Tag: Confirmation

Daily Check-In 10/25/2018

Thursday, October 25, 2018

 

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION

Why yes, yes he did. (Daily Check-In 02/26/2018, Daily Check-In 12/08/2017)

Part of me is trying to figure out if George Papadopoulos is just a dumb mother fucker by himself, or if that “Italian” wife of his is telling him to say these things.

 

MAGABOMBER

As I mentioned yesterday (Daily Check-In 10/24/2018 ), more devices were found.  This time sent to Robert DeNiro and Joe Biden.

I hope they catch this guy soon.

SPOILER ALERT: They caught him on Friday.

 

KHASHOGGI & SAUDI ARABIA

Following the WWE’s announcement that they are continuing with the show in Saudi Arabia, I have cancelled my WWE Network membership.  It was set to renew automatically on November 1.  From now on, the WWE has entered the realm of “I’ll only pay for months with a good show, and I have to REALLY be in the mood to watch.”  I’ve kept the account active for three and a half years straight, and signed up for it on launch day, with the on-and-off-again payments for a year or so.  Now, with this show, I’ve moved WWE from my first tier of entertainment payments like Netflix to the second tier like CBS All Access, where I only pay when there is something I feel the need to watch.

I know I’m a bit of a hypocrite, but I pick my battles when I can.  Not giving them money the day they put on this show is one of those battles that I can win.

 

COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS

That just leaves me smiling :).

SCOTUS 

 

TRUMP THE RUSSIAN ASSET

 

TRAITOR TOTS

 

FIGHTING BACK

 

IMMIGRATION

 

COLD WAR 2.0

 

#NEVERAGAIN

 

FIXING THE INTERNET

 

THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE

The non-partisan Pew Research Center surveyed 5,000 people, presenting them with 10 statements — five of which were factual, and five mere opinion – asking them to identify each. Across the board, people age 49 and under more accurately separated fact from pretense of fact. Or to put it less politely, those 50 and older were decidedly more gullible.

The reason, researchers speculate, is that younger people are more digitally savvy, and thus have more finely tuned bullshit meters. They’re also considerably more educated and less likely to identify with a specific party, meaning they’re less prone to confuse doctrine for truth.

This presents a problem for Republicans. As a general rule, the older you are, the more conservative you’re likely to be. Which leads us to a second study by Britain’s famed Oxford University.

Researchers there monitored 47,000 U.S. Facebook pages and 13,500 Twitter accounts, tracking who was mostly likely to read or peddle “junk news,” defined as sites that “deliberately publish misleading, deceptive or incorrect information.”

Their findings: “Hard-right” conservatives shared more fake news stories than all other groups combined. Despite their protestations, they’re also the largest consumers of fake news.

Combine the two studies, and one might conclude that conservatives aren’t propagating fraud on purpose. They simply can’t tell the difference. And that’s reflected in their choice of news outlets.

When Fairleigh Dickinson University researchers tried to equate civic knowledge with various news sources, it asked people basic questions like, “Which party has the most seats in the House of Representatives?”

Viewers of Fox News, the televised arm of the GOP, scored at the bottom of 30 popular news sources. In fact, the survey found that viewers of Fox were less informed than people who followed no news at all.

So, dear reader, the next time you see online commenters talk of “crisis actors,” the “deep state,” or migrant gangs coming to take Minnesota’s lake homes, show some mercy. They know not what they speak.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve noticed that there are a lot people out there who don’t know how to think critically about what they’re being told.  They don’t know how to analyze evidence, or investigate stories and head to the source, or ask “Am I being bullshitted to?”

50 is an interesting age for this study.  People that are 50 or older didn’t grow up with the Internet.  They likely didn’t grow up with computers at all.  I was a teenager when the Internet came to houses for the first time in any real push.  I was the first person on my street on the Internet.  I was 16, and this was the mid-90’s.  Google didn’t exist, Yahoo! was just launched, so finding a website was difficult.  I had to dive through forums just to find primitive internet porn.  And downloading low-quality JPEG’s with a 14.4k modem was all we had.

I grew up in the Wild West of the Internet.  I knew that the person wanting to cyber with me claiming to be a teen girl was likely some 38 year old guy pushing 300 pounds. I learned to be cautious of every claim someone made online, and not to trust anyone.  I grew up with blogs and biased websites claiming to be news sites that pushed their narrative and agenda.  I grew up with social media, and learned pretty quickly that if someone sent me a friend request with a beautiful woman on the profile pic, it was almost always a scam artist or some bot wanting me to sign up for their cam show.

I also grew up in the Post-Fairness Doctrine world, where media companies no longer had to provide “both sides” of a political story and could spout one side’s opinion as “news.”  I grew up with Cable News, where Fox News slowly disintegrated actual news and replaced it with opinion news.  I grew up in a world where the entire “News Talk” radio world was filled with Right Wing talking heads like Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, and the rest.  I listened as shock jocks gave way to “freedom fighters on the airwaves” that were suspiciously silent on crimes in the White House when a Republican was in the White House.

I grew up with this shit.  Older people didn’t.  They didn’t have a reason to question their media.  They grew up in a sheltered world with only a few channels, trusted newsmen, and people that genuinely seemed interested in informing them.  They didn’t pay attention as the world they grew up in slipped away, and was replaced with the modern world.  They didn’t grow up with the Nigerian Prince asking them to help with a money transfer or a Twitter bot asking them to sign up for their cam show.  They didn’t have to slog through the recesses of the Internet talking to people making crazy claims without proof.  They didn’t have to question “Why is this person or outlet telling me this story, but the other place is telling me something different?”

 

TRADE WAR AND ECONOMY

 

GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD

 

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

 

PRIESTS

 

ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE

I’ve heard this argument many times before, and it carries less water than a pasta strainer, but it revolves completely around misinformation and obfuscation.

First, the number of scientists that “can’t agree” is tiny.  Between 97-99% percent of climate scientists agree that climate change is real, it’s being accelerated by people, and it’s bad.  That 1-3% is THE FUCKING MARGIN OF ERROR.  Take a room of 50 people and ask them if they like to eat dog food.  There will be that one guy in the room that will raise his hands.  THAT’S THE GUY THAT DOESN’T AGREE WITH THE OTHER SCIENTISTS.

Second, the level of disagreement is small.  Real fucking small.  Much smaller than shown in the media.  The scientists that are arguing the degree of difference, not whether or not there is a difference.  It’s like walking into a sports bar and hearing two football fans arguing about what is the best defense to call against a Run Pass Option offense, and coming to the conclusion that football isn’t real.

 

ELECTION 2018

 

RUMOR MILL

Holding Trump accountable for his rhetoric, lies, & corruption is not hateful or an act of social division. It’s the absolute duty of the free press. Further, MSM press must also now consider and investigate HOW & WHY the President is so adept at Russian propaganda techniques. /1

2/ Consider that he’s not some great “brand” genius. Consider he’s a propagandist, who has been trained in the art of “Whataboutism” aka false equivalency, weaponized projection (directly accuse the other of that which you are guilty) aka conspiracy, & de-humanization aka hate.

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3/ All three of those techniques – false equivalency, conspiracy, & hate – are the cornerstones of Russian propaganda. And propaganda IS a weapon of war. It’s THE weapon of choice for Russia: both the Russia of today and the former Soviet Union. They have PERFECTED it. And…

4/ They train their political operatives in it. They do. Considering the 30+ year history of Russian intelligence operatives in Donald’s life – LIVING IN HIS OWN BUILDINGS – we MUST consider that Trump has been trained in this art.                                           Craig Unger: Untold Story Of Trump, Soviet/Russia Partnership; Russian Mafia Laundered Money Via… Author Craig Unger talked about his new book, ‘House of Trump, House of Putin,’ Trump’s historical ties to Russia, and how the American president and Putin “are bound by more than just an authorita… realclearpolitics.com          

5/ I get that this conversation is uncomfortable for some in MSM press. I watch them get bored & frustrated when folks like me keep bringing the events of this Presidency back to Russia. I get that they don’t get it. That they can’t, or won’t, grasp this narrative. But…

6/ WE MUST NOT LET THIS GO. If we do, we are missing the real danger – the very real truths – behind the moment we’re not just living thru, but struggling to survive. Here’s what the weapon of propaganda is designed to accomplish: A) Social division to the end point of violence

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7/ There’s just no way now, today, that anyone can argue the end point of Trump’s rhetoric is violence. It will continue to happen. Because there is always an unstable individual out there who will take things that far. And with the rise of hate groups across our nation…

8/ The violence will continue to grow and be organized. Scary times, indeed. The second goal of propaganda is: B) Obfuscation/ distraction. Ah… that’s the ticket for Trump. AND for Putin. This is where it gets real personal for the two of them. This is about their money.

9/ When chaos is fomented by corrupt leaders, we are distracted from seeing their corruption. That’s how it works. That’s the “WHY” of propaganda. Propaganda is generally released & accelerated by corrupt officials during times when investigations into their corruption…

10/ …by law enforcement & the press – are intensifying.                                          Manafort has reportedly visited Mueller’s office 9 times over the past month, for hours at a time Paul Manafort is the special counsel Robert Mueller’s most significant cooperating witness to date, and his frequent trips to Mueller’s office indicate the Russia investigation is not slowing down… businessinsider.com       

11/

Trump Engaged in Suspect Tax Schemes as He Reaped Riches From His Father The president has long sold himself as a self-made billionaire, but a Times investigation found that he received at least $413 million in today’s dolla… nytimes.com       

12/ So, what do we do about this? First, recognize what is going on, and that each of US – right, center, left – is an equal target of this weapon. This weapon only works when we tear each other apart, then dissolve in apathy.

13/ Second, READ & LEARN about propaganda and other tactics of the Russian state, like the history & use of organized crime (the mob) and the mechanics of Active Measures. Once you learn about it, you can pull yourself out of the outrage machine & help…

14/ … hold the corrupt accountable by adding your voice to that fight. Right now, many of us are just screaming into the machine. That does not work. Find journalists who are pursuing Trump’s corruption. Follow, support, & encourage them.

15/ Exposing the hate machine that Trump & built and thrive off of is part of that. Follow journalists like . He is damn good at exposing the hate operation. Remember, that hate is propaganda. Exposing the mechanics of the hate machine is how we’ll dismantle it.

16/ Third and most important, REJECT those “journalists” & news outlets that are profiting off the outrage. They are enabling and enhancing the propaganda. REJECT access journalism, when you see the press pool only chasing shiny objects or fluffing themselves on palace intrigue.

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17/ REJECT that sh*t. DEMAND to know about the corruption. STAY ON THE MONEY. Do you really think all of this chaos, and violence, and hate is about anything else? Wake up, America. We’re being swindled by professional criminals, who control the powers of nation states. – END –

 

 

That’s it for Thursday.  Like I said earlier, at the time of this writing, the MAGABomber has been caught, and… he’s everything that was expected.  A 56-year old from Florida who drove around in a white van festooned with hundreds of Pro-Trump stickers, including several with what can best be described as a manifesto.

Hopefully I’ll have Friday’s post up late Friday night or Saturday.  That being said, expect it Sunday or Monday.

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

 

 

Daily Check-In 10/24/2018

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

 

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION

We’ve talked about this a while back, and it was a running joke in Rick Wilson’s book, but Trump uses an old, unsecured iPhone to talk to his “friends” like Sean Hannity.  What are the odds that a foreign government figured out how to listen in on those conversations?

About 100 fucking percent.  Now, we have proof.

U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller pushed back against a company owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch known as “Putin’s chef,” telling a federal judge that the charges filed against the firm — conspiracy to defraud the U.S. — aren’t dependent on proving that election interference is a crime.

The company, Concord Management and Consulting, and 13 Russian nationals, including Prigozhin, were charged in February with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. by mounting social media campaigns in 2016 designed to help the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, and hurt his competitor, Hillary Clinton, a Democrat. The indictment also included charges of wire fraud and identity theft, as the Russians allegedly adopted American identities as part of their effort to influence the election.

Neither Prigozhin nor the other Russian nationals have responded to the charges, but Concord Management has fought back. The company’s lawyer, Eric Dubelier of Reed Smith, has argued that Concord’s failure to register as a foreign agent or report campaign-related expenditures doesn’t constitute a crime.

Last week, the federal judge overseeing the case asked Mueller’s team to respond to that claim.

Michael Dreeben of the special counsel’s office replied that prosecutors only need to show that Concord and its co-conspirators agreed to engage in conduct that violated their duties to register as foreign agents and report campaign expenditures. “The government is not required to prove that the conspirators actually violated” federal election and campaign finance laws, he wrote.

The February charges described a wide range of coordinated conduct designed to influence voters’ attitudes toward the U.S. presidential candidates.

“The indictment alleges that a purpose of these manifold acts of deception was to frustrate the lawful government functions of the United States,” Dreeben wrote. “Those allegations are sufficient to support the charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States regardless of whether the defendants agreed to engage in conduct that violated” the election and campaign finance laws.

 

 

RIGHT WING TERRORISM: THE MAGABOMBER

There’s too much here to break down into sections in a timely manner while keeping my sanity, so here’s the short, short version.

Following the attempt on George Soros’s life in the last couple days (Daily Check-In 10/22/2018, Daily Check-In 10/23/2018), several other bombs, bomb-like items, and suspicious packages have been sent to several enemies of Trump.  Pipe bombs were sent to Bill and Hilary Clinton’s home, the home of Barack Obama, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and John Brennan at CNN Headquarters.  Furthermore, suspicious packages were gathered at the San Diego Union-Tribune building where Senator Kamala Harris has an office, and to Representative Maxine Walters.  At the time of this writing on Thursday, three more identical packages were delivered to Joe Biden, Robert DeNiro, and Rachel Maddow.  Another package was sent to Eric Holder, but was instead delivered to Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, the former head of the DNC.  Her office in Sunrise, Florida was the return address for each of these packages.

All of the targets that received these packages had the same return address, the same typos, the same font used on the labels, the same design, and the same paraphernalia.  So far, the bombs have all been duds or fakes, and they’ve been packed with fake ISIS flags that became popular on fringe Right Wing sites, where some of the members thought it was a real ISIS flag, and others thought it looked real enough to scare people.

See below in Spicy’s thread for pics of the CNN bomb and packaging.

Something interesting with the packages in New York, they were hand delivered by couriers, and the stamps were not cancelled.  That means they didn’t go through the normal package routing process, which means no tracking numbers.  It also tells me that this bomber likely has to be close to New York, or has an accomplice close enough to hand deliver them.

The San Diego threat was also interesting.  5 priority mail boxes were dropped off very early in the morning, under the cover of night.  Later on, when someone noticed them, they were examined by the bomb squad.  They were all filled with random junk.  If this was an innocent accident, why drop these boxes off in the middle of the night?

The talking heads on the Right Wing immediately called this whole thing a false flag operation, saying either it was a coordinated hoax or that the Democrats sent themselves bombs.  Funny, they usually blame Muslims first.

I’m hoping the MAGABomber is one lone idiot.  Most of the evidence that I’ve seen points to this, but it’s still early in the investigation.  All of the typos, errors, and “owning the libz” mentality of these attacks SCREAMS a single red hat, but this San Diego connection has me worried.  It’s possible that the MAGABomber talked a friend into staging those packages to scare people and distract them, or they just thought it would be funny.

And let’s be clear, these were not random people, but people Trump has attacked many times before.  His rhetoric, talking about violence, is becoming real.  As much as people will want to trip over their dicks to praise whatever half-hearted call for unity he’ll spout, that Orange Shit-Gibbon will blame the media for these attacks.

What, really? Oh, FOR FUCK’S SAKE!!!

This shit ain’t funny anymore.  Someone is going to get killed because one of his low-IQ deplorables believes everything the Cult of Trump tells him.

 

 

Trump has stoked a cold civil war in this Country. His rallies brim with menace and he has labeled journalists as enemies of the people. That someone would seek to kill their political enemies is not aberrational but rather the inevitable consequence of Trumps incitement.

The targets are political not coincidental. Trump, the greatest demagogue in American history has celebrated violence over and over again. It looks like someone finally took Trump both literally and seriously. The WH will feign outrage when this obvious point is made.

No journalist or commentator should be intimidated from making this point. The stoking of hatred and sundering of the American people was always going to lead to terrible consequences. Chief amongst them would be the initiation of partisan or sectarian violence within our country

 

 

A downtown San Diego building that houses the San Diego Union-Tribune and other businesses was briefly evacuated Wednesday morning after a stack of suspicious looking packages was spotted near the front doors, San Diego police said.

A bystander flagged down a San Diego police lieutenant after spotting five boxes on a table in front of 600 B Street about 8:15 a.m., police said. The building houses law firms, co-working, media and technology companies. Sen. Kamala Harris and the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department also have offices at the address.

The discovery quickly prompted the closure of several busy blocks. But about an hour later, with aid from an X-ray, police determined the packages were filled with everyday items.

San Diego police Lt. Kevin Wadhams said the unaddressed boxes contained: one shoe, two children’s books, one football, one empty bag of chips and one hat. A red air pump was located behind the packages.

 

 

Remember when Trump suggested Clinton would take away the right to bear arms and there wasn’t anything anyone could do. Well, except the second amendment crowd could “do something” to stop her. We’re seeing this morning exactly why Trump’s thinly veiled threats matter. (THREAD)

(2) If there was one rallying cry that galvanized Trump’s base, it would have been the vehement assertion that Hillary Clinton should be punished. His campaign rallies were filled with chants of “Lock Her Up!” and an assortment of more aggressive threats.

(3) Bloodthirsty comments among his inner circle are much harder to dismiss. Al Baldasaro, a Trump campaign adviser from NH, said Clinton should be “put in a firing line and shot for treason.” Roger Stone, a high profile Trump ally, lobbied for Clinton’s death on social media.

(4) Gruesome calls for execution don’t end with Hillary Clinton. Trump’s former butler, Anthony Senecal, was investigated by the Secret Service for his social media posts suggesting Barack Obama should be “shot as an enemy agent.”

(5) Trump’s true passion, however, seems to be inciting violence against the press. During rallies in West Palm Beach Florida, CNN reported swastika emblazoned signs were left in the press box. He’s repeatedly singled out CNN and taunted them with threats of violence.

(6) At Trump rallies, reports he’s often the subject of specific threats. The MSM was shocked by Trump’s comments endorsing violence against reporters at a recent rally, but they went back to trumpeting “leftist mob” rhetoric the next day.

(7) Donald Trump’s gleefully incites violence & the media stands complicit every time they air his rallies & parrot his talking points. The violent leftist mob is a boogeyman Trump conjured to hide behind. The real threat to Americans is this violent, divisive President.

 

Interesting return address: indicate the person who sent this bomb, had/has a certain level of premeditation. Again undetonated devices tend to give law enforcement a ton of evidence. Hence why our State & Federal Law Enforcement are without equal.

📌Soros Bomb had return address of 📌CNN bomb also had the same return address 📌AG Holder bomb – same return address 📌bombs sent to the Obamas & Clintons also had the same address Reasonable hypothesis, the same sender for all bombs.

Florida misspelt Wassermann-Shultz misspelt Brennan misspelt Lordy…

Also should say there’s ZERO reason to believe has anything to do with these bombs. Apologies if I implied that. The perpetrator(s) used her address as the return address, she has nothing to do with this. This is devious & insidious intention for the recipients

Meaning if they saw her return address they would have been more likely to open. The perpetrator(s) intent is clear: 1) kill or horribly injure a lot of people 2) so far targeted w/ Brennan being the exception. 3) odd CNN reports the Soros package didn’t come via USPS.

♦️NEW states “the package sent to their NYC Columbus Cir address was hand delivered by a local Courier not via USPS” Which means that’s two bombs were delivered in person

 

 

 

KHASHOGGI & SAUDI ARABIA

 

COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS

 

SCOTUS 

 

#METOO

 

TRUMP THE RUSSIAN ASSET

 

TRAITOR TOTS

 

FIGHTING BACK

IMMIGRATION

 

COLD WAR 2.0

 

#NEVERAGAIN

 

FIXING THE INTERNET

 

THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE

 

 

TRADE WAR AND ECONOMY

 

BLATANT BIGOTRY

 

GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD

 

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

 

PRIESTS

 

ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE

 

ELECTION 2018

 

RUMOR MILL

 

That’s it for Wednesday.  For a moment, I thought it was going to be a quiet day.  That didn’t last.

I probably won’t have as much for Thursday.  I’m operating on fumes, and need a few hours of sleep.  That might cut into my research, writing, and hypothesizing time.  Sorry about that.

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

Daily Check-In 10/23/2018

Monday, October 22, 2018

 

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION

 

KHASHOGGI & SAUDI ARABIA

 

SCOTUS 

THEN YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE VOTED FOR HIM, YOU SPINELESS SHIT!!!

 

#METOO

 

TRUMP THE RUSSIAN ASSET

 

Nationalism

 

TRAITOR TOTS

So, John Bolton, a man with known ties to a Russian Honeypot (Daily Check-In 07/18/2018) had a meeting with Putin and is helping Trump exit out of a treaty that limits the amount of nuclear weapons in the world?  This whole thing stinks like his drooping ball-bag after he had unsatisfying sex with Maria Butina.

 

FIGHTING BACK

 

IMMIGRATION

 

COLD WAR 2.0

 

#NEVERAGAIN

 

FIXING THE INTERNET

 

THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE

 

WHITE HOUSE CHAOS

 

TRADE WAR AND ECONOMY

 

GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD

 

BLATANT BIGOTRY

 

PRIESTS

 

ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE

 

ELECTION 2018

 

IN OTHER NEWS…

Here’s hoping that Roman has a speedy recovery, and can beat leukemia back for good.  Or, at least keep it in remission for the long haul.

I’ve mentioned many times before that I’m a big fan of wrestling, but I usually keep my opinions about specific wrestlers out of these pages.  Personally, I think Roman Reigns is one of the best performers in the business, but he’s been given a lousy story that doesn’t fit his character, and because of that he was unjustly booed.  I put him in the same tier of wrestlers as The Rock or John Cena.  He’s good, and will pull a good match out of most people, but is saddled with his character’s limitations and limited moveset once he became “The Man.”  Put him in a match with a better wrestler, and he’ll have a great match, but the endings to his bouts are telegraphed from a mile away.  He’s no Bret Hart, Kenny Omega, or Seth Rollins, but he can work with them and put on a great match and tell a great story.

I knew something was wrong when Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe, two of the biggest heels in WWE, were saying nice things about Roman Reigns.  They rarely break character, but both of them being nice was a big red flag that something was wrong.

Hopefully he can get healthy and come back.  His first, most important thing is to get healthy.  Returning to the ring is a secondary goal.

 

RUMOR MILL

Remember me again who’s the MOB? Who uses Terrorist Tactics? Who’s dangerous? Who creates & fuels the hateful Us v Them rhetoric? ⁩ pot meet kettle Explosive Device Found Near George Soros’s Home in Westchester County

Also pointing out the all green this negative & defamatory “mid slinging” Political Ad MN-01: “Owns” via

VA-02: “The Code” subpoenaed for “fraudulent” signatures April 2018 a Special Counsel was appointed to investigate Taylor’s fraud via

You can read the various court filings via To say is in it, that’s an underestimation of the severity of the allegations.

As stated above subpoenaed over the fraudulent signatures his staff collected for Shaun Brown. The ‘s position is Taylor & Brown conspired to dilute the votes for Democrat Elaine Luria..

August 7th Special Prosecutor appointed to investigate any criminality of and/or his campaign staff. My understanding is additional Special Prosecutors appointed to investigate Rep Taylor of other (potentially) criminal acts

In fact FIVE of campaign staff submitted declarations stating they would exercise their 5th Amendment Privilege & would decline to answer questions. 👇🏻Declarations👇🏻

 

Remember the US housing market meltdown of ~2008? Same basic thing will happen with the online advertising industry once corporations realize that “engagements”, “click-throughs”, “impressions”, and other related metrics are inflated to bejeezus and back by bots and clickfarms.

I’m sure there are some legitimate advertisers out there (maybe), but the reality of today’s internet advertising ecosystem is driven by lies, hype, deceit, and more lies. Someday the executives (i.e. suckers) paying those advertising invoices are going to wise up.

Wise executives will realize that people (i.e. potential customers) often get angry at online ads. When anger is caused, attribution is often given to that anger. So why the fuck are you nitwits throwing your company’s logo in front of a person whose anger was just activated??

Did none of these advertising geniuses consider the Pavlovian consequences (you know, Pavlov, the guy with the dogs and the bells). You are consistently re-enforcing a response of anger to logo. Therefore, people that see your logo are going to associate it with bad things.

[read between the lines for a glimpse at what is coming]

 

That’s it for Tuesday.

Something that’s bothering me, and a lot of other people, is that this whole Migrant Caravan issue seems a little too…organized.  Not that I think all of these refugees were sitting around waiting for a message to start marching at once, but there’s too many things that are just a little too coincidental for me.

First, the timing.  We’re less than a month out from the biggest midterm elections in American history, where the fate of the western world hangs in the balance, and possibly the only remaining issue that could motivate the MAGA base starts and gets plastered over the Main Stream Media like it’s the slowest invasion against America.  Walking 2,000 miles takes a long time.  I haven’t done the math yet, but why do I have a feeling that if they keep up their current pace, they’ll arrive at the U.S. border just in time for the election?

Second, the motivation.  Not the whole “trying to make a better life” or “running from gangs of drugs dealers and killers”, but what convinced a couple thousand people who just lost everything they owned and are fleeing for their lives to suddenly head north all at once?  How did all of this violence, destruction, and crime get organized at once?

Crime.  Organized.  Wait a second…

Here’s my crazy hypothesis.  The Trump Team and/or GOP, seeing that they’re about to get pounded in the polls and are likely to lose at least the House, and possibly the Senate, are pulling out every trick.  The Russians are helping him with propaganda, the GOP tried talking about how great their tax cut is, but that went over like a fart in church, so now they’re forced to claim that they want to protect parts of the ACA that they’ve voted to kill more than 70 times, suppress the vote where they can, and play the race card.  Since Trump is up to his fourth chin deep in the mob, someone proposed the idea of creating a flood of brown people fleeing violence and the drug cartels in Central America, and use their suffering to get the base out to the polls, because nothing scares his white people more than brown people looking for help.  His mob ties organized some violence, and pushed these people to march.  They then got Fox News and other friendly media outlets, or at least those with other mob ties, and are covering this like some kind of existential threat to white people, and not covering it like the humanitarian crisis or criminal conspiracy that it is.

If this sounds nutty or like some tin-foil hat, I don’t disagree.  This sounds crazy even as I type it.  The thing is, we’re in crazy times.  A criminal is in the White House, and he’s willing to do anything to save his own ass, even if that means burning everything down around him.

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

Daily Check-In 10/22/2018

Monday, October 22, 2018 and the weekend

 

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION

 

KHASHOGGI & SAUDI ARABIA

There’s no longer any dispute that Saudi Arabian officials killed Jamal Khashoggi. The US, UK, and Canada must immediately apply the Magnitsky Act to those who participated in, ordered and covered up the killing. All countries who don’t have a Magnitsky Act should pass one ASAP

For those unfamiliar with the Magnitsky Act, it freezes assets and bans visa of people involved in torture, extrajudicial killing and other gross human rights abuses. It would have a dramatic effect of wealthy Saudi princes

Applying the Magnitsky Act to the people who ordered Khashoggi’s murder would also send a chilling message to other tin pot dictators that there will be grave consequences for these types of atrocities

And for what it’s worth, the ludicrous Saudi “explanation” of what happened to Khashoggi should expand the list of officials sanctioned to those who have been involved in the cover up. That’s what happened in Russia in the Magnitsky case and should happen here as well

 

COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS

 

SCOTUS 

 

#METOO

 

TRUMP THE RUSSIAN ASSET

 

TRAITOR TOTS

 

FIGHTING BACK

 

IMMIGRATION

 

COLD WAR 2.0

 

#NEVERAGAIN

 

SOROS

 

FIXING THE INTERNET

 

THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE

 

Houston Rally

 

 

WHITE HOUSE CHAOS

 

 

TRADE WAR AND ECONOMY

 

GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD

 

BLATANT BIGOTRY

 

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

 

PRIESTS

Well…, there is another way, but technically it involves either ex-communication or desecrating a holy wafer after it’s been blessed.  Due to that whole transubstantiation thing where a piece of bread or wafer literally becomes JC’s flesh, not eating that flesh is considered a mortal sin of the highest regard.  And unlike child rape, this is their “Go Straight To Hell” sin that only the Pope can forgive.

 

ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE

Probably because kids are expensive, and young people are poor.

Seriously, think about it for a second.  Younger people make less comparatively than their parents did.  They also have fewer chances at better jobs, are priced out of the housing market, and are either unable to get a decent job because they don’t have a college degree, or they can’t afford to do anything because of student loans.  Assuming they can even get into a long-term relationship, the prospect of kids is daunting.  Child care costs are prohibitive.  $1200-$1500 for day care a month is not uncommon.  That’s before diapers, wipes, formula, baby clothes, car seats, and everything else.

I have a single friend who owns his own race car.  He can afford his race car by simply not paying for day care.  The amount of money he would have spent on a baby went to make a race car from scratch.

When I hear reports about experts wondering why people aren’t having kids, I think back to a few years ago when my oldest was in day care, and before I consolidated by student loans.  My mortgage was the third biggest bill each month behind those two.

 

ELECTION 2018

People were camping out overnight to vote?  In Texas?  I’ve seen people camp out for concert tickets, sporting events, and iPhones, but never to vote.  This is different.

 

THINKING AHEAD

 

IN OTHER NEWS…

 

PROGRESS IS PROGRESS

 

RUMOR MILL

 

Asking all my 50-60 year old followers. Please do the following exercise & post your thoughts about it 🙏: 1. Calculate how many years you’ve been paying into Social Security. If you can, calculate # paychecks (2 per month for x months) YOUR EARNINGS were removed for SS. (cont)

2. Now, go to your retirement planning. Your MONTHLY budget. And REMOVE Social Security amount you are expecting to receive for your retirement. Again, REMOVE the Social Security line item from your retirement budget.

3. Next, REMOVE your earned healthcare benefits: Medicaid and Medicare. And ADD in the cost of private insurance plan that will cover assisted living costs (estimate needing this at 85 yrs. to be conservative). For R/x costs, conservatively add $800/month.

4. Lastly, if you have a parent relying on Medicaid or Medicare, ADD that cost to your spreadsheet. If they are in assisted living, or require in-home care, ADD that overhead to yours. (cont)

5. How’s your budget look? Are you going to be able to afford to retire? How much longer will you have to work now? Because that money – YOUR MONEY THAT YOU EARNED & ARE COUNTING ON… it’s gone. (cont)

6. That’s what the tax bill was all about. & gave all that money of yours – money that you broke your back earning for decades – to billionaires. Don’t fall for any nuanced bullshit that SS & other earned benefits are in some other bucket… (cont)

7. They’ve said blatantly that to pay for the astronomical deficit that they just created, they are taking Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid away. THIS IS THE PLAN. The midterm elections ARE about your wallet – YOUR RETIREMENT. has failed to communicate this, so…

8. We’re going to have to do it ourselves. Again. The guardrail – the check & balance – is not just on Trump’s corruption, but on REPUBLICAN CONTROL OF YOUR MONEY. & are STEALING YOUR MONEY. Your retirement. THEY STOLE IT FOR BILLIONAIRES. (cont)

9. We can do this. Just do that financial exercise & SHOUT ABOUT IT ON SOCIAL MEDIA. SHOUT IT TO YOUR LOCAL DEM CANDIDATE & DNC. And remind them of this: It doesn’t matter how “great” Trump’s economy is when you retire. Because you won’t be in it. Neither will grandma. – END –

 

 

That’s it for the last few days.  It’s been crazy the last few days, and things feel shitty right now, but there is always reason to hope.  There is always reason to see that things will get better.

Right now, millions of Americans are waking up for the first time to the corruption around them and fighting back.  They’re voting, their advocating, and they’re organizing.

Right now, there are at least a half a dozen separate investigations going on involving the Trump family alone.  That doesn’t include all of their associates, their lackeys, or their co-conspirators.

Right now, an entire generation of students are registering to vote for the first time, and the way they start now will likely shape their views for the next 20-40 years.

Right now, someone in the White House is trying to come up with something, anything, that will motivate Trump’s base to vote for him, and they’re literally throwing everything against the wall at this point.

Right now, someone who has never organized so much as a birthday party is out knocking on doors, trying to get their neighbors to vote.

Right now, someone who has never donated to help a campaign or work an election is signing up for Lyft or Uber just so they can shuttle people to the polls on election day.

Right now, someone is sifting through over 54 hours of interviews with Paul Manafort, categorizing each and every claim he made, and lining them up against the evidence they have on file and with the testimony of other witnesses.

Right now, at least a half a dozen people in the White House are panicking, wondering if their actions rise to the level of criminality needed to press charges against them.

Right now, a powerful man in this country is scared shitless at the thought that his actions from 30 years ago will come back to haunt him.

Right now, a parent is making a protest sign with their child.

Right now, a family is coming together for the first time in years, as the long-time Republican in the family has finally had enough of Trump’s and McConnell’s bullshit.

Right now, people are pissed, yet hopeful.  They’re pissed at the way their country is going, but hopeful for where it can go.

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur