Finally, it’s Friday.

TOM PRICE RESIGNED FROM CABINET AMID CORRUPTION SCANDAL. OTHER MEMBERS TRAVEL UNDER INVESTIGATION.

Drain the Swamp. That was the campaign slogan Donald Trump used to describe his choices for his staff.

“I only hire the best people.” Trump said this back in 2016, and repeatedly since.

Yep. The best people.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price resigned today, after it was reported that he wasted over a million dollars of taxpayers money on chartered flights.

He wasn’t alone.

VA Secretary David Shulkin took in a vacation to London on the taxpayers dime, right after telling his staff to curtail unnecessary travel.

Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke chartered flights from Las Vegas to Montana, on jets owned by oil companies, then charged us taxpayers for it.

EPA Secretary Scott Pruitt chartered flights, and is charging taxpayers $25,000 for a privacy booth in his office. Maybe he’s looking for a safe space to rub one out during the work day.

Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin chartered military flights for his honeymoon.

This is, by far, the most corrupt administration in American history. Between Russia, good old fashioned corruption and cronyism, and this, 10 out of the 15 cabinet positions are involved in something.

NALVANY ARRESTED AGAIN IN RUSSIA.

Alexei Nalvany was arrested again on his way to a rally against Vladimir Putin.

This isn’t the first time he’s been arrested this year, and Russians do not have the right peaceful assembly. These men and women are risking their freedom, even their lives, to speak out against the corruption of Putin’s government.

HOW AN ANTI-DOPING DOCUMENTARY IS CONNECTED TO THE ELECTION SCANDAL.

Here is a great article from Lawfare about a documentary about doping in bicycle racing, that morphed into a tale of Russian corruption.

Icarus. It’s on Netflix. I haven’t seen it yet, but it’s on my list.

RUSSIA WARNS OF RETALIATION IF RT IS FORCED TO REGISTER AS FOREIGN AGENTS.

Russia warned against sanctioning their news outlets and said they would retaliate if needed.

The Information War might finally be hitting the mainstream.

FAKE ACCOUNTS USED ON TWITTER AND FACEBOOK, INFLUENCE CAMPAIGN CONTINUES TO THIS DAY IN REAL TIME.

One of the tricks used by the Russian Trolls in the disinformation war is to impersonate legitimate groups, and spread disinformation , or dezinformatsiya in Russian. Deza for short.

In the last couple of days, stories have broken about Russian Trolls impersonating multiple Blacktivist groups during the election to stoke anger among different groups of Americans, and I believe that I reported yesterday from Vice that the Boston Antifa twitter account was posting from Russia.

Did this stop during the campaign? No, it continues to this day. Even today, Trolls are picking fights from both sides of every argument. Including the NFL protests.

Pro Tip: Do a ICANN WhoIs Search for each news story domain that you’re not familiar with. Check to see who owns the domain, and where they’re located. I’ve been sent more than a few stories on Facebook from Russia or Ukraine that claimed to be Americans.

That’s it for the check-in today. I’ve got another story in the pipeline from today, but I think it’s a little too big and weird for this article.

Did Pence flip on Trump?

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

Thank you, and have a good one.

HSIOW. Holy Shit, It’s Only Wednesday.

This has been a busy day.

RUSSIANS TARGETED THE LEFT. ALL OF IT.

Multiple reports came out today of Russia using Facebook to target Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein voters, Black Lives Matter, Muslims, NFL fans, and Ukraine.

I don’t have a link for the Daily Beast article, I’m watching Rachel Maddow.

We are no longer questioning if Russia used Social Media to sow chaos, but how bad it was.

I posted the next section on Reddit earlier today:

A while back I wrote an article on my blog about [Horseshoe Theory](Horseshoe Theory ) that explained how the extreme ends of the political spectrum are closer to each other than they are the center, and that this was exploited during the election.

Here’s proof.

Russia paid for Pro-Bernie and Pro-Stein advertisements, knowing two things.

First, anything that could be done to lower Hilary’s vote count helped Trump and Russia. Even though Stein may be even friendlier with Russia than Trump, she didn’t stand a chance. But, in key states like Pennsylvania, Stein pulled in more voters than the margin of victory.

Second, it adds chaos.

Look at what we’ve seen about the ads and groups in just the last week, and who they supported. Trump, Bernie, Jill Stein, Calxit, Texit, BLM, Islamophobia, Immigrant hatred, Alt-Right groups, extreme nationalists.

What do they all have in common? They’re divisive. I wouldn’t be surprised if we start hearing about men’s rights advocates, flat-earthers, and anti-vaxxers soon getting Russian ads.

Why would Russia do this? Putin wants Russia wants to be a Superpower. Under his control.

Why attack the U.S.? Because they know that the most dangerous force on the planet is a truly united and cohesive United States of America. Economically, militarily, culturally. The only chance that Russia has is to divide and conquer.

Russia’s GDP is 1.283 Trillion. Less than half of California. Smaller than Texas and New York. Pennsylvania and Ohio COMBINED have a greater GDP than Russia, with less than 1/6th of the population Russia. Plus, Russia’s economy is almost all based on petroleum. They have no other appreciable industries.

Militarily, the U.S. has half a million more active soldiers, and spends more on military equipment than most of the rest of the world combined.

Culturally, what does Russia produce? After thinking long and hard about the last three Russian inspired movies you’ve heard of, or books you’ve read, or music artists you’ve heard, list ten American movies you’ve seen in the past year. Name five movies that Brad Pitt has been in. Now, name a Russian actor.

The most dangerous force in the world is a cohesive and unified United States of America. This country hasn’t been truly unified against an opponent since World War II, and we only declared war after an attack on our sovereignty. That battle was called Pearl Harbor. What Russia did was far more sinister, and worse. Let’s see how this works out for them.

Yes, I’m just as verbose on Reddit.

SENATOR WARNER TARGETS REDDIT.

Speaking of Reddit, It’s about time. Senator Mark Warner wants the Senate Intelligence Committee to investigate Reddit to see how Russians used that platform for spreading dissent, hatred, and propaganda.

As a long time Redditor, let me answer the Senator.

Fuck yeah, Reddit was exploited.

Looking for Russians? Go to The_Donald. Charlottesville was planned and organized there.

What started ostensibly as a group of neck beards cheering on Trump evolved into a mouthpiece for Russia. Why did they push stories for LePen in France? Because Putin wants it.

TRUMP, PUERTO RICO, THE JONES ACT, AND DEBTS.

I’ve linked to a lot of different sites in the last two months. New York Times, Washington Post, Buzzfeed, Los Angeles Times, Politico, Red State, even Teen Vogue. Jalopnik has not made the list until now.

Jalopnik reports on a New York Times report on the problems with Jones Act, an old law which is crippling Puerto Rico.

Trump, meanwhile, and I can’t believe I’m typing this, Blames the Atlantic Fucking Ocean for Puerto Rico not getting aid.

After reading that sentence, the article goes into detail about how Donald Trump defaulted on a loan for his Puerto Rican golf course, to the tune of $33 million.

Tonight, supplies are on the island, people are there, and equipment. But no one knows what the fuck they’re doing. Nothing is getting done there because no one knows what to do, where to go, or who to listen to.

The death toll stands at 18.

NYAG SCHNEIDERMAN LAYS DOWN GAUNTLET.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in an interview recently two important things.

First, if Trump tried to interfere with the Mueller investigation, it would be politically catastrophic.

Second, Trump cannot pardon state crimes.

SECRET SERVICE PROBLEMS WITH THE TRUMP FAMILY.

Two quick things.

Trump charges the Secret Service $60,000 so far this year for golf carts, per Golf Week.

Donnie Jr resumed USSS coverage after two week break. Know what else happened? Rumor has it that Oleg Deripaska snuck into the country, less than a half hour from a Trump property.

Interesting how that works.

TRUMP MOCKS McCAIN AND McCONNELL, PROJECTS ON TWITTER.

I’m wrapping this post up with two stories tonight. Two stories that talk about his mentality, which is that of a small child.

In private, Trump mocks McCain and McConnell and blames them for his failures on health care. He constantly projects his failures onto others.

Next on the projection project, The Independent wrote an article about a tweet. I don’t like to talk about tweets, so I’ll post a picture I found.

The tweet is on the left, and what it means is on the left.

That’s it for today. Expect something big tomorrow about Facebook and Russia.

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

Thank you, and have a good one.