Background Since the viruses was first discovered, HIV and AIDS have long been rumored to have been a biproduct of American experimentation. Varying conspiracy theories and groups alleged that HIV/AIDS was created in a laboratory, and grew beyond anyone’s control. One write-up by Wikipedia explains a few of the theories: Jakob Segal (1911–1995), a professor at Humboldt University in then-East Germany, proposed that HIV was engineered at a U.S. military laboratory at Fort Detrick, by splicing together two other viruses, Visna and HTLV-1. According to his theory, the new virus, created between 1977 and 1978, was tested on prison inmates…
Author: John Greenewald
Background According to the BBG website: The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) is a networked global media agency. The five media organizations that comprise the BBG complement and reinforce one another in a shared mission vital to U.S. national interests: to inform, engage and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy. Together, the BBG media organizations communicate each week with more than 278 million people across the globe. In June of 2017, I requested a copy of the main pages to the BBG’s “employee only” intranet website. In August of 2017, the BBG released a CD-ROM…
Background FinCEN is a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The Director of FinCEN is appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury and reports to the Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. FinCEN’s mission is to safeguard the financial system from illicit use and combat money laundering and promote national security through the collection, analysis, and dissemination of financial intelligence and strategic use of financial authorities. In September of 2017, I requested the entire set of visitor logs from January 1, 2017 through to the date of processing my request, which is approximately October 17, 2017.…
Background The National Playbook is a collection of Severe Weather Avoidance Plan (SWAP) routes that have been pre-validated and coordinated with impacted ARTCCs. The National Playbook is designed to mitigate the potential adverse impact to the FAA and customers during periods of severe weather or other events that affect coordination of routes. These events include, but are not limited to, convective weather, military operations, communications, and other situations. When I first requested the FAA Playbook, I was unable to find a copy online. Sadly, one official from the FAA went back and forth to me, when she sent a link…
Background According to the document: “On December 2, 2015, a terror attack in San Bernardino, California killed 14 people and injured 17 others. The next day, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized pursuant to a search warrant the iPhone of one of the subjects believed to have been responsible for the attack, Syed Rizwan Farook. Thereafter, on February 9 and March 1, 2016, then-FBI Director James Comey testified before Congress, in substance, that the FBI was not able to obtain access to data on the Farook iPhone, and then that it would require assistance from the manufacturer, Apple, to do…