Yesterday I did a thread on how Huawei is trying to manipulate Belgian policy audiences with a fake online ecosystem ahead of a key 5G decision. (https://t.co/ViIp7X5KsN) Huawei did not take kindly to my research.

THREAD: IN #KOSOVO & METOHIJA ALBANIAN BARBARISM AND TERRORISM BEATS THE CULTURE OF #SERBS

So far, none of the representatives from KFOR, UNMIK, UN police, who stayed in Kosovo & Metohija has written a single word of praise in the books about the so-called independent Kosovo! 👇

More than 30 representatives of various military and civilian missions from around the world in #Kosovo and Metohija since 1999 - #KFOR, #UNMIK, #UN police, #OSCE financial police, #EULEX etc. - wrote books about the real situation in the southern Serbian province! 👇

No positive words were written about #Kosovo, which in 2008 declared unilateral independence, by absolutely none of them.

The most common conclusion is that Albanian Kosovo is a criminal drug mafia artificial creation, it is an island of lawlessness! 👇

Those who wrote books about #Kosovo after staying in Serbian province for certrain amount of time, were in high positions and places in Kosovo and Metohija and knew far more about the real situation inside Kosovo, which illegally declared independence back in 2008. 👇

"Independence suits those in command: Thaci himself who runs the oil business, Bexhet Pacolli who needs a hole in which he will store his money, Ramush Haradinaj and Agim Çeku. And they don't care about independence."

- Fabio Mini wrote in his book "La Guerra spiegata a..." 👇

A German soldier is arrested trying to retrieve a loaded gun from an airport toilet.
His finger prints lead to a Syrian refugee.
His cell phone leads to far-right extremist networks inside the military.
This is the tale of Franco A: 1/10

Franco A was a lieutenant in the German army.
He posed as a Syrian refugee – and got away with it.
For 16 months he lived a double life.
Prosecutors say he planned a terror attack that would be blamed on his refugee alter ego and unleash a national crisis 2/10

Franco A’s arrest was a wake-up call for the German authorities long blind to far-right infiltration of their institutions.
His superiors promoted him even after he detailed his views in a master’s thesis.
He spoke publicly at least once at a far-right event 3/10

When Franco A goes on trial for plotting terrorism in the spring, Germany will go on trial with him. How could a German soldier who didn't speak Arabic pass himself off as a refugee? And how could a far-right extremist rise through the ranks of the German military? 4/10

But the story of Franco A is bigger than his own. His family history grafts almost perfectly over German history. The story of his double life and evolution is in many ways the tale of today’s two Germanys. 5/10

1/ In September 1993, then-Microsoft exec Nathan Myhrvold wrote his landmark memo "Road Kill on the Information Highway", laying out a dozen-ish predictions on the rise of the internet

27 years later, I think it's a super interesting case study. Let's evaluate the predictions -

2/ PREDICTION #1: The rise of a surveillance society - police bodycams, CCTV, 24/7 personal recording, and deepfakes

GRADE: A-

Pretty close!

3/ PREDICTION #2: Telecommuting, an end to the "tyranny of geography" and gerrymandering

GRADE: B-

Alas, the electoral college still matters today. The WFH prediction hits closer, but turns out it took two and a half decades + a pandemic to get things going

4/ PREDICTION #3: Telco convergence - phone companies become cable providers and vice versa

GRADE: A-

Honestly this one was a bit of a layup, although it took 15 years longer than anyone expected

5/ PREDICTION #4: The rise of online neo-banks

GRADE: C

Three decades later, and physical banks still exist. Neobanks have a presence in emerging markets, UK, and basically nowhere else. Regulatory inertia: officially a thing

THREAD: Portland's Antifa movement held a New Years Eve demonstration Thursday night that became the first declared riot of 2021.

Police confronted the crowd with riot munitions as activists shot fireworks at them.

Filmed by @MaranieRae for @N2Sreports. Contact me for licensing

Thread on the missing 100 Kgs gold from CBI

In an unusual order, perhaps for the first time in history, the Madras HC has ordered a state Crime Branch CID probe into 100 Kgs of gold which went missing from the custody of CBI. 1/n

State CB CID officials will now probe the role of the elite CBI agency in the missing ingots weighing more than 100 Kgs.

When the CBI probed this case, the role of several IAS & ITS (Indian Trade Service) came to light. The role of Dr. Swarna, IAS, then Joint Development Commissioner, Special Economic Zone, Chennai also came to light. 3/n

Dr. Swarna is now the Secretary to government, P&AR, Government of Tamil Nadu. When an Addl SP went to examine Dr. Swarna with regard to this case, she threw a tantrum as to how an ordinary Addl SP can examine her and rang up TN Home Secretary to suspend the Addl. SP. 4/n

All the All India Service Officers involved in this case, using their bureaucratic clout in Delhi, ensured that this case never saw the light of the day.
5/n