Frank Bajak
@fbajak.bsky.social
Journalist with tech focus. Ex-Associated Press foreign correspondent. First AP tech editor, Andes chief. frankbajak.com fbajak(at)proton(dot)me - DM for Signal#
Big Brother exclusive: US Customs and Border Patrol has leveraged license-plate readers to become a domestic intelligence agency, mostly hiding its role and paying local law enforcement to run plate readers. It has been doing this for years, saturating Texas especially.
apnews.com/article/immi...
apnews.com/article/immi...
Border Patrol is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with 'suspicious' travel patterns
The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide in a secretive program to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious.
apnews.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Big Brother exclusive: US Customs and Border Patrol has leveraged license-plate readers to become a domestic intelligence agency, mostly hiding its role and paying local law enforcement to run plate readers. It has been doing this for years, saturating Texas especially.
apnews.com/article/immi...
apnews.com/article/immi...
Well, I should hope a senior JAG officer at Southcom objected to this high-seas murder of noncombatants. Too bad this news took so long to get out. The death toll is now 82 alleged low-level cocaine couriers in 21 air strikes since Sept. 2.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...
www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...
Top military lawyer raised legal concerns about boat strikes
The lawyer at U.S. Southern Command, which oversees the operations against alleged drug-smuggling boats near Venezuela, disagreed that the strikes are legal and was overruled, according to six sources...
www.nbcnews.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:09 AM
Well, I should hope a senior JAG officer at Southcom objected to this high-seas murder of noncombatants. Too bad this news took so long to get out. The death toll is now 82 alleged low-level cocaine couriers in 21 air strikes since Sept. 2.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...
www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...
The alleged reason for Saint John’s University’s decision - made secretly and without a speck of debate — to stop hosting one of the world’s top hacker conferences was an unidentified person’s “discovery” of a pamphlet espousing anti-police sentiment. I smell a rat. And its name is “fear of Trump.”
HOPE has been banned from St. John's University. www.2600.com/content/hope...
HOPE CONFERENCE BANNED BY ST. JOHN'S UNIVERSITY | 2600
www.2600.com
November 19, 2025 at 11:45 PM
The alleged reason for Saint John’s University’s decision - made secretly and without a speck of debate — to stop hosting one of the world’s top hacker conferences was an unidentified person’s “discovery” of a pamphlet espousing anti-police sentiment. I smell a rat. And its name is “fear of Trump.”
Reposted by Frank Bajak
For any journalists who follow me and work tech or security beats... This is a big deal. This is a big, honking, glaring signal.
HOPE has been banned from St. John's University. www.2600.com/content/hope...
HOPE CONFERENCE BANNED BY ST. JOHN'S UNIVERSITY | 2600
www.2600.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:36 PM
For any journalists who follow me and work tech or security beats... This is a big deal. This is a big, honking, glaring signal.
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Poland has ordered Russia to close its consulate in Gdańsk in response to last week's sabotage of a rail line by agents working for Moscow.
The decision means that all of Russia's consulates in Poland have now been closed down, with only the embassy in Warsaw remaining.
The decision means that all of Russia's consulates in Poland have now been closed down, with only the embassy in Warsaw remaining.
Poland to close last Russian consulate in response to train line sabotage
notesfrompoland.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Poland has ordered Russia to close its consulate in Gdańsk in response to last week's sabotage of a rail line by agents working for Moscow.
The decision means that all of Russia's consulates in Poland have now been closed down, with only the embassy in Warsaw remaining.
The decision means that all of Russia's consulates in Poland have now been closed down, with only the embassy in Warsaw remaining.
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Gig economy for snitches
NEW: a contractor is paying random people $300 to physically track immigrants for ICE. They're given addresses, vehicles, told to monitor the target. That information then goes back up to ICE. These are not licensed private investigators; members of the public
www.404media.co/contractor-p...
www.404media.co/contractor-p...
Contractor Paying Random People $300 to Physically Track Immigrants for ICE
“The more I listened to it, the more I’m like, something doesn’t sound right,” a person who was briefed on the pilot plans told 404 Media.
www.404media.co
November 18, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Gig economy for snitches
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Kudos to Mary Bruce of ABC News for asking about the bonesaw in the room.🔥🔥🔥
Reporter: Is it appropriate for your family to do business with Saudi Arabia while you’re president? The us intelligence concluded you orchestrated the murder of a journalist…
Trump: Who are you with?
Reporter: ABC News
Trump: Who are you with?
Reporter: ABC News
November 18, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Kudos to Mary Bruce of ABC News for asking about the bonesaw in the room.🔥🔥🔥
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Jaw dropped. Trump Administration Removes Report on Missing and Murdered Native Americans, Calling It DEI Content
Trump Administration Removes Report on Missing and Murdered Native Americans, Calling It DEI Content - Oklahoma Watch
The Trump administration removed a congressionally mandated report on missing and murdered Native Americans from the DOJ website, citing compliance with an executive order against DEI. Senators who ch...
oklahomawatch.org
November 17, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Jaw dropped. Trump Administration Removes Report on Missing and Murdered Native Americans, Calling It DEI Content
Reposted by Frank Bajak
An explosion on the railroad tracks of the Warsaw-Lublin route, critically important for delivering aid to Ukraine, is an unprecedented act of sabotage targeting the Polish state and its civilians, according to Prime Minister Donald Tusk. www.pap.pl/aktualnosci/explos...
Explosion on Polish railway track was caused by sabotage, Tusk says | Polska Agencja Prasowa SA
An explosion which destroyed a railway track on the route between central Warsaw and the eastern city of Lublin was caused by an act of sabotage, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said.
www.pap.pl
November 17, 2025 at 2:10 PM
An explosion on the railroad tracks of the Warsaw-Lublin route, critically important for delivering aid to Ukraine, is an unprecedented act of sabotage targeting the Polish state and its civilians, according to Prime Minister Donald Tusk. www.pap.pl/aktualnosci/explos...
"In the US today, the infrastructure of knowledge is under attack." Broligarchs seek to undermine educators, journalists and scientists, suggesting AI will make knowledge pros redundant. Grifters benefit. The public is rendered more cynical and easily manipulated. -- Sam Woolley and Dean Jackson.
We concluded our series of provocations ahead of a symposium at the University of Pittsburgh's Communication Technology Research Lab (CTRL) on threats to knowledge and democracy. Here's a snapshot:(1/10)
1. The United States is on the Cusp of a Digital Dark Age by Dean Jackson and Samuel Woolley.
1. The United States is on the Cusp of a Digital Dark Age by Dean Jackson and Samuel Woolley.
The United States is on the Cusp of a Digital Dark Age | TechPolicy.Press
The first in a series of provocations, Dean Jackson and Sam Woolley write that the current assault on knowledge infrastructure is complex and multidirectional.
www.techpolicy.press
November 17, 2025 at 2:01 AM
"In the US today, the infrastructure of knowledge is under attack." Broligarchs seek to undermine educators, journalists and scientists, suggesting AI will make knowledge pros redundant. Grifters benefit. The public is rendered more cynical and easily manipulated. -- Sam Woolley and Dean Jackson.
AI systems are now flooding networks with synthetic content at scale and social media platforms have abdicated responsibility for information quality. Most alarming -- many people simply don't care whether what they are consuming and spreading is authentic.
- John Wihbey, Northeastern U.
- John Wihbey, Northeastern U.
November 17, 2025 at 1:47 AM
AI systems are now flooding networks with synthetic content at scale and social media platforms have abdicated responsibility for information quality. Most alarming -- many people simply don't care whether what they are consuming and spreading is authentic.
- John Wihbey, Northeastern U.
- John Wihbey, Northeastern U.
Reposted by Frank Bajak
New: Google has chosen a side in Trump's mass deportation campaign. Google is hosting a CBP facial recognition app to hunt immigrants; no indication Google will remove. At same time Google takes down apps for reporting ICE sightings
“Big tech has made their choice”
www.404media.co/google-has-c...
“Big tech has made their choice”
www.404media.co/google-has-c...
Google Has Chosen a Side in Trump's Mass Deportation Effort
Google is hosting a CBP app that uses facial recognition to identify immigrants, while simultaneously removing apps that report the location of ICE officials because Google sees ICE as a vulnerable gr...
www.404media.co
November 13, 2025 at 2:11 PM
New: Google has chosen a side in Trump's mass deportation campaign. Google is hosting a CBP facial recognition app to hunt immigrants; no indication Google will remove. At same time Google takes down apps for reporting ICE sightings
“Big tech has made their choice”
www.404media.co/google-has-c...
“Big tech has made their choice”
www.404media.co/google-has-c...
The indiscreet allure of the shiny, pricey object.
"It was tough to beat Apple, but the Swiss did it." said one administration official.
How the Swiss convinced Trump to drop tariffs with gifts of a Rolex desk clock and a 1 kg gold bar.
www.axios.com/2025/11/14/t...
How the Swiss convinced Trump to drop tariffs with gifts of a Rolex desk clock and a 1 kg gold bar.
www.axios.com/2025/11/14/t...
How to lobby Trump with Swiss precision: gifts, gold and gab
How the Swiss broke a diplomatic logjam on tariffs by arriving with tributes fit for a king.
www.axios.com
November 15, 2025 at 2:59 PM
The indiscreet allure of the shiny, pricey object.
Ten days after the catastrophe that is Trumpian rule compelled voters to universally shellack his GOP bootlickers.
BREAKING: President Trump drops tariffs on beef, coffee and tropical fruit as pressure builds on consumer prices.
Trump drops tariffs on beef, coffee, tropical fruit as pressure builds on consumer prices
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to get rid of tariffs on a broad swath of commodities, including beef, coffee and tropical fruits.
bit.ly
November 14, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Ten days after the catastrophe that is Trumpian rule compelled voters to universally shellack his GOP bootlickers.
Death toll now at 80 since Sept. 2 as Trump regime kills four more alleged low-level drug draffickers on the high seas. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Tracking U.S. Military Killings in Boat Attacks
In two months, the Trump administration has killed dozens of people it accused of smuggling drugs aboard boats. Here are the acknowledged strikes so far.
www.nytimes.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Death toll now at 80 since Sept. 2 as Trump regime kills four more alleged low-level drug draffickers on the high seas. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Happy to see the AP’s smart and responsible use of LLM tech (per @thibo.bsky.social ) highlighted in this survey of industry approaches, including a rather unethical WaPo experiment.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/b...
A.I. Sweeps Through Newsrooms, but Is It a Journalist or a Tool?
www.nytimes.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Happy to see the AP’s smart and responsible use of LLM tech (per @thibo.bsky.social ) highlighted in this survey of industry approaches, including a rather unethical WaPo experiment.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/b...
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Mandatory comparison. Note, it was a choice to not include a four column wide photo of Trump looking like shit in his only press appearance yesterday when he refused to answer questions about Epstein.
November 13, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Mandatory comparison. Note, it was a choice to not include a four column wide photo of Trump looking like shit in his only press appearance yesterday when he refused to answer questions about Epstein.
Trump “might take us to war with Venezuela just to get a distraction in the news and take (new revelations about him in the Epstein files) out of the headlines.”
-Gov. JB Pritzker
apnews.com/article/prit...
-Gov. JB Pritzker
apnews.com/article/prit...
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker worries that Trump will go to extremes to distract from Epstein files
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker says he’s worried about how President Donald Trump might respond to the growing controversy over documents tying him to Jeffrey Epstein.
apnews.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Trump “might take us to war with Venezuela just to get a distraction in the news and take (new revelations about him in the Epstein files) out of the headlines.”
-Gov. JB Pritzker
apnews.com/article/prit...
-Gov. JB Pritzker
apnews.com/article/prit...
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Jeffrey Epstein Helped Israel Sell a Surveillance State to Côte d’Ivoire www.dropsitenews.com/p/jeffrey-ep...
Leaked emails show the details behind talks between Cote d’Ivoire and Israel shepherded by Ehud Barak and Jeffrey Epstein
Help us keep publishing: donorbox.org/supporting-d...
Leaked emails show the details behind talks between Cote d’Ivoire and Israel shepherded by Ehud Barak and Jeffrey Epstein
Help us keep publishing: donorbox.org/supporting-d...
Jeffrey Epstein Helped Israel Sell a Surveillance State to Côte d’Ivoire
Leaked emails show the details behind talks between Cote d’Ivoire and Israel shepherded by Ehud Barak and Jeffrey Epstein
www.dropsitenews.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:58 AM
Jeffrey Epstein Helped Israel Sell a Surveillance State to Côte d’Ivoire www.dropsitenews.com/p/jeffrey-ep...
Leaked emails show the details behind talks between Cote d’Ivoire and Israel shepherded by Ehud Barak and Jeffrey Epstein
Help us keep publishing: donorbox.org/supporting-d...
Leaked emails show the details behind talks between Cote d’Ivoire and Israel shepherded by Ehud Barak and Jeffrey Epstein
Help us keep publishing: donorbox.org/supporting-d...
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Spotify, Facebook, YouTube & Instagram among platforms running ICE recruitment ads.https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/ice-ads-all-over-streaming-services-spotify-hbo-pandora-1235447970/
ICE Ads Are All Over Your Favorite Streaming Services
Users call out streaming services for dystopian ICE ads on Spotify, Max, and Pandora amid $30 billion deportation push.
www.rollingstone.com
November 12, 2025 at 1:47 AM
Spotify, Facebook, YouTube & Instagram among platforms running ICE recruitment ads.https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/ice-ads-all-over-streaming-services-spotify-hbo-pandora-1235447970/
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas county agrees to pay a little more than $3 million and apologize over a law enforcement raid on small-town weekly. The paper’s 98-year-old co-owner died the next day, you’ll recall. apnews.com/article/kans...
A Kansas county agrees to pay $3 million and apologize over a raid on a small-town newspaper
A rural Kansas county has agreed to pay more than $3 million and apologize over a law enforcement raid on a small-town weekly newspaper in 2023.
apnews.com
November 12, 2025 at 2:10 AM
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas county agrees to pay a little more than $3 million and apologize over a law enforcement raid on small-town weekly. The paper’s 98-year-old co-owner died the next day, you’ll recall. apnews.com/article/kans...
Reposted by Frank Bajak
NEWS: The UK is no longer sharing intelligence with the US about suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in US military strikes and believes the attacks are illegal, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. edition.cnn.com/2025/11/11/p...
Exclusive: UK suspends some intelligence sharing with US over boat strike concerns in major break | CNN Politics
The United Kingdom is no longer sharing intelligence with the US about suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in US military strikes and believes ...
edition.cnn.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:06 PM
NEWS: The UK is no longer sharing intelligence with the US about suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in US military strikes and believes the attacks are illegal, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. edition.cnn.com/2025/11/11/p...
Reposted by Frank Bajak
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Veterans from Remember Your Oath joined several activist groups — including FLARE USA, About Face and May Day Strong — to rally in against the Trump administration on Veterans Day. #Flashes
November 11, 2025 at 10:27 PM
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Veterans from Remember Your Oath joined several activist groups — including FLARE USA, About Face and May Day Strong — to rally in against the Trump administration on Veterans Day. #Flashes
Spotify, Facebook, YouTube & Instagram among platforms running ICE recruitment ads.https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/ice-ads-all-over-streaming-services-spotify-hbo-pandora-1235447970/
ICE Ads Are All Over Your Favorite Streaming Services
Users call out streaming services for dystopian ICE ads on Spotify, Max, and Pandora amid $30 billion deportation push.
www.rollingstone.com
November 12, 2025 at 1:47 AM
Spotify, Facebook, YouTube & Instagram among platforms running ICE recruitment ads.https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/ice-ads-all-over-streaming-services-spotify-hbo-pandora-1235447970/
Death toll now at 76 - with six more killed - in Trump-ordered high-seas military murders of suspected low-level drug haulers. That’s 19 boats blown out of the water since Sept. 2. One of the two newly vaporized boats may have had engine trouble. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/u...
U.S. Military Kills 6 in Strikes on Suspected Drug Boats, Hegseth Says
www.nytimes.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Death toll now at 76 - with six more killed - in Trump-ordered high-seas military murders of suspected low-level drug haulers. That’s 19 boats blown out of the water since Sept. 2. One of the two newly vaporized boats may have had engine trouble. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/u...