Author: digigod

Feds look to high-tech towers to complement border wall construction | Construction Dive

digigod

https://www.constructiondive.com/news/feds-look-to-high-tech-towers-to-complement-border-wall-construction/583633/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202020-08-24%20Construction%20Dive%20Newsletter%20%5Bissue:29258%5D&utm_term=Construction%20Dive

Dive Brief:

  • U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently announced that a tech-enabled system for monitoring and securing the U.S. border has become a program of record for the agency.
  • These systems, called autonomous surveillance towers, use renewable energy to provide around-the-clock tracking of remote border areas. Outfitted with radar equipment, the units scan the environment to detect movement, orient the camera to the location of the movement and analyze the imagery to autonomously identify items of interest, such as people or vehicles, according to a CBP press statement. Border Patrol agents are then alerted and have the opportunity to make the final determination on what the item is and if it poses a threat.
  • Although not mentioned in the CBP announcement, the Washington Post reported soon afterwards that the Trump administration has awarded a contract for a rollout of the towers along the southern border. The five-year agreement with California-based AI firm Anduril Industries is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the Post.

Dive Insight:

CBP first piloted the use of radar-equipped surveillance towers in early 2018 with four towers in the San Diego Border Patrol Sector, and has since purchased 56 additional towers. It plans to deploy 140 additional towers through 2022 to reach a total of 200 towers, it said. The Post article indicated that these are part of the Anduril contract.

Technology such as radar complements CBP’s other initiatives to keeping the border safe, including barrier walls, CBP said, noting the many benefits of these mobile towers, including that they can operate off grid, have a small geographic footprint and minimize the impact to land owners and public land. They can also be re-located within two hours, providing frontline agents with a flexible system that “enhances situational awareness, effectiveness and safety,” the statement said.

“These towers give agents in the field a significant leg up against the criminal networks that facilitate illegal cross-border activity,” said Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott in the statement. “The more our agents know about what they encounter in the field, the more safely and effectively they can respond.

The CBP announcement came just before the release of a government report that was critical of the Trump administration’s focus on a physical barrier as the solution to security issues at the southern border.

Released July 14, the report from the Inspector General’s (IG) Office of the Homeland Security Department said that technology-driven deterrents such as surveillance towers equipped with infrared cameras and radar as well as aircraft, ships and vehicles could be just as effective and cost much less than a border wall.

“We now are in a time where we can build this virtual border wall technology. We have that already,” Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat from a border district where CBP proposes to build 121 miles of barriers told NPR in response to the IG’s report. “But there’s political pressure from the White House. They’re saying, ‘Build me the wall. Get me miles.'”

It is unclear how the CBP will pay for the new technology. Despite rulings from lower courts that military funds could not be diverted to pay for building the border wall, the Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that construction could continue.

Black Cube

digigod

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Cube

Black Cube (BC Strategy Ltd) is a private intelligence agency based in London, Tel Aviv, and Madrid.[1][2] The company was founded in 2010[3] by former Israeli intelligence officers[4] Dan Zorella (in Hebrew: דן זורלא) and Avi Yanus (in Hebrew: אבי ינוס). Its employees include former members of Israeli intelligence units.

Black Cube provides intelligence, evidence, and advisory services in multi-jurisdictional legal and white collar crime cases.[2] Black Cube exposed fraud, bribery, money laundering, corruption and asset dissipation.[5][6] The company uncovered high-level corruption in Italy, Panama, and Mexico.[7][8][9]

Black Cube’s tactics have resulted in a number of international controversies. In Romania, two of its employees were convicted of criminal charges involving harassment and hacking.[10][11] The firm drew widespread condemnation for its work surveilling and assisting with efforts to slander the reputations of women accusing Harvey Weinstein of sexual violence and journalists reporting on them.[12][13][14]

Contents

  • 1 History
    • 1.1 2011 – 2015
    • 1.2 2016 – 2017
    • 1.3 2018 – present
  • 2 International Advisory Board
  • 3 See also
  • 4 References
  • 5 External links

History

2011 – 2015

Beginning in 2011, Black Cube provided intelligence services to Vincent Tchenguiz in a number of cases, including Tchenguiz’s fight against the UK Serious Fraud Office,[2] following his arrest as part of the SFO investigation into the collapse of the Icelandic bank Kaupthing.[15] Black Cube analysed the network of relationships surrounding the collapse of the bank,[4] and helped build a successful challenge to the SFO arrests and search warrants, causing the judge to declare the SFO’s actions unlawful in 2013.[6]

In 2013, Black Cube filed a lawsuit in the UK against Vincent Tchenguiz for unpaid invoices and breach of contract. Concurrently, Tchenguiz filed a lawsuit in Israel against Black Cube, alleging fraudulent invoices, an allegation denied by Black Cube. Both lawsuits were dropped in a settlement agreement, the details of which are undisclosed.[16]

In 2014, Black Cube were hired by Israeli businessman Nochi Dankner, to examine a court decision assigning control of IDB Holding Corp. Ltd. (TASE:IDBH) to Motti Ben Moshe.[2] Black Cube investigated the sources of capital of Ben Moshe, revealing an ongoing investigation by German regulatory authorities into Ben Moshe’s company ExtraEnergy,[17] and locating a witness who held evidence of money laundering and tax evasion by Ben Moshe.[18]

In 2015, Black Cube assisted Taiwanese businessman Nobu Su, owner of the shipping company TMT, in his efforts to gain permission to appeal a 2014 judgement in favour of Lakatamia Shipping[19] in which Su was found personally liable for the amount of almost $47m.[20] Black Cube delivered intelligence to Su’s legal team showing that 20% of the judgement amount was due to a company called Slagen Shipping, which had ceased operations at the time of the establishment of the claim, thereby rendering it unable to act as a claimant, both reducing the quantum of the judgement significantly, and causing the appeal to be granted.[21]

2016 – 2017

In April 2016, two of the company employees were arrested, and later convicted, in Bucharest on suspicions of spying, phishing, and cyberharassing the chief prosecutor of the Romanian National Anticorruption Directorate, Laura Codruța Kövesi, and people close to her.[22][11] After sentencing, the company reached an understanding with the Romanian authorities and the two employees were released and returned to Israel after a few months.[23] At the time of the arrest, Black Cube denied any wrongdoing, saying that they were working under contract from the highest political powers in Bucharest and that “all of Black Cube’s employees follow local law to the letter, and the allegations against them are unfounded and untrue”.[24][25]

Black Cube was hired to assist Kfar Giladi Quarries in their highly publicised dispute with Caeserstone (NASDAQ:CSTE). Black Cube engaged a Caesarstone engineer in conversation during a group bicycle trip in Kfar Giladi.[6] In the recording, the engineer contradicted the allegations that were made by Ceaserstone in the arbitration proceeding with Kfar Giladi. After six years of deliberations, Judge Boaz Okun ordered Caeserstone to pay more than $14m as compensation to Kfar Giladi.[26]

In 2016, Black Cube was involved in exposing bribery and corruption in a set of Italian arbitrations between AmTrust (NASDAQ:AFSI) and an Italian named Antonio Somma totalling €2bn.[5] Somma admitted to the company’s undercover agents that he could control the arbitration panels,[27] and that he had an agreement to pay the chair of the arbitration panel 10% of any money they awarded him.[28] Following Black Cube’s findings, the arbitrator was dismissed and in July 2016, the two sides reached a settlement on the total of 60 million euros instead of the initial 2 billion euro claim.[29]

In 2016, Black Cube was hired by Rami Levy, the owner of Rami Levy Chain Stores Hashikma Marketing (TASE:RMLI) who is considered a champion of low prices in Israel,[30] to verify his suspicions that he was being targeted by a rival chain in a negative media campaign. Black Cube provided Levy with evidence that the PR agent who worked for Levy’s competitor, Victory supermarket chain, exposed the negative campaign that they carried out aimed at damaging Levy’s public reputation. Levy later used those materials in a lawsuit against his competitor.[31]

In 2016, Alstom and Afcon (TASE:AFHL) hired Black Cube’s services in order to assist them with their dispute against the Israel Railways’ electrification bid, which the Spanish company SEMI won. Black Cube presented recordings of officials from the Israel Railway discussing malfunctions that occurred in the bid. Based on these findings, in January 2018, the Superior Court in Israel issued an agreement of compromise according to which the work on the railway will be divided between all three of the companies and that Black Cube’s clients’ work will be priced at 580 million NIS, after they originally lost the bid.[32]

In 2017, Gefen Biomed (TASE:GEFEN) filed a NIS 60 million lawsuit which claims that entrepreneurs Moshe (Mori) Arkin and others deliberately misled or deceived minority shareholders in biomed company cCam Biotherapeutics. The lawsuit is based on evidence collected by Black Cube, which conducted recorded interviews with key figures in cCam that prove a deliberate and systematic attempt to conceal exit talks with Merck for up to $625 million.[33]

In November 2017, Ronan Farrow reported in The New Yorker that film executive Harvey Weinstein hired Black Cube in order to stop the publication of the abuse allegations against him. Using false identities, private investigators from Black Cube tracked and met journalists and actresses, in particular Rose McGowan, who later publicly accused Weinstein of rape. Over the course of a year, Weinstein had Black Cube and other agencies “target, or collect information on, dozens of individuals, and compile psychological profiles that sometimes focused on their personal or sexual histories.”[12][13][14] One agent, Stella Penn Pechanac, used an alias to pose as a women’s rights supporter interested in hiring McGowan for a formal dinner speech, enabling her to secretly record conversations with the actress.[34][35][36][37] Black Cube apologized for taking the case in November 2017.[38] As of 2019, Manhattan federal prosecutors investigating Weinstein were probing into the firm’s activities on his behalf;[39] and McGowan’s separate racketeering suit against it remained active.[40] During Weinstein’s 2020 trial for assault in Manhattan, Black Cube’s spying on behalf of Weinstein became entered into the prosecutory evidence in January.[41]

In November 2017, Black Cube set up a fake recruitment firm, and flew an employee and a former employee of a hedge fund company to London for fake job interviews, in order to gain proprietary information about the hedge fund, according to The New York Times. Black Cube refused to comment. In New York State, private investigators are required to be licensed, but the Times couldn’t find a record of a license for Black Cube or B.C. Strategy.[42]

2018 – present

In March 2018, Black Cube and Cambridge Analytica each denied a Cambridge Analytica ex-employee Christopher Wylie‘s statement that the company had hired Black Cube’s services. In April 2018, Brittany Kaiser, the former director of business development for SCL Group, the parent company of Cambridge Analytica affirmed the denials and testified in front of the British Parliament that Black Cube is not the company with which they worked.[43][44] Shortly after, Wylie testified before the US Senate Judiciary Committee, where he recanted his previous statements and denied that Black Cube was involved.[45] Former CEO of Cambridge Analytica Alexander Nix also testified in front of British Parliament and denied working with Black Cube.[46]

In May 2018, Black Cube was accused of using false identities to seek damaging information about former Obama administration officials and help the Trump administration undermine the Iran nuclear deal.[47] Black Cube has responded by stating that it has no relation to the Trump administration, to Trump aides, or to the Iran nuclear deal.[48] In August 2018, The New Yorker connected Black Cube’s research to a memo circulated in the Trump White House in early 2017 alleging former Obama officials ‘conspired with reporters’ “to undermine President Trump’s foreign policy” in hopes of saving Obamacare and the Iran nuclear deal.[49] In October 2018, Haaretz newspaper revealed[50] that Black Cube’s activities were aimed at tracking transfers of Iranian funds and assets in order to forfeiture them, following US court rulings against Iran in favor of victims of terror attacks. Furthermore, it was published that the goal of the intelligence gathering was tracing unknown Iranian assets and revealing Obama’s administration collaboration with Iran, in violation of US or international law, in order to find other possible parties to sue such as banks.

In 2018, Black Cube was hired by Bank Hapoalim[51] (TASE: POLI) to trace the assets of Motti Zisser, who left behind a high debt to the bank. Black Cube provided intelligence of Zisser having a number of assets in Europe which were transferred from him to his son David through a sophisticated network of shell companies. As a result of the intelligence gathered by Black Cube, Bank Hapoalim was granted an injunction that applied an effective freeze on all the companies of the Zisser Family. At the end of a legal process, the two parties came to a settlement in February 2018, according to which Zisser’s heirs would pay nearly 95 million NIS to Bank Hapoalim.[52]

In 2019, Black Cube uncovered proof of bribery and corruption (previously in Italy) between lawyer Janio Lescure of Panama and various judges and magistrates in the country, including Judge Oydén Ortega of the Supreme Court.[53][8][54] Black Cube was able to procure audios of Lescure admitting his close relationships with judges, state officials, and mafiosos as well as his ability to control court verdicts, bypass inspections of illegal activities, and avoiding paying taxes.[7][55]

In 2019, Black Cube exposed Eliezer Fishman’s hidden assets valued at around 100 million euros. Fishman, once considered one of Israel’s wealthiest businessmen, was declared bankrupt in 2016. Black Cube discovered that Fishman had hidden assets and properties across Europe, mainly Germany, through legal entities, trustees, and representatives.[56]

Also in 2019, it was revealed that Black Cube recorded evidence of bribery and corruption of senior officials at Mexico’s Petróleos Mexicanos, known as Pemex.[9] The recordings were submitted as part of a lawsuit filed in 2018 by Oro Negro, a Mexican oil-field drilling company, claiming that Pemex drove Oro Negro into bankruptcy when the company refused to pay bribes. Black Cube recordings offer evidence of long-standing corruption in Mexico’s largest state enterprise, in all levels of Pemex management up to the CEO and board.[57] This evidence was additionally presented to the DOJ in their investigation into Pemex.[9]

On 5 April 2019 the Senate Intelligence Committee sent a letter to Walter Soriano, the owner of USG Security Limited based in Britain and Israel, for his communication with Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Psy-Group, Wikistrat, Orbis Business Intelligence (a firm co-founded by Christopher Steele), and Black Cube.[58][59] In response, the company denied any connection and stated that “neither they nor anyone acting on their behalf has ever had any communication or collaboration with Walter Soriano or anyone on his behalf.”[60]

In May 2020, Black Cube submitted on behalf of Beny Steinmetz evidence to a New York court that the Brazilian company Vale SA withheld critical information concerning a mining license in Guinea obtained by Steinmetz.[61][62] During a four-month operation, Black Cube gathered recordings with Vale senior executives, who admitted that Vale assumed the mining license was obtained illegally when they entered into the contract.[63]

International Advisory Board

See also

References

  1. “Contact Us | Black Cube”. www.blackcube.com/contact/. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d Efrat Peretz, “Investigating thee investigators” Archived 26 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine “Globes” 3 February 2014
  3. Shuki Sadeh, “Don’t cry for me” “Haaretz” 8 August 2014
  4. ^ a b c Liz Bolshaw, “A new breed of commercial intelligence company” “The Financial Times” 26 March 2015
  5. ^ a b “When Doing Business in Italy Means a Box of Bullets in the Mail”. Bloomberg.com. 14 April 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  6. ^ a b c “Inside Black Cube – The “Mossad” of the Business World – Forbes Israel”. Forbes Israel. 13 November 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  7. ^ a b “Black Cube exposes corruption in Panama’s justice system”. Ynetnews. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  8. ^ a b “Israel’s Black Cube said to have uncovered widespread corruption in Panama”.
  9. ^ a b c Whelan, Robbie (11 October 2019). “Secret Recordings Describe Extensive Bribery at Mexico’s Pemex”. Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  10. “Israeli citizen gets probation after pleading guilty in espionage case in Romania”.[permanent dead link]
  11. ^ a b “Israeli convicted for targeting Romania’s anti-corruption chief”. www.timesofisrael.com.
  12. ^ a b “Ronan Farrow, Harvey Weinstein’s Army of Spies”. The New Yorker. 6 November 2017.
  13. ^ a b “Harvey Weinstein Hired ex-Mossad Agents to Track Women Accusing Him of Sexual Assault”. Haaretz. 7 November 2017.
  14. ^ a b Rutenberg, Jim (7 November 2017). “Report Details Weinstein’s Covert Attempt to Halt Publication of Accusations New York Times”. The New York Times.
  15. Business Desk “Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz arrested in Iceland probe” “BBC” 10 March 2011
  16. Bowers, Simon (22 April 2013). “Vincent Tchenguiz settles Black Cube legal dispute”. The Guardian. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  17. Efrat Peretz, “Dankner: German regulator probing Ben-Moshe” Archived 26 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine “Globes” 30 January 2014
  18. Efrat Peretz, “Dankner accuses Ben-Moshe of money laundering” Archived 26 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine “Globes” 13 March 2014
  19. Unknown Author, “Nobu Su Fights Back Against Lakatamia” “ACN Newswire” 9 January 2015
  20. Unknown Author, “Gone to the dogs?” “Tradewinds” 7 November 2014
  21. Japan Corporate News, “Headway for Nobu Su” “Nasdaq” 14 April 2015
  22. de Haldevang, Max (11 March 2019). “Read Israeli spy firm Black Cube’s secret pitch to clients”. QZ. QZ. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  23. “Black Cube – a “Mossad-style” business intelligence co”. Globes (in Hebrew). Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  24. “Report Claims Romania Investigating 4 Israelis for Spying” “Algemeiner” 6 April 2016
  25. Somfalvi, Attila; Eichner, Itamar (9 April 2016). “Employees of Israeli business intelligence firm Black Cube is suspected of spying on the director of Romania’s Anticorruption Directorate; company denies allegations”. Israel News.
  26. “CaesarStone to pay Kfar Giladi NIS 50m compensation – Globes English”. Globes. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  27. Corriere della Sera, “Il lodo da 2 miliardi in Tribunale Corruzione o calunnia per l’arbitro” 14 April 2016
  28. B1, “Black Cube dezvăluie cel mai mare caz de corupție judiciară din Italia” Archived 12 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine 16 April 2016
  29. “Pace milionaria, salvo il broker Antonio Somma – Transazione tra AmTrust e l’assicuratore stabiese con un giro di affari all’estero”. Il Corrierino (in Italian). Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  30. “Who is Rami Levy and why investors love him”. Jewish Business News. Archived from the original on 12 July 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  31. “Rami Levy allegedly targeted by rival chain in negative media campaign – Business”. haaretz.com. Archived from the original on 16 November 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  32. “Israel High Court Splits Disputed $500M Rail Power Contract”. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  33. “Lawsuit claims Arkin misled eCam shareholders – Globes English”. Globes (in Hebrew). Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  34. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Rose-McGowan.pdf
  35. staff, T. O. I. “Israeli who helped Weinstein undermine victims: ‘He wasn’t a monster then'”. www.timesofisrael.com.
  36. “Former Israeli Soldier Identified as Harvey Weinstein’s Spy”. 9 November 2017 – via Haaretz.
  37. “Ronan Farrow on the Black Cube Agent Who Spied on Weinstein Accuser Rose McGowan”. The Hollywood Reporter.
  38. “Israeli intelligence firm apologizes for taking Harvey Weinstein job”. Ynetnews. 11 November 2017.
  39. Feuer, Alan (6 September 2018). “Federal Prosecutors Investigate Weinstein’s Ties to Israeli Firm” – via NYTimes.com.
  40. Lisa Respers France. “Rose McGowan sues Harvey Weinstein for alleged campaign against her”. CNN.
  41. https://deadline.com/2020/01/harvey-weinstein-black-cube-to-spy-on-accusers-rape-trial-1202846724/
  42. Goldstein, Matthew; Rashbaum, William K. (15 November 2017). “Deception and Ruses Fill the Toolkit of Investigators Used by Weinstein”. The New York Times.
  43. Brittany Kaiser. “Written testimony to the Fake News Inquiry” (PDF). Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  44. Sputnik. “‘There Were Chinese Walls’: Ex-Cambridge Analytica Employee Testifies”. sputniknews.com. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  45. Wong, Julia Carrie (16 May 2018). “Cambridge Analytica whistleblower appears before Senate – as it happened”. The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  46. Hern, Alex (6 June 2018). “Alexander Nix blames ‘global liberal media’ for Cambridge Analytica collapse – as it happened”. The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  47. Farrow, Ronan (6 May 2018). “Israeli Operatives Who Aided Harvey Weinstein Collected Information on Former Obama Administration Officials”. The New Yorkers. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  48. Tibon, Amir (7 May 2018). “More Details on Israeli Spy Firm Black Cube’s ‘Ops Against ex-Obama Officials’ Revealed”. Haaretz. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  49. Entous, Adam; Farrow, Ronan (23 August 2018). “The Conspiracy Memo About Obama Aides That Circulated in the Trump White House”. The New Yorker. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  50. Levinson, Chaim; Shezaf, Hagar (26 October 2018). “$6 Billion of Iranian Money: Why Israeli Firm Black Cube Really Went After Obama’s Team”. Haaretz. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  51. “Black Cube – a “Mossad-style” business intelligence co – Globes English”. Globes (in Hebrew). Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  52. “Zisser’s heirs to pay Hapoalim NIS 95m after Black Cube uncovers assets – Globes English”. Globes (in Hebrew). Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  53. “La trampa española al abogado de Panamá que “paga a los jueces””. ELMUNDO (in Spanish). 1 February 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  54. “Sting operation lifts lid on judicial mafia”.
  55. Octubre, Corprensa Apartado 0819-05620 El Dorado Ave 12 de; Panamá, Hato Pintado; Panamá, República de (28 January 2019). “‘Yo pago a jueces todos los días’: Janio Lescure”. La Prensa.
  56. Megiddo, Gur; Rochvarger, Michael (30 April 2019). “Bankrupt Israeli Businessman Hid Over $27 Million in Assets in Europe, Says Trustee”. Haaretz. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  57. “BNamericas – Secret Recordings Describe Extensive Bribery…” BNamericas.com. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  58. Bertr, Natasha. “Senate Intelligence Committee summons mysterious British security consultant”. POLITICO. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  59. staff, T. O. I. “Report: US Senate asks to interview Israeli-Brit in connection with Russia probe”. www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  60. Bertr, Natasha. “Senate Intelligence Committee summons mysterious British security consultant”. POLITICO. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  61. Fortson, Danny (21 June 2020). “Beny Steinmetz gets rough over Guinea deal”. thetimes.co.uk. The Times. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  62. Biesheuvel, Thomas (22 May 2020). “Mining Billionaire Gets Help From Ex-Spies in Bitter Legal Fight”. bloomberg.com. Bloomberg. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  63. Shulman, Sophie (24 May 2020). “Israeli Billionaire Hires Black Cube to Spy on Former Partner Company Vale”. calcalistech.com. Calcalist. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  64. ^ a b c “Advisory Board | Black Cube”. www.blackcube.com. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  65. “Former Mossad chief joins Black Cube”. Ynetnews. 11 December 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  66. “Spy Firm Black Cube Adds Former Israeli Police Chief to Advisory Board”. CTECH – www.calcalistech.com. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  67. “ISRAEL : Black Cube lands security heavyweight”. Intelligence Online. 11 July 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  68. “Black Cube | Creative Intelligence | BlackCube”. blackcube.com. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  69. “Advisory Board | Black Cube”. blackcube.com. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  70. “Mati Leshem appointed CEO of Auto-Center”. The Marker. 20 February 2007. Archived from the original on 6 June 2015.
  71. ^ a b c “Archived copy”. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  72. “Archived copy”. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2015.

External links

QUBE smart city

digigod

https://www.qube-mrs.com/

QUBE smart city. New RAN architectures like Densification, C-RAN, Small Cell and 5G are bringing the cellular network closer to the end user. With the use of …

New RAN architectures like Densification, C-RAN, Small Cell and 5G are bringing the cellular network closer to the end user. With the use of these low powered radio access nodes, the need for aesthetic yet functional housing are paramount. 

 This product line was designed to meet the real world demands of expansion and growth across both additional technologies and carriers in one convenient platform. The Qube.

Qube.tech – Benefits – What is Qube

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Qube.tech – Benefits – What is Qube 

Qube is perfect for challenging environments and where performance is mission-critical.  Additionally, Qube can be deployed in and areas where space is a concern.  The high availability architecture ensure non-disruptive operation for the most demanding environments.  Qube provides everything needed for a complete technology solution.  Qube is compact, secure, and does not require any special power or cooling.  Qube is just 2 feet in dimension and can mount almost anywhere.

Managing Qubes is seamless, regardless ofr being deployed in even the most remote locations on land or sea.  All sites can easily be managed from a single dashboard, making moves, adds, and changes a breeze.

Willow.ai™ and Qube® Deliver Immediate AI Solutions

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https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/willowai-and-qube-deliver-immediate-ai-solutions-301117635.html

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo., Aug. 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Today Willow.ai, an industry-leading next generation artificial intelligence firm with a proprietary AI called Willow, announces that it is strategically partnering with Qube, the leader in all-in-one IT as a System® infrastructure solutions, to deliver an optimized enterprise ready end-to-end hardware plus artificial intelligence solution that arrives ready to use immediately.

According to a recent Appen report, nearly 75% of businesses now consider AI critical to their success yet over half of the respondents feel that their company is behind on their AI journey, suggesting a critical gap exists between the strategic need and the ability to execute. “This partnership addresses this gap by combining WillowAI’s powerful proprietary artificial intelligence solutions with Qube’s single integrated hardware component that enables enterprises to utilize AI right out-of-the-box”, explains Brian K. Kennedy, CEO, WillowAI. “We are especially pleased to partner with Qube, our new combined offering will provide rapid organizational transformation through the power of AI at an affordable price.”

Qube delivers a complete pre-configured enterprise technology infrastructure,” adds Robert Mueller, CEO, Qube, “This partnership will help companies recognize the benefits of AI right away. Businesses will now be able to seamlessly roll out enterprise AI on a highly scalable infrastructure and be one step closer to transforming into their organizations into fully functional intelligent enterprises.”

About Willow.ai™Willow.ai provides the next generation of artificial intelligence solutions by creating private customized business neural networks that sync people with AI. Its proprietary pre-trained artificial intelligence solution called Willow fuses advanced intelligence with subject matter experts to develop end-to-end business solutions that empower organizations to rapidly scale revenues, cut costs, automate operations, and optimized results. To learn more, visit www.Willow.ai

About Qube®
Qube architects cloud ready industry-specific infrastructures that provide long-term sustained value and ensure optimal synergy of an organization. The company’s pre-configured scalable environments adapt to changing requirements and automatically update with new capabilities to ensure secure centralized management. The purpose-built architecture arrives plug and play, dramatically reducing integration costs and implementation time. For more information, please visit www.Qube.tech

Australia to deploy drones to photograph unmasked faces, drivers too far from home

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https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/australia-to-deploy-drones-to-photograph-unmasked-faces-drivers-too-far-from-home?utm_source=top_news&utm_campaign=standard&fbclid=IwAR1Rq0t4rrfkCVPProPLeaf3mKfJA5TU4GLIE6r3b4OznvX6RhiipGrDhD4

MELBOURNE, Australia, August 21, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) ― Following communist China’s lead, Australian police are turning to drones to enforce coronavirus lockdown regulations and control the population.

7News Melbourne reported Monday that the Victoria state police are preparing to use drones to catch people who show their faces in public uncovered by masks, to capture the license plates of drivers who travel more than 5 kilometres (3.1 miles), and to make sure that children’s skateboarding parks and playgrounds are empty. 

These drones can fly to a height of 7 kilometres (4.3 miles) and take a clear photograph of a license plate from 500m (.3 miles) away. 

Australian media has also reported that Victoria police had asked the Australian armed forces for military drones but were refused. 

The deputy police commissioner for the state of Victoria defended the use of drones to spy on public spaces like beaches. 

“We were getting reports … in that warmer weather period of lots of people congregating on the beaches in these populated areas,” said Rick Nugent. “A drone provides that capability to actually provide that without deploying all these police to all of the areas.” 

Victoria is not the first place where police have used drones to ensure compliance with state coronavirus measures. A chilling video posted to Twitter in January by the Chinese government-controlled Global Times showed an elderly lady in Inner Mongolia staring up in astonishment at a drone outfitted with a loudspeaker. A voice speaking through the contraption shouted at her to go home and to wash her hands, recording her reactions throughout. In the United Kingdom, a police drone video was published in March to shame hikers in England’s Peak District. Also in March, the Financial Times reported that a California police department was also using drones to enforce the lockdown. 

Some privacy-minded citizens are fighting back against lockdown enforcement by drones. The Peak District drone footage infuriated many in the UK and led to accusations of “nanny policing.”  Big Brother Watch’s Silkie Carlo complained that drones were an “extreme, militaristic” form of surveillance. 

“We’ve seen too many examples of police using them aggressively in place of measured public health communications,” she said. 

“Police using drones to surveil and bark orders at members of the public is usually excessive and counterproductive. Parliament should introduce stronger safeguards to circumscribe their use.”

In May, a French High Court sided with civil rights activists “La Quadrature du Net” and the Human Rights League against Paris police when it ruled that the use of drones to enforce coronavirus lockdown rules was a violation of privacy. The ruling made it illegal for French police to use low-flying drones equipped with cameras to identify people.

China expert Steven Mosher told LifeSiteNews that although anyone can turn off  personal devices that collect information, no one has that power over drones. 

“Drone surveillance from the sky cannot be turned off,” he noted. “It strips away another level of privacy that people have enjoyed since time immemorial. The pandemic is being used to justify violations of privacy that people would never tolerate in normal times.”

In recent months, scientists have argued that people are less likely to become infected with coronavirus outdoors. Currently in Britain, people are allowed to stay outdoors as long as they like, and both government and health authorities are focusing now on fighting obesity as a method of combating COVID-19 related illness. 

Michigan College Will Digitally Track Students’ Movements At All Times

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A Michigan college is requiring students to download a phone application that tracks their location and private health data at all times in an attempt to protect them from the coronavirus.

Albion College, located in Albion, Mich., is one of the first schools in the country to tackle contact tracing. The school is working to create a “COVID-bubble” on campus, and asking students stay within the school’s 4.5-mile perimeter for the entire semester; if a student leaves campus, the app will notify the administration, and the student could be temporarily suspended.

The move comes as universities grapple with how to reopen safely amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Several schools including Harvard University have shut down their campuses entirely, while the University of California system will provide the majority of classes online with a selection of hybrid options. Other schools, such as Boston University, are resuming in-person learning with masks and social distancing guidelines alongside virtual learning supplements for those who don’t feel comfortable returning.

Albion’s reopening plan has sparked blowback from students and parents who are expressing concern about what they view as an invasion of privacy. A father of an Albion student said that he is upset that he must choose between keeping his daughter home from school or signing off on a university-sanctioned “invasion of privacy.”

“The school wants my daughter to sign a form consenting to specimen collection and lab testing,” he told the Washington Free Beacon on condition of anonymity. “I have a ton of concern with that…. Why is the state of Michigan’s contact tracing not enough?”

Though students are required to remain on campus, professors and administrators are not. When asked about this potential loophole in its “COVID-bubble,” the school declined to comment.

Rising senior Andrew Arszulowicz said that he is upset with both the mandatory use of the app and the manner in which students are being treated. “I feel like I am being treated like a five-year-old that cannot be trusted to follow rules,” Arszulowicz told the Free Beacon. “If the school believes masks work … why are we not allowed to leave if they work? It does not make sense to me.”

Albion is planning to offer in-person learning only, and students who refuse to comply with the contact-tracing program will be forced to defer for a semester or a full school year.

The Hidden History of the Incredibly Evil Khazarian Mafia

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https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0977/5294/files/The_Hidden_History_of_the_Evil_Khazarian_Mafia.pdf

Secret History of Khazarian Mafia and its evil plan to hijack the whole world now revealed for first time. By Preston James, Ph.D – March 8, 2015 Note: The history of the Khazarians, specifically the Khazarian Mafia (KM), the World’s largest Organized Crime Syndicate that the Khazarian oligarchy morphed into by their deployment of Babylonian Money-Magick, has been nearly completely excised from the history books. The present-day KM knows that it cannot operate or exist without abject secrecy, and therefore has spent a lot of money having its history excised from the history books in order to prevent citizens of the World from learning about its “Evil beyond imagination”, that empowers this World’s largest Organized Crime Cabal. The authors of this article have done their best to resurrect this lost, secret history of the Khazarians and their large International Organized Crime Syndicate, best referred to as the Khazarian Mafia (KM) and make this history available to the World via the Internet, which is the new Gutenberg Press. It has been exceedingly difficult to reconstruct this hidden secret history of the KM, so please excuse any minor inaccuracies or errors which are unintentional and are due to the difficulty in digging out the true history of Khazaria and its mafia. We have done the best we can to reconstruct it.