Free Republic

The Supreme Court unanimously decided on Thursday to limit environmental reviews for major infrastructure projects in a case that will have sweeping impacts on President Donald Trump’s energy agenda. In a move that will restrict power of federal judges, Thursday’s decision reduces the scope of reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to focus solely on immediate impacts. Under NEPA, federal agencies are required to study any potentially significant environmental consequences of federal permits for infrastructure projects. “NEPA does not allow courts, ‘under the guise of judicial review’ of agency compliance with NEPA, to delay or block agency projects...

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has delivered a knockout punch to Google, securing a record-shattering $1.375 billion settlement for the Big Tech’s covert surveillance of everyday Americans. This staggering sum is nearly a billion dollars more than what 40 states combined were able to wring from Google for similar offenses — a testament to Paxton’s unrelenting crusade against Big Tech tyranny.

Vegetable gardening has become an increasingly popular trend in recent years, with individuals and communities alike embracing the benefits of growing their own fresh produce. Recognizing the significance of this movement, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is now encouraging people to register their vegetable gardens. This new initiative aims to better understand and support the efforts of home gardeners, while also contributing to a more sustainable local food system. The decision by the USDA to ask people to register their vegetable gardens stems from a deep appreciation for the positive impact that these gardens can have on both individuals...

.. . The real story is what’s being done to lock down Android, and why you’ll need a newer model phone in 12-weeks time... The other highlight further narrows the gap to iPhone, removing some of the looser restrictions that enabled threats to more easily fester on its ecosystem than Apple’s. “The Play Integrity API," Google says, “allows developers to check if their apps have been tampered with or are running in potentially compromised environments, helping them to prevent abuse like fraud, bots, cheating, and data theft.” The company also notes that “apps using Play integrity features are seeing 80%...

A Key West man is accused of placing Apple AirTags on two peoples’ cars to illegally track them, according to police. Key West detectives’ investigation dates to Nov. 8, when two people went to police after receiving cellphone notifications alerting them that an unrecognized AirTag was detected near them and tracking their location, said Alyson Crean, a spokesperson for the police department. Apple introduced the AirTag in 2021 to help people track their belongings. But criminals soon began using the small devices to illegally stalk victims. Since then, Apple updated its security measures so a person’s iPhone would alert them...

Gun owners in Ohio won’t have to worry about firearm purchases being tracked by financial institutions or having to carry liability insurance. Senate Bill 58, one of a series of bills signed into law late Wednesday by Gov. Mike DeWine, received backing from pro-gun organizations like the National Rifle Association and Buckeye Firearms. But the Ohio Mayors Alliance and the Ohio Municipal League both opposed it. Known as the Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act, the new law stops government entities from keeping a list of privately owned firearms or firearm owners and prohibits banks and other financial institutions from assigning...

Jeffrey Epstein Island visitors tracked directly to their homes WIRED “Investigation that uncovered the data of almost 200 mobile phones belonging to visitors to his infamous pedophile island. The data was so precise, we were able to map the paths of these visitors to within centimeters, including their neighborhoods, buildings of origin, and the paths they took to get to the island. These digital trails document the numerous trips of wealthy and influential individuals seemingly undeterred by Epstein's status as a convicted sex offender.” (SEE VIDEO) “This is Little St. James, AKA Epstein Island. These red dots on the map...

So I get a call from my son at about 7:30 am. He’s freaking out wondering of something happened here since (according to him) I made 2 calls at approximately 1:28 am. He assumed something must have been wrong for me to be calling so late, but we chalked it up to an infamous ‘butt dial’. But wait: I was pretty sure I was in bed before then, and made that pretty clear. I then after checking my phone history I said, “can you check the number that actually called you, since I have no record of it on my...

Find out if you're accidentally sharing your location with Google, Apple apps and services blog.google, support.apple.com When mobile apps first hit the scene, many were designed to make our phones more useful. This included new tools for productivity, as well as apps for entertainment. Many of today’s apps, though, are packed with sneaky permission requests and hidden trackers. These tactics are legal because app developers (and the companies behind them) have to give you a choice to opt in or out of these tracking permissions. Unfortunately, not everyone knows how to do that … or the developers make it really...

Portions of the San Fernando Valley will get an extra set of eyes to help fight crime, as 100 automated license plate readers are going up in the northwest area. Earlier this year, L.A. Councilmember John Lee allocated $500,000 to purchase, install and maintain the cameras to help combat crime in the Valley. The ALPR cameras assist law enforcement in tracking and recording license plates as they pass through, to narrow the search for vehicles tied to crimes. The system then uses optical character recognition to compare the plates with hot vehicles of interest. Data stored can also help connect...

How many are repeats from the other rallies? Good question, 6122

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Wednesday prompted by a decade-long CBS News California investigation into California's newborn genetic biobank. We still won't know who is using your DNA for research, or what the research is for, but the California Department of Public Health must now reveal the number of newborn DNA samples that California is storing and the number of DNA samples that the state sells to researchers each year. In response to our decade-long investigation, lawmakers introduced several bills this year that were intended to shed light on how the state is amassing and using California's newborn DNA...

An excellent roundtable discussion among five military veterans involved in the communication security and communication exploitation aspects of communication tradecraft. The discussion focuses on how modern electronic devices can be used against citizens by unscrupulous actors and governments. This video will help people recognize vulnerabilities in their everyday habits when using computers, smart phones and even vehicles. Many people will be surprised. Length is 1:35:36, bookmark and watch on your schedule.

BREAKING: The Georgia State Election Board just voted to accept a proposed new rule that requires the Postal Service to provide tracking for mail-in ballots and chain of custody for undeliverable ballots So if/when fraud happens, we can now track it. AMAZING! "The board of registrars or absentee ballot clerk shall maintain for public inspection pursuant to O.C.G.A. 50-17-70 U.S. Postal Service tracking records for each ballot mailed to electors." This rule was proposed and presented to the board by election integrity expert @GAballots, who was surprised to see the board actually vote 5-0 https://x.com/BehizyTweets/status/1821230278330785921

Hidden deep within the new omnibus bill is a secret provision to allow the federal government to electronically track all cattle in the United States. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) warned about the hidden provision on X, stating that lobbyists will receive $15 million in taxpayer funds to unleash the electronic tracking grid on the nation’s meat-producing cows and bison. As stated directly from the omnibus, the agreement “directs the Department to continue to provide the tags and related infrastructure needed to comply with the Federal Animal Disease Traceability rule (9 CFR 86), including no less than $15,000,000 for electronic identification...

The Treasury Department banned the maker of spyware used to target government officials, reporters and activists, deploying “first-of-its-kind” sanctions against sellers of commercial spyware. The U.S. government deployed sanctions against Greece-based spyware vendor Intellexa on Tuesday and the company’s leadership after targeting U.S. officials. “Today’s actions represent a tangible step forward in discouraging the misuse of commercial surveillance tools, which increasingly present a security risk to the United States and our citizens,” Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson said. The Treasury Department targeted two individuals and five entities associated with Intellexa for their...

The hurricane season's next tropical depression or storm is expected to form from a disturbance in the Atlantic by tonight as we also track two other systems with a lower chance of tropical development. W​here these systems are now: We're watching three tropical disturbances spread out from near Mexico to off the African coast, as depicted in the map below. The one expected to form into a tropical depression, and likely tropical storm, in the short-term future is Invest 95L in the central Atlantic. An "invest" is a naming convention used to identify disturbances that are being monitored with specialized...

States are seeking out ways to recoup losses from lost gas tax revenue. California, which relies on gas tax and other fuel tax revenues to support its roadway maintenance, is piloting the idea of a "road charge," which would charge drivers based on the number of miles they drive rather than how much gas they purchase. The pilot program was initiated due to the fact that the collection of gas tax revenue is estimated to decrease in the coming years, according to the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA). CalSTA officials told FOX Business that a bill, signed in 2021, established...

In an interview with KrebsOnSecurity, the UMD team said they found that in addition to exposing Russian troop pre-deployment sites, the location data made it easy to see where devices in contested regions originated from. “This includes residential addresses throughout the world,” Levin said. “We even believe we can identify people who have joined the Ukraine Foreign Legion.” They also shared a written statement they received from Starlink, which acknowledged that Starlink User Terminal routers originally used a static BSSID/MAC ...Rye said Apple’s response addressed the most depressing aspect of their research: That there was previously no way for anyone...

We've all heard before that our cellphones are listening to us and monitoring our every move. While this has been debunked (or, at least, explained), the fact of the matter is that data tracking is standard practice by the most popular mobile carriers these days. **SNIP** If you don't want your mobile carrier to have so much overarching access to your data, there are ways you can stop them. The problem is that most mobile carriers aren't going to broadcast this information because it's beneficial for them to maintain this access. However, that's why we're here to help. Managing your...