Hackers claimed the attack was retaliation after Patel vowed to "hunt" them.
Another Trump landmark! This administration became the first whose FBI director was hacked by a foreign government.
And not just any foreign government but Iran.
Iran-linked hackers successfully broke into FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal email, the Department of Justice confirmed to Reuters on Friday.
Reuters could not authenticate the leaked emails themselves but noted that the Gmail address matched an email account “linked to Patel in previous data breaches preserved by the dark web intelligence firm District 4 Labs.” The DOJ suggested the emails appeared to be authentic.
On their website, the Handala Hack Team boasted that Patel “will now find his name among the list of successfully hacked victims.” The hacker group taunted Patel by sharing photos of him sniffing cigars and holding up a jug of rum, along with other documents that Reuters reported were from 2010 to 2019.
“Soon you will realize that the FBI’s security was nothing more than a joke,” the group posted, as documented in screenshots from the website shared widely on X.
This is what happens when unswerving loyalty to Trump is the only qualification for office in this administration. Most police chiefs in the US are far more qualified than Kash "Wild Eyes" Patel to head America's foremost law enforcement agency.
Hackers claimed that their data grab included confidential information about Patel, but that could not be independently verified.
“The so-called ‘impenetrable’ systems of the FBI were brought to their knees within hours by our team,” the group said on their website. “All personal and confidential information of Kash Patel, including emails, conversations, documents, and even classified files, is now available for public download.”
We can imagine what the Iranians might find in ""Whisky Pete" Hegseth's emails. We already know what's in his Signal account. 😉
So...
DO YOU FEEL MORE SECURE THAN YOU DID TWO YEARS AGO?
WARNING THIS IS A LONG-ASS POST
And please remember that this is a NO SOURCE NO RECEIPTS HOUSEHOLD OKAY. I don't know shit, I ain't confirming a damn thing, anything you read is my opinion based on maybe info or maybe utter garbage. That's my disclaimer and I am STICKING TO IT.
I can't be the only one who has noticed our Jiminie looking a bit...like this, recently:
And I think I may have one reason why.
Scandals are a fact of life among idols. What in the West might be considered a normal life event is, in the world of the K-pop system, often a career-ending event. Like, IDK, members dating actual women. Or men. Or each other.
In the last couple of months, all of these things have been alleged - one of them in the press. The other two, behind the scenes.
We know about Jimin's mail being stolen and the security failure there, and it's not a stretch to believe that security for BTS overall has taken a hit. It was adequate, even excellent, for years. BigHit pays very well.
But information pays better, and blackmail pays best.
Lest you think "NO but that whole Taehyung-Jennie thing was a stunt"... maybe. Maybe not. Tae, actually, is one of the most scandal-proof idols in the business because he primarily or only dates women. Sorry not sorry, I said what I said and I ain't wrong.
I have said privately, if not publicly, that Hybe will NEVER DENY THOSE RUMORS because Taehyung himself will not deny them. They aren't even bothering to keep them out of the press.
A picture of BTS member V and Blackpink member Jennie surfaced on the internet. Fans can't tell if the singers are actually dating or their
Being straight or even passably so is not a problem, for artists on Bangtan's level (is anyone else even ON Bangtan's level? NO.)
The Jeon-Parks, though.
See, the thing about being *gaily involved* in Korea is that... it's a problem no matter how famous or powerful you are. Idols are not immune - ask Holland.
That's Homo Hill, kids - the WeHo of Seoul. The gayest gayborhood in the entire of Korea. And famous unstr8 people are not safe, there, now.
There was a pay-for-info attempt floating around about JeiKei awhile back. And he was alibi'd for the date(s) in question. Wasn't there, wasn't him, the fakes were good but not good enough to put him somewhere he wasn't. You maybe didn't hear about it because those of us who did, didn't discuss it out loud.
More recently, though.... I'm gonna say this in public this ONE TIME and we will not speak of it again. OKAY? Okay.
Sometimes people are for sale that shouldn't be. And security failure has happened more than once in the last couple of months - a problem that, I am told, has since been rectified. And I am not saying money changed hands, do not get me wrong. I'll come find you if you say I said that.
But there are REASONS that Jimin and Jungkook are currently not sharing vehicles, not being seen as too friendly, are not "together" in public, not even in interviews or photoshoots. Sometimes a bit of perceived distance is necessary. I don't feel like I should or should need to elaborate.
Add to that the depth of emotional and psychological damage, it's no wonder Jimin doesn't trust anyone, very much, lately.
My favorite couple have not been seen together in public since their off period began and I don't think I need to further expound on why, unless you're completely unaware of the eyes that are currently on BTS as a whole. (Sorry, I keep deleting stuff. This is taking longer than I thought).
But Jimin was the one whose security had already failed - enough that Hybe had to clean up after them.
The others have had sasaeng problems and those are constant and pretty normal business. All idols get that. But all of them are not Park "It Boy" Jimin.
So being threatened with a very real tax lien, and immediately following that even a hint of the possibility of being outed, right NOW? I've deleted a lot more than I can ever write on how gross, how invasive, that is. And that when this is his normal commute:
In the West, Jimin gets a lot of hate from cultists and we don't like to talk about that. But within the last year, a small but rude wave of anti-Jimin sentiment has made its way into Korea. Airplanes and money exist. I've been shocked at what some people are willing to do to further their narrative.
If your favorite translator can afford to hit every show with their anti buddies but can't seem to remember to support Jimin's OSTs or solo efforts, ask yourself how they benefit from that and who they support and what else they might be up to that we aren't aware of.
If you casually see cult-adjacent accounts that seem to somehow be turning a for-profit narrative ask yourself what loyalty that cash might be buying. It doesn't take a lot of people to crowdfund someone's entire livelihood. Maybe 1000 at $5 a month could get it done.
HELL IF I COULD COMMAND $5K A MONTH FROM Y'ALL I WOULD MOVE OUT MY MAMA'S HOUSE NEXT WEEK AND PAY MY MEDICAL BILLS.
If y'all don't have anything else going on I'll just put me up a whole Ko-fi or Patreon and write fanfiction for a damn living and YOU THINK I AM JOKING I AM NOT EVEN. My services can be bought. Most people can, if they like what they're doing and can get paid to do it. I won't lie to you for cash and I mouth off here for free but hey, a girl needs rent all right, my fanfiction commissions are OPEN.
Get up to a quarter, half-million ad-revenued followers and do the math on that kind of income.
We can't all be Ryan Kaji, Super Spy, but it ain't for lack of trying.
Now imagine a paparazzi journalist with the idea of a second and third source of cash, plus the street cred of breaking the biggest news story in K-pop history, and their neighbor's second cousin happens to know someone with a vacant window view to a certain apartment and this is how careers get shot down and reinvented much later on another continent.
That's the level of stress, I think, for all of them in general but for Jimin in particular. Maybe on a similar level for Jungkook, somewhat less so for Taehyung. The hyungs have it a little easier, but not by much.
Now add to that Schrodinger's Hiatus and other things we never know about - family stress, life in general, maybe Jimin's plumbing went out or his invisible cat got sick, we don't know everything -- how would we begin to look at our lives, in Jimin's place?
Would it be worth it?
Based on his smile at MNet last night, I really hope so.
On Wednesday, March 8, 2023, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene served as the Speaker pro tempore of the US House of Representatives. She sat in the Speaker’s chair as the Clerk of the House read the following proclamation:
“The Speaker’s Rooms, Washington, DC, March 8th, 2023. I hereby appoint the Honorable Marjorie Taylor Greene to act as Speaker pro tempore on this day. Signed, Kevin McCarthy, speaker of the House of Representatives.”
The reversal of fortunes for Rep. Greene is stunning. Just two years ago, Democrats refused to seat Greene on House committees because of her career-long peddling of antisemitic memes and bizarre conspiracy theories. Remember the theory that “Jewish space lasers” were responsible for the outbreak of wildfires in California in 2021?
That was only one of Greene’s outrageous comments. She questions the reality of mass shootings in schools, suggested that planes did not crash into the World Trade Center on 9/11, and promotes QANON beliefs based on the fictitious “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” that claims a cabal of Jews secretly runs the world. There is much more. See Forward, Every antisemitic thing Marjorie Taylor Greene has said.
It would be one thing to bestow a high honor on Greene if she had confessed error and issued a contrite apology for her multitude of offensive statements. Not so here. Just two weeks ago, she was promoting a “national divorce” between “red” states and “blue” states—something that sounds awfully like a “civil war.”
But no statement is too traitorous or offensive for Kevin McCarthy to say, “I haven’t seen / heard / read about that yet.” For example, when asked if he regretted giving Tucker Carlson access to the January 6th Capitol Hill surveillance tapes, McCarthy responded, 'I didn't see what was aired.' An understandable omission given that McCarthy must have taken refuge in a ferret burrow to avoid seeing the devastation wrought by the fire-sale auction of his scruples, dignity, and conscience to secure the Speaker’s chair.
But I digress. While Americans have every reason to be offended by the sight of an antisemitic proponent of a second civil war sitting in the Speaker’s chair, McCarthy’s soul-grinding debasement will come back to hurt the GOP in the next election cycle. McCarthy’s critics said (correctly) that Democrats would use the unedited video of Greene in the Speaker’s chair as a political attack ad. See The Independent,‘Beyond parody’: Outrage after Marjorie Taylor Greene briefly handed Speaker’s gavel by Kevin McCarthy.
McCarthy’s humiliation and the GOP’s descent into Bizarro World are not limited to appointing a secessionist to preside over a legislative chamber that is a hallmark of our national unity. House Republicans began a series of hearings on Wednesday that are the anti-matter equivalent of investigations designed to learn the truth.
For example, a subcommittee investigating the events of January 6th is being led by the GOP Rep. Brian Loudermilk, who famously gave tours of the Capitol to “constituents” on January 5th who photographed stairwells and tunnels in the Capitol, locations not coveted as Instagram-selfie backdrops. Loudermilk says his committee will focus on “security failures” on January 6th.
Hmm. If there was a security failure on January 6th, it might be because domestic terrorists were armed with photos of stairwells and tunnels taken on January 5th during the tour given by Rep. Loudermilk—photos that allowed insurrectionists to quickly navigate to their intended locations in the Capitol.
What are the chances that Loudermilk will explore possible connections between the illegal reconnaissance performed by members of his tour group and the attack on the Capitol? Not good. See PBS Newshour, Jan. 6 panel releases video of Rep. Loudermilk leading a Capitol tour day before attack.
After Marjorie Taylor Greene gaveled the House to order on Wednesday, she made a beeline to attend a GOP committee investigating the federal government’s Covid response. Greene previously compared Covid vaccination requirements to “Nazi’s forc[ing] Jewish people to wear a gold star,” demonstrating that she is ignorant about both the Holocaust and the science of vaccination.
“Up is down, and down is up” in Kevin McCarthy’s kompromat House. I find it difficult to hear these reports and not surrender to anger. But we should recognize that House Republicans are committing a strategic blunder of epic proportions.
They are focusing their investigations on topics that highlight their weak spots and failures—January 6th, Trump's Covid response, and media / tech bias. Those topics are lose-lose-lose for Republicans. The only thing worse they can do is to suggest cutting Social Security and Medicare benefits. Oh, wait, they are doing that, too!
So, let’s not give in to anger or despair. The GOP investigations are self-limiting and self-defeating. And Democrats have demonstrated they have the will and ability to turn the investigations against McCarthy’s blackmailers. We should feel confident and hopeful that Republicans will embarrass themselves and accomplish nothing while Democrats distinguish themselves in the hearings. Given the GOP majority in the House, we can’t ask for much more than that.
Considering Putin’s history for handling anyone that no longer has any use and especially those he considers an threat, can we charge T^ump as an accessory to murder BEFORE the fact as each intelligence asset dies off?
ICE Data Breach: What You Need to Know Now
The recent ICE data breach represents a serious operational failure and raises significant concerns about the security of sensitive information handled by law enforcement agencies. A startling revelation emerged when members of a law enforcement group chat including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other agencies inadvertently added a random…
