Tag: Confirmation

Daily Check-In 03/28/2018

Wednesday March 28th

 

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION

From the BuzzFeed article…

Fourth, the lies and withholding of documents were material to the Special Counsel’s Office’s investigation. That Gates and Person A were directly communicating in September and October 2016 was pertinent to the investigation. Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agents assisting the Special Counsel’s Office assess that Person A has ties to a Russian intelligence service and had such ties in 2016. During his first interview with the Special Counsel’s Office, van der Zwaan admitted that he knew of that connection, stating that Gates told him Person A was a former Russian Intelligence Officer with the GRU.

…

Person A worked with Manafort and Gates in connection with their Ukraine lobbying work. Person A is a foreign national and was a close business colleague of Manafort and Gates. He worked in Ukraine at Manafort’s company Davis Manafort International, LLC (DMI). Up until mid-August 2016, Person A lived in Kiev and Moscow.

I’ve got $20 riding on the GRU officer being none other than Konstantin Kilimnik.

But this is a big deal.  Rick Gates KNEW he was communicating with a Russian Spy back in September of 2016, a couple months before the election.

Let me say this one more time.

The Deputy Campaign Manager for the Republican nominee to President met with a Russian Spy before the election.

George Papadopoulos met with several people in Europe, including the Defense Minister of Greece.  Remember, George was in Greece earlier in the year at the same time as Putin.

I’ve mentioned before in GTKYG-Pardon Limitations how bad of an idea this is, but it looks like we’re heading to a challenge in court.  It’s a matter of time before Trump tries to pardon his way out of this mess, and about 30 seconds before those pardons are challenged in the Supreme Court, likely by Michael Dreeben, as mentioned in The Justice League.

But this is very bad for Jon Dowd.  If he talked with Mike Flynn’s lawyer about Trump pardoning Flynn, while representing Trump, this could be a clear cut case of Obstruction of Justice against Dowd.

Dowd’s gonna need a lawyer.

MAGA.  Make Attorney’s Get Attorneys.

 

#NEVERAGAIN

I am not writing this piece to malign Nikolas Cruz any more than he already has been. I have faith that history will condemn him for his crimes. I am writing this because of the disturbing number of comments I’ve read that go something like this: Maybe if Mr. Cruz’s classmates and peers had been a little nicer to him, the shooting at Stoneman Douglas would never have occurred.

This deeply dangerous sentiment, expressed under the #WalkUpNotOut hashtag, implies that acts of school violence can be prevented if students befriend disturbed and potentially dangerous classmates. The idea that we are to blame, even implicitly, for the murders of our friends and teachers is a slap in the face to all Stoneman Douglas victims and survivors.

This piece was written by Isabelle Robinson, one of the students at Parkland, but it could just as easily have been written by any fellow student or co-worker of any mass shooter in the last generation.

There comes a point in the blame game where we, as Americans, inevitably blame the victims and survivors of these atrocities for the actions of the perpetrators.

We blame the victims for not being nicer to a sociopath or psychopath.  We blame them for not reaching out to the weird kids, or rebuffing their awkward romantic advances.  We blame them for bullying the shooters.  We blame them for not being repulsed by terrible hygiene, or offensive views.  We blame them for not going to the authorities when given a chance, and then blame them for not doing more when the authorities can’t or won’t do anything.  We blame the bullied for not standing up for themselves, then blame them again when they do.

It has to fucking stop.

First, asking kids to do what we’re unwilling or unable to do reeks of bullshit hypocrisy.

Second, unlike the image of the loner gunman that we like to embrace, many of these monsters are psychopathic bullies who get pleasure on hurting others.  They’re the ones making life miserable for others.

Third, ever notice that most mass shooters are white guys with senses of entitlement?  “She didn’t flirt back with me”, “I’m a 26 year old virgin with no friends”, “No one likes me”, “Women don’t find me attractive” are some of the justifications given by these monsters, as if the world owed them something.  The world doesn’t owe anyone anything.  No one is entitled to friends, love, or a girlfriend.  They have to earn those things, and realize that just because they’re white, it doesn’t mean that they get them for free.

Finally, know this shooter was?  He was a radicalized right-wing terrorist.  There I said it.  The Parkland Shooter was a goddamned terrorist.  No different than the Austin bomber.  They were radicalized by hate groups online and in the real world, honed their craft, and committed acts of terror.  The only difference between them and members of ISIS is the color of their skin and the color of their hats.

 

 

CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA AND FACEBOOK

I’m enjoying Tim Cook throwing shade at Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook.  Apple’s stance of privacy in the digital age is nearly the opposite of Facebook.  Apple anonymizes user data, and their devices and cloud services are more difficult to get in to than their competitors.

Full disclosure, I am neck deep in the Apple Ecosystem.  That company has probably made at least $10,000 off of my family over the last decade or so.

 

WHITE HOUSE CHAOS

You have got to be kidding me, right?  I’m not shocked about Shulkin getting fired, that was coming after finding out about the trip to Europe.  But Trump plans to nominate the White House Doctor, Admiral Ronny Jackson?

Remember the yearly physical from Daily Check-In 01/17/2018?  Yeah, that guy.

 

STORMYWATCH, FROM THE STORMCENTER 6000 METEOROPORNOLOGICAL CENTER

 

CAN WE GET BACK TO POLITICS?

The Maryland gerrymandering case is interesting.  Maryland is gerrymandered to favor the Democrats, using the same tricks that the GOP used in other states.  The Supreme Court may be approaching a decision.  Let’s see how this goes.

 

RUMOR MILL:  FUCK JULIAN ASSANGE

Ecuador cut off Assange’s internet today and is not letting him have any visitors in response to his promoting articles from members of the Catalonian government. This pissed off some of Ecuador’s allies.

Fuck Julian Assange, Fuck Kim Dotcom, and all of their allies.  They are enemies of Democracy.

This could be another slap on the wrist for the Surprise Sex Enthusiast (Rapist), and he’ll have his access restored soon.  Then again, the embassy has had problems with Julian for a while, and they could finally be ready to kick him out.

 

That’s it for today.  It’s shortly before 11PM EST, and this is the earliest I’ve wrapped things up in a while.  I’m putting a wrap on things now, before I dive into another rabbit hole.  Last time that happened, I ended up playing a weird game of chess.

 

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daily Check-In 03/27/2018

Tuesday, March 27th

 

CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA AND FACEBOOK:  WYLIE TESTIFIES BEFORE PARLIAMENT

Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Chris Wylie testified before the British Parliament this morning, and what he said was downright crazy.  Not crazy like “Fish talk to me in their native language and think I’m a god” crazy, but “I can’t believe that fucking happened” crazy.  According to Wylie, CA worked their magic in Kenya to elect the current party, in India to assist Modi and his party, in Eastern Europe, in the United States and the UK.

His predecessor died in Kenya by poisoning, but the local police were bribed to not investigate the cause of death.

CA used Black Cube, a group of ex-Mossad agents, to handle their dirty work.  This group also supposedly worked for Harvey Weinstein from time to time.

CA worked with Palantir, Peter Thiel’s company that does…I’m not sure what they do, but they’re knee deep in the law enforcement IT infrastructure.  They also work with the CIA and other USIC groups.  Peter is on the Facebook board, and is an opponent of free speech, free society, and freedom of movement through society.

Wylie went all the way up to accusing Russia and Cambridge Analytica of interfering in the 2016 election, but stopped just short of that.

Mark Zuckerberg will testify before Congress, where the Republicans don’t want to investigate anything of value, but won’t testify before Parliament, where they want the truth.  Mark has a tenuous attachment to the truth.

The NRA article is old, from during the 2016 election, but mentioned their use of CA to target voters.

 

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION

Steele and three others independently went to the FBI with details of Lesin’s death.  He was set to testify before the DOJ about Putin’s actions in Russia with their state media, but was found dead in his hotel room the night before.

At this point, his defense team will use the defense that Trump can’t get an adequate defense as his defense.

This is karma for a lifetime of stiffing contractors and lawyers.

The NRA is fast climbing the ladder of most despised organizations.  They’re giving Comcast and the KKK a run for their money.

Why is an American organization that is supposedly an advocate for gun owners rights taking money from foreign donors in the first place?  Why are they donating to elections?  Why are they using CA to target specific voters?  Which voters were they targeting, and what did they show them?  What kind of non-committal answer is this weeks after the story first broke?

Sens. Coons, Tillis release statement on Special Counsel Robert Mueller

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Chris Coons (D-DE) released the following statement. In August of 2017, Senators Tillis and Coons introduced the bipartisan Special Counsel Integrity Act.

“We have heard from constituents – Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike – who agree that Special Counsel Robert Mueller should be able to conduct his investigation without interference.  This should not be a partisan issue.  We introduced the Special Counsel Integrity Act because we believe that the American people should have confidence in the Department of Justice’s ability to conduct independent investigations and its commitment to the rule of law. We urge President Trump to allow the Special Counsel to complete his work without impediment, which is in the best interest of the American people, the President, and our nation.”

 

COLD WAR 2.0

CountriesNotExpel

Notice the countries listed, and ask “What do they have in common?”

They are all (or at least almost all) money laundering havens or very friendly to Russia.  Interesting that the countries that rely on Russian money aren’t kicking Russian spies diplomats from their countries.

 

#NEVERAGAIN

The shooter from Maryland killed himself before the security guard got to him.

Gun control is ugly, but I’m not sure I’d go as far as repealing the Second Amendment.  I would be in favor of refining the language in a new amendment, as long as gun ownership is still guaranteed in some way.

The problem is that if we don’t come together now to come to a solution we can all live with, then the future solution will not be a compromise, but a complete defeat for one side or the other.

 

STORMYWATCH, FROM THE STORM CENTER 6000 METEOROPORONOLOGICAL CENTER

We live in a universe where the credibility of a Porn Star is being attacked by a lawyer representing the President of the United States, and the Porn Star is coming out on top.  Then again, she’s pretty good at coming on top.  Heeyooh.

Pun Jar total is $7.

 

CAN WE GET BACK TO POLITICS?

The United States Census is used for everything from allotting representatives to figuring out where programs are focused. By trying to insert questions about citizenship in it, they are actively fucking with everything we hold dear.

There will be lawsuits. Lots of lawsuits.

 

RUMOR MILL:  THE WHISPER GALLERY

Congress is in recess for the next two weeks, with all of the Senators and Representatives heading to their home states for business.  The Dotard is down in Florida.  The Turtle went back to Kentucky, and The Human Jellyfish Paul Ryan returned to Wisconsin.

But not everyone that works in the Capitol is on vacation.  The staffers are still there doing their jobs, and the reporters and sources are still there.  And like the old phrase goes “When the cat’s away, the mice are at play.”

One example is the continuing scuttlebutt about Paul Ryan not running for re-election.  He still hasn’t filed his paperwork that he’s running, but he hasn’t filed with Wisconsin that he isn’t running, either.  He has until June 1 and May 18 respectively for each.

I don’t know what to expect, but whatever I hear, I’ll report here.

As far as CA goes, Louise has her doubts about Wylie.  She still thinks he’s a shill for Russia, and doesn’t buy his whistleblowing.  Personally, I think he had his own “Come to Jesus” moment and decided to come forward, and hopes that his work here keeps him out of serious legal trouble.

Louise also mentioned that she’s been sitting on some Peter Thiel news for over a year, out of fear that he would go to ground outside of extradition.  She says she just got the go-ahead on releasing her stories.

 

That’s it for today.  As far as the gun control posts go, I think I’ll have to make a series of them.  There are a lot of pieces of the argument, and as much as I would like to tackle the whole thing at once, there’s this little thing called life.  Things are gonna get pretty crazy over the next few months.

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

Daily Check-In 03/26/2018

For the weekend and Monday, March 26th.

 

THE MUELLER INVESTIGATION/COLD WAR 2.0

The new development of the weekend involved, once again, The Dotard tweeting.  This time, he went on a rant about how he had no problem getting lawyers to work for him on the Russia case.

Cue the lawyers quitting his team, turning down the chance to work with him, or the ones that want to leave.

Last week, Jon Dowd quit, to be replaced by Joe DiGenova and his wife.  Two days after they were announced to join the team, they quit.  A half dozen top tier law firms have turned down the chance to work with Trump, and no one is lining up to do so.

 

CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA AND FACEBOOK

Cambridge Analytica was confirmed to be illegally involved in Brexit, Kenya, and the U.S. 2014 elections.  This is a buildup to them being illegally involved in 2016.

By the way, if you have Facebook stock and haven’t sold it yet, you should dump it.  Move it to defense spending or companies that focus on cybersecurity.  Just saying.

 

#NEVERAGAIN

1.2 million.  More than 1.2 million people marched this weekend for gun control reform.

Emma’s Speech. Watch it. 6 minutes, 20 seconds.  Fight for your life before it’s someone else’s job.

The vitriol from the Right Wing over this past weekend was disgusting.  If your reaction to the survivors of a massacre trying to prevent it from happening again is to attack the children that survived, then you are a fucking dick.

 

STORMYWATCH, FROM THE STORM CENTER 6000 METEOROPORNOLOGICAL CENTER

I didn’t watch the interview yet, it’s sitting on the DVR.  One piece I did catch was that back in 2011, someone threatened her and her infant daughter if she talked about Trump anymore.  She assumes that this was connected to Michael Cohen.

Once again, Cohen tries to bully and intimidate Stormy into saying that he didn’t bully and intimidate her.  Stay classy, mother fucker.

 

CAN WE GET BACK TO POLITICS?

This is the second or third time in the last few weeks that rumors about Paul Ryan retiring from Congress have floated around.  I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next couple months he has something come up and he decides to “spend time with his family.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RUMOR MILL: BANNON’S TOOLS

Here’s a link to a thread about some of the scripts used to scrape Facebook data for Cambridge Analytica.

 

That’s it for today.  I’m behind schedule on my gun control post, and the write-ups are little light tonight.  Quite frankly, it’s been a little hectic in real life.  It would be nice if I have a home repair project that doesn’t require multiple trips to the hardware store for wrong parts, bad directions, vanishing tools that only reappear after getting a replacement, or simply have a project not snowball out of control.

On the plus side, I have two new sink faucets, a relocated bookcase, and a new place to work.

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

Daily Check-In 03/23/2018

Friday, March 23rd.

 

THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION

According to reports, Dowd was the main reason that Trump hadn’t interviewed with Mueller yet.  Mainly because Dowd realized that his client would lie in about 7 seconds flat.

A lawyer could lose their license to practice if they know that their client would perjure themselves.  Dowd saw this and GTFO.  DiGenova looks like he might do the same thing.

From yesterday’s post, (Daily Check-In 03/22/2018), DAG Rosenstein had a press conference this morning, where he announced indictments against hackers working for a government that the United States is on shaky terms with but the Trump family has illicit ties to.

No, it’s not Russia.  It’s Iran.

These Iranian hackers got into more than 100 universities and government agencies, stole research and information, then sold it to the highest bidder.  Often times Russia.

This does a couple things.

First, this says that we will go after people tied to governments.

Second, these actions make it harder to go after Rosenstein and Mueller.

Third, it gives the administration more to hate Iran for.

Fourth, it sets precedent.

Finally, I need to learn to count my reasons out before typing how many things I want to talk about.

The emails show Papadopoulos was the first to alert the campaign to al-Sissi’s interest in meeting and then connected top campaign leadership to the Egyptian embassy…. Trump and al-Sissi met the next night at the Plaza Hotel in New York City.

George Papadopoulos was not a “coffee-boy” like Mike Caputo claimed.  Coffee boys don’t organize meetings between Presidential candidates and foreign heads of state.

All of George’s actions in regards to Russia were performed with the approval of the Trump Campaign.  He didn’t act alone.

Remember George flipped last summer and is a cooperating witness.  Everything he knows, Mueller knows.

 

CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA AND FACEBOOK

One of the most effective ads, according to Kaiser, was a piece of native advertising on the political news website Politico, which was also profiled in the presentation. The interactive graphic, which looked like a piece of journalism and purported to list “10 inconvenient truths about the Clinton Foundation”, appeared for several weeks to people from a list of key swing states when they visited the site. It was produced by the in-house Politico team that creates sponsored content.

The headquarters of CA were raided by the UK government on Friday after they finally received a search warrant.  The warrant was requested several days ago, and at least one person posted videos in the last couple days of CA staff packing things up into storage containers.  I’m worried that by the time the cops get there, the really good shit will be destroyed or moved offsite.

 

#NEVERAGAIN

Once again, the March for our Lives is Saturday the 24th.  Check their website for a location nearby.

 

WHITE HOUSE CHAOS

Once again, a modified transgender ban on military service.  At 9PM on a Friday.

20 bucks says this gets challenged in court by the end of the month week Tuesday Monday.

 

STORMYWATCH, FROM THE STORM CENTER 6000 METEOROPORNOLOGICAL CENTER

I watched the Karen McDougal CNN interview earlier today.  Interesting.  Karen didn’t sound like a jilted lover at all.  The only parts that were weird was when she teared up thinking about Melania.

Stormy Daniels’s interview is on 60 Minutes this Sunday on CBS.  Check local listings for time and channel.

 

CAN WE GET BACK TO POLITICS?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of Roy Moore’s supporters, under direction from

 

RUMOR MILL: POISONING THE WELL

Earlier today, we learned that PatriotLou was a plant.  More specifically, a cover account in a combination of psychological experiment and an attempt to discredit various members of TeamPatriot, like Ale, TeaPain, and Dr. Dena.

This story pisses me the fuck off.

I’m pissed.  Not just because I hate being duped, it happens..  Not because I don’t like being experimented on, that part I like.  Not because I need a sharp dose of skepticism from time to time, which I do.

I’m pissed because after describing their findings of their A/B testing over last few weeks, he released a bunch of DM’s between PatriotLou and the others.  Selectively chosen for maximum impact.

I fucking hate this “gotcha” mentality.  Oh, you fooled someone.  Whoopty fucking do.

This isn’t the first time that someone pulled a move like this, and it won’t be the last.

But what this does do is it destroys the credibility of UsVsThemBlogs.  By pulling this shit, they’ve destroyed any credibility that they had.  They put so much effort into this operation to discredit TeamPatriot, TeamScooby, or whatever they’re called this week.  Yet, just by their tactics alone, they destroyed the trust they built up.

So, lessons learned…

Keep an eye out for anyone and everyone on Twitter.  Especially newer accounts.

Use your best judgement.

Just because you want it to be true, it doesn’t make it so.

It takes a longer than a few weeks to build a track record.

Even if someone trusted has vouched for the new guy, don’t trust the new guy.  We’ve all seen Donnie Brasco.

 

That’s it for today.  I’m going to start an article on Gun Control and Reform this weekend, time permitting.  I hope to get to the local march tomorrow.  I’ll describe in that article why I care so much about this.  But not now.  Now, it’s almost Midnight on Friday.  I need to get some sleep.

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

 

“Don’t trust everything you read on the Internet.”

– Abraham Lincon

 

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur