Daily Check-In 02/07/2018

Wednesday.  Quite a few things came in today, so I might have to speed through things.

DHS CONFIRMS THAT SEVERAL STATES WERE HACKED BY RUSSIANS

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed today that the voter rolls of at least 12 states were penetrated by the Russians, but a smaller number were altered.

Of course, that assumes that they states would even know if those databases were hacked in the first place, let alone had any audit tracking built in to track changes.

A lot of databases can have the data edited directly without having a data trail.  This tracking has to be turned on.  Different types of databases do this differently, but lazy database architecture wouldn’t have tracking built in.  Comparing to backups might not be helpful either, since those could have been corrupted as well.

 

TRUMP SAYS HE WANTS TO MEET WITH MUELLER, AGAINST LEGAL ADVICE

Donald Trump is a like a stupid Eric Cartman, if Eric was an even worse example of a human being.  Trump gonna do what he want.

Of course, this is likely all bluster.  Trump is a bully, and lies all the time.

 

SIZE AND SPEED OF MUELLER PROBE FASTER AND GREATER THAN MOST KNOW

I’m not surprised at the scope and speed of Mueller’s investigation, but then again, I’ve been tracking things daily since last July, and been watching things take shape since the Summer of 2016.

Most of the Main Stream Media has been behind the curve, either through incompetence or on purpose.  They refused to cover the Russian interference as it happened, they refused to dig into Trump’s past connections with criminals.  They have chased the shiny bauble while ignoring actual news.  The MSM thinks this is only about Obstruction of Justice.  This is about much more than that.

 

WHITE HOUSE RESPONSE TO PUERTO RICO WORSE THAN PREVIOUSLY KNOWN

In any normal universe, leaving American citizens without power for four months at a time would destroy any administration.  Instead, this is barely a blip on the radar.

I’ve been a proponent of Puerto Rican statehood for a long time.  Not just because I think a 51 star flag looks cool, but for other, actual reasons.  I hope that PR is one of the many things we fix in the next few years.

 

APPRENTICE CREATORS SAY ‘TRUMP THE BILLIONAIRE REAL ESTATE TYCOON’  MYTH CREATED FOR SHOW

Trump being competent is a myth as well.  But let’s break this down…

He’s not a billionaire, by any definition of the term.  He doesn’t make more than billion dollars a year, and he doesn’t have over a billion dollars in cash and/or other liquid assets.  He owns buildings that are worth more than a billion, but he doesn’t own them outright.  He owes a crapton of money on them.  He’s deep in debt.  So far in debt that he doesn’t have more than a billion dollars in assets available after doing the math.

Making money in Real Estate in New York is the easiest way to make money in the world.  Here’s how…

Buy something.

Hold onto it until someone wants to use it.

Sell at a profit.

That’s it.  That’s all there is to it.  Even better, renting out property is even easier.

Buy something.

Have people pay you to use it.

Make money until the end of time.

There’s no brilliant instincts or business acumen needed.  If he made billions in modern day Detroit, that would be something.  But New York is like playing Real Estate Tycoon on easy.

 

PELOSI HOLDS THE HOUSE FLOOR TELLING STORIES OF DREAMERS

Nancy Pelosi spent over 8 hours telling the stories of the Dreamer children on the floor of the House, just trying to get Paul Ryan to bring DACA legislation to a vote.

Of course, that might require him to grow a spine.  I look forward to him getting rolled up in the investigation.

 

REPUBLICANS JOIN DEMOCRATS IN SPEAKING OUT ABOUT TRUMP’S TREASON TALK

So far, it’s been some of the more responsible members of the party, like Senators not up for re-election.

 

GARZA AND HARRIS TAX OFFICES RAIDED BY FBI IN DALLAS

This one is a little obscure, but comes from the Rumor Mill.  The offices of a tax lawyer who advises their clients with some less-than-proper methods to hide their tax money.  Not only are their tactics not above board, their clients aren’t either.

How does this tie to Trump?  At least one of partners, Dr. John Changiz Vafai, is also a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C. The Wilson Center offers an ‘Alfa Fellowship Program’.

Yes, that Alfa.  Alfa Bank.  The one that the Russian Government uses as a puppet and stand-in.

 

HOW #RELEASETHEMEMO SPREAD AMONG TROLLS, BOTS, AND TRUMP SUPPORTERS

This is a great story by Molly McKew which illustrates how the hashtag associated with the Devin Nunes memo took off.

The saddest part of the whole charade is that, by the end, GOP politicians either didn’t know they were being played by bots and trolls, or didn’t care.  As long as they got their piece.

 

13 SUBPOENAS BLOCKED BY GOP MEMBERS OF HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE

The House Oversight Committee is not overseeing anything that could be slightly critical of Trump.  They have abandoned their mission and jobs.  They need to be removed.  Remember this on election day later this year.

 

ISRAELI LAW ENFORCEMENT RECOMMENDS PRIME MINISTER NETENYAHU TO BE INDICTED FOR CORRUPTION CHARGES

Benjamin Netenyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, has been under investigation for corruption, abuse of power, money laundering, accepting bribes, and pretty much just being an asshole.  Just like Trump, Ben blames his IC for executing a ‘deep state coup’ against him.

The Mossad does not fuck around, and Netenyahu has been putting his personal benefits above those of the nation of Israel.

Sound familiar?  If so, it’s because Ben is directly tied to Kushner and Trump.  Ben received bribes that can be traced through intermediaries that laundered the money by purchasing Trump condos.

 

WHITE HOUSE STAFF SECRETARY ROB PORTER RESIGNS AFTER ALLEGATIONS OF SPOUSAL ABUSE SURFACE

This is a bit of a crazy story, but makes sense given these people.

Rob Porter, the White House Staff Secretary, the person who makes Trump’s schedule and does the day to day stuff, resigned after a story broke about how both of his ex-wives accused him of spousal abuse.  That’s a polite way of saying he beat the fuck out of them.

Because of these allegations, he couldn’t get a security clearance.  That should be the end of the story, but instead it gets more screwed up as Rob Porter’s current girlfriend, Hope Hicks, wrote the White House’s response.

Yes, that Hope Hicks.  This is the fifth man she’s been rumored to have slept with and/or had a relationship with.

Porter was going to stay on in the White House, but once pictures of one of his exes black eyes hit the wire, he was dead man walking.

Good.

 

RESPONSE TO TRUMP’S PARADE DEMANDS AMOUNT TO A BIG, FAT, ‘FUCK YOU!’ TO CHEETO MUSSOLINI

Fuck Trump, and his Soviet-Era despotic desires.  My favorite quote came from a Marine on Twitter.

“After talking around to other Marines, the only way we’d take part in a parade for Trump was if he was being dragged behind an AMTRAK.”

Everyone thinks the parade would be a bad idea.  A better use for the money would be housing homeless vets or giving the money to the VA Hospital System.

 

RUMOR MILL:  CALIFORNIA LOVE

One thing that I’ve thought from time to time during this whole clusterfuck is “Why aren’t there any stories coming from California?”  Why haven’t we heard anything about Trump’s exploits from the Left Coast?

Trump owns a place in Beverly Hills, and lived the party lifestyle out there for a long time.  He played with the likes of Harvey Weinstein, and every other slime ball out there, but no stories have leaked out.

That might be changing soon.

Eric Garland was a little coy and cheeky, but mentioned that we might be hearing about how Not-for-profits were used to launder money.  Don’t be surprised if the laundered money is tied to human trafficking and slavery.

Here’s how that could work…

Bad Guy has a lot of dirty cash, but spend it.  His tax guy sets up a 501(3) or 501(c) non-profit charity.  The money is moved from an offshore shell company to the non-profit, then the funds are disbursed for whatever reason they need.  However, a large “endowment” is made to another group, which then makes it’s way back to the Bad Guy.  Maybe throw a gala or something else to make it look legitimate, but for the most part, it’s not needed.

What makes this even more disgusting is that these donations to charity are tax deductible for the most part.  So they save money on their taxes by breaking the law.

 

That’s it for today.  I think I’ll do a little write-up to explain how voter suppression works, and how hacking the voter rolls is far more effective, easier, and more likely than attacking the vote totals themselves.  I’ll include how those could be involved as well, but after the write-up, it should be pretty obvious why the voter rolls are the better target.

 

Thank you, and have a good one

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur