, and was told he had to wear an ankle monitor while his claim was pending. Suffering from nerve damage in one leg, he obtained a note from a medical clinic requesting the monitor be removed. His lawyer sent the note to the ICE officer on the case but never heard back. During his first check-in at the BI offices, the man brought the medical note to the BI Inc employee assigned to the case, who suggested the man might be able to move the ankle monitor to his other leg. But after the man’s lawyer called ICE to inquire about moving the ankle monitor, the BI case manager informed the man that ICE officers were coming to the BI office to speak with him. They arrested and detained the man, according to the petition.

“He explained that he was just asking for the ankle monitor to be put on the other leg, and the officer told him it was ‘too late’,” the petition reads.

In 2009, ICE discontinued the use of ankle monitors for pregnant women and people whose medical conditions made it “inappropriate” to wear them. But former BI Inc staff as well as immigrants rights groups Amica and American Friends Services Committee said they are concerned that these exceptions are not always enforced. That exception also doesn’t apply to smart watches, a June 2025 ICE memo shows.

The ICE memo instructs agency staffers to put ankle monitors on anyone enrolled in ATD. Dawnisha M Helland, an ICE acting assistant director in the management of non-detained immigrants, wrote that the only group who would not be given ankle monitors were pregnant women. Instead, pregnant women in ATD would wear the smart watch.

Though it resembles a typical consumer smart watch, the VeriWatch is not less restrictive than the ankle monitor. Like the ankle monitor, the wrist watch can’t be removed by the person wearing it. ICE had the option of using a removable version of the watch, according to a 2023 request for information DHS published. The agency chose a different direction; it currently only uses a watch that cannot be removed except by an ICE or authorized BI agent, according to two former DHS officials and two former BI employees.

Immigrants in the program are not told what to do with their ankle or wrist monitors in case of medical emergencies, and BI staff were not authorized to approve the removal of the monitors without first speaking to ICE, the two former BI Inc. staff recalled.

There’s not always time in emergency cases to wait for approval from ICE to cut off the monitors, the Colorado hospital workers said. One of the Colorado staff said they’re deeply concerned about how this unremovable watch will continue to impact vulnerable pregnant women.

“They’re looking at people who literally can’t speak up, who have no legal resources, who are not American citizens, and are pregnant. They’re asking themselves what they can get away with in terms of violating civil liberties for these patients,” the employee said. “That’s the true pilot program: How far can they overreach?”
Internal alarm

Healthcare workers are not the only ones sounding the alarm over surveillance’s interference with medical care. Two former Department of Homeland Security officials told the Guardian that the lack of protocols for immigrants surveilled under ATD with exigent medical issues is a symptom of a larger issue with the way BI Inc and ICE run the program. As the Guardian previously reported, immigrants surveilled under ATD and BI Inc employees alike have long complained that the program is highly discretionary. They said that many of the decisions about how, why or how long a given person was mandated to wear an ankle monitor or a smart watch were left to individual case workers.

BI Inc, which started off as a cattle monitoring company, and its parent company the Geo Group, which develops detention centers, private prisons, and rehabilitation facilities, have been given the exclusive DHS contract to operate all aspects of the ATD program since its inception in 2004. That’s despite previous attempts by ICE leadership under Joe Biden’s administration to break the contract up into three parts rather than awarding the entirety of the contract to Geo Group, a company that has served as a landing spot for former ICE and DHS officials.

At its peak, BI Inc monitored approximately 370,000 immigrants under the Biden administration as part of a policy that put every head of household crossing the border on ATD. The tally decreased in 2025 to about 180,000 people, due in part to high costs of putting so many people on ATD, former DHS officials said. As Trump’s second administration supercharged immigration enforcement and greenlit a $150bn surge in funding for ICE, though, Geo Group executives expressed confidence they could reach the same height by the second half of 2025. The goal, the executives have said, is to monitor all 7.5 million people listed on the federal government’s non-detained docket, the list of non-citizens who have not been detained but are subject to removal.

However, the Trump administration has focused on deportation and detention rather than monitoring, and the number of immigrants enrolled in ATD and wearing ankle monitors or other GPS tracking devices has hovered around 180,000, much to the dismay of Geo Group executives.

“Now the count has been fairly stable, which is a little disappointing, obviously,” George Zoley, the GEO Group founder and executive chairman of the board, said during the company’s November earnings call.

ICE awarded another two-year-contract to BI Inc to manage ATD in September. Executives have said they’re pleased that the agency is prioritizing using the company’s more expensive ankle monitors on those immigrants already in ATD rather than the more cost-effective tools like the company’s facial recognition app, Smart Link.

Under the Biden administration, several departments within DHS attempted to address the lack of consistent policy around how ICE should run ATD. In December 2022, DHS hosted 100 non-governmental organizations as well as members of academia and private industry to discuss how to bring more “uniform standards to govern” ATD. That two year effort to draft guidelines in a document, initially titled Non-Detained Management Standards, was ultimately scuttled by ICE and BI, said Scott Shuchart, a former assistant director for regulatory affairs and police at ICE under the Biden administration. Another former DHS official confirmed his account. The draft standards were never made public.

“The program is really structured for the benefit of BI and not for the benefit of the non-citizens who were going to be managed through it,” said Shuchart. “Therefore ERO [ICE’s enforcement and removal arm] was extremely resistant to bring rationalization and consistent policy into it.”

ICE is using smartwatches to track pregnant women, even during labor: ‘She was so afraid they would take her baby’

Pregnant immigrants in ICE monitoring programs are avoiding care, fearing detention during labour and delivery

^{Johana Bhuiyan (The Guardian)}

cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/40142430

Winter storms are expected to hit Gaza today. Child malnutrition in Gaza remains at crisis levels. Only a third of Gaza’s children are enrolled in school. Israel remains the foremost state perpetrator of journalist killings in 2025 for the third consecutive year. More than 100 Palestinians are detained Wednesday in a sweeping raid on the West Bank. Bolivia restores full diplomatic ties with Israel. President Donald Trump says Russia is “obviously” winning in a wide-ranging interview with Politico. The U.S. military installs Google’s AI technology. A Senate report finds that immigration officials have detained and brutalized at least 22 American citizens. The U.S. sanctions a “transactional network” funding the RSF in Sudan, but fails to mention the UAE. UNICEF estimates 10 million have been displaced in Sudan. Nigerian soldiers are detained in Burkina Faso. The M23 pushes toward the city of Uvira in eastern Congo. Dozens are killed after intra-gang fighting in Haiti, six are killed in an attack on a security installation in northwest Pakistan, and the death toll rises in border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia. A new Drop Site report uncovers that Jeffrey Epstein, contrary to previous claims, was de facto chief financial officer of Leslie Wexner’s pro-Israel philanthropic foundation.

Peter Link

2025-12-10 19:05:09

Brutal winter storms in Gaza put 850,000 people at imminent flood risk; Over 100 Palestinians detained in West Bank; U.S. military onboards Google’s AI

Winter storms are expected to hit Gaza today. Child malnutrition in Gaza remains at crisis levels. Only a third of Gaza’s children are enrolled in school. Israel remains the foremost state perpetrator of journalist killings in 2025 for the third consecutive year. More than 100 Palestinians are detained Wednesday in a sweeping raid on the West Bank. Bolivia restores full diplomatic ties with Israel. President Donald Trump says Russia is “obviously” winning in a wide-ranging interview with Politico. The U.S. military installs Google’s AI technology. A Senate report finds that immigration officials have detained and brutalized at least 22 American citizens. The U.S. sanctions a “transactional network” funding the RSF in Sudan, but fails to mention the UAE. UNICEF estimates 10 million have been displaced in Sudan. Nigerian soldiers are detained in Burkina Faso. The M23 pushes toward the city of Uvira in eastern Congo. Dozens are killed after intra-gang fighting in Haiti, six are killed in an attack on a security installation in northwest Pakistan, and the death toll rises in border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia. A new Drop Site report uncovers that Jeffrey Epstein, contrary to previous claims, was de facto chief financial officer of Leslie Wexner’s pro-Israel philanthropic foundation.

Brutal winter storms in Gaza put 850,000 people at imminent flood risk; Over 100 Palestinians detained in West Bank; U.S. military onboards Google’s AI

Drop Site Daily: December 10, 2025

^{Drop Site News}

cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/40142430

Winter storms are expected to hit Gaza today. Child malnutrition in Gaza remains at crisis levels. Only a third of Gaza’s children are enrolled in school. Israel remains the foremost state perpetrator of journalist killings in 2025 for the third consecutive year. More than 100 Palestinians are detained Wednesday in a sweeping raid on the West Bank. Bolivia restores full diplomatic ties with Israel. President Donald Trump says Russia is “obviously” winning in a wide-ranging interview with Politico. The U.S. military installs Google’s AI technology. A Senate report finds that immigration officials have detained and brutalized at least 22 American citizens. The U.S. sanctions a “transactional network” funding the RSF in Sudan, but fails to mention the UAE. UNICEF estimates 10 million have been displaced in Sudan. Nigerian soldiers are detained in Burkina Faso. The M23 pushes toward the city of Uvira in eastern Congo. Dozens are killed after intra-gang fighting in Haiti, six are killed in an attack on a security installation in northwest Pakistan, and the death toll rises in border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia. A new Drop Site report uncovers that Jeffrey Epstein, contrary to previous claims, was de facto chief financial officer of Leslie Wexner’s pro-Israel philanthropic foundation.

Peter Link

2025-12-10 19:05:09

Brutal winter storms in Gaza put 850,000 people at imminent flood risk; Over 100 Palestinians detained in West Bank; U.S. military onboards Google’s AI

Winter storms are expected to hit Gaza today. Child malnutrition in Gaza remains at crisis levels. Only a third of Gaza’s children are enrolled in school. Israel remains the foremost state perpetrator of journalist killings in 2025 for the third consecutive year. More than 100 Palestinians are detained Wednesday in a sweeping raid on the West Bank. Bolivia restores full diplomatic ties with Israel. President Donald Trump says Russia is “obviously” winning in a wide-ranging interview with Politico. The U.S. military installs Google’s AI technology. A Senate report finds that immigration officials have detained and brutalized at least 22 American citizens. The U.S. sanctions a “transactional network” funding the RSF in Sudan, but fails to mention the UAE. UNICEF estimates 10 million have been displaced in Sudan. Nigerian soldiers are detained in Burkina Faso. The M23 pushes toward the city of Uvira in eastern Congo. Dozens are killed after intra-gang fighting in Haiti, six are killed in an attack on a security installation in northwest Pakistan, and the death toll rises in border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia. A new Drop Site report uncovers that Jeffrey Epstein, contrary to previous claims, was de facto chief financial officer of Leslie Wexner’s pro-Israel philanthropic foundation.

Brutal winter storms in Gaza put 850,000 people at imminent flood risk; Over 100 Palestinians detained in West Bank; U.S. military onboards Google’s AI

Drop Site Daily: December 10, 2025

^{Drop Site News}

cross-posted from: lemmy.world/post/40009551

404media.co/man-charged-for-wi…

A man in Atlanta has been arrested and charged for allegedly deleting data from a Google Pixel phone before a member of a secretive Customs and Border Protection (CBP) unit was able to search it, according to court records and social media posts reviewed by 404 Media. The man, Samuel Tunick, is described as a local Atlanta activist in Instagram and other posts discussing the case.
The exact circumstances around the search—such as why CBP wanted to search the phone in the first place—are not known. But it is uncommon to see someone charged specifically for wiping a phone, a feature that is easily accessible in some privacy and security-focused devices.
💡
Do you know anything else about this case? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at joseph.404 or send me an email at joseph@404media.co.
The indictment says on January 24, Tunick “did knowingly destroy, damage, waste, dispose of, and otherwise take any action to delete the digital contents of a Google Pixel cellular phone, for the purpose of preventing and impairing the Government’s lawful authority to take said property into its custody and control.” The indictment itself was filed in mid-November.
Tunick was arrested earlier this month, according to a post on a crowd-funding site and court records. “Samuel Tunick, an Atlanta-based activist, Oberlin graduate, and beloved musician, was arrested by the DHS and FBI yesterday around 6pm EST. Tunick's friends describe him as an approachable, empathetic person who is always finding ways to improve the lives of the people around him,” the site says. Various activists have since shared news of Tunick’s arrest on social media.

The indictment says the phone search was supposed to be performed by a supervisory officer from a CBP Tactical Terrorism Response Team. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote in 2023 these are “highly secretive units deployed at U.S. ports of entry, which target, detain, search, and interrogate innocent travelers.”
“These units, which may target travelers on the basis of officer ‘instincts.’ raise the risk that CBP is engaging in unlawful profiling or interfering with the First Amendment-protected activity of travelers,” the ACLU added. The Intercept previously covered the case of a sculptor and installation artist who was detained at San Francisco International Airport and had his phone searched. The report said Gach did not know why, even years later.
Court records show authorities have since released Tunick, and that he is restricted from leaving the Northern District of Georgia as the case continues.
The prosecutor listed on the docket did not respond to a request for comment. The docket did not list a lawyer representing Tunick.

InternetCitizen2

2025-12-10 18:43:46

Man Charged for Wiping Phone Before CBP Could Search It

404media.co/man-charged-for-wi…

A man in Atlanta has been arrested and charged for allegedly deleting data from a Google Pixel phone before a member of a secretive Customs and Border Protection (CBP) unit was able to search it, according to court records and social media posts reviewed by 404 Media. The man, Samuel Tunick, is described as a local Atlanta activist in Instagram and other posts discussing the case.
The exact circumstances around the search—such as why CBP wanted to search the phone in the first place—are not known. But it is uncommon to see someone charged specifically for wiping a phone, a feature that is easily accessible in some privacy and security-focused devices.
💡
Do you know anything else about this case? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at joseph.404 or send me an email at joseph@404media.co.
The indictment says on January 24, Tunick “did knowingly destroy, damage, waste, dispose of, and otherwise take any action to delete the digital contents of a Google Pixel cellular phone, for the purpose of preventing and impairing the Government’s lawful authority to take said property into its custody and control.” The indictment itself was filed in mid-November.
Tunick was arrested earlier this month, according to a post on a crowd-funding site and court records. “Samuel Tunick, an Atlanta-based activist, Oberlin graduate, and beloved musician, was arrested by the DHS and FBI yesterday around 6pm EST. Tunick's friends describe him as an approachable, empathetic person who is always finding ways to improve the lives of the people around him,” the site says. Various activists have since shared news of Tunick’s arrest on social media.

The indictment says the phone search was supposed to be performed by a supervisory officer from a CBP Tactical Terrorism Response Team. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote in 2023 these are “highly secretive units deployed at U.S. ports of entry, which target, detain, search, and interrogate innocent travelers.”
“These units, which may target travelers on the basis of officer ‘instincts.’ raise the risk that CBP is engaging in unlawful profiling or interfering with the First Amendment-protected activity of travelers,” the ACLU added. The Intercept previously covered the case of a sculptor and installation artist who was detained at San Francisco International Airport and had his phone searched. The report said Gach did not know why, even years later.
Court records show authorities have since released Tunick, and that he is restricted from leaving the Northern District of Georgia as the case continues.
The prosecutor listed on the docket did not respond to a request for comment. The docket did not list a lawyer representing Tunick.

https://archive.ph/iAbQ6#selection-601.0-645.36