by wj
It occurs to me that, since an Open Thread is desıgned to wander around multiple topics, why shouldn’t the post do so as well. So this one is going to start with technology and end up at politics.
This past year, I’ve been working on a project with ICANN (Internet Corporation for Addresses, Names, and Numbers). These are the folks who keep track of things like domain names – so you can’t go out and register obsidianwings.blogs.com, because we already got that. Also of the servers which translate those domain names into actual addresses.
This project is on the Internationalization of Domain Names. We are all accustomed to names which end with .com or .gov or .edu – a legacy of the Internet’s origin as a US government project. ICANN has opened up the possibility of new TLDs (Top Level Domain names) like these, so there are now things like .hotel and .ru. But at the moment, you are limited to the 26 letters used in English. So while you could get .cologne or .koln, you can’t get .köln, which is how the city’s name is properly spelled in German. Likewise, while .jp is available in Japan, you can’t get .日本. This project is intended to expand the repertoire of symbols which are available.
And to figure out which symbols conflict. For example, if one domain name uses the letter a, there probably isn’t a problem with another which is the same except for using ắ (Latin Small Letter A with Breve and Acute) – there’s enough difference that people would notice. But how about i and ı (Latin Small Dotless Letter I), which is used in Turkish? Would you notice? DID you notice, when I slipped it in in the first sentence? Nah, you probably saw what you expected to see. It’s not a trivial problem.
Anyway, this past week I’ve been at an ICANN conference where we have been, among other things, thrashing out some of the issues face-to-face. It’s been in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as scheduled. After Hurricane Maria, there was some discussion about relocating. But we decided to stay, and it’s worked out fine. The lights (and the AC!) are on, the Internet works fine, etc.
But we’re the first major conference here since the hurricane, and the Puerto Ricans have pulled out all the stops to send a message that they are up and running again. To the point that we even had the Governor, Ricky Rosselló, at the Opening Session. He’s a young guy (late 30s and looks mid-20s), and he got off the best line of the morning: “I want to assure you that I am not just some junior staffer from the Office of the Governor. I actually am the Governor!” It got a good laugh.
But it caused me to wonder. Suppose at some point he were to decide to run for President. He’s a “natural born citizen”** of the United States, after all. And since Puerto Rico has no electors, the requirement that electors must vote for at least one of President and Vice President who is not from their own state doesn’t matter. So, why the heck not?
** It occurs to me suddenly to wonder. If we get to the point of having uterine replicators, would those who gestate in a bottle be regarded as “natural born”?
I should perhaps note that I have no idea what Governor Rosselló’s position is on any issues. Nor even what party he belongs to. It’s the question of principle that got me.
I should perhaps note that I have no idea what Governor Rosselló’s position is on any issues. Nor even what party he belongs to. It’s the question of principle that got me.
But how about i and ı (Latin Small Dotless Letter I), which is used in Turkish? Would you notice? DID you notice, when I slipped it in in the first sentence? Nah, you probably saw what you expected to see.
Even after you admitted to your sneaky little trick, it took me 3 passes to find the dotless “i.”
But how about i and ı (Latin Small Dotless Letter I), which is used in Turkish? Would you notice? DID you notice, when I slipped it in in the first sentence? Nah, you probably saw what you expected to see.
Even after you admitted to your sneaky little trick, it took me 3 passes to find the dotless “i.”
No caesarian born preznits, it’s the way The Founders™ decreed.
No caesarian born preznits, it’s the way The Founders™ decreed.
IIRC, some of the unicode characters look *exactly* the same as their usual ascii counterparts, but have a different binary code.
Depends on the fonts and kerning, of course.
IIRC, some of the unicode characters look *exactly* the same as their usual ascii counterparts, but have a different binary code.
Depends on the fonts and kerning, of course.
I confess I stole the idea from a paper I wrote tor the internal ICANN discussion of variants. Even on a panel composed mostly of trained linguists, nobody caught it until I mentioned that it was there to be found. The potential for confusion is obvious (I refer to it as “phishing enablement”).
Happily, we seem to be winning out over those who (apparently for financial reasons) oppose any restrictions. That is, their company does domain name registrations. More confusion means more defensive registrations by companies. Or, if they don’t, by criminals who find the opportunity irresistible. Who says conflicts of interest only happen in government?
I confess I stole the idea from a paper I wrote tor the internal ICANN discussion of variants. Even on a panel composed mostly of trained linguists, nobody caught it until I mentioned that it was there to be found. The potential for confusion is obvious (I refer to it as “phishing enablement”).
Happily, we seem to be winning out over those who (apparently for financial reasons) oppose any restrictions. That is, their company does domain name registrations. More confusion means more defensive registrations by companies. Or, if they don’t, by criminals who find the opportunity irresistible. Who says conflicts of interest only happen in government?
I haven’t seen anything identical to an ASCII character (a-z, 0-9). But in addition to things like the schwa and the “turned e” (both ə), there are a couple of diacritic marks, the breve ˘ and the caron ˇ which are actually different (one is a flat curve while the other is two straight lines meeting at a shallow angle), but are indistinguishable at normal font sizes. And there are several letters which, depending on the language, use both.
About 200 languages (thanks mostly to colonists and missionaries) and nearly 150 symbols. Fun times!
I haven’t seen anything identical to an ASCII character (a-z, 0-9). But in addition to things like the schwa and the “turned e” (both ə), there are a couple of diacritic marks, the breve ˘ and the caron ˇ which are actually different (one is a flat curve while the other is two straight lines meeting at a shallow angle), but are indistinguishable at normal font sizes. And there are several letters which, depending on the language, use both.
About 200 languages (thanks mostly to colonists and missionaries) and nearly 150 symbols. Fun times!
OK, a small correction. There are multiple languages which include a circle (o) or a vertical line (l). So those have multiple code points. And, of course, Latin, Cyrillic and Greek (and Armenian) are all descended from Phoenician, so they have some common letters as well.
OK, a small correction. There are multiple languages which include a circle (o) or a vertical line (l). So those have multiple code points. And, of course, Latin, Cyrillic and Greek (and Armenian) are all descended from Phoenician, so they have some common letters as well.
Sometimes, even the Trump andministration gets something right on regulation:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/03/15/fda-takes-historic-step-to-lower-nicotine-in-cigarettes/
Sometimes, even the Trump andministration gets something right on regulation:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/03/15/fda-takes-historic-step-to-lower-nicotine-in-cigarettes/
With lower nicotine cigarettes, people may smoke more cigarettes to get their fix. And it’s not the nicotine that’s killing them.
With lower nicotine cigarettes, people may smoke more cigarettes to get their fix. And it’s not the nicotine that’s killing them.
…it took me 3 passes to find the dotless “i.”
It took me more than that. After watching myself in action, it was obvious that I was scanning for the lowercase letter “i” by looking for the dot, and it was hard to stop that.
I’ve always been one of the people who score high on being able to read things that are intentionally garbled by keeping the first and last letter of the word in place while rearranging some of the interior letters: It deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. My wife struggles with those. Human pattern recognition is peculiar.
…it took me 3 passes to find the dotless “i.”
It took me more than that. After watching myself in action, it was obvious that I was scanning for the lowercase letter “i” by looking for the dot, and it was hard to stop that.
I’ve always been one of the people who score high on being able to read things that are intentionally garbled by keeping the first and last letter of the word in place while rearranging some of the interior letters: It deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. My wife struggles with those. Human pattern recognition is peculiar.
it’s not the nicotine that’s killing them.
True. But it’s the nicotine that’s got them hooked. While those already hooked may just ramp up their consumption to keep getting their accustomed fix, it might reduce the number of new addicts by making it easier for them to quit.
it’s not the nicotine that’s killing them.
True. But it’s the nicotine that’s got them hooked. While those already hooked may just ramp up their consumption to keep getting their accustomed fix, it might reduce the number of new addicts by making it easier for them to quit.
I haven’t seen anything identical to an ASCII character (a-z, 0-9).
https://www.аррӏе.com/
let’s see if this works.
H/T
I haven’t seen anything identical to an ASCII character (a-z, 0-9).
https://www.аррӏе.com/
let’s see if this works.
H/T
https://democracyjournal.org/arguments/who-really-won-pa-18/
More green shoots.
https://democracyjournal.org/arguments/who-really-won-pa-18/
More green shoots.
OK, cleek, educate me. Which characters were non-ASCII?
OK, cleek, educate me. Which characters were non-ASCII?
I’ve always been one of the people who score high on being able to read things that are intentionally garbled by keeping the first and last letter of the word in place while rearranging some of the interior letters:
Me, too. It barely slows my reading.
The flip side to that is that I sometimes garble unfamiliar names (of people, chemicals, places, etc.) that I’ve only read but haven’t heard pronounced aloud. This can happen after reading – but only reading – a name multiple times, because I recognize it without really reading it.
If I try to come up with such a name in conversation, I’ll likely have the internal letter sounds and/or syllables out of order. That usually then disciplines me to consciously read every letter and every syllable in their proper order the next time I see the name, which may happen very soon thereafter because I purposely sought the name out just to do that.
Before doing that, it’s almost as though the name is a recognizable symbol rather than a word.
I’ve always been one of the people who score high on being able to read things that are intentionally garbled by keeping the first and last letter of the word in place while rearranging some of the interior letters:
Me, too. It barely slows my reading.
The flip side to that is that I sometimes garble unfamiliar names (of people, chemicals, places, etc.) that I’ve only read but haven’t heard pronounced aloud. This can happen after reading – but only reading – a name multiple times, because I recognize it without really reading it.
If I try to come up with such a name in conversation, I’ll likely have the internal letter sounds and/or syllables out of order. That usually then disciplines me to consciously read every letter and every syllable in their proper order the next time I see the name, which may happen very soon thereafter because I purposely sought the name out just to do that.
Before doing that, it’s almost as though the name is a recognizable symbol rather than a word.
OK, cleek, educate me. Which characters were non-ASCII?
at least in Firefox, that ‘а’ is not an ASCII ‘a’. it’s a Cyrillic character.
OK, cleek, educate me. Which characters were non-ASCII?
at least in Firefox, that ‘а’ is not an ASCII ‘a’. it’s a Cyrillic character.
Ah, that one. Happily, the rules will require that you not mix scripts within a segment of a name.
On the other hand, you can get something in Cyrillic that is .сом. Now as it happens, domain names are exclusively lower case, which this one is (the Cyrillic lower case of M is the same, only smaller). Browsers, for historical reasons, will convert ASCII upper case to lower case before sending it across the network. Which means that users have decades of experience teaching them that upper and lower case are interchangeable. So people would assume that this was Latin .COM, which is equivalent to the Latin .com that we all know and love.
There’s a reason that we have spend a year on this, and probably have another 6 months to go!
Ah, that one. Happily, the rules will require that you not mix scripts within a segment of a name.
On the other hand, you can get something in Cyrillic that is .сом. Now as it happens, domain names are exclusively lower case, which this one is (the Cyrillic lower case of M is the same, only smaller). Browsers, for historical reasons, will convert ASCII upper case to lower case before sending it across the network. Which means that users have decades of experience teaching them that upper and lower case are interchangeable. So people would assume that this was Latin .COM, which is equivalent to the Latin .com that we all know and love.
There’s a reason that we have spend a year on this, and probably have another 6 months to go!
Since it’s an open thread, a pointer to a Henry Farrell post at Crooked Timber on speech and attention. Some snippets (but the whole thing isn’t all that long…):
Since it’s an open thread, a pointer to a Henry Farrell post at Crooked Timber on speech and attention. Some snippets (but the whole thing isn’t all that long…):
This reminds me that ObWi used to have the “take it outside” site, which was abandoned a few years ago. I can’t remember what it was actually called, but the address was hocb dot net (“Hating on Charles Bird” if I understand the history; it was before my earliest time here).
We could use something like that again…I would be willing to kick in toward the cost of domain registration or whatever, if people were interested.
This reminds me that ObWi used to have the “take it outside” site, which was abandoned a few years ago. I can’t remember what it was actually called, but the address was hocb dot net (“Hating on Charles Bird” if I understand the history; it was before my earliest time here).
We could use something like that again…I would be willing to kick in toward the cost of domain registration or whatever, if people were interested.
Hereabouts one sometimes sees “No Entry” written on the road in white paint. Unfortunately for me, I can’t quickly tell which way up it’s written.
Hereabouts one sometimes sees “No Entry” written on the road in white paint. Unfortunately for me, I can’t quickly tell which way up it’s written.
We could use something like that again
who are we going to hate on?
We could use something like that again
who are we going to hate on?
who are we going to hate on?
I would be happy to have it named in some other fashion. 😉
Wasn’t it actually called “Taking it Outside”?
who are we going to hate on?
I would be happy to have it named in some other fashion. 😉
Wasn’t it actually called “Taking it Outside”?
Admittedly, having two sites to curate would mean more work for someone…..I’m thinking of the problems Henry Farrell lists…..which in fact we don’t seem to have around here at the moment, unless someone is doing some yeoman work in the background that I don’t know about.
Admittedly, having two sites to curate would mean more work for someone…..I’m thinking of the problems Henry Farrell lists…..which in fact we don’t seem to have around here at the moment, unless someone is doing some yeoman work in the background that I don’t know about.
No caesarian born preznits, it’s the way The Founders™ decreed.
No Caesars is not the worst idea ever.
No caesarian born preznits, it’s the way The Founders™ decreed.
No Caesars is not the worst idea ever.
Wasn’t it actually called “Taking it Outside”?
it was first called “Hating On Charles Bird” because the regulars got sick of the other regulars hating on C.B’s posts, so they made a separate site where people could complain about him. eventually it got renamed to “Taking It Outside”, but only after CB had left..
Wasn’t it actually called “Taking it Outside”?
it was first called “Hating On Charles Bird” because the regulars got sick of the other regulars hating on C.B’s posts, so they made a separate site where people could complain about him. eventually it got renamed to “Taking It Outside”, but only after CB had left..
No Caesars is not the worst idea ever.
i recommend a strict ‘No Little Caesars’ diet.
No Caesars is not the worst idea ever.
i recommend a strict ‘No Little Caesars’ diet.
Hating on Charles Bird and Taking It Outside were successors to Jackmormon’s blog:
http://jackmormon.blogspot.com/2005/05/what-is-jack-mormon.html
I miss her badly, but I miss the succeeding ghost shops as well, as a steam vent for OBWI, and I suspect Charles Bird does as well.
Jackmormon was a frequent commenter here as well….. for example, in this thread wherein a formerly notorious and but still reprehensible regular received some unwanted attention with seven types of ambiguity:
http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2005/10/john_thullen_li.html
That guy and DaveC now share a walk up above a bait shop on a coast somewhere and one of them has no more to say about this off-kilter world, unfortunately, though there is something reminiscent of him in Marty’s thrown voice.
Hating on Charles Bird and Taking It Outside were successors to Jackmormon’s blog:
http://jackmormon.blogspot.com/2005/05/what-is-jack-mormon.html
I miss her badly, but I miss the succeeding ghost shops as well, as a steam vent for OBWI, and I suspect Charles Bird does as well.
Jackmormon was a frequent commenter here as well….. for example, in this thread wherein a formerly notorious and but still reprehensible regular received some unwanted attention with seven types of ambiguity:
http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2005/10/john_thullen_li.html
That guy and DaveC now share a walk up above a bait shop on a coast somewhere and one of them has no more to say about this off-kilter world, unfortunately, though there is something reminiscent of him in Marty’s thrown voice.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bannon-fascinated-mussolini
Here’s the part about Mussolini that Bannon should be fascinated with, as a preview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snuvlXq17Io
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bannon-fascinated-mussolini
Here’s the part about Mussolini that Bannon should be fascinated with, as a preview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snuvlXq17Io
Speaking of John Thullen, why was he and some others here so down on Larry Kudlow? He seems to be pretty rational compared to some of Trump’s selections. And he has been in opposition to Trump in a number of things like being pro free market and immigration.
Speaking of John Thullen, why was he and some others here so down on Larry Kudlow? He seems to be pretty rational compared to some of Trump’s selections. And he has been in opposition to Trump in a number of things like being pro free market and immigration.
I once tracked down a weird bug to a results set ordering issue in a database.
The work had been outsourced to some Romanians. They created the database with a Cyrillic collation sequence. Because, Romanians.
Live and learn.
I once tracked down a weird bug to a results set ordering issue in a database.
The work had been outsourced to some Romanians. They created the database with a Cyrillic collation sequence. Because, Romanians.
Live and learn.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/silicon-valleys-favorite-prison-reformer-accused-of-sexual-assault-and-harassment?via=newsletter&source=AMDigestOrig_ABTest
“Hoke repeatedly warned “no corporate fucking,” two other former employees told The Daily Beast.”
What would the prosperity gospel be without ample corporate fucking?
In fact, one proof that corporations are people under Citizens United is their mutual propensity for seven types of fucking.
I’m sure the republican evangelical wing takes this as a head’s up to bring Hoke, as with mp, into their flock, perhaps to host some kneeling prayer sessions at the cheap motel on the skirts of town for their more reluctant parishioners.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/silicon-valleys-favorite-prison-reformer-accused-of-sexual-assault-and-harassment?via=newsletter&source=AMDigestOrig_ABTest
“Hoke repeatedly warned “no corporate fucking,” two other former employees told The Daily Beast.”
What would the prosperity gospel be without ample corporate fucking?
In fact, one proof that corporations are people under Citizens United is their mutual propensity for seven types of fucking.
I’m sure the republican evangelical wing takes this as a head’s up to bring Hoke, as with mp, into their flock, perhaps to host some kneeling prayer sessions at the cheap motel on the skirts of town for their more reluctant parishioners.
Still a Literary Genus as far as I can tell, and still crazy after all these years. Shine on, you crazy diamond…
Still a Literary Genus as far as I can tell, and still crazy after all these years. Shine on, you crazy diamond…
Trump picking Kudlow is just so Trump.
you just know Trump picked him because Trump has spent years watching Kudlow pretend to be an economist on TV; and you know he’s Trump’s only exposure to the lingo actual economists use.
“I need a new financial guy.”
“Who are you going to pick?”
“I don’t know. What about that guy from TV? Kudlow. He seems smart. A real killer.”
Trump picking Kudlow is just so Trump.
you just know Trump picked him because Trump has spent years watching Kudlow pretend to be an economist on TV; and you know he’s Trump’s only exposure to the lingo actual economists use.
“I need a new financial guy.”
“Who are you going to pick?”
“I don’t know. What about that guy from TV? Kudlow. He seems smart. A real killer.”
CharlesWT:
I can’t speak for other guy, but this ….
“He seems to be pretty rational compared to some of Trump’s selections.”
… contains your answer.
Been watching Kudlow for 35 years. He is an additive personality. I’m glad he replaced the cock and alcohol, but not what with.
The other were gateway drugs to his tax ideology. He can’t get enough hits of tax cuts and goes into withdrawal in their absence.
Supply side: will increase revenues to meet expenditure.
Whoops, deficits.
Well then, if we had cut spending like you cut coke with a little speed.
So cutting spending was the entire point? Tax cuts didn’t increase federal tax receipts then?
Yes, No, and pass that bong.
Rinse, repeat, forever in a circle jerk.
He believes his own personal optimism, which he must have picked up in various 12-step programs over the years, desperately, to fill whatever that empty chasm is inside him, and expressing it like mantra on reality stock market shows, will cast a spell on the economic world and 2000 and 2007-8 will therefore not happen.
I’d sooner have Glenda the Good Witch serving as mp’s economic spokesman.
I never listen to the pure optimists or the pure pessimists vis a vis the stock market. They seem pure believers, but they are just talking their grifting book.
He’s a fucking fool, but granted, he’s not Sebastian Gorka.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nglVo9rj2Nk
CharlesWT:
I can’t speak for other guy, but this ….
“He seems to be pretty rational compared to some of Trump’s selections.”
… contains your answer.
Been watching Kudlow for 35 years. He is an additive personality. I’m glad he replaced the cock and alcohol, but not what with.
The other were gateway drugs to his tax ideology. He can’t get enough hits of tax cuts and goes into withdrawal in their absence.
Supply side: will increase revenues to meet expenditure.
Whoops, deficits.
Well then, if we had cut spending like you cut coke with a little speed.
So cutting spending was the entire point? Tax cuts didn’t increase federal tax receipts then?
Yes, No, and pass that bong.
Rinse, repeat, forever in a circle jerk.
He believes his own personal optimism, which he must have picked up in various 12-step programs over the years, desperately, to fill whatever that empty chasm is inside him, and expressing it like mantra on reality stock market shows, will cast a spell on the economic world and 2000 and 2007-8 will therefore not happen.
I’d sooner have Glenda the Good Witch serving as mp’s economic spokesman.
I never listen to the pure optimists or the pure pessimists vis a vis the stock market. They seem pure believers, but they are just talking their grifting book.
He’s a fucking fool, but granted, he’s not Sebastian Gorka.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nglVo9rj2Nk
Probably not “cock”, but the news cycle on Kudlow is young.
Probably not “cock”, but the news cycle on Kudlow is young.
Apparently, the death of Nikolay Glushkov is now being treated as murder, death having occurred by “compression to the neck”.
Apparently, the death of Nikolay Glushkov is now being treated as murder, death having occurred by “compression to the neck”.
Comrade Glushkov fall into orange juicing machine nine times. is very tragic.
Comrade Glushkov fall into orange juicing machine nine times. is very tragic.
What about that guy from TV?
Who’s gonna tell him that Jack Bauer is not available for National Security Advisor?
What about that guy from TV?
Who’s gonna tell him that Jack Bauer is not available for National Security Advisor?
Trump picking Kudlow is just so Trump…
It’s going to be cable TV personalities all the way down…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2018/03/16/daily-202-trump-may-hire-multiple-cable-news-personalities-as-part-of-shake-up/5aab2c5530fb047655a06cdb/
Trump picking Kudlow is just so Trump…
It’s going to be cable TV personalities all the way down…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2018/03/16/daily-202-trump-may-hire-multiple-cable-news-personalities-as-part-of-shake-up/5aab2c5530fb047655a06cdb/
He seems to be pretty rational compared to some of Trump’s selections.
(1) His training in economics is basically “on the job” rather than formal education and (2) he has a long history of being horribly wrong in his predictions.
Granted, coming from a systems analyst/modeling background, I had plenty of my own issues with economics as an academic discipline when I did the first year of a PhD program, so I won’t fault him for (1). But that same background tells me that when you’re wrong as often and badly in predictions as he has been, you have to recognize that there’s something seriously wrong with your formal/mental models.
He seems to be pretty rational compared to some of Trump’s selections.
(1) His training in economics is basically “on the job” rather than formal education and (2) he has a long history of being horribly wrong in his predictions.
Granted, coming from a systems analyst/modeling background, I had plenty of my own issues with economics as an academic discipline when I did the first year of a PhD program, so I won’t fault him for (1). But that same background tells me that when you’re wrong as often and badly in predictions as he has been, you have to recognize that there’s something seriously wrong with your formal/mental models.
Quick! Get the actor who played Jack Bauer and hire him to play the part of National Security Advisor. Definitely an improvement over Bolton. And Trump doesn’t grok the difference between reality and fiction, so that won’t be an issue.
Plus he’s probably had practice coping with irrational directors….
Quick! Get the actor who played Jack Bauer and hire him to play the part of National Security Advisor. Definitely an improvement over Bolton. And Trump doesn’t grok the difference between reality and fiction, so that won’t be an issue.
Plus he’s probably had practice coping with irrational directors….
John “Yosemite Sam” Bolton. Appearance and attitude.
John “Yosemite Sam” Bolton. Appearance and attitude.
cleek, you remind me irresistibly of this marvellous exchange between J K Rowling and someone claiming to be Ana Davis of New York USA, with a stars and stripes next to her name:
Ana Davis: I’m easy going person. I am Donald Trump’s Girl. I trust and believe in God doings. I love my conutry USA.
J K Rowling: I’m sceptical person in conutry Scotland who no trust in you doings.
cleek, you remind me irresistibly of this marvellous exchange between J K Rowling and someone claiming to be Ana Davis of New York USA, with a stars and stripes next to her name:
Ana Davis: I’m easy going person. I am Donald Trump’s Girl. I trust and believe in God doings. I love my conutry USA.
J K Rowling: I’m sceptical person in conutry Scotland who no trust in you doings.
Other celebrity show biz candidates I’d like to see considered for positions inside the White House and this Administration, and very close to mp.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzNPYPp_v78
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yfXgu37iyI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMZfCar-Ks8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mubCkCAEiDQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuZI_7nZbJE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvkK9Av6fiw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7XHygPKbYI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa0VvD7L7fs
Nuclear war, like Larry Kudlow, will seem a rational option as it engulfs America, as we deserve.
Other celebrity show biz candidates I’d like to see considered for positions inside the White House and this Administration, and very close to mp.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzNPYPp_v78
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yfXgu37iyI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMZfCar-Ks8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mubCkCAEiDQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuZI_7nZbJE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvkK9Av6fiw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7XHygPKbYI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa0VvD7L7fs
Nuclear war, like Larry Kudlow, will seem a rational option as it engulfs America, as we deserve.
From Wikipedia:
and
Of course you would want this guy as an advisor! Who could be better?
From Wikipedia:
and
Of course you would want this guy as an advisor! Who could be better?
John “Yosemite Sam” Bolton.
I’m not seeing Bolton as Yosemite Sam (real name: Samuel Michaelangelo Rosenbaum).
He seems more of a Colonel Blimp type, to me.
John “Yosemite Sam” Bolton.
I’m not seeing Bolton as Yosemite Sam (real name: Samuel Michaelangelo Rosenbaum).
He seems more of a Colonel Blimp type, to me.
Yosemite Sam at least managed not to shoot himself (or anyone else) in the foot. Even while achieving liftoff. Cartoon characters who would be a step up on the bozos we’ve got. SAD!
Yosemite Sam at least managed not to shoot himself (or anyone else) in the foot. Even while achieving liftoff. Cartoon characters who would be a step up on the bozos we’ve got. SAD!
That second Kudlow statement preceded his nasal septum dissolving.
“We are in a mental recession.”
FDR considered W.C. Fields for the position of White House dentist on account of his celebrity playing one in the movies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhb0Xy26eys
The entire country is going to need laughing gas, or whatever they are perfuming the air with in Syria.
That second Kudlow statement preceded his nasal septum dissolving.
“We are in a mental recession.”
FDR considered W.C. Fields for the position of White House dentist on account of his celebrity playing one in the movies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhb0Xy26eys
The entire country is going to need laughing gas, or whatever they are perfuming the air with in Syria.
He seems more of a Colonel Blimp type, to me.
But only the original cartoon version. The movie Blimp is a very different animal (inside at least).
He seems more of a Colonel Blimp type, to me.
But only the original cartoon version. The movie Blimp is a very different animal (inside at least).
I think we can now generalize from the particular about mp/republican bugs, just as conservatives do about EVERYONE else:
http://juanitajean.com/just-in-case-you-forgot-about-hateful/
https://www.thedailybeast.com/ex-wife-donald-trump-made-me-feel-violated-during-sex
I think we can now generalize from the particular about mp/republican bugs, just as conservatives do about EVERYONE else:
http://juanitajean.com/just-in-case-you-forgot-about-hateful/
https://www.thedailybeast.com/ex-wife-donald-trump-made-me-feel-violated-during-sex
Larry Kudlow is Still an Idiot
Larry Kudlow is Still an Idiot
turds of a feather
turds of a feather
I’ve done some checking and Kudlow has held some idiot positions on economic policy from my point of view too. Such as advocating for various forms of the broken window facility.
I’ve done some checking and Kudlow has held some idiot positions on economic policy from my point of view too. Such as advocating for various forms of the broken window facility.
My question on Kudlow is, Is there someone who Trump might conceivably have appointed, who would be better. I can think of some who would be worse. Some tariff enthusiasts for example. But better?
My question on Kudlow is, Is there someone who Trump might conceivably have appointed, who would be better. I can think of some who would be worse. Some tariff enthusiasts for example. But better?
Not contesting, by the way, that he’s massively unqualified. But that seems to be a given. But is there a real alternative who’s better?
Not contesting, by the way, that he’s massively unqualified. But that seems to be a given. But is there a real alternative who’s better?
But is there a real alternative who’s better?
Probably not. At this point in time, Trump appears to want a CEA chair who will bless arbitrary tariffs and tax cuts pay for themselves as appropriate policy. Unclear if the populist promises to preserve Social Security and Medicare benefits are valid or not. The list of candidates is short.
This week he seems to be headed for a national security staff willing to rattle sabers loudly in the direction of Iran and North Korea. If he (and Congress) install them, I worry that they will convince him at some point that it’s time to start bombing, and the military will follow orders.
The Count does such fears better.
But is there a real alternative who’s better?
Probably not. At this point in time, Trump appears to want a CEA chair who will bless arbitrary tariffs and tax cuts pay for themselves as appropriate policy. Unclear if the populist promises to preserve Social Security and Medicare benefits are valid or not. The list of candidates is short.
This week he seems to be headed for a national security staff willing to rattle sabers loudly in the direction of Iran and North Korea. If he (and Congress) install them, I worry that they will convince him at some point that it’s time to start bombing, and the military will follow orders.
The Count does such fears better.
wj: My question on Kudlow is …”
My question back atcha is: could the Dems nominate ANYONE in 2020 who would be worse than He, Trump?
The real alternative to Kudlow is ITMFA. The only way that happens is extermination (I’ll settle for political extermination) of the so-called Grand Old Party. Vote Republicans out this year. Vote He, Trump (several times impeached, never convicted) out in 2020. Throw Putin’s puppets in jail in 2021. Alternatively, you can pretend that the majority of Americans will sit still for government by a vicious, racist, Putin-ass-licking minority because “rule of law”. The pretense may prove comforting, as long as it lasts.
–TP
wj: My question on Kudlow is …”
My question back atcha is: could the Dems nominate ANYONE in 2020 who would be worse than He, Trump?
The real alternative to Kudlow is ITMFA. The only way that happens is extermination (I’ll settle for political extermination) of the so-called Grand Old Party. Vote Republicans out this year. Vote He, Trump (several times impeached, never convicted) out in 2020. Throw Putin’s puppets in jail in 2021. Alternatively, you can pretend that the majority of Americans will sit still for government by a vicious, racist, Putin-ass-licking minority because “rule of law”. The pretense may prove comforting, as long as it lasts.
–TP
But is there a real alternative who’s better?
real, given that Trump himself is profoundly stupid and ridiculously unsuitable for the job he holds? no.
it’s like asking if a Magic 8-Ball could have made a better prediction.
But is there a real alternative who’s better?
real, given that Trump himself is profoundly stupid and ridiculously unsuitable for the job he holds? no.
it’s like asking if a Magic 8-Ball could have made a better prediction.
trump fires fbi deputy director andrew mccabe less than two days before his scheduled retirement date. it will probably cost mccabe some years of his pension.
just making another deposit in the big bank o’ karma.
trump fires fbi deputy director andrew mccabe less than two days before his scheduled retirement date. it will probably cost mccabe some years of his pension.
just making another deposit in the big bank o’ karma.
Thanks for the Crooked Timber link, JanieM; a very interesting post.
This is not a solution to the problem, but it is at the perhaps a gesture in the right direction:
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/03/fox-news-and-alex-jones-could-pay-for-pushing-fake-news-about-real-people.html?
Thanks for the Crooked Timber link, JanieM; a very interesting post.
This is not a solution to the problem, but it is at the perhaps a gesture in the right direction:
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/03/fox-news-and-alex-jones-could-pay-for-pushing-fake-news-about-real-people.html?
Great interview with Michael McDonald on the BBC R5 Danny Baker show* this morning.
* A mix of popular culture and unabashed enthusiasm for the relentlessly trivial. A regular Saturday morning delight.
Great interview with Michael McDonald on the BBC R5 Danny Baker show* this morning.
* A mix of popular culture and unabashed enthusiasm for the relentlessly trivial. A regular Saturday morning delight.
just making another deposit in the big bank o’ karma.
and Tillerson was making a deposit of his own.
just making another deposit in the big bank o’ karma.
and Tillerson was making a deposit of his own.
A very well argued piece about extremely obvious bias
https://theintercept.com/2018/03/17/new-york-times-iran-israel-washington-think-tanks/
By Robert Wright, not Glenn.
A very well argued piece about extremely obvious bias
https://theintercept.com/2018/03/17/new-york-times-iran-israel-washington-think-tanks/
By Robert Wright, not Glenn.
Thanks, Donald.
Thanks, Donald.
hard to argue with that. the NYT’s biases are deep and they are legion.
hard to argue with that. the NYT’s biases are deep and they are legion.
good piece, Donald.
FWIW, I do not read the NYT, and have not done since the Bill Keller days. I don’t expect news organs to be totally objective. I assume they will have a point of view, as a corporate (small ‘c’) institution.
What I do expect is that they will at least attempt to be thorough and fact-based. The NYT has failed in that on too many occasions, and occasions that were too consequential, for me to give them my attention.
Beautiful writers, but there are other and IMO better sources of information.
FWIW
good piece, Donald.
FWIW, I do not read the NYT, and have not done since the Bill Keller days. I don’t expect news organs to be totally objective. I assume they will have a point of view, as a corporate (small ‘c’) institution.
What I do expect is that they will at least attempt to be thorough and fact-based. The NYT has failed in that on too many occasions, and occasions that were too consequential, for me to give them my attention.
Beautiful writers, but there are other and IMO better sources of information.
FWIW
Excellent piece, Donald, thank you.
Excellent piece, Donald, thank you.
Thanks, Nigel. I hope those law suits not only succeed but get treble damages. (Maybe someone with more knowledge of the law than I can explain when and why trable damages apply. I just like the sound of it, and think that the more it hurts these jerks the better.)
The article also says that this kind of response is “too slow.” I don’t think I agree. We are dealing here with a significant change in our society: easy wide dissemination of falsehoods as well as information. Not surprisingly, it’s going to take us a while to work out how to constrain/control the bad actors. (I would suggest that, as an add-on, suits be brought against those companies which sponsor shows which routinely spread falsehoods masquerading as news.)
Thanks, Nigel. I hope those law suits not only succeed but get treble damages. (Maybe someone with more knowledge of the law than I can explain when and why trable damages apply. I just like the sound of it, and think that the more it hurts these jerks the better.)
The article also says that this kind of response is “too slow.” I don’t think I agree. We are dealing here with a significant change in our society: easy wide dissemination of falsehoods as well as information. Not surprisingly, it’s going to take us a while to work out how to constrain/control the bad actors. (I would suggest that, as an add-on, suits be brought against those companies which sponsor shows which routinely spread falsehoods masquerading as news.)
cue the cries of “we’re not news, we’re entertainment“.
cue the cries of “we’re not news, we’re entertainment“.
trump fires fbi deputy director andrew mccabe less than two days before his scheduled retirement date. it will probably cost mccabe some years of his pension.
just making another deposit in the big bank o’ karma.
What I find interesting here is that, if memory serves**, McCabe’s actions in 2016 were far more damaging to Clinton than to Trump. Yet liberals seem to be taking his side in this. Instead of recognizing this as just another example of Trump welshing on his debts.
So yes, another deposit in the karma bank. But into a different accounting category.
** And I realize it may be playing tricks on me.
trump fires fbi deputy director andrew mccabe less than two days before his scheduled retirement date. it will probably cost mccabe some years of his pension.
just making another deposit in the big bank o’ karma.
What I find interesting here is that, if memory serves**, McCabe’s actions in 2016 were far more damaging to Clinton than to Trump. Yet liberals seem to be taking his side in this. Instead of recognizing this as just another example of Trump welshing on his debts.
So yes, another deposit in the karma bank. But into a different accounting category.
** And I realize it may be playing tricks on me.
Yet liberals seem to be taking his side in this.
liberals seem to be taking the side of “Trump continues to act like someone who has no idea what he’s doing and is just thrashing about aimlessly”
Yet liberals seem to be taking his side in this.
liberals seem to be taking the side of “Trump continues to act like someone who has no idea what he’s doing and is just thrashing about aimlessly”
I’m just thinking that there are lots of better examples out there to talk about. It’s not like Trump doesn’t provide a wealth of them.
I’m just thinking that there are lots of better examples out there to talk about. It’s not like Trump doesn’t provide a wealth of them.
So the Cambridge Analytica chickens start coming home to roost. And yet, as is the case with Russia, I feel pessimistic that they, or anybody else, will ever actually be held accountable.
So the Cambridge Analytica chickens start coming home to roost. And yet, as is the case with Russia, I feel pessimistic that they, or anybody else, will ever actually be held accountable.
Channel 4 News: What did Steve Bannon want from you?
The CA Whistleblower: Steve Bannon wanted weapons to use in the culture war.
Channel 4 News: And what did you do for him?
CAW: We gave him the weapons [data from 50 million FB profiles, none of whom knew this was being done] and he changed the culture of America.
Channel 4 News: What did Steve Bannon want from you?
The CA Whistleblower: Steve Bannon wanted weapons to use in the culture war.
Channel 4 News: And what did you do for him?
CAW: We gave him the weapons [data from 50 million FB profiles, none of whom knew this was being done] and he changed the culture of America.
What I find interesting here is that, if memory serves**, McCabe’s actions in 2016 were far more damaging to Clinton than to Trump.
What I find I refreshing is, imo, the only way to criticize this is if you believe that the DOJ IG and the FBI disciplinary office folks are mistaken.
Neither of those groups are particularly beholden to Trump and both recommended termination.
One of the benefits, again IMO, of all this investigative fury is that no one is really exempted from it.
For all the people who believe Trump should be impeached, I would say that if he is guilty of something that ratipnal minds believe is impeachable, not just criminal, I’m all for it. But I think McCabe, Comey, Clinton et al should stand the same test.
Rational people should decide to what level their indiscretions rise and they should be treated accordingly.
No regular on this blog, including me, has a rational enough perspective to be making those decisions imo.
So I’ll go with the IG and Mueller as identifiable proxies.
The House Intelligence Committee, neither side, qualifies for me.
What I find interesting here is that, if memory serves**, McCabe’s actions in 2016 were far more damaging to Clinton than to Trump.
What I find I refreshing is, imo, the only way to criticize this is if you believe that the DOJ IG and the FBI disciplinary office folks are mistaken.
Neither of those groups are particularly beholden to Trump and both recommended termination.
One of the benefits, again IMO, of all this investigative fury is that no one is really exempted from it.
For all the people who believe Trump should be impeached, I would say that if he is guilty of something that ratipnal minds believe is impeachable, not just criminal, I’m all for it. But I think McCabe, Comey, Clinton et al should stand the same test.
Rational people should decide to what level their indiscretions rise and they should be treated accordingly.
No regular on this blog, including me, has a rational enough perspective to be making those decisions imo.
So I’ll go with the IG and Mueller as identifiable proxies.
The House Intelligence Committee, neither side, qualifies for me.
McCabe’s actions in 2016 were far more damaging to Clinton than to Trump.
McCabe has backed up Comey’s story regarding his (Comey’s) firing. Which, in turn, is probably right at the top of the list of things which arguably constitute obstruction.
So, McCabe must be deligitimized. Or at least pissed on and bullied.
Yet liberals seem to be taking his side in this.
It’s quite possible that McCabe deserved firing. I don’t know the details. I cite the case as an example of Trump being a bully and a colossal dick.
But you are correct, there is no shortage of those.
As a possibly interesting aside, my understanding, which may be incorrect, is that if McCabe sues for his pension, it may make Trump and Sessions subject to discovery.
Oops!
If Trump actually does go down, IMO the most likely cause will be an own-goal on his part, prompted by his own vanity and sense of entitlement. The man just cannot shut his big fat mouth, or forgo any opportunity to stick it to anyone he thinks he can push around. He’s a bully, a coward, and a vainglorious ass.
You can run, but you can’t hide from who you are.
Trump screwed up. He put himself in a position where he has an adversary he can’t buy, and who can afford more, and better, attorneys than he can.
Oops!
McCabe’s actions in 2016 were far more damaging to Clinton than to Trump.
McCabe has backed up Comey’s story regarding his (Comey’s) firing. Which, in turn, is probably right at the top of the list of things which arguably constitute obstruction.
So, McCabe must be deligitimized. Or at least pissed on and bullied.
Yet liberals seem to be taking his side in this.
It’s quite possible that McCabe deserved firing. I don’t know the details. I cite the case as an example of Trump being a bully and a colossal dick.
But you are correct, there is no shortage of those.
As a possibly interesting aside, my understanding, which may be incorrect, is that if McCabe sues for his pension, it may make Trump and Sessions subject to discovery.
Oops!
If Trump actually does go down, IMO the most likely cause will be an own-goal on his part, prompted by his own vanity and sense of entitlement. The man just cannot shut his big fat mouth, or forgo any opportunity to stick it to anyone he thinks he can push around. He’s a bully, a coward, and a vainglorious ass.
You can run, but you can’t hide from who you are.
Trump screwed up. He put himself in a position where he has an adversary he can’t buy, and who can afford more, and better, attorneys than he can.
Oops!
An interesting choice of divorce lawyer…
http://people.com/politics/vanessa-trump-criminal-attorney-don-jr-divorce-russia-probe/
An interesting choice of divorce lawyer…
http://people.com/politics/vanessa-trump-criminal-attorney-don-jr-divorce-russia-probe/
Neither of those groups are particularly beholden to Trump and both recommended termination.
And both, absent Trump’s personal interference, were happy to let the man retire on schedule.
So I’ll go with the IG and Mueller as identifiable proxies.
Works for me.
Neither of those groups are particularly beholden to Trump and both recommended termination.
And both, absent Trump’s personal interference, were happy to let the man retire on schedule.
So I’ll go with the IG and Mueller as identifiable proxies.
Works for me.
t may make Trump and Sessions subject to discovery.
And if there’s anything that Trump (with reason) fears, it’s discovery. And Trump’s ability, penchant even, for shooting himself in the foot surfaces again.
t may make Trump and Sessions subject to discovery.
And if there’s anything that Trump (with reason) fears, it’s discovery. And Trump’s ability, penchant even, for shooting himself in the foot surfaces again.
“And both, absent Trump’s personal interference, were happy to let the man retire on schedule.”
I suspect neither were happy one way or the other, a recommendation of termination assumes someone else will act, or not. They could have recommended lesser sanction, but they didn’t.
They weren’t in a position to do the actual firing so the recommendation is the only indication of their viee.
“And both, absent Trump’s personal interference, were happy to let the man retire on schedule.”
I suspect neither were happy one way or the other, a recommendation of termination assumes someone else will act, or not. They could have recommended lesser sanction, but they didn’t.
They weren’t in a position to do the actual firing so the recommendation is the only indication of their viee.
And that recurring favorite, the Memo To The File, surfaces again
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fired-fbi-official-andrew-mccabe-kept-memos-of-his-interactions-with-trump-a-person-familiar-with-the-case-says/2018/03/17/8ef5bb0e-2a07-11e8-bc72-077aa4dab9ef_story.html
And that recurring favorite, the Memo To The File, surfaces again
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fired-fbi-official-andrew-mccabe-kept-memos-of-his-interactions-with-trump-a-person-familiar-with-the-case-says/2018/03/17/8ef5bb0e-2a07-11e8-bc72-077aa4dab9ef_story.html
Marcy Wheeler on McCabe.
Marcy Wheeler on McCabe.
He, Trump’s penchant for shooting himself in the foot is matched only by Marty’s propensity to spray Febreeze over the stink of gunpowder.
BTW, whose word are we taking for what the IG report has to say — about McCabe or anything else?
ITMFA. Make America Decent Again.
–TP
He, Trump’s penchant for shooting himself in the foot is matched only by Marty’s propensity to spray Febreeze over the stink of gunpowder.
BTW, whose word are we taking for what the IG report has to say — about McCabe or anything else?
ITMFA. Make America Decent Again.
–TP
That Marcy Wheeler piece is very interesting, russell, and seems sober and grown up. I hadn’t heard of her before, I don’t think, but she’s clearly a voice worth checking in with.
That Marcy Wheeler piece is very interesting, russell, and seems sober and grown up. I hadn’t heard of her before, I don’t think, but she’s clearly a voice worth checking in with.
Her latest piece, on the Cambridge Analytica story, is excellent too. I’m so pleased that she (and Channel 4) are giving Carol Cadwalladr credit for much of this stuff: some of you may remember that I went through a phase of risking boring the arses off the ObWi commentariat with Cadwalladr’s long weekly updates on this story in the Observer. It all seemed to have gone quiet for a long time, I’m so glad it seems to finally be gaining traction again.
https://www.emptywheel.net/2018/03/17/facebook-cuts-off-cambridge-analytica-promises-further-investigation/
Her latest piece, on the Cambridge Analytica story, is excellent too. I’m so pleased that she (and Channel 4) are giving Carol Cadwalladr credit for much of this stuff: some of you may remember that I went through a phase of risking boring the arses off the ObWi commentariat with Cadwalladr’s long weekly updates on this story in the Observer. It all seemed to have gone quiet for a long time, I’m so glad it seems to finally be gaining traction again.
https://www.emptywheel.net/2018/03/17/facebook-cuts-off-cambridge-analytica-promises-further-investigation/
For anyone interested, here’s the Cadwalladr piece which broke the whistleblower stuff, and so all the new action:
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/data-war-whistleblower-christopher-wylie-faceook-nix-bannon-trump?CMP=share_btn_tw
For anyone interested, here’s the Cadwalladr piece which broke the whistleblower stuff, and so all the new action:
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/data-war-whistleblower-christopher-wylie-faceook-nix-bannon-trump?CMP=share_btn_tw
OK, I’ll try not to go on too much about this, and make this my last comment, but for anyone hesitating to read it, OMG the Cadwalladr piece is so fascinating. This whistleblower (actually one of the intellectual architects of the whole thing) is astonishing, and so interesting on Bannon, and to some extent the Mercers.
“The thing I think about all the time is, what if I’d taken a job at Deloitte instead? They offered me one. I just think if I’d taken literally any other job, Cambridge Analytica wouldn’t exist. You have no idea how much I brood on this.”
A few months later, in autumn 2013, Wylie met Steve Bannon. At the time, he was editor-in-chief of Breitbart, which he had brought to Britain to support his friend Nigel Farage in his mission to take Britain out of the European Union.
What was he like?
“Smart,” says Wylie. “Interesting. Really interested in ideas. He’s the only straight man I’ve ever talked to about intersectional feminist theory. He saw its relevance straightaway to the oppressions that conservative, young white men feel.”
And not only conservative, young white men, if McKinney’s reaction is anything to go by.
OK, I’ll try not to go on too much about this, and make this my last comment, but for anyone hesitating to read it, OMG the Cadwalladr piece is so fascinating. This whistleblower (actually one of the intellectual architects of the whole thing) is astonishing, and so interesting on Bannon, and to some extent the Mercers.
“The thing I think about all the time is, what if I’d taken a job at Deloitte instead? They offered me one. I just think if I’d taken literally any other job, Cambridge Analytica wouldn’t exist. You have no idea how much I brood on this.”
A few months later, in autumn 2013, Wylie met Steve Bannon. At the time, he was editor-in-chief of Breitbart, which he had brought to Britain to support his friend Nigel Farage in his mission to take Britain out of the European Union.
What was he like?
“Smart,” says Wylie. “Interesting. Really interested in ideas. He’s the only straight man I’ve ever talked to about intersectional feminist theory. He saw its relevance straightaway to the oppressions that conservative, young white men feel.”
And not only conservative, young white men, if McKinney’s reaction is anything to go by.
The issue regarding McCabe is less about the merits of his firing, and more about the norms regarding Trump’s treatment of a career civil servant.
On this count, Marcy Wheeler handwaves away the problem. Jeffrey Toobin‘s take makes more sense to me.
And, yes, the Cambridge Analytica/Facebook story is pivotal in putting together the pieces of the Russia conspiracy. I was struck by this comment responding to Wheeler on that subject.
The issue regarding McCabe is less about the merits of his firing, and more about the norms regarding Trump’s treatment of a career civil servant.
On this count, Marcy Wheeler handwaves away the problem. Jeffrey Toobin‘s take makes more sense to me.
And, yes, the Cambridge Analytica/Facebook story is pivotal in putting together the pieces of the Russia conspiracy. I was struck by this comment responding to Wheeler on that subject.
And another piece getting to the heart of why McCabe’s firing shouldn’t be countenanced.
And another piece getting to the heart of why McCabe’s firing shouldn’t be countenanced.
The issue regarding McCabe is less about the merits of his firing, and more about the norms regarding Trump’s treatment of a career civil servant.
thank you.
and,i would add, his motivation for doing so.
The issue regarding McCabe is less about the merits of his firing, and more about the norms regarding Trump’s treatment of a career civil servant.
thank you.
and,i would add, his motivation for doing so.
Lawfare on McCabe.
The reason that Marty and I can both agree to leave the resolution of this great big ball of crap in the hands of Mueller, and feel reasonably comfortable doing so, is because *relatively speaking* the FBI and the federal law enforcement and criminal justice systems are, *in general*, mostly free of nakedly political motivation and agenda.
They certainly tend to align with certain points of view, but their motivation doesn’t seem to be purely the advancement of those points of view. In general, they mostly play by the rules.
It is more than hard, it is impossible to overstate the value of that. Absent institutions like that, it’s every man for himself.
Trump is breaking that. That’s why it’s bad.
Lawfare on McCabe.
The reason that Marty and I can both agree to leave the resolution of this great big ball of crap in the hands of Mueller, and feel reasonably comfortable doing so, is because *relatively speaking* the FBI and the federal law enforcement and criminal justice systems are, *in general*, mostly free of nakedly political motivation and agenda.
They certainly tend to align with certain points of view, but their motivation doesn’t seem to be purely the advancement of those points of view. In general, they mostly play by the rules.
It is more than hard, it is impossible to overstate the value of that. Absent institutions like that, it’s every man for himself.
Trump is breaking that. That’s why it’s bad.
my last comment for tonight:
art immelman’s ontological lapseometer is not fiction, but a reality.
its name is facebook.
my last comment for tonight:
art immelman’s ontological lapseometer is not fiction, but a reality.
its name is facebook.
More about Trump and the civil service.
The people who value the rule of law (as mentioned in the Klain editorial) are again mismatched. If and when we gain power again, will we conduct similar purges? We will be reluctant to do that without creating “purges as the new norm”. But without doing that, the “ethic” of the Trump administration will be infecting our civil service for a long time to come.
Dark times.
More about Trump and the civil service.
The people who value the rule of law (as mentioned in the Klain editorial) are again mismatched. If and when we gain power again, will we conduct similar purges? We will be reluctant to do that without creating “purges as the new norm”. But without doing that, the “ethic” of the Trump administration will be infecting our civil service for a long time to come.
Dark times.
It seems like there will be less need for “purges”. After all, most Trump appointees (outside the judiciary, which is a different problem) are in positions which routinely rotate with each new administration. The overwhelming bulk of the Civil Service are still the same folks they’ve always been. (No doubt to the intense irritation of the Trumpistas.)
The judiciary, admittedly, is another story. I don’t know if there is an existing process to weed out mere incompetence (as opposed to malfeasance). If so, there’s lots to be said, in the long run, for just letting the process run its course. But if there isn’t, perhaps there should be.
It seems like there will be less need for “purges”. After all, most Trump appointees (outside the judiciary, which is a different problem) are in positions which routinely rotate with each new administration. The overwhelming bulk of the Civil Service are still the same folks they’ve always been. (No doubt to the intense irritation of the Trumpistas.)
The judiciary, admittedly, is another story. I don’t know if there is an existing process to weed out mere incompetence (as opposed to malfeasance). If so, there’s lots to be said, in the long run, for just letting the process run its course. But if there isn’t, perhaps there should be.
what happens when Trump fires Mueller ?
there won’t be enough Febreeze in the world to cover up that mess. not that Trump’s supporters won’t try.
what happens when Trump fires Mueller ?
there won’t be enough Febreeze in the world to cover up that mess. not that Trump’s supporters won’t try.
If Trump fires Mueller, does the whole group evaporate? I’m sure Trump, ever the one man band, assumes so. But in fact?
I wouldn’t be surprised if the folks that are left file a ton of indictments. And fast. Not to mention those that are already filed but sealed. Trump could be in for a nasty surprise. Especially if some of them name him personally (even if only as an “unindicted co-conspirator”). That would pretty much make an eventual obstruction charge a slam dunk. Not to mention trashing whatever reelection chances he still has.
If Trump fires Mueller, does the whole group evaporate? I’m sure Trump, ever the one man band, assumes so. But in fact?
I wouldn’t be surprised if the folks that are left file a ton of indictments. And fast. Not to mention those that are already filed but sealed. Trump could be in for a nasty surprise. Especially if some of them name him personally (even if only as an “unindicted co-conspirator”). That would pretty much make an eventual obstruction charge a slam dunk. Not to mention trashing whatever reelection chances he still has.
And isn’t this fun?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/03/17/andrew-mccabe-was-just-offered-a-job-by-a-congressman-so-he-can-get-his-full-retirement-and-it-just-might-work/
I tend to dislike people gaming the system. For example piling up a lot of unused vacation in their final year in order to ramp their final year’s pay, and so their pension. But in this case, where the timing of the firing was so clearly petty and vindictive, I’d mostly be amused that the firing didn’t accomplish its intended purpose.
And isn’t this fun?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/03/17/andrew-mccabe-was-just-offered-a-job-by-a-congressman-so-he-can-get-his-full-retirement-and-it-just-might-work/
I tend to dislike people gaming the system. For example piling up a lot of unused vacation in their final year in order to ramp their final year’s pay, and so their pension. But in this case, where the timing of the firing was so clearly petty and vindictive, I’d mostly be amused that the firing didn’t accomplish its intended purpose.
what happens when Trump fires Mueller ?
then it’s time to hit the bricks and make a lot of noise.
it’d be nice to get about 10 million people to show up. you could be one of them.
what happens when Trump fires Mueller ?
then it’s time to hit the bricks and make a lot of noise.
it’d be nice to get about 10 million people to show up. you could be one of them.
I tend to dislike people gaming the system.
The description of qualifications from a site that advises federal workers says there are three qualifications: (a) 20 years of law enforcement service (McCabe has that); (b) age 50 (McCabe has that as of today, I think); and (c) still employed by the federal government. No requirement that you retire from a qualifying law enforcement position. Allowing employees to use accumulated leave to reach either the 20 or 50 is standard practice.
There appear to be millions of federal jobs that, the day McCabe is hired for one, he would be eligible to retire from at his full law enforcement pension. Trump/Sessions seem to be gambling that they can make dismissal “for cause” stand up and turn that into some sort of pension disqualification. Or perhaps more accurately, are willing to spend taxpayer dollars making that claim stand up.
I tend to dislike people gaming the system.
The description of qualifications from a site that advises federal workers says there are three qualifications: (a) 20 years of law enforcement service (McCabe has that); (b) age 50 (McCabe has that as of today, I think); and (c) still employed by the federal government. No requirement that you retire from a qualifying law enforcement position. Allowing employees to use accumulated leave to reach either the 20 or 50 is standard practice.
There appear to be millions of federal jobs that, the day McCabe is hired for one, he would be eligible to retire from at his full law enforcement pension. Trump/Sessions seem to be gambling that they can make dismissal “for cause” stand up and turn that into some sort of pension disqualification. Or perhaps more accurately, are willing to spend taxpayer dollars making that claim stand up.
wj: what happens when Trump fires Mueller ?
russell: then it’s time to hit the bricks and make a lot of noise. it’d be nice to get about 10 million people to show up. you could be one of them.
me: helpful in knowing where/when to show up
wj: what happens when Trump fires Mueller ?
russell: then it’s time to hit the bricks and make a lot of noise. it’d be nice to get about 10 million people to show up. you could be one of them.
me: helpful in knowing where/when to show up
Sorry, that was the link for Augusta.
Here’s the more general one.
Sorry, that was the link for Augusta.
Here’s the more general one.
Gerrymandering is gaming the system. Voter suppression is gaming the system. SuperPACs are gaming the system. No wonder some of us dislike people who “game the system”.
–TP
Gerrymandering is gaming the system. Voter suppression is gaming the system. SuperPACs are gaming the system. No wonder some of us dislike people who “game the system”.
–TP
Allowing employees to use accumulated leave to reach either the 20 or 50 is standard practice.
Yeah, I don’t get the issue with accumulated leave either.
If you have accumulated leave, it’s because you didn’t take time off that was owed to you was a part of your compensation. Instead of taking the time off, you worked.
So, as far as I can tell, it’s something you earned. It’s not “gaming the system”, it’s a choice about how you allocate stuff that belongs to you.
If employers don’t want that, they need to negotiate a different deal. Many places (including where I work) cap how much leave you can carry over.
If they want to cap that, chances are they will have to give something else back.
That’s the way it works. Or, ought to.
Allowing employees to use accumulated leave to reach either the 20 or 50 is standard practice.
Yeah, I don’t get the issue with accumulated leave either.
If you have accumulated leave, it’s because you didn’t take time off that was owed to you was a part of your compensation. Instead of taking the time off, you worked.
So, as far as I can tell, it’s something you earned. It’s not “gaming the system”, it’s a choice about how you allocate stuff that belongs to you.
If employers don’t want that, they need to negotiate a different deal. Many places (including where I work) cap how much leave you can carry over.
If they want to cap that, chances are they will have to give something else back.
That’s the way it works. Or, ought to.
It goes without saying that I’m with you all on civilised norms being trashed, respect for the rule of law etc, and I personally would be delighted if McCabe gets his full benefits to thwart this clear vindictiveness. But I just wanted to respond to something that sapient I think said upthread, about the Cambridge Analytica/Facebook situation. I don’t think its primary value is in supplying a missing piece of the Russia puzzle, valuable though that may be. I think its primary value is in highlighting how big American money (in this case Mercer’s) was aiming to, and has been able to, subvert your democratic processes. Of course it just follows on from Citizens United, and corporations being people, and other highly regrettable developments, but I think the elements of a) theft and b) covert psychological manipulation are something rather new which need exposing to the sunlight, and dealing with.
It goes without saying that I’m with you all on civilised norms being trashed, respect for the rule of law etc, and I personally would be delighted if McCabe gets his full benefits to thwart this clear vindictiveness. But I just wanted to respond to something that sapient I think said upthread, about the Cambridge Analytica/Facebook situation. I don’t think its primary value is in supplying a missing piece of the Russia puzzle, valuable though that may be. I think its primary value is in highlighting how big American money (in this case Mercer’s) was aiming to, and has been able to, subvert your democratic processes. Of course it just follows on from Citizens United, and corporations being people, and other highly regrettable developments, but I think the elements of a) theft and b) covert psychological manipulation are something rather new which need exposing to the sunlight, and dealing with.
If I understand it correctly, when a government employee retires, they’re paid for any untaken paid leave at their current wage. If their pension payout is based on their retirement year’s income, saving paid leave until then can give their pension payout a nice boost.
If I understand it correctly, when a government employee retires, they’re paid for any untaken paid leave at their current wage. If their pension payout is based on their retirement year’s income, saving paid leave until then can give their pension payout a nice boost.
Yeah, I don’t get the issue with accumulated leave either.
The problem is this. Suppose you cash out 8 weeks accumulated leave when you retire. Then you last year’s “salary” is 14 months pay! That is, your retirement pay is based on something more than 10% higher than what your actual salary was. Some people manage to pile up almost 6 months unused leave.
That’s what the problem with accumulated leave is. That you get paid for your accumulated leave is, as you say, not a problem. It’s the pension impact that is.
Yeah, I don’t get the issue with accumulated leave either.
The problem is this. Suppose you cash out 8 weeks accumulated leave when you retire. Then you last year’s “salary” is 14 months pay! That is, your retirement pay is based on something more than 10% higher than what your actual salary was. Some people manage to pile up almost 6 months unused leave.
That’s what the problem with accumulated leave is. That you get paid for your accumulated leave is, as you say, not a problem. It’s the pension impact that is.
Why try to understand Civil Service leave policy in a vacuum? There is this place call the Office of Management and Budget with plenty of .gov web addresses that are readily accessible to the public.
Here’s one: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/leave-administration/
Knock yourselves out.
A retiring federal employee receives a lump sum payment for accrued ANNUAL Leave. There are limits on how much annual leave can be carried over from year to year, so an employee who, for example, never takes annual leave during his or her career loses nearly all of it, except what he and she earns in their final few years.
Sick leave, on the other hand, does accrue from year to year, so yes, those accrued hours are figured into an increase in their retirement annuity, at most a few percentage points.
These rules vary according to whether one is on the CSRS system pre-early 1980s or the FERS system, post early 1980s.
But here’s how it works, however, for a federal government employee (YMMV will vary at the state and local government levels). If you are a stellar employee who takes very little annual and sick leave throughout your careers, you get no credit from the American public you serve, except contempt.
When you collect the the money for the hours owed you at the end, it turns out you’ve been conniving all along for a nice boost, including the contempt.
If you use your annual and sick leave as it accumulates over the course of your career (and, yes, more often than not, your superior will stand on your desk and ask what the fuck is up) , with none left over when you leave Federal service, you are a lazy, overpaid piker who is never in his office, so just like the guy who took no leave, the same degree of contempt is applied as to our first example, except the first guy is doubly in dutch, because he and she are assumed to be on sick leave suffering from various politically correct syndromes, by the American public, which itself, as a general class of people who THINK they know something,, is little more than a poisonous Reddit site with little reference to reality.
Natch, both types of federal employees, and all who fall between those two extremes, are spending the rest of their time viewing porn on their computers, right, mates?
Yeah but, federal employees are overpaid, blah, blah, blah.
Yeah, we are. It’s a bonus for becoming a suspect.
Apply for a federal position if it’s so fucking lucrative and then shut the fuck up.
Perhaps you are neither smart, experienced, competent, or good looking enough to handle it.
And yet, despite those shortfalls, you are too good to work for the government.
I’m sure those accusations are NOT true, but if I repeat them enough times, they become true fact, as we do in America, a long tradition.
I can’t tell you how sick and tired I am of paying inflated prices for goods and services provided by the American private sector who overpay both salaries and benefits, which compared to most of the rest of the world, are extravagant.
So, we’d better move jobs overseas and automate and spavine the unions, right?
Whatever it is, Americans spend most of their time trying to find ways to fuck their fellow Americans while of course THINKING they are exempting their own selves from the fucking.
We deserve mp in a nuke sandwich.
I can no longer comment on the Mueller thing, because no one will like what I know needs to happen, especially the NSA.
Why try to understand Civil Service leave policy in a vacuum? There is this place call the Office of Management and Budget with plenty of .gov web addresses that are readily accessible to the public.
Here’s one: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/leave-administration/
Knock yourselves out.
A retiring federal employee receives a lump sum payment for accrued ANNUAL Leave. There are limits on how much annual leave can be carried over from year to year, so an employee who, for example, never takes annual leave during his or her career loses nearly all of it, except what he and she earns in their final few years.
Sick leave, on the other hand, does accrue from year to year, so yes, those accrued hours are figured into an increase in their retirement annuity, at most a few percentage points.
These rules vary according to whether one is on the CSRS system pre-early 1980s or the FERS system, post early 1980s.
But here’s how it works, however, for a federal government employee (YMMV will vary at the state and local government levels). If you are a stellar employee who takes very little annual and sick leave throughout your careers, you get no credit from the American public you serve, except contempt.
When you collect the the money for the hours owed you at the end, it turns out you’ve been conniving all along for a nice boost, including the contempt.
If you use your annual and sick leave as it accumulates over the course of your career (and, yes, more often than not, your superior will stand on your desk and ask what the fuck is up) , with none left over when you leave Federal service, you are a lazy, overpaid piker who is never in his office, so just like the guy who took no leave, the same degree of contempt is applied as to our first example, except the first guy is doubly in dutch, because he and she are assumed to be on sick leave suffering from various politically correct syndromes, by the American public, which itself, as a general class of people who THINK they know something,, is little more than a poisonous Reddit site with little reference to reality.
Natch, both types of federal employees, and all who fall between those two extremes, are spending the rest of their time viewing porn on their computers, right, mates?
Yeah but, federal employees are overpaid, blah, blah, blah.
Yeah, we are. It’s a bonus for becoming a suspect.
Apply for a federal position if it’s so fucking lucrative and then shut the fuck up.
Perhaps you are neither smart, experienced, competent, or good looking enough to handle it.
And yet, despite those shortfalls, you are too good to work for the government.
I’m sure those accusations are NOT true, but if I repeat them enough times, they become true fact, as we do in America, a long tradition.
I can’t tell you how sick and tired I am of paying inflated prices for goods and services provided by the American private sector who overpay both salaries and benefits, which compared to most of the rest of the world, are extravagant.
So, we’d better move jobs overseas and automate and spavine the unions, right?
Whatever it is, Americans spend most of their time trying to find ways to fuck their fellow Americans while of course THINKING they are exempting their own selves from the fucking.
We deserve mp in a nuke sandwich.
I can no longer comment on the Mueller thing, because no one will like what I know needs to happen, especially the NSA.
I think its primary value is in highlighting how big American money (in this case Mercer’s) was aiming to, and has been able to, subvert your democratic processes.
We have known that the Mercers have been the largest money people behind Cambridge Analytica (and other election efforts) for awhile now, although it certainly seems that the Facebook connection might implicate them in fraud, and I certainly hope someone figures out a way to lock them up. I’m not sure their wealth can be called “American”: their ties to Deutsche Bank and Renaissance Technologies’s hedge fund holdings are international; Cambridge Analytica is British based. Rebekah is recently divorced from French-born, Morgan Stanley managing director Sylvain Michel Mirochnikoff. Mercer influence is not just American, obviously, either: Brexit, for example.
Again, the comment to the Wheeler piece.
Mercer acquired his big data chops at IBM. IBM and big data helped Hitler out with the Holocaust. Everything old is new again.
This is a vast, world-wide right-wing conspiracy. Hillary Clinton tried to tell us.
I think its primary value is in highlighting how big American money (in this case Mercer’s) was aiming to, and has been able to, subvert your democratic processes.
We have known that the Mercers have been the largest money people behind Cambridge Analytica (and other election efforts) for awhile now, although it certainly seems that the Facebook connection might implicate them in fraud, and I certainly hope someone figures out a way to lock them up. I’m not sure their wealth can be called “American”: their ties to Deutsche Bank and Renaissance Technologies’s hedge fund holdings are international; Cambridge Analytica is British based. Rebekah is recently divorced from French-born, Morgan Stanley managing director Sylvain Michel Mirochnikoff. Mercer influence is not just American, obviously, either: Brexit, for example.
Again, the comment to the Wheeler piece.
Mercer acquired his big data chops at IBM. IBM and big data helped Hitler out with the Holocaust. Everything old is new again.
This is a vast, world-wide right-wing conspiracy. Hillary Clinton tried to tell us.
Count, nobody (that I know of) is objecting to someone getting a lump sum payment for leave not taken. It’s using it to ramp up his supposed final year’s salary, and hence his pension, that bugs me.
Count, nobody (that I know of) is objecting to someone getting a lump sum payment for leave not taken. It’s using it to ramp up his supposed final year’s salary, and hence his pension, that bugs me.
Principals at Mercer’s Renaissance Tech – including Mercer personally – are currently in a dispute with the IRS over $6.8 billion-with-a-B in back taxes.
So, another… complication.
Pick up any rock, there are maggots under them all.
Principals at Mercer’s Renaissance Tech – including Mercer personally – are currently in a dispute with the IRS over $6.8 billion-with-a-B in back taxes.
So, another… complication.
Pick up any rock, there are maggots under them all.
“It’s weaponized popularity” Just a random comment from the LGM thread on Cambridge Analytica and Facebook
No. Worse. It’s universally commodified popularity. Jodi Dean calls social media in Blog Theory the “circulation of commodified affect.” The reference is to the market and the circulation of commodities as the means of accumulating capital.
Social media is the circulation of feelings for the profit of platforms and the pleasure of the producers/consumers(us). Advanced is seeing that is is a shift in the general nature of capitalism, and say the stock market is more about the circulation and exchange of feelings about stocks than objective info.
Used to be 3-6-10 people would share your relationship with your cat. Now it can be millions, and you can make a living with it on youtube. Most of us are failures because we don’t have thousands of followers. “Here, honey, right up to my chest. The book will stop the bullet.”
Affect is a directed emotion:I like Ike. I hate Trump. OMG, the school shooting. What about that NCAA upset? Some streams storms and flows are more viral and profitable than others.
What has this to do with Trump? Oh, lots. Trump tweeting and acting outrageously sure keeps the affect flow moving fast. Likes and dislikes aren’t mutually destructive, they’re additive.
“It’s weaponized popularity” Just a random comment from the LGM thread on Cambridge Analytica and Facebook
No. Worse. It’s universally commodified popularity. Jodi Dean calls social media in Blog Theory the “circulation of commodified affect.” The reference is to the market and the circulation of commodities as the means of accumulating capital.
Social media is the circulation of feelings for the profit of platforms and the pleasure of the producers/consumers(us). Advanced is seeing that is is a shift in the general nature of capitalism, and say the stock market is more about the circulation and exchange of feelings about stocks than objective info.
Used to be 3-6-10 people would share your relationship with your cat. Now it can be millions, and you can make a living with it on youtube. Most of us are failures because we don’t have thousands of followers. “Here, honey, right up to my chest. The book will stop the bullet.”
Affect is a directed emotion:I like Ike. I hate Trump. OMG, the school shooting. What about that NCAA upset? Some streams storms and flows are more viral and profitable than others.
What has this to do with Trump? Oh, lots. Trump tweeting and acting outrageously sure keeps the affect flow moving fast. Likes and dislikes aren’t mutually destructive, they’re additive.
wk: no sweat, just working off forty years of accumulated frustration with what Americans THINK they know about folks who work for the government.
But I’m not sure how you think this works on the federal level.
The hours allowed to accumulate (that accumulation is limited) as annual leave at retirement are paid out in a lump sum.
Accumulated sick leave hours over a career “ramp up” the pension, to some extent.
But, maybe the individual was healthy all of his or her life. Maybe the individual was responsible enough to not take sick leave on principle because they liked doing the work on the job.
I don’t recall EVER calculating or even thinking to myself both times I worked for the federal government (only a combination of eight years; my ex-wife was a federal scientist for close to 40 years and the taxpayer got a great deal out of her) how not using my sick leave might enhance my possible pension decades down the road.
If you are a federal manager, what would you prefer, an employee who uses up every hour of sick leave as they go, or a person who shows up to work as much as possible?
Yes, I expect some (do we have numbers on this?) long-time federal employees might begin to bank those sick leave hours as they approach their retirement date to enhance their pension.
But maybe they liked their jobs and decided to spend as much time at work as possible those last few years before they were put out to pasture.
How do we know anything about this?
It is true at the municipal and state levels, mostly among long-time police, fireman, and higher grade employees that scheming occurs on an egregious level to fatten their pensions.
Republican Congressman and Senators work how many days a year?
If we want to slash benefits, start with those goldbrickers.
Start with their penchant for bunking in their offices.
I could have saved a lot of money sleeping in my government office.
Paul Ryan. He has a 13-room mansion in Wisconsin.
Use it.
wk: no sweat, just working off forty years of accumulated frustration with what Americans THINK they know about folks who work for the government.
But I’m not sure how you think this works on the federal level.
The hours allowed to accumulate (that accumulation is limited) as annual leave at retirement are paid out in a lump sum.
Accumulated sick leave hours over a career “ramp up” the pension, to some extent.
But, maybe the individual was healthy all of his or her life. Maybe the individual was responsible enough to not take sick leave on principle because they liked doing the work on the job.
I don’t recall EVER calculating or even thinking to myself both times I worked for the federal government (only a combination of eight years; my ex-wife was a federal scientist for close to 40 years and the taxpayer got a great deal out of her) how not using my sick leave might enhance my possible pension decades down the road.
If you are a federal manager, what would you prefer, an employee who uses up every hour of sick leave as they go, or a person who shows up to work as much as possible?
Yes, I expect some (do we have numbers on this?) long-time federal employees might begin to bank those sick leave hours as they approach their retirement date to enhance their pension.
But maybe they liked their jobs and decided to spend as much time at work as possible those last few years before they were put out to pasture.
How do we know anything about this?
It is true at the municipal and state levels, mostly among long-time police, fireman, and higher grade employees that scheming occurs on an egregious level to fatten their pensions.
Republican Congressman and Senators work how many days a year?
If we want to slash benefits, start with those goldbrickers.
Start with their penchant for bunking in their offices.
I could have saved a lot of money sleeping in my government office.
Paul Ryan. He has a 13-room mansion in Wisconsin.
Use it.
Count, I may well be guilty of assuming that the abuse I see at the state and local level also happens (or is able to happen) at the Federal level. If it isn’t, I think that’s great.
As far as I can tell, Senators and Congressmen (or either party) work 3 day weeks. They spend Friday and Monday traveling, so they can spend the entire weekend at home. Where, typically, they have left their families. I think we were better served when they took their families with them to Washington.
They might have fewer days of face time with their constituents, although that is less of a problem with modern technology. But it a) let them spend full time on actually doing their jobs, and b) meant that they were far more likely to interact socially with their fellow Congressmen. Which resulted in a lot more bipartisan action, since it is harder to demonize someone when you just spent the evening sitting next to him cheering on you kids basketball team or something.
Count, I may well be guilty of assuming that the abuse I see at the state and local level also happens (or is able to happen) at the Federal level. If it isn’t, I think that’s great.
As far as I can tell, Senators and Congressmen (or either party) work 3 day weeks. They spend Friday and Monday traveling, so they can spend the entire weekend at home. Where, typically, they have left their families. I think we were better served when they took their families with them to Washington.
They might have fewer days of face time with their constituents, although that is less of a problem with modern technology. But it a) let them spend full time on actually doing their jobs, and b) meant that they were far more likely to interact socially with their fellow Congressmen. Which resulted in a lot more bipartisan action, since it is harder to demonize someone when you just spent the evening sitting next to him cheering on you kids basketball team or something.
Certainly, the Mercers’ funding of CA was known ages ago, it was in all the articles I linked last year. When I italicised American wealth, I was trying to differentiate it from Russian influence, irrespective of who the Mercers marry or where their wealth originated, and irrespective of where CA are based. Speaking of which, I am extremely exercised about the influence CA (and therefore Bannon and the Mercers) exercised over the Brexit debacle, I see it as just the same kind of dangerous and illegitimate activity as what they did in your election. And it’s true, whatever other motives were involved, it’s clear that both examples gave Russia exactly what it wanted. It’s an extremely ugly can of worms, and as I mentioned, I’m not brimful of confidence that the situation can be corrected or the malefactors brought to justice. But one can hope.
Certainly, the Mercers’ funding of CA was known ages ago, it was in all the articles I linked last year. When I italicised American wealth, I was trying to differentiate it from Russian influence, irrespective of who the Mercers marry or where their wealth originated, and irrespective of where CA are based. Speaking of which, I am extremely exercised about the influence CA (and therefore Bannon and the Mercers) exercised over the Brexit debacle, I see it as just the same kind of dangerous and illegitimate activity as what they did in your election. And it’s true, whatever other motives were involved, it’s clear that both examples gave Russia exactly what it wanted. It’s an extremely ugly can of worms, and as I mentioned, I’m not brimful of confidence that the situation can be corrected or the malefactors brought to justice. But one can hope.
To clarify: Russian meddling in your election is I believe illegal. As far as I know, billionaire Americans meddling isn’t.
To clarify: Russian meddling in your election is I believe illegal. As far as I know, billionaire Americans meddling isn’t.
As far as I know, billionaire Americans meddling isn’t.
all those dollars have to be heard. it would be censorship, otherwise.
As far as I know, billionaire Americans meddling isn’t.
all those dollars have to be heard. it would be censorship, otherwise.
billionaire Americans meddling isn’t
Stealing personal data under false pretenses may well be. Money laundering is. We’re not sure about the details about all they do.
billionaire Americans meddling isn’t
Stealing personal data under false pretenses may well be. Money laundering is. We’re not sure about the details about all they do.
“Which resulted in a lot more bipartisan action, since it is harder to demonize someone when you just spent the evening sitting next to him cheering on you kids basketball team or something.”
Agreed.
As noted ad nauseum by moi over the years, thank New Gingrich, Tom Delay, Dick Armey, and Frank Luntz and their fellow revolutionaries for messaging to their caucus that all fraternizing with the opposition, referred to by various insults, including social time with families, would stop.
At this point, I hope it continues. I wouldn’t trust the spouse or children of a lying, thieving, cheating republican with my family anyway.
“Which resulted in a lot more bipartisan action, since it is harder to demonize someone when you just spent the evening sitting next to him cheering on you kids basketball team or something.”
Agreed.
As noted ad nauseum by moi over the years, thank New Gingrich, Tom Delay, Dick Armey, and Frank Luntz and their fellow revolutionaries for messaging to their caucus that all fraternizing with the opposition, referred to by various insults, including social time with families, would stop.
At this point, I hope it continues. I wouldn’t trust the spouse or children of a lying, thieving, cheating republican with my family anyway.
America is a fucking disgrace. An exceptionally dispensable country:
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-had-senior-wh-staff-sign-ndas-wapo-deputy-editorial-page-editor-says
America is a fucking disgrace. An exceptionally dispensable country:
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-had-senior-wh-staff-sign-ndas-wapo-deputy-editorial-page-editor-says
I’m kind of beyond the “coming around to” thing and have pretty much arrived at the point of believing our best days as a nation are in the past.
It’s always been kind of sketchy, but I actually do think we – the US – has held some valuable things up to the rest of the world. Honored in the breach, maybe, or via lip service, but honored nonetheless. And, I think it’s been worthwhile, and I think a lot of people have benefited from it and appreciated it.
I just don’t think we’re even trying anymore. Donald J Trump has a 40% approval rating. That means out of every 5 people in the country, 2 think he’s doing just fine.
We’re no longer a serious country. We still have lots of money and guns, so other folks can’t actually laugh at us to our faces, but I suspect the reaction when we walk out of the room is some combination of mockery, pity, and disgust.
And why not? My own reaction is some combination of mockery, pity, and disgust.
So, who’s going to pick up the torch? That’s my question at this point.
I’m kind of beyond the “coming around to” thing and have pretty much arrived at the point of believing our best days as a nation are in the past.
It’s always been kind of sketchy, but I actually do think we – the US – has held some valuable things up to the rest of the world. Honored in the breach, maybe, or via lip service, but honored nonetheless. And, I think it’s been worthwhile, and I think a lot of people have benefited from it and appreciated it.
I just don’t think we’re even trying anymore. Donald J Trump has a 40% approval rating. That means out of every 5 people in the country, 2 think he’s doing just fine.
We’re no longer a serious country. We still have lots of money and guns, so other folks can’t actually laugh at us to our faces, but I suspect the reaction when we walk out of the room is some combination of mockery, pity, and disgust.
And why not? My own reaction is some combination of mockery, pity, and disgust.
So, who’s going to pick up the torch? That’s my question at this point.
Check it out: the Netherlands, the #2 exporter of food by volume in the whole freaking world. They do it without intensive use of insecticides or other adulterants. They just use their freaking heads and their sense of constructive common national purpose.
We’re number 1, for another five minutes. We have 270 times the land mass of the Netherlands, and one-one-thousandth the basic pragmatic common sense.
We’re leaving a big, gaping hole in world leadership, on about 100 different fronts, and the rest of the world is perfectly happy to step in and kick our ass.
Nothing wrong with that, it’s good old market-based competitive dynamics. We just don’t have any game anymore. We’re busy Making America Great Again. The rest of the world is busy working around us to get shit done.
America, the sloppy self-delusional drunken has-been nation. Yeah, but you shoulda seen us in WWII!!
Tell that to a Russian. Just saying.
Make America Wake The Fuck Up And Smell The Coffee Again. This ain’t no reality show.
Check it out: the Netherlands, the #2 exporter of food by volume in the whole freaking world. They do it without intensive use of insecticides or other adulterants. They just use their freaking heads and their sense of constructive common national purpose.
We’re number 1, for another five minutes. We have 270 times the land mass of the Netherlands, and one-one-thousandth the basic pragmatic common sense.
We’re leaving a big, gaping hole in world leadership, on about 100 different fronts, and the rest of the world is perfectly happy to step in and kick our ass.
Nothing wrong with that, it’s good old market-based competitive dynamics. We just don’t have any game anymore. We’re busy Making America Great Again. The rest of the world is busy working around us to get shit done.
America, the sloppy self-delusional drunken has-been nation. Yeah, but you shoulda seen us in WWII!!
Tell that to a Russian. Just saying.
Make America Wake The Fuck Up And Smell The Coffee Again. This ain’t no reality show.
I’m kind of beyond the “coming around to” thing and have pretty much arrived at the point of believing our best days as a nation are in the past.
IF, and I submit it’s a big if, we keep going down this path, then I may look back and agree with you. But for the moment, I’m unwilling to assume that we won’t manage to turn things back around.
I’m kind of beyond the “coming around to” thing and have pretty much arrived at the point of believing our best days as a nation are in the past.
IF, and I submit it’s a big if, we keep going down this path, then I may look back and agree with you. But for the moment, I’m unwilling to assume that we won’t manage to turn things back around.
Open thread, right?
A couple weeks ago several people here mentioned VSL#3. I have IBS, and I decided to give it a try (despite the cost).
It’s early days yet, but you may have changed my life. I thank you, my family thanks you (you know what they say about When Momma Ain’t Happy). Wow.
Open thread, right?
A couple weeks ago several people here mentioned VSL#3. I have IBS, and I decided to give it a try (despite the cost).
It’s early days yet, but you may have changed my life. I thank you, my family thanks you (you know what they say about When Momma Ain’t Happy). Wow.
Libertarians tend to be pretty optimistic about the country. But then we don’t see politics and government as the be-all and end-all of the country.
Libertarians tend to be pretty optimistic about the country. But then we don’t see politics and government as the be-all and end-all of the country.
You’re welcome, Dr Science.
You’re welcome, Dr Science.
If, however, you find after some months that it stops being so effective, you may need to discontinue it for a couple of months and then start again.
If, however, you find after some months that it stops being so effective, you may need to discontinue it for a couple of months and then start again.
The Netherlands is also the world’s sixth largest food importer. There must be a lot of import-export going on.
The Netherlands is also the world’s sixth largest food importer. There must be a lot of import-export going on.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/retaliation-against-civil-servants-goes-into-hyperdrive-under-trump
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD6fvzGIBfQ
They want it darker.
They will have it.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/retaliation-against-civil-servants-goes-into-hyperdrive-under-trump
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD6fvzGIBfQ
They want it darker.
They will have it.
The Netherlands is also the world’s sixth largest food importer. There must be a lot of import-export going on.
Rotterdam is the largest, and Amsterdam the fourth largest port in Europe.
The import/export figures are just a little out of kilter with the size of the economy…
The Netherlands is also the world’s sixth largest food importer. There must be a lot of import-export going on.
Rotterdam is the largest, and Amsterdam the fourth largest port in Europe.
The import/export figures are just a little out of kilter with the size of the economy…
The Netherlands is also the world’s sixth largest food importer
2nd for export, 6th for import.
advantage netherlands.
2 of the 5 largest ports in europe. advantage netherlands.
as the sea levels rise, folks here in the coastal northeast US quite often turn to the dutch for tecnology and expertise in managing that. advantage netherlands.
it’s a country of about 17 million people. it’s the size of MA and CT put together. they’re punching way above their weight.
good job, netherlands! you deserve every success.
our understanding of how to be “great again” seems, in comparison, lacking.
wanna be great, or great “again”? you gotta work for it. we think it’s our birthright. it’s not.
The Netherlands is also the world’s sixth largest food importer
2nd for export, 6th for import.
advantage netherlands.
2 of the 5 largest ports in europe. advantage netherlands.
as the sea levels rise, folks here in the coastal northeast US quite often turn to the dutch for tecnology and expertise in managing that. advantage netherlands.
it’s a country of about 17 million people. it’s the size of MA and CT put together. they’re punching way above their weight.
good job, netherlands! you deserve every success.
our understanding of how to be “great again” seems, in comparison, lacking.
wanna be great, or great “again”? you gotta work for it. we think it’s our birthright. it’s not.
But how much of the food exported from the Netherlands is grown there ?
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-had-senior-wh-staff-sign-ndas-wapo-deputy-editorial-page-editor-says
So Trump treats his interactions with White House staff in the same way as those with porn stars ?
But how much of the food exported from the Netherlands is grown there ?
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-had-senior-wh-staff-sign-ndas-wapo-deputy-editorial-page-editor-says
So Trump treats his interactions with White House staff in the same way as those with porn stars ?
The Netherlands is also the world’s sixth largest food importer. There must be a lot of import-export going on.
It’s a complicated subject.
About 30% of the Netherlands’ agricultural exports are products that were previously imported. The largest single category for agricultural exports, about 10% by value, is flowers and bulbs, of which they are the largest exporter in the world.
The “feeds the world” claim at the referenced article is not even remotely true. By calories, the Netherlands doesn’t make the top ten exporters in the world. In fact, they often make the list of ten countries least self-sufficient in calories. The dominant calorie exporters are the big grain producers: the US, Argentina, Australia, Ukraine, etc. Egypt, for example, is hugely dependent on wheat imports for basic calories, and by itself imports an order of magnitude more wheat than the Netherlands produces.
None of which takes away from the Netherlands agricultural accomplishments.
The Netherlands is also the world’s sixth largest food importer. There must be a lot of import-export going on.
It’s a complicated subject.
About 30% of the Netherlands’ agricultural exports are products that were previously imported. The largest single category for agricultural exports, about 10% by value, is flowers and bulbs, of which they are the largest exporter in the world.
The “feeds the world” claim at the referenced article is not even remotely true. By calories, the Netherlands doesn’t make the top ten exporters in the world. In fact, they often make the list of ten countries least self-sufficient in calories. The dominant calorie exporters are the big grain producers: the US, Argentina, Australia, Ukraine, etc. Egypt, for example, is hugely dependent on wheat imports for basic calories, and by itself imports an order of magnitude more wheat than the Netherlands produces.
None of which takes away from the Netherlands agricultural accomplishments.
It’s a complicated subject.
It always is.
My perception is that the US is heading into a state of some kind of decadence. Not “Bob Guccioni’s Caligula” decadence, but a lack of vigor. A loss of energy and resilience.
I’m not in the “We’re number 1 America F*** Yeah!” camp. But I’m also not in the “America sux burn it down!” camp. I’d like to see us get to a place where we aren’t a nation of a handful of billionaires and millions of people who need food stamps to get by.
Tariffs aren’t going to do that, MAGA hats aren’t going to do that, pissing all over brown people isn’t going to do that, embracing our white supremacist past isn’t going to do that.
Giving astounding tax breaks to companies to move their corporate headquarters to your town isn’t going to do that, tax breaks that bankrupt the feds isn’t going to do that, drilling more f***ing oil and gas isn’t going to do that.
Investment, education, infrastructure, sensible industrial policy, an even-handed approach to balancing the interests of labor and capital will do that. Recognizing and valuing the contributions of immigrants will do that. Taking basic steps to make sure people who live in what is a fabulously wealthy country don’t spend their lives in financial jeopardy will do that.
The Netherlands gets that, or at least important parts of it. So do lots of other countries. We don’t.
It’s a complicated subject.
It always is.
My perception is that the US is heading into a state of some kind of decadence. Not “Bob Guccioni’s Caligula” decadence, but a lack of vigor. A loss of energy and resilience.
I’m not in the “We’re number 1 America F*** Yeah!” camp. But I’m also not in the “America sux burn it down!” camp. I’d like to see us get to a place where we aren’t a nation of a handful of billionaires and millions of people who need food stamps to get by.
Tariffs aren’t going to do that, MAGA hats aren’t going to do that, pissing all over brown people isn’t going to do that, embracing our white supremacist past isn’t going to do that.
Giving astounding tax breaks to companies to move their corporate headquarters to your town isn’t going to do that, tax breaks that bankrupt the feds isn’t going to do that, drilling more f***ing oil and gas isn’t going to do that.
Investment, education, infrastructure, sensible industrial policy, an even-handed approach to balancing the interests of labor and capital will do that. Recognizing and valuing the contributions of immigrants will do that. Taking basic steps to make sure people who live in what is a fabulously wealthy country don’t spend their lives in financial jeopardy will do that.
The Netherlands gets that, or at least important parts of it. So do lots of other countries. We don’t.
We don’t.
I’m just another far left lunatic, but I would tend to agree.
We don’t.
I’m just another far left lunatic, but I would tend to agree.
What Russell said (at 10:51).
What Russell said (at 10:51).
Yup, as usual, russell at 10.51 nails it.
Yup, as usual, russell at 10.51 nails it.
Investment, education, infrastructure, sensible industrial policy, an even-handed approach to balancing the interests of labor and capital will do that…
The performance of the South Korean economy after 1953, when it was among the very poorest countries in the world, epitomises (most of) that.
(I’ll pass over the economically enlightened dictator, and the sacrifices made by a generation of labour…)
Investment, education, infrastructure, sensible industrial policy, an even-handed approach to balancing the interests of labor and capital will do that…
The performance of the South Korean economy after 1953, when it was among the very poorest countries in the world, epitomises (most of) that.
(I’ll pass over the economically enlightened dictator, and the sacrifices made by a generation of labour…)
An unrelated “what russell said”:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-selfdriving-uber/woman-dies-in-arizona-after-being-hit-by-uber-self-driving-car-idUSKBN1GV296
An unrelated “what russell said”:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-selfdriving-uber/woman-dies-in-arizona-after-being-hit-by-uber-self-driving-car-idUSKBN1GV296
and, though they haven’t killed anyone yet, Cruise is having a hard time of it, too.
and, though they haven’t killed anyone yet, Cruise is having a hard time of it, too.
The Cruise article:
How ya gonna ask a car to step out of the car and walk in a straight line heel-to-toe, then stand on one leg?
The Cruise article:
How ya gonna ask a car to step out of the car and walk in a straight line heel-to-toe, then stand on one leg?
that bush was comin right at me, occifer.
that bush was comin right at me, occifer.
The Netherlands gets that, or at least important parts of it. So do lots of other countries. We don’t.
I’d only point out that it’s easier to do that when the population is 17M, in a relatively small coastal country that’s been a major seaport for centuries. Rather than a continent-spanning country of 330M. Does China get it, or India, or Indonesia, or the EU as a whole, or any other country with a population/geography on the order of the US? There’s a lot more agreement if you look at New York minus large chunks of the outstate area, or Oregon/Washington west of the Cascades.
I’m convinced that the wheels are going to come off in the US in the next 20-45 years (five years ago I was saying 25-50, so I’m trying to be consistent). What’s lacking at present is an issue that divides the country along regional lines rather than urban/rural. I think it will eventually be electricity.
The Netherlands gets that, or at least important parts of it. So do lots of other countries. We don’t.
I’d only point out that it’s easier to do that when the population is 17M, in a relatively small coastal country that’s been a major seaport for centuries. Rather than a continent-spanning country of 330M. Does China get it, or India, or Indonesia, or the EU as a whole, or any other country with a population/geography on the order of the US? There’s a lot more agreement if you look at New York minus large chunks of the outstate area, or Oregon/Washington west of the Cascades.
I’m convinced that the wheels are going to come off in the US in the next 20-45 years (five years ago I was saying 25-50, so I’m trying to be consistent). What’s lacking at present is an issue that divides the country along regional lines rather than urban/rural. I think it will eventually be electricity.
I’d only point out that it’s easier to do that when the population is 17M
I think it’s easier to get unity of purpose in a smaller country, with a much longer history, and a stronger sense of common cultural identity.
That said, we bring raw resources to the table that the Netherlands could only dream of.
Everything’s easy for somebody, everything’s hard for somebody.
I think it will eventually be electricity.
My money’s on water. Then again, we may not need to pick, there may be a cornucopia of things to yell at each other about.
We’ll see how it goes.
I’d only point out that it’s easier to do that when the population is 17M
I think it’s easier to get unity of purpose in a smaller country, with a much longer history, and a stronger sense of common cultural identity.
That said, we bring raw resources to the table that the Netherlands could only dream of.
Everything’s easy for somebody, everything’s hard for somebody.
I think it will eventually be electricity.
My money’s on water. Then again, we may not need to pick, there may be a cornucopia of things to yell at each other about.
We’ll see how it goes.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/19/1750293/-British-sting-reveals-how-Cambridge-Analytica-used-sex-workers-and-bribes-to-get-what-they-wanted
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/19/1750293/-British-sting-reveals-how-Cambridge-Analytica-used-sex-workers-and-bribes-to-get-what-they-wanted
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a19481001/hud-officials-church-grift/
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a19481001/hud-officials-church-grift/
My money’s on water.
My money is on an actual declining standard of living for a widening sector of the population coupled with the bitterness of failed expectations and the rich disconnecting themselves from the social contract….well that, and Mexico taking back the Southwest.
We’ve gone a good way down the road to bringing back the Gilded Age, and giving the rich more money and more power is a one way social ratchet (racket?) that cannot possibly end well.
But, as noted by Crane Brinton in his great little monograph The Anatomy of Revolution, the arrival of these upheavals tends to come as a bit of a surprise.
You never know.
My money’s on water.
My money is on an actual declining standard of living for a widening sector of the population coupled with the bitterness of failed expectations and the rich disconnecting themselves from the social contract….well that, and Mexico taking back the Southwest.
We’ve gone a good way down the road to bringing back the Gilded Age, and giving the rich more money and more power is a one way social ratchet (racket?) that cannot possibly end well.
But, as noted by Crane Brinton in his great little monograph The Anatomy of Revolution, the arrival of these upheavals tends to come as a bit of a surprise.
You never know.
ANYTHING Russel said about Art Immelman.
ANYTHING Russel said about Art Immelman.
I’m convinced, more than ever, that the FCC were wrong…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratfucking
In August of 2017, journalist Marcy Wheeler garnered the disapprobation of the Federal Communications Commission when she used the term in a radio broadcast. Wheeler maintained that the word has become a term of art in political science and is thus not an obscenity. The FCC disagreed…
I’m convinced, more than ever, that the FCC were wrong…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratfucking
In August of 2017, journalist Marcy Wheeler garnered the disapprobation of the Federal Communications Commission when she used the term in a radio broadcast. Wheeler maintained that the word has become a term of art in political science and is thus not an obscenity. The FCC disagreed…
Did it work?
Did it work?
Well, of course the compliant rats and their ratfuckers don’t like the term.
My opinion:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/335799715936636407
Well, of course the compliant rats and their ratfuckers don’t like the term.
My opinion:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/335799715936636407
I’ve just sent a thank you gift to The Guardian in response to a tweet by Carole Cadwalladr.
Thanks, Carole, you brave soul!
I’ve just sent a thank you gift to The Guardian in response to a tweet by Carole Cadwalladr.
Thanks, Carole, you brave soul!
well that, and Mexico taking back the Southwest.
ROTFLOL!
Hysteria of the nativist s notwithstanding, there is zero chance that Mexico “takes back the Southwest.” Zero.
People come here to get away from Mexico. Not because they don’t love their country overall, but just because things are so much better here. Better job opportunities. Less (lots less!) crime. Better educational opportunities. More social mobility — no matter how much we’ve lots compared to what we used to have. The list goes on and on.
So, not happening. It is, of course, possible (anything is theoretically possible) that Mexico could revamp itself as much as South Korea once did. But by the time that happens, all those Hispanics who came here will be pretty acculturated. And their children and grandchildren will be as thoroughly American as any other bunch of Americans. (See how the Dreamers feel about being part of America.)
well that, and Mexico taking back the Southwest.
ROTFLOL!
Hysteria of the nativist s notwithstanding, there is zero chance that Mexico “takes back the Southwest.” Zero.
People come here to get away from Mexico. Not because they don’t love their country overall, but just because things are so much better here. Better job opportunities. Less (lots less!) crime. Better educational opportunities. More social mobility — no matter how much we’ve lots compared to what we used to have. The list goes on and on.
So, not happening. It is, of course, possible (anything is theoretically possible) that Mexico could revamp itself as much as South Korea once did. But by the time that happens, all those Hispanics who came here will be pretty acculturated. And their children and grandchildren will be as thoroughly American as any other bunch of Americans. (See how the Dreamers feel about being part of America.)
I was going to notify you all about the terrific Channel 4 News report tonight, with all the hidden footage as they stung Cambridge Analytica, but the Count got there first. However, if you can manage to see the actual 35 minutes or so they dedicated to it, as opposed to just reading about it, it’s well worthwhile. But more importantly, it’s part of a series, they’re showing more tomorrow. I hope it’s available stateside. And sapient, thanks for alerting us to the Carole Cadwalladr appeal for funds for the Guardian; I’ve responded before, I responded this time when I saw your post, and no doubt I’ll respond again. What a magnificent job she and they have done, in the face of tremendous threats.
I was going to notify you all about the terrific Channel 4 News report tonight, with all the hidden footage as they stung Cambridge Analytica, but the Count got there first. However, if you can manage to see the actual 35 minutes or so they dedicated to it, as opposed to just reading about it, it’s well worthwhile. But more importantly, it’s part of a series, they’re showing more tomorrow. I hope it’s available stateside. And sapient, thanks for alerting us to the Carole Cadwalladr appeal for funds for the Guardian; I’ve responded before, I responded this time when I saw your post, and no doubt I’ll respond again. What a magnificent job she and they have done, in the face of tremendous threats.
It will be water.
Putting solar panels on my roof to get all the electricity I need to power my home and my Chevy Volt.
$60/month for 10 years to pay for system and free there after except for maintenance.
It will be water.
Putting solar panels on my roof to get all the electricity I need to power my home and my Chevy Volt.
$60/month for 10 years to pay for system and free there after except for maintenance.
Mexico taking back the Southwest.
Are there any historical examples of a substantially poorer country annexing a portion of a richer country against its will?
I have seen conspiracy-theory level stuff asserting that business owners in the northern tier of states — which are much richer than the rest of Mexico — are plotting for those states to declare their independence and seek status as some sort of protectorate of the US.
Mexico taking back the Southwest.
Are there any historical examples of a substantially poorer country annexing a portion of a richer country against its will?
I have seen conspiracy-theory level stuff asserting that business owners in the northern tier of states — which are much richer than the rest of Mexico — are plotting for those states to declare their independence and seek status as some sort of protectorate of the US.
Putting solar panels on my roof to get all the electricity I need to power my home and my Chevy Volt.
Residential electricity accounts for about one-third of US electricity consumption. You gonna power the commercial and industrial portions from your roof also? Who’s going to provide the storage so the hospitals still function at night?
The Western Interconnect now gets 35-45% of its electricity from renewable sources, the higher numbers coming in wetter years. By far the biggest chunk — about 27% last year — comes from conventional hydro. Wind and solar are both growing steadily. It won’t be long before the West hits a year where 50% of its power is from renewable sources. Hell, even Wyoming has figured out just how lucrative it’s going to be selling wind power to California.
Putting solar panels on my roof to get all the electricity I need to power my home and my Chevy Volt.
Residential electricity accounts for about one-third of US electricity consumption. You gonna power the commercial and industrial portions from your roof also? Who’s going to provide the storage so the hospitals still function at night?
The Western Interconnect now gets 35-45% of its electricity from renewable sources, the higher numbers coming in wetter years. By far the biggest chunk — about 27% last year — comes from conventional hydro. Wind and solar are both growing steadily. It won’t be long before the West hits a year where 50% of its power is from renewable sources. Hell, even Wyoming has figured out just how lucrative it’s going to be selling wind power to California.
it’ll be guns.
water is a western thing.
guns are everywhere.
it’ll be guns.
water is a western thing.
guns are everywhere.
Are there any historical examples of a substantially poorer country annexing a portion of a richer country against its will?
Alexander the Great had some success in this respect….
Are there any historical examples of a substantially poorer country annexing a portion of a richer country against its will?
Alexander the Great had some success in this respect….
Hysteria of the nativist s notwithstanding, there is zero chance that Mexico “takes back the Southwest.” Zero.
You perhaps did not notice the tongue firmly pushing on cheek. On the other hand, when the demographic line is crossed and the shit hits the fan, welp…..who knows?
But it pleases me to give you a good laugh. Sail on!
Hysteria of the nativist s notwithstanding, there is zero chance that Mexico “takes back the Southwest.” Zero.
You perhaps did not notice the tongue firmly pushing on cheek. On the other hand, when the demographic line is crossed and the shit hits the fan, welp…..who knows?
But it pleases me to give you a good laugh. Sail on!
I’ve responded before, I responded this time when I saw your post, and no doubt I’ll respond again. What a magnificent job she and they have done, in the face of tremendous threats.
Yes. And thanks GftNC for spreading the word about her.
I’ve responded before, I responded this time when I saw your post, and no doubt I’ll respond again. What a magnificent job she and they have done, in the face of tremendous threats.
Yes. And thanks GftNC for spreading the word about her.
Are there any historical examples of a substantially poorer country annexing a portion of a richer country against its will?
Spain in Central and South America.
The Mongols in all of Eurasia.
Britain’s takeover of India.
Rome’s rise got fueled by military conquest of far richer adversaries. It was part of Rome’s core ideology that its relative poverty gave her superiority over the decadent others and even excused her own lack of success against certain barbarians with their keeping of the old austerity while Rome had gotten too rich and thus weak.
Are there any historical examples of a substantially poorer country annexing a portion of a richer country against its will?
Spain in Central and South America.
The Mongols in all of Eurasia.
Britain’s takeover of India.
Rome’s rise got fueled by military conquest of far richer adversaries. It was part of Rome’s core ideology that its relative poverty gave her superiority over the decadent others and even excused her own lack of success against certain barbarians with their keeping of the old austerity while Rome had gotten too rich and thus weak.
More on Cambridge Analytica:
https://www.balloon-juice.com/2018/03/19/breaking-britains-information-officer-moves-against-cambridge-analytica/
Tomorrow they present the filth on tape telling us how they stole the November 2016 election for mp.
More on Cambridge Analytica:
https://www.balloon-juice.com/2018/03/19/breaking-britains-information-officer-moves-against-cambridge-analytica/
Tomorrow they present the filth on tape telling us how they stole the November 2016 election for mp.
Facebook is up to its nuts in it:
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3340317-nyt-facebook-security-chief-exiting-company-amid-disagreements
Facebook is up to its nuts in it:
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3340317-nyt-facebook-security-chief-exiting-company-amid-disagreements
Part I:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpbeOCKZFfQ
Part I:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpbeOCKZFfQ
The whistleblower:
vhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb6-xz-geH4&t=144s
Bannon is a Board member of CB. A close ally of Kushner is too.
The free-traders in the White House are importing Novichok from Russia to use on the Mueller investigators and witnesses and anyone else who gets in their way.
The whistleblower:
vhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb6-xz-geH4&t=144s
Bannon is a Board member of CB. A close ally of Kushner is too.
The free-traders in the White House are importing Novichok from Russia to use on the Mueller investigators and witnesses and anyone else who gets in their way.
CA, not CB.
But probably CB too. And CC, and on down the alphabet.
The entire worldwide conservative conspiracy has all the good acronyms sewn up. All of the letters and most of the numbers.
Water, electricity, guns … yeah, those are issues.
But the break-up of America will come much sooner than folks believe because the Republican Party must be destroyed as a physical presence in this country as soon as possible to save us.
I hope I’m still young enough to fight these fuckers.
CA, not CB.
But probably CB too. And CC, and on down the alphabet.
The entire worldwide conservative conspiracy has all the good acronyms sewn up. All of the letters and most of the numbers.
Water, electricity, guns … yeah, those are issues.
But the break-up of America will come much sooner than folks believe because the Republican Party must be destroyed as a physical presence in this country as soon as possible to save us.
I hope I’m still young enough to fight these fuckers.
it’ll be guns… water is a western thing… guns are everywhere.
When I have my US partition conspiracy hat on — I’m the conspiracy — I point out that a peaceful partition requires 38 states to agree that there are reasons why they’d be better off without some of the others. Different states/regions don’t have to agree on one reason, there just needs to be 38 with some reason.
it’ll be guns… water is a western thing… guns are everywhere.
When I have my US partition conspiracy hat on — I’m the conspiracy — I point out that a peaceful partition requires 38 states to agree that there are reasons why they’d be better off without some of the others. Different states/regions don’t have to agree on one reason, there just needs to be 38 with some reason.
Bobbyp: You perhaps did not notice the tongue firmly pushing on cheek.
Mea culpa.
It’s something of a commentary on the current political environment that statements which would once have been instantly recognized as humor are being said in all seriousness. Assuming “serious” can really be applied to those folks….
Bobbyp: You perhaps did not notice the tongue firmly pushing on cheek.
Mea culpa.
It’s something of a commentary on the current political environment that statements which would once have been instantly recognized as humor are being said in all seriousness. Assuming “serious” can really be applied to those folks….
So 38 state to tell the other 12 (Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Alaska, West Virginia, Kansas?) to GTFO?
Sounds plausible.
So 38 state to tell the other 12 (Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Alaska, West Virginia, Kansas?) to GTFO?
Sounds plausible.
You don’t have to actually eject 12. For example, we could decide that Kansas seems to have learned from it’s (serious) mistake. And just eject 11.
You don’t have to actually eject 12. For example, we could decide that Kansas seems to have learned from it’s (serious) mistake. And just eject 11.
Include Florida to get it back to an even dozen.
I wonder if the 12 will align with Russia … or China?
Include Florida to get it back to an even dozen.
I wonder if the 12 will align with Russia … or China?
Eject one or two into solar orbit, via nuclear explosives, and the rest will fall into line pretty quickly, I think.
Start with S. Carolina, they’re big on secession.
Eject one or two into solar orbit, via nuclear explosives, and the rest will fall into line pretty quickly, I think.
Start with S. Carolina, they’re big on secession.
Can we tell Texas that, if they reject Cruz, they get a reprieve?
Can we tell Texas that, if they reject Cruz, they get a reprieve?
No.
But we’ll accept refugees fleeing oppression and immigrants from the notorious twelve once the hash is settled.
No.
But we’ll accept refugees fleeing oppression and immigrants from the notorious twelve once the hash is settled.
From wikipedia on Cambridge Analytica’s parent company, SCL:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCL_Group
SCL’s involvement in the political world has been primarily in the developing world where it has been used by the military and politicians to study and manipulate public opinion and political will. It uses what have been called “psy ops” to provide insight into the thinking of the target audience.[4] SCL claimed to be able to help foment coups.[6] According to its website, SCL has influenced elections in Italy, Latvia, Ukraine, Albania, Romania, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Mauritius, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Colombia, Antigua, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, St. Kitts & Nevis, Trinidad & Tobago.[2] While the company initially got involved in elections in the United Kingdom, it ceased to do so after 1997 because staff members did not exhibit the same “aloof sensibility” as with projects abroad.[4]
From wikipedia on Cambridge Analytica’s parent company, SCL:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCL_Group
SCL’s involvement in the political world has been primarily in the developing world where it has been used by the military and politicians to study and manipulate public opinion and political will. It uses what have been called “psy ops” to provide insight into the thinking of the target audience.[4] SCL claimed to be able to help foment coups.[6] According to its website, SCL has influenced elections in Italy, Latvia, Ukraine, Albania, Romania, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Mauritius, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Colombia, Antigua, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, St. Kitts & Nevis, Trinidad & Tobago.[2] While the company initially got involved in elections in the United Kingdom, it ceased to do so after 1997 because staff members did not exhibit the same “aloof sensibility” as with projects abroad.[4]
Buchanan’s locked and loaded diaper pail of a brain has a theory:
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/buchanan/did-putin-order-the-salisbury-hit/
He’s always on the right side of mystery, is Buchanan.
Buchanan’s locked and loaded diaper pail of a brain has a theory:
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/buchanan/did-putin-order-the-salisbury-hit/
He’s always on the right side of mystery, is Buchanan.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/maryland-authorities-investigating-school-shooting
Buchanan might well arsk: How did Steny Hoyer have those condolences so ready in the nick of time?
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/maryland-authorities-investigating-school-shooting
Buchanan might well arsk: How did Steny Hoyer have those condolences so ready in the nick of time?
Bruce Bartlett, the only Republican left alive in the 38-state United States of America in 2025, speaks:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/19/1750299/-Reagan-Adviser-Bruce-Bartlett-They-are-all-whores-and-cowards-who-will-do-nothing
Bruce Bartlett, the only Republican left alive in the 38-state United States of America in 2025, speaks:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/19/1750299/-Reagan-Adviser-Bruce-Bartlett-They-are-all-whores-and-cowards-who-will-do-nothing
another GOP-sponsored Spontaneous Inevitable Freedom™-Related Event.
another GOP-sponsored Spontaneous Inevitable Freedom™-Related Event.
When left and right reconcile one day in the territory of the insane, this Democrat and Buchanan will be running mates in the Take a Hit of Helium and Talk Funny Party:
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/03/dc-councilman-apologizes-for-saying-jews-control-the-weather.html
Well, sure they do, crow conservatives, Soros is melting the ice caps just to give liberals the opportunity to run our lives, aren’t he?
Brought to you by “Polar Bears Against Nebbishes”, a republican mail drop.
When left and right reconcile one day in the territory of the insane, this Democrat and Buchanan will be running mates in the Take a Hit of Helium and Talk Funny Party:
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/03/dc-councilman-apologizes-for-saying-jews-control-the-weather.html
Well, sure they do, crow conservatives, Soros is melting the ice caps just to give liberals the opportunity to run our lives, aren’t he?
Brought to you by “Polar Bears Against Nebbishes”, a republican mail drop.
another GOP-sponsored Spontaneous Inevitable Freedom™-Related Event.
Thoughts and prayers…
another GOP-sponsored Spontaneous Inevitable Freedom™-Related Event.
Thoughts and prayers…
Sing it at home:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlCBiFbtqAI
Sing it at home:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlCBiFbtqAI
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-would-adam-smith-think-of-todays-economic-pundits-this-new-play-provides-a-clue-2018-03-20?siteid=bigcharts&dist=bigcharts
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-would-adam-smith-think-of-todays-economic-pundits-this-new-play-provides-a-clue-2018-03-20?siteid=bigcharts&dist=bigcharts
Meanwhile, this on today’s primaries in Illinois:
I admit to being particularly taken by the description of the incumbent as having “inherited” his seat in Congress from his father.
But it appears to be a great opportunity for liberal Democrats. You ought to be able to run a pretty progressive candidate against a flat-out neo-Nazi and win. No need to dig around for a candidate who is moderate enough to win in the district. Or so you may hope.
Meanwhile, this on today’s primaries in Illinois:
I admit to being particularly taken by the description of the incumbent as having “inherited” his seat in Congress from his father.
But it appears to be a great opportunity for liberal Democrats. You ought to be able to run a pretty progressive candidate against a flat-out neo-Nazi and win. No need to dig around for a candidate who is moderate enough to win in the district. Or so you may hope.
Count, I loved that quote from Bruce Bartlet in one of your links: “Take Nixon in the deepest days of his Watergate paranoia, subtract 50 IQ points, add Twitter, and you have Trump today.”
I’m not sure I would subtract only 50 IQ points (maybe when he was younger, but he is obviously loosing steps steadily). But otherwise….
Count, I loved that quote from Bruce Bartlet in one of your links: “Take Nixon in the deepest days of his Watergate paranoia, subtract 50 IQ points, add Twitter, and you have Trump today.”
I’m not sure I would subtract only 50 IQ points (maybe when he was younger, but he is obviously loosing steps steadily). But otherwise….
Another mp White House staff candidate snuffed:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/hacker-who-outed-chelsea-manning-to-the-fbi-found-dead-at-37?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=idealmedia&utm_campaign=washingtonexaminer.com&utm_term=68883&utm_content=2204832
Another mp White House staff candidate snuffed:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/hacker-who-outed-chelsea-manning-to-the-fbi-found-dead-at-37?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=idealmedia&utm_campaign=washingtonexaminer.com&utm_term=68883&utm_content=2204832
One of the notorious 12 applies for an early exit from the Union:
https://www.valuewalk.com/2018/03/oklahomadeath-row/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=idealmedia&utm_campaign=valuewalk.com&utm_term=68883&utm_content=2203522
One of the notorious 12 applies for an early exit from the Union:
https://www.valuewalk.com/2018/03/oklahomadeath-row/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=idealmedia&utm_campaign=valuewalk.com&utm_term=68883&utm_content=2203522
SCL’s involvement in the political world has been primarily in the developing world where it has been used by the military and politicians to study and manipulate public opinion and political will. It uses what have been called “psy ops” to provide insight into the thinking of the target audience
Art Immelmann
SCL’s involvement in the political world has been primarily in the developing world where it has been used by the military and politicians to study and manipulate public opinion and political will. It uses what have been called “psy ops” to provide insight into the thinking of the target audience
Art Immelmann
Thoughts and prayers…
The situation is contained
Thoughts and prayers…
The situation is contained
Shooting himself in the foot with chaos, Russia edition:
I found this description of the growing Trump legal team:
This may be viewed as a huge plus for those yearning to nail Trump on this. Picture an actual trial, with the defense team arm-wrestling over who gets to ask the questions of witnesses. Hmmm….
Shooting himself in the foot with chaos, Russia edition:
I found this description of the growing Trump legal team:
This may be viewed as a huge plus for those yearning to nail Trump on this. Picture an actual trial, with the defense team arm-wrestling over who gets to ask the questions of witnesses. Hmmm….
One of the notorious 12 applies for an early exit from the Union…
If there has to be a death penalty, which I oppose strongly, inert gas asphyxiation is painless and reliable. People die from it every year by accident because they don’t notice that it’s happening. Based on number of deaths, dry nitrogen is the most dangerous industrial gas in the US. One of the reasons that halon-dump fire suppression systems for big computer rooms were dropped was because too often leaks were identified by the tech who had stuck their head under the raised floor where the halon pooled, passed out, and died.
Also requires no medical personnel, so the DA who asks for the death penalty can be required to administer it themselves.
One of the notorious 12 applies for an early exit from the Union…
If there has to be a death penalty, which I oppose strongly, inert gas asphyxiation is painless and reliable. People die from it every year by accident because they don’t notice that it’s happening. Based on number of deaths, dry nitrogen is the most dangerous industrial gas in the US. One of the reasons that halon-dump fire suppression systems for big computer rooms were dropped was because too often leaks were identified by the tech who had stuck their head under the raised floor where the halon pooled, passed out, and died.
Also requires no medical personnel, so the DA who asks for the death penalty can be required to administer it themselves.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_bag
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_bag
President Trump has hired diGenova, an ex-prosecutor and TV pundit, for his legal team.
No comment
President Trump has hired diGenova, an ex-prosecutor and TV pundit, for his legal team.
No comment
Well, what else would anyone expect Trump to do?
A lot of major law firms have refused to have him as a client. And he appears to have no idea that playing a lawyer (or tycoon) on TV is not the same as being one — so an actor who plays a lawyer who always wins must be a great lawyer, right?
Well, what else would anyone expect Trump to do?
A lot of major law firms have refused to have him as a client. And he appears to have no idea that playing a lawyer (or tycoon) on TV is not the same as being one — so an actor who plays a lawyer who always wins must be a great lawyer, right?
I’m doing my CharlesWT impression today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Charlie_and_the_Chocolate_Factory_characters#Mike_Teavee
I’m doing my CharlesWT impression today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Charlie_and_the_Chocolate_Factory_characters#Mike_Teavee
SCL’s involvement in the political world has been primarily in the developing world where it has been used by the military and politicians to study and manipulate public opinion and political will. It uses what have been called “psy ops” to provide insight into the thinking of the target audience
For anyone who still hasn’t watched last night’s C4 News, this is (roughly) what CA’s CEO said to the undercover journo:
Tonight’s C4 News just starting…with the breaking news that CA CEO has been suspended.
SCL’s involvement in the political world has been primarily in the developing world where it has been used by the military and politicians to study and manipulate public opinion and political will. It uses what have been called “psy ops” to provide insight into the thinking of the target audience
For anyone who still hasn’t watched last night’s C4 News, this is (roughly) what CA’s CEO said to the undercover journo:
Tonight’s C4 News just starting…with the breaking news that CA CEO has been suspended.
i’ve seen a great six word summary of Black Mirror, on the internet :
[cue creepy music]
call me cynical, but CA sounds like a marketing firm, but too much.
i’ve seen a great six word summary of Black Mirror, on the internet :
[cue creepy music]
call me cynical, but CA sounds like a marketing firm, but too much.
Nothing to see here….
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/20/trump-campaign-cambridge-analytica-473650?lo=ap_c1
Nothing to see here….
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/20/trump-campaign-cambridge-analytica-473650?lo=ap_c1
“Elections aren’t won with facts, they’re won with emotions, particularly fear. So we identify fears that in many cases people didn’t even know they had, and then play on them.” This was shown over shots of the ads claiming HRC had endangered America’s security.”
Thus fundamental political theory 101. You can’t imagine that CA came up with this as an original thought.
When Obama mined FB for his candidacy he was hailed as a new generation leader who understood the advantage of social media the way Kennedy understood the power of tv.
Now it’s suddenly criminal, and unethical which I happen to agree with in both cases, but it isn’t new except in its effectiveness.
“Elections aren’t won with facts, they’re won with emotions, particularly fear. So we identify fears that in many cases people didn’t even know they had, and then play on them.” This was shown over shots of the ads claiming HRC had endangered America’s security.”
Thus fundamental political theory 101. You can’t imagine that CA came up with this as an original thought.
When Obama mined FB for his candidacy he was hailed as a new generation leader who understood the advantage of social media the way Kennedy understood the power of tv.
Now it’s suddenly criminal, and unethical which I happen to agree with in both cases, but it isn’t new except in its effectiveness.
That quotation was I think Turnbull, not Nix. Today: they boast about how they were responsible for every element of the Trump campaign, and how they used “proxies” or “affiliates” who couldn’t be identified with the campaign, to spread the disinformation into “the bloodstream of the internet”, and then watched it spread. Plus lots more….
That quotation was I think Turnbull, not Nix. Today: they boast about how they were responsible for every element of the Trump campaign, and how they used “proxies” or “affiliates” who couldn’t be identified with the campaign, to spread the disinformation into “the bloodstream of the internet”, and then watched it spread. Plus lots more….
Now it’s suddenly criminal,
yes, because of the crime.
Now it’s suddenly criminal,
yes, because of the crime.
“In 2012, The Guardian reported that President Obama’s reelection team was “building a vast digital data operation that for the first time combines a unified database on millions of Americans with the power of Facebook to target individual voters to a degree never achieved before.””
What’s genius for Obama is scandal when it comes to Trump
“In 2012, The Guardian reported that President Obama’s reelection team was “building a vast digital data operation that for the first time combines a unified database on millions of Americans with the power of Facebook to target individual voters to a degree never achieved before.””
What’s genius for Obama is scandal when it comes to Trump
The only thing we have to trump is Obama himself.
I see the hand of Obama in those Oklahoma death sentence smotherings as well.
The only thing we have to trump is Obama himself.
I see the hand of Obama in those Oklahoma death sentence smotherings as well.
Good luck on this tack, Marty. With your theory that HRC had a decades long history of extreme criminality, yet had somehow evaded any charges let alone conviction, despite years of hearings and investigations, you seem to me the perfect end result of the kind of disinformation we are talking about. CA may not have started it, but by God their dirty tricks fell upon fertile ground, long prepared by the “vast, rightwing conspiracy”. Where you and McKinney are concerned, however, you managed not to be their (CA’s) perfect audience, due to your dislike of Trump, but in other ways, you’re on the team.
Good luck on this tack, Marty. With your theory that HRC had a decades long history of extreme criminality, yet had somehow evaded any charges let alone conviction, despite years of hearings and investigations, you seem to me the perfect end result of the kind of disinformation we are talking about. CA may not have started it, but by God their dirty tricks fell upon fertile ground, long prepared by the “vast, rightwing conspiracy”. Where you and McKinney are concerned, however, you managed not to be their (CA’s) perfect audience, due to your dislike of Trump, but in other ways, you’re on the team.
Campbell’s Soup and the Kremlin have identical footprints on Facebook, but I wouldn’t order the cream of Novichok bouillabaisse at the Russian Tea Room in your home town.
Campbell’s Soup and the Kremlin have identical footprints on Facebook, but I wouldn’t order the cream of Novichok bouillabaisse at the Russian Tea Room in your home town.
What’s genius for Obama is scandal when it comes to Trump
Call me simple minded, but it seems to me that there is a difference between, on one hand, mining data for information and to reach voters receptive to your message, and on the other using that data to spread disinformation.
The former is unexceptional in concept; just the means is new. The latter is also not novel — the Big Lie has been with us for a while. But it doesn’t seem to me to be the same thing, which is what the quote above seems to suggest.
What’s genius for Obama is scandal when it comes to Trump
Call me simple minded, but it seems to me that there is a difference between, on one hand, mining data for information and to reach voters receptive to your message, and on the other using that data to spread disinformation.
The former is unexceptional in concept; just the means is new. The latter is also not novel — the Big Lie has been with us for a while. But it doesn’t seem to me to be the same thing, which is what the quote above seems to suggest.
Plus, it skeeves me a bit that conservative evangelicals get expensive hookers on CA’s and the RNC’s tab and all Obama offered was free birth control.
Plus, it skeeves me a bit that conservative evangelicals get expensive hookers on CA’s and the RNC’s tab and all Obama offered was free birth control.
cleanup on aisle 4, Marty. bring extra Febreeze.
cleanup on aisle 4, Marty. bring extra Febreeze.
What’s genius for Obama is scandal when it comes to Trump
From CharlesWT’s link:
“According to The Guardian, Obama’s new database would be gathered by asking individual volunteers to log into Obama’s reelection site using their Facebook credentials.”
Hmmm. Asking individual volunteers to log into Obama’s reelection site, versus having third party apps hoodwink people into giving up their personal information to an undisclosed political disinformation operation.
Must be same same. The whataboutism gets more and more laughable by the hour.
What’s genius for Obama is scandal when it comes to Trump
From CharlesWT’s link:
“According to The Guardian, Obama’s new database would be gathered by asking individual volunteers to log into Obama’s reelection site using their Facebook credentials.”
Hmmm. Asking individual volunteers to log into Obama’s reelection site, versus having third party apps hoodwink people into giving up their personal information to an undisclosed political disinformation operation.
Must be same same. The whataboutism gets more and more laughable by the hour.
Obama’s campaign offered free pizza on Facebook.
Liberals showed up with votes.
Cambridge Analytica .. has a brothel ever had a more high-falutin name … offered Hillary Clinton and other Democrats fucking children in pizza-joint dungeons.
Conservatives showed up with military weaponry.
I guess there wasn’t a school to shoot up that day.
Obama’s campaign offered free pizza on Facebook.
Liberals showed up with votes.
Cambridge Analytica .. has a brothel ever had a more high-falutin name … offered Hillary Clinton and other Democrats fucking children in pizza-joint dungeons.
Conservatives showed up with military weaponry.
I guess there wasn’t a school to shoot up that day.
When Obama mined FB for his candidacy
Did Obama use data in violation of its terms of use?
Does Obama, or anyone associated with Obama, hang out his or their shingle as one-stop shopping for fomenting coups?
Did Obama employ foreign nationals in his campaign?
We aren’t talking about engaging with voters in social media, we’re talking about breaking the law.
When Obama mined FB for his candidacy
Did Obama use data in violation of its terms of use?
Does Obama, or anyone associated with Obama, hang out his or their shingle as one-stop shopping for fomenting coups?
Did Obama employ foreign nationals in his campaign?
We aren’t talking about engaging with voters in social media, we’re talking about breaking the law.
We aren’t talking about engaging with voters in social media, we’re talking about breaking the law.
“We” is such slippery word….
We aren’t talking about engaging with voters in social media, we’re talking about breaking the law.
“We” is such slippery word….
(R)’s need to get their heads around the idea that they elected a freaking crook to be POTUS.
He’s a crook.
(R)’s need to get their heads around the idea that they elected a freaking crook to be POTUS.
He’s a crook.
Tarentino is reportedly eyeing Joseph diGenova to play the Harvey Keitel cleaner role in the sequel to “Pulp Fiction”.
Keitel is not available because he is set to play the role of Joseph diGenova in Scorcese’s upcoming “The Day of the Ratfuckers”.
Actual rats will play all of the other republican parts.
Animals will be harmed in the making of the film, for the sake of verisimilitude, because who’s gonna believe this shit otherwise?
Tarentino is reportedly eyeing Joseph diGenova to play the Harvey Keitel cleaner role in the sequel to “Pulp Fiction”.
Keitel is not available because he is set to play the role of Joseph diGenova in Scorcese’s upcoming “The Day of the Ratfuckers”.
Actual rats will play all of the other republican parts.
Animals will be harmed in the making of the film, for the sake of verisimilitude, because who’s gonna believe this shit otherwise?
In other news, 15 years ago today, George W Bush pumped his fist, declared “I feel good”, and initiated the most recent war in Iraq.
Just thought that deserved to be remembered.
In other news, 15 years ago today, George W Bush pumped his fist, declared “I feel good”, and initiated the most recent war in Iraq.
Just thought that deserved to be remembered.
We keep hearing about how Trump was elected by all of the angry folks out there in the heartland.
You have no idea what “angry” means.
People need to not push their luck. That is all.
We keep hearing about how Trump was elected by all of the angry folks out there in the heartland.
You have no idea what “angry” means.
People need to not push their luck. That is all.
What Russell said +
https://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2018/03/one-million-dead-by-tristero.html
What Russell said +
https://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2018/03/one-million-dead-by-tristero.html
“Did Obama use data in violation of its terms of use?”
Yes. They got them there and then took all their data just like CA. If it’s illegal then it was illegal. If it is ethical it was unethical.
The whataboutism is to point out how irrational conspiracy theorism has spread. You might as well be saying Trump killed Vince Foster.
“Did Obama use data in violation of its terms of use?”
Yes. They got them there and then took all their data just like CA. If it’s illegal then it was illegal. If it is ethical it was unethical.
The whataboutism is to point out how irrational conspiracy theorism has spread. You might as well be saying Trump killed Vince Foster.
Alright.
mp killed Vince Foster.
Alright.
mp killed Vince Foster.
Good that the CA CEO is suspended.
Not so good that it isn’t “by the neck”.
Maybe later.
Good that the CA CEO is suspended.
Not so good that it isn’t “by the neck”.
Maybe later.
Marty: Obama “took” their data.
The campaign called this effort targeted sharing. And in those final weeks of the campaign, the team blitzed the supporters who had signed up for the app with requests to share specific online content with specific friends simply by clicking a button….
Not illegal. Not unethical. NOT REMOTELY TRUE.
Marty: Obama “took” their data.
The campaign called this effort targeted sharing. And in those final weeks of the campaign, the team blitzed the supporters who had signed up for the app with requests to share specific online content with specific friends simply by clicking a button….
Not illegal. Not unethical. NOT REMOTELY TRUE.
Bobbyp,glad you found someone to say “We didn’t do that”.
Thank god we cleared that up.
Bobbyp,glad you found someone to say “We didn’t do that”.
Thank god we cleared that up.
Thanks bobbyp. I started digging, thought that was the answer, but was trying to disentangle the truth from the fiction. I can see where Marty thought otherwise, various people/outlets are trying to establish an equivalence. I’m not much of a researcher, especially at the moment, so I’ll stop now with a reasonably clear conscience!
Thanks bobbyp. I started digging, thought that was the answer, but was trying to disentangle the truth from the fiction. I can see where Marty thought otherwise, various people/outlets are trying to establish an equivalence. I’m not much of a researcher, especially at the moment, so I’ll stop now with a reasonably clear conscience!
GftNC: I can see where Marty thought otherwise …
This assumes that what Marty says is actually what Marty thinks. But let that pass, for the sake of the posting rules.
Let’s assume that Marty really, honestly thinks that Obama and He, Trump used Facebook in exactly the same way. Or let’s not, because that would come awfully close to violating the posting rules in a different way.
–TP
GftNC: I can see where Marty thought otherwise …
This assumes that what Marty says is actually what Marty thinks. But let that pass, for the sake of the posting rules.
Let’s assume that Marty really, honestly thinks that Obama and He, Trump used Facebook in exactly the same way. Or let’s not, because that would come awfully close to violating the posting rules in a different way.
–TP
Thank god we cleared that up.
Glad to be of service.
Thank god we cleared that up.
Glad to be of service.
From MIT’s Technology Review, FWIW:
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/509026/how-obamas-team-used-big-data-to-rally-voters/
From MIT’s Technology Review, FWIW:
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/509026/how-obamas-team-used-big-data-to-rally-voters/
(R)’s need to get their heads around the idea that they elected a freaking crook to be POTUS.
is there a plan B ?
(R)’s need to get their heads around the idea that they elected a freaking crook to be POTUS.
is there a plan B ?
mp killed Vince Foster.
I thought Nixon did it, the dirty ratfucker.
mp killed Vince Foster.
I thought Nixon did it, the dirty ratfucker.
as always, the Republican party is a cult.
apparently there’s nothing the believers won’t excuse in Trump.
hook. line. sinker.
and i hope they choke on it.
as always, the Republican party is a cult.
apparently there’s nothing the believers won’t excuse in Trump.
hook. line. sinker.
and i hope they choke on it.
There is actually very little difference in the way it was used. I’m certain that a professional, and shady, data collection firm was better at it.
The data collected unbeknownst to the user wasn’t much different, just more people.
There is actually very little difference in the way it was used. I’m certain that a professional, and shady, data collection firm was better at it.
The data collected unbeknownst to the user wasn’t much different, just more people.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/utterly-horrifying-ex-facebook-insider-says-covert-data-harvesting-was-routine/ar-BBKsPq7
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/utterly-horrifying-ex-facebook-insider-says-covert-data-harvesting-was-routine/ar-BBKsPq7
FOX news contributor catches up on the news:
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/fox-news-contributor-calls-network-propaganda-machine-in-farewell-email
FOX news contributor catches up on the news:
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/fox-news-contributor-calls-network-propaganda-machine-in-farewell-email
Difference between the Obama campaign and Cambridge Analytica is that the former got Facebook users to sign in on the campaign website, and consent to use of their data for the election – but they did also scrape the data of all those people’s Facebook friends.
Not in breach of Facebook’s TOU, but questionable, certainly – and it points to the need for tougher data protection laws.
Difference between the Obama campaign and Cambridge Analytica is that the former got Facebook users to sign in on the campaign website, and consent to use of their data for the election – but they did also scrape the data of all those people’s Facebook friends.
Not in breach of Facebook’s TOU, but questionable, certainly – and it points to the need for tougher data protection laws.
A GOP operative on Trump (in an article about the consequences of Mueller being fired:
Republicans fear Trump’s tweets, Fox News and his base more than they revere the oath they swore to uphold the Constitution. I’ve said this before, and the joke is less of a joke and more of a caution at this point, but Trump could kill and eat a live baby on the South Lawn of the White House and the GOP caucus would shrug and say, “Well, he’s new at this. He’s not a traditional politician.”…
In comparison, Donna Brazile’s comment at the end is extraordinarily weak sauce:
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/03/20/if-trump-fired-mueller-roundup-217661
A GOP operative on Trump (in an article about the consequences of Mueller being fired:
Republicans fear Trump’s tweets, Fox News and his base more than they revere the oath they swore to uphold the Constitution. I’ve said this before, and the joke is less of a joke and more of a caution at this point, but Trump could kill and eat a live baby on the South Lawn of the White House and the GOP caucus would shrug and say, “Well, he’s new at this. He’s not a traditional politician.”…
In comparison, Donna Brazile’s comment at the end is extraordinarily weak sauce:
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/03/20/if-trump-fired-mueller-roundup-217661
apparently there’s nothing the believers won’t excuse in Trump.
The late Mr Mulligan has a great deal to answer for.
apparently there’s nothing the believers won’t excuse in Trump.
The late Mr Mulligan has a great deal to answer for.
There is a great deal of difference. On one hand we have a campaign that openly requested known supporters to sign up for a computer app that would enable said campaign to reach out to others known to the recipient. This, vs. the undercover theft of their data without their permission, or knowledge, i.e., the Facebook business model
So one group willingly subjected themselves to participate in a political campaign (with a side of propaganda no doubt), and the other group had their data palmed off to others without their knowledge or permission (I repeat myself) and were subjected to unsolicited propaganda thrown in for good measure.
Such a deal.
There is a great deal of difference. On one hand we have a campaign that openly requested known supporters to sign up for a computer app that would enable said campaign to reach out to others known to the recipient. This, vs. the undercover theft of their data without their permission, or knowledge, i.e., the Facebook business model
So one group willingly subjected themselves to participate in a political campaign (with a side of propaganda no doubt), and the other group had their data palmed off to others without their knowledge or permission (I repeat myself) and were subjected to unsolicited propaganda thrown in for good measure.
Such a deal.
Marty has half a point…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/facebooks-rules-for-accessing-user-data-lured-more-than-just-cambridge-analytica/2018/03/19/31f6979c-658e-43d6-a71f-afdd8bf1308b_story.html?utm_term=.74017f07669a
Facebook “goes into this endless hairsplitting that people should have known,” said Marc Rotenberg, president and executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a nonprofit advocacy group that has brought privacy cases before the FTC. “No one could have known that their friends were disclosing their personal data on their behalf. It’s entirely illogical, and it breaks the consent law.”…
…In 2011, Carol Davidsen, director of data integration and media analytics for Obama for America, built a database of every American voter using the same Facebook developer tool used by Cambridge, known as the social graph API. Any time people used Facebook’s log-in button to sign on to the campaign’s website, the Obama data scientists were able to access their profile as well as their friends’ information. That allowed them to chart the closeness of people’s relationships and make estimates about which people would be most likely to influence other people in their network to vote.
“We ingested the entire U.S. social graph,” Davidsen said in an interview. “We would ask permission to basically scrape your profile, and also scrape your friends, basically anything that was available to scrape. We scraped it all.”
Marty has half a point…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/facebooks-rules-for-accessing-user-data-lured-more-than-just-cambridge-analytica/2018/03/19/31f6979c-658e-43d6-a71f-afdd8bf1308b_story.html?utm_term=.74017f07669a
Facebook “goes into this endless hairsplitting that people should have known,” said Marc Rotenberg, president and executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a nonprofit advocacy group that has brought privacy cases before the FTC. “No one could have known that their friends were disclosing their personal data on their behalf. It’s entirely illogical, and it breaks the consent law.”…
…In 2011, Carol Davidsen, director of data integration and media analytics for Obama for America, built a database of every American voter using the same Facebook developer tool used by Cambridge, known as the social graph API. Any time people used Facebook’s log-in button to sign on to the campaign’s website, the Obama data scientists were able to access their profile as well as their friends’ information. That allowed them to chart the closeness of people’s relationships and make estimates about which people would be most likely to influence other people in their network to vote.
“We ingested the entire U.S. social graph,” Davidsen said in an interview. “We would ask permission to basically scrape your profile, and also scrape your friends, basically anything that was available to scrape. We scraped it all.”
Not in breach of Facebook’s TOU, but questionable, certainly – and it points to the need for tougher data protection laws.
Not all that questionable if you’re a sentient person using Facebook. Whenever you volutarily “friend” someone, that person can see what you make available, including your other friends. It’s not really questionable that a social network would allow friends to have a list of the things (including friends) available on the page. This is what Facebook is all about (and why I hardly ever use it). Whenever you post something to numerous people, it’s a publication. When you publish a book, you can’t control who reads it. When you publish something to social media, you can exert control who reads it only to the extent you trust your friends to keep stuff between you.
That’s different than fraudulently collecting information – using false pretenses to mine data. No false pretenses were used by the Obama campaign. The only thing that was used were the natural properties of social media – available to anyone who is a “friend.” That “sharing” is presumably done on purpose.
Not in breach of Facebook’s TOU, but questionable, certainly – and it points to the need for tougher data protection laws.
Not all that questionable if you’re a sentient person using Facebook. Whenever you volutarily “friend” someone, that person can see what you make available, including your other friends. It’s not really questionable that a social network would allow friends to have a list of the things (including friends) available on the page. This is what Facebook is all about (and why I hardly ever use it). Whenever you post something to numerous people, it’s a publication. When you publish a book, you can’t control who reads it. When you publish something to social media, you can exert control who reads it only to the extent you trust your friends to keep stuff between you.
That’s different than fraudulently collecting information – using false pretenses to mine data. No false pretenses were used by the Obama campaign. The only thing that was used were the natural properties of social media – available to anyone who is a “friend.” That “sharing” is presumably done on purpose.
“We ingested the entire U.S. social graph,” Davidsen said in an interview. “We would ask permission to basically scrape your profile, and also scrape your friends, basically anything that was available to scrape. We scraped it all.”
We would ask permission. Very different than defraud.
“We ingested the entire U.S. social graph,” Davidsen said in an interview. “We would ask permission to basically scrape your profile, and also scrape your friends, basically anything that was available to scrape. We scraped it all.”
We would ask permission. Very different than defraud.
Absolutely questionable – which is why Facebook is facing action over breaches of the 2011 consent decree, going beyond solely the Analytica case.
“A sentient person” handwaves away the seriously dubious policy of accessing data not only of the person consenting to a particular use like this, but also all their friends, who might have had no such intention.
Absolutely questionable – which is why Facebook is facing action over breaches of the 2011 consent decree, going beyond solely the Analytica case.
“A sentient person” handwaves away the seriously dubious policy of accessing data not only of the person consenting to a particular use like this, but also all their friends, who might have had no such intention.
“A sentient person” handwaves away the seriously dubious policy of accessing data not only of the person consenting to a particular use like this, but also all their friends, who might have had no such intention.
Doesn’t it depend on the privacy settings? As a sentient person, I rarely use Facebook for anything that I don’t feel comfortable being somewhat public, because I don’t feel like going into a detailed study of what the privacy settings are actually going to allow. It’s “social media” not electronic mail, and, sure, Facebook has, in some cases, violated the agreement that it makes with people, and that’s on Facebook. Whether it’s unethical for a political campaign to honestly use the service to try to gather mailing lists to solicit donors and votes – I don’t see it. I say honestly – that means not misrepresenting what’s happening.
I can send a list of all my friends’ names, snail mail addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, etc. to a political campaign in the hope that the campaign sends it campaign literature. There’s nothing wrong with that, and doing it electronically isn’t wrong either.
“A sentient person” handwaves away the seriously dubious policy of accessing data not only of the person consenting to a particular use like this, but also all their friends, who might have had no such intention.
Doesn’t it depend on the privacy settings? As a sentient person, I rarely use Facebook for anything that I don’t feel comfortable being somewhat public, because I don’t feel like going into a detailed study of what the privacy settings are actually going to allow. It’s “social media” not electronic mail, and, sure, Facebook has, in some cases, violated the agreement that it makes with people, and that’s on Facebook. Whether it’s unethical for a political campaign to honestly use the service to try to gather mailing lists to solicit donors and votes – I don’t see it. I say honestly – that means not misrepresenting what’s happening.
I can send a list of all my friends’ names, snail mail addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, etc. to a political campaign in the hope that the campaign sends it campaign literature. There’s nothing wrong with that, and doing it electronically isn’t wrong either.
My grammar is failing me, sorry. But it’s not wrong to do things honestly with information provided willingly. It’s wrong if someone hacks Facebook, or deceives people. CA deceived people coming and going.
My grammar is failing me, sorry. But it’s not wrong to do things honestly with information provided willingly. It’s wrong if someone hacks Facebook, or deceives people. CA deceived people coming and going.
But Obama did it, toooooo! So there!
I must have missed the part where Obama’s campaign hired a bunch of Putin-associated fixers and bagmen to provide the disinformation that FB/CA then spread, and also to launder the money changing hands with CB/CA.
But Obama did it, toooooo! So there!
I must have missed the part where Obama’s campaign hired a bunch of Putin-associated fixers and bagmen to provide the disinformation that FB/CA then spread, and also to launder the money changing hands with CB/CA.
…er, that last bit should be FB/CA.
…er, that last bit should be FB/CA.
CA asked permission too, both times millions of people got their information shared that didn’t get asked, much less actually give permission. Since at least half of my FB friends were Obama supporters I’m pretty sure they had mine.
Cynically, as a sentient being, I am pretty sure the mensa quiz I took through Facebook seven years ago ensured all those people have all my friends data.
If not, they got it another way. And they use it.
I hope GDPR gets implemented here at some point. Then no second hand permissions or uses.
CA asked permission too, both times millions of people got their information shared that didn’t get asked, much less actually give permission. Since at least half of my FB friends were Obama supporters I’m pretty sure they had mine.
Cynically, as a sentient being, I am pretty sure the mensa quiz I took through Facebook seven years ago ensured all those people have all my friends data.
If not, they got it another way. And they use it.
I hope GDPR gets implemented here at some point. Then no second hand permissions or uses.
The problem with GDPR is that a lot of companies face a serious problem. If they are complaint with GDPR, then they can find themselves unable to respond to entirely unexceptional subpoenas from local courts. Whereas if they comply with their local legal obligations, they are subject to serious penalties under GDPR.
Now if their local government is somewhere that the rule of law is notional (or less), being unable to comply with attempts to gain information on political opponents might be a good thing. But in other places, where police are adequately constrained by law? There, what GDPR mostly ends up doing is protecting real criminals. Unintended consequences.
The problem with GDPR is that a lot of companies face a serious problem. If they are complaint with GDPR, then they can find themselves unable to respond to entirely unexceptional subpoenas from local courts. Whereas if they comply with their local legal obligations, they are subject to serious penalties under GDPR.
Now if their local government is somewhere that the rule of law is notional (or less), being unable to comply with attempts to gain information on political opponents might be a good thing. But in other places, where police are adequately constrained by law? There, what GDPR mostly ends up doing is protecting real criminals. Unintended consequences.
let’s start with this –
Obama: sign up for our facebook app IN SUPPORT OF MY CAMPAIGN and we will leverage your contacts to reach out to people
Trump/CA: TAKE THIS ONLINE QUIZ that has NOT ONE FREAKING THING TO DO WITH POLITICS AT ALL and we will, without your knowledge or consent, leverage your information and that of your contacts to reach out to people
I’m not even getting into the violations of law.
there is no meaningful comparison to make between trump and obama. not as presidents, as leaders of political campaigns, as participants in the body politic at any level. not in terms of their understanding of or regard for american history, law, traditions, or civic institutions generally. not as husbands or parents. not as intelligent, ethical, resposible human beings. probably not as tippers or pet owners.
none. none whatsoever.
it’s a stupid conversation to even try to have. i feel my IQ declining simply by considering it hypothetically.
donald J trump is a miserable excuse for a human being. on the rare occasions when he stumbles across a reasonable thought, he degrades it by having even though it.
you, marty, make yourself seem foolish by insisting on trotting out the “yeah, but obama…” thing when trump is discussed.
i have no problem with your calling any of obama’s actions or policies into question. i call some of them into question myself.
doing so via comparison with trump and any of his kids or hangers-on is nonsensical. you’re comparing a competent and responsible actor with a flaming ass.
apples and oranges are at least both fruit.
let’s start with this –
Obama: sign up for our facebook app IN SUPPORT OF MY CAMPAIGN and we will leverage your contacts to reach out to people
Trump/CA: TAKE THIS ONLINE QUIZ that has NOT ONE FREAKING THING TO DO WITH POLITICS AT ALL and we will, without your knowledge or consent, leverage your information and that of your contacts to reach out to people
I’m not even getting into the violations of law.
there is no meaningful comparison to make between trump and obama. not as presidents, as leaders of political campaigns, as participants in the body politic at any level. not in terms of their understanding of or regard for american history, law, traditions, or civic institutions generally. not as husbands or parents. not as intelligent, ethical, resposible human beings. probably not as tippers or pet owners.
none. none whatsoever.
it’s a stupid conversation to even try to have. i feel my IQ declining simply by considering it hypothetically.
donald J trump is a miserable excuse for a human being. on the rare occasions when he stumbles across a reasonable thought, he degrades it by having even though it.
you, marty, make yourself seem foolish by insisting on trotting out the “yeah, but obama…” thing when trump is discussed.
i have no problem with your calling any of obama’s actions or policies into question. i call some of them into question myself.
doing so via comparison with trump and any of his kids or hangers-on is nonsensical. you’re comparing a competent and responsible actor with a flaming ass.
apples and oranges are at least both fruit.
michelle goldberg, on the CA thing:
my bold.
why defend this guy? why embarass yourself? why degrade your own intelligence by making excuses for his corruption?
the man poisons everything he touches. he’s toxic, his family is toxic, his political and business associates are toxic. no few of those who cast their lot with him will find themselves with their careers, reputations, and lives a shambles before all is said and done. if not in jail. he’s a walking talking cancer on our common public life.
i’d stay the hell away from him.
michelle goldberg, on the CA thing:
my bold.
why defend this guy? why embarass yourself? why degrade your own intelligence by making excuses for his corruption?
the man poisons everything he touches. he’s toxic, his family is toxic, his political and business associates are toxic. no few of those who cast their lot with him will find themselves with their careers, reputations, and lives a shambles before all is said and done. if not in jail. he’s a walking talking cancer on our common public life.
i’d stay the hell away from him.
apples and oranges are at least both fruit.
Apples and road apples, perhaps? Nah, those are still too similar.
apples and oranges are at least both fruit.
Apples and road apples, perhaps? Nah, those are still too similar.
The crisis of growing numbers of investigations into the tactics of the Obama campaign is something to behold. It’s like they didn’t even try to maintain the secrecy of their efforts. Ever since that 2012 MIT Technology Review piece GftNC linked to blew the lid off the story, it’s been a feeding frenzy. These past six years of unbridled outrage have been exhausting.
The crisis of growing numbers of investigations into the tactics of the Obama campaign is something to behold. It’s like they didn’t even try to maintain the secrecy of their efforts. Ever since that 2012 MIT Technology Review piece GftNC linked to blew the lid off the story, it’s been a feeding frenzy. These past six years of unbridled outrage have been exhausting.
https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2018/03/20/alex-jones-defends-integrity-russia-s-elections-putin-cant-be-dictator-because-he-won-76-percent/219686
https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2018/03/20/foxs-geraldo-rivera-austin-tx-sanctuary-city-maybe-bomber-has-beef/219691
America needs a new asshole blown in it, a thousand miles in every direction, just to get its attention to its fucking violent end.
https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2018/03/20/alex-jones-defends-integrity-russia-s-elections-putin-cant-be-dictator-because-he-won-76-percent/219686
https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2018/03/20/foxs-geraldo-rivera-austin-tx-sanctuary-city-maybe-bomber-has-beef/219691
America needs a new asshole blown in it, a thousand miles in every direction, just to get its attention to its fucking violent end.
Should rent-controlled tenants be issued automatic weapons via grants from the Clinton Foundation to eliminate republican landlord vermin?
https://www.balloon-juice.com/2018/03/21/late-night-some-politics-more-local-than-others-open-thread-jared-kushner-grifter-icarus/
I tink so, but let me tink about it.
Dese heah, are heavy qvuestins.
Should rent-controlled tenants be issued automatic weapons via grants from the Clinton Foundation to eliminate republican landlord vermin?
https://www.balloon-juice.com/2018/03/21/late-night-some-politics-more-local-than-others-open-thread-jared-kushner-grifter-icarus/
I tink so, but let me tink about it.
Dese heah, are heavy qvuestins.
First, every one of those stupid tests asks your permission for access to your data. Second, the Obama people asked for permission with exactly the same innocuous level of detail as those tests.
What is stupid is conflating a discussion of how CA and the Democratic data collection effort weren’t dissimilar as being any support or approval of Trump.
Not every damn thing in the world is about whether Trump is good or bad. Some things are worth discussing in the absence of value judgement.
The point is whether scraping Facebook’s social graph, gathering information of millions of voters without their permission, its the friends data that is in question, was good or bad for anyone to do. Should I be able to give them permission to take your data?
I believe, clearly stated on my first comment on the subject, that is unethical but I’m pretty sure that it us not illegal at this point.
Stupid is acting like the Obama, or Clinton, campaigns didnt have people out collecting exactly the same data, perhaps not as effectively, and making CA a scapegoat because they were good at it.
Stupid is continuing to pretend the FBI is made up of some group of shrinking violet patriotic perfect people being taken advantage of by those mean politicians.
FIB history is replete with people using there positions for personal and political power. To pretend Coney et al were f’ing Captain America is stupid. We are watching an incompetent, yes venal, arrogant, etc. politician being taken to the woodshed by people of enormous political power as FBI leaders, former and present.
They have and continue to use or abuse that power in support of your agenda. That’s a bad thing no matter who’s in the WH.
There are dozens of intelligent thoughtful conversations that we could be having, but anyone who disagrees with the headline of the day is labeled stupid and dismissed.
Funny how no one noticed that it isn’t the Republicans that control the media, or the FBI and who are actively desiring the military to eschew civilian leadership.
It isn’t the GOP that’s likely to create a fascist regime in this country, it’s the party intent on squashing any voice of dissent.
Stupid my @ss.
First, every one of those stupid tests asks your permission for access to your data. Second, the Obama people asked for permission with exactly the same innocuous level of detail as those tests.
What is stupid is conflating a discussion of how CA and the Democratic data collection effort weren’t dissimilar as being any support or approval of Trump.
Not every damn thing in the world is about whether Trump is good or bad. Some things are worth discussing in the absence of value judgement.
The point is whether scraping Facebook’s social graph, gathering information of millions of voters without their permission, its the friends data that is in question, was good or bad for anyone to do. Should I be able to give them permission to take your data?
I believe, clearly stated on my first comment on the subject, that is unethical but I’m pretty sure that it us not illegal at this point.
Stupid is acting like the Obama, or Clinton, campaigns didnt have people out collecting exactly the same data, perhaps not as effectively, and making CA a scapegoat because they were good at it.
Stupid is continuing to pretend the FBI is made up of some group of shrinking violet patriotic perfect people being taken advantage of by those mean politicians.
FIB history is replete with people using there positions for personal and political power. To pretend Coney et al were f’ing Captain America is stupid. We are watching an incompetent, yes venal, arrogant, etc. politician being taken to the woodshed by people of enormous political power as FBI leaders, former and present.
They have and continue to use or abuse that power in support of your agenda. That’s a bad thing no matter who’s in the WH.
There are dozens of intelligent thoughtful conversations that we could be having, but anyone who disagrees with the headline of the day is labeled stupid and dismissed.
Funny how no one noticed that it isn’t the Republicans that control the media, or the FBI and who are actively desiring the military to eschew civilian leadership.
It isn’t the GOP that’s likely to create a fascist regime in this country, it’s the party intent on squashing any voice of dissent.
Stupid my @ss.
scraping friends data was neither illegal nor outside the terms of service at the time of either Obama’s or CA’s actions.
acquiring information for a nominal purpose and using for another, different story.
and, there are other questions relating to violation of election law.
and, there are questions regarding the general skeeviness, for lack of a better term, of the motivations and participation of the mercers, bannon, et al.
but, by all means, continue to hammer away at the point that is not the point.
nobody’s quashing your “voice of dissent”. some of us are asking you to use your head.
i’m sure your point here is not to support trump. my guess is that you want to be the voice of conservative moderation, keeping all of us libs honest by showing us our guy “did it too”.
“our guy” didn’t “do it too”. the situations are not comparable. primarily because the men are not comparable, but also in the simple facts of the two cases.
“would you like to participate in a political campaign” is fundamentally a different question than “would you like to take a quiz”.
if you want to continue arguing your point, start by showing how the above is either not so, or not relevant.
since the crux of the matter turns on the idea of consent, I’m you have some heavy lifting to do.
scraping friends data was neither illegal nor outside the terms of service at the time of either Obama’s or CA’s actions.
acquiring information for a nominal purpose and using for another, different story.
and, there are other questions relating to violation of election law.
and, there are questions regarding the general skeeviness, for lack of a better term, of the motivations and participation of the mercers, bannon, et al.
but, by all means, continue to hammer away at the point that is not the point.
nobody’s quashing your “voice of dissent”. some of us are asking you to use your head.
i’m sure your point here is not to support trump. my guess is that you want to be the voice of conservative moderation, keeping all of us libs honest by showing us our guy “did it too”.
“our guy” didn’t “do it too”. the situations are not comparable. primarily because the men are not comparable, but also in the simple facts of the two cases.
“would you like to participate in a political campaign” is fundamentally a different question than “would you like to take a quiz”.
if you want to continue arguing your point, start by showing how the above is either not so, or not relevant.
since the crux of the matter turns on the idea of consent, I’m you have some heavy lifting to do.
It isn’t the GOP that’s likely to create a fascist regime in this country, it’s the party intent on squashing any voice of dissent.
so… the party that lives in your imagination?
nobody needs to worry about that one.
It isn’t the GOP that’s likely to create a fascist regime in this country, it’s the party intent on squashing any voice of dissent.
so… the party that lives in your imagination?
nobody needs to worry about that one.
also:
Should I be able to give them permission to take your data?
No.
also:
Should I be able to give them permission to take your data?
No.
There are dozens of intelligent thoughtful conversations that we could be having…
Yes, that could be. The CA contrempts could be a jumping off place to have an intelligent conversation on the role of social media in our society, but when the very first words you utter are, “Obama did the same thing,” it is pretty much a dead giveaway of where you are coming from.
To pretend Coney et al were f’ing Captain America is stupid.
James Comey is an asshole whose memo late in the game most likely tipped the election scales in favor of Trump. I, for one, shall never forgive this act of venality or partisanship-take your choice.
Funny how no one noticed that it isn’t the Republicans that control the media
Yes, we all know how big business is controlled by flaming liberals. Where do you get this shit? It is an absurd claim.
It isn’t the GOP that’s likely to create a fascist regime in this country
Say again whose party nominated and now supports a flaming authoritarian asshole in the Presidency? Your claim is, for all intents and purposes, self-refuting.
Next up, Marty gives us lectures on the “deep state”, a favorite meem among many of the loonier lefty types, much to my chagrin.
There are dozens of intelligent thoughtful conversations that we could be having…
Yes, that could be. The CA contrempts could be a jumping off place to have an intelligent conversation on the role of social media in our society, but when the very first words you utter are, “Obama did the same thing,” it is pretty much a dead giveaway of where you are coming from.
To pretend Coney et al were f’ing Captain America is stupid.
James Comey is an asshole whose memo late in the game most likely tipped the election scales in favor of Trump. I, for one, shall never forgive this act of venality or partisanship-take your choice.
Funny how no one noticed that it isn’t the Republicans that control the media
Yes, we all know how big business is controlled by flaming liberals. Where do you get this shit? It is an absurd claim.
It isn’t the GOP that’s likely to create a fascist regime in this country
Say again whose party nominated and now supports a flaming authoritarian asshole in the Presidency? Your claim is, for all intents and purposes, self-refuting.
Next up, Marty gives us lectures on the “deep state”, a favorite meem among many of the loonier lefty types, much to my chagrin.
remember when Obama brought his crooked real-estate developer into the White House to solve middle east peace?
sure you do.
remember when Obama brought his crooked real-estate developer into the White House to solve middle east peace?
sure you do.
“The CA contrempts could be a jumping off place to have an intelligent conversation on the role of social media in our society, but when the very first words you utter are, “Obama did the same thing,” it is pretty much a dead giveaway of where you are coming from.”
No, that’s what you hear. Where I’m coming from is that the issue isn’t a Trump issue, trying desperately to separate some one thing from the quagmire of “we have to try to use this to make Trump look bad”, so we could have a some discussion of a policy or social issue or phenomenon that isn’t “if you say A you support Trump”.
And no I am not going to lecture on the deep state, entrenched bureaucracy is a real t5hing, able to in most cases protect itself from change. That isn’t a conspiracy it is simply inertia.
“The CA contrempts could be a jumping off place to have an intelligent conversation on the role of social media in our society, but when the very first words you utter are, “Obama did the same thing,” it is pretty much a dead giveaway of where you are coming from.”
No, that’s what you hear. Where I’m coming from is that the issue isn’t a Trump issue, trying desperately to separate some one thing from the quagmire of “we have to try to use this to make Trump look bad”, so we could have a some discussion of a policy or social issue or phenomenon that isn’t “if you say A you support Trump”.
And no I am not going to lecture on the deep state, entrenched bureaucracy is a real t5hing, able to in most cases protect itself from change. That isn’t a conspiracy it is simply inertia.
To pretend Coney et al were f’ing Captain America is stupid.
***
Funny how no one noticed that it isn’t the Republicans that control the media, or the FBI
C’mon Marty, for God’s sake get a grip (sapient hated it when I told her to do so a while ago, I hope you won’t be so offended). Comey was the poster boy for the GOP when he dropped the bombshell about the emails on Huma Abedin’s husband’s computer (can’t remember the creep’s name), and I believe that for most of his life he has been a registered Republican, changing to “unaffiliated” only recently (I wonder why?) Mueller is a Republican, and although I don’t know about McCabe, he followed protocol rigorously to exclude any conflicts of interest during and after his wife’s unsuccessful run. Do you really want to get into the mindset that whenever the Intelligence services take a position that “your side” hates, you impugn them on the basis that they must be in hock to “the other side”? The left did that for decades, do you want to do it too, just to join a bunch of unprincipled pols and give the benefit of the doubt to a scumbag like Trump and his campaign? Where will America be if both sides start routinely slandering e.g. the FBI, in defiance of facts? What about the rule of law – isn’t that supposed to be a conservative obsession?
To pretend Coney et al were f’ing Captain America is stupid.
***
Funny how no one noticed that it isn’t the Republicans that control the media, or the FBI
C’mon Marty, for God’s sake get a grip (sapient hated it when I told her to do so a while ago, I hope you won’t be so offended). Comey was the poster boy for the GOP when he dropped the bombshell about the emails on Huma Abedin’s husband’s computer (can’t remember the creep’s name), and I believe that for most of his life he has been a registered Republican, changing to “unaffiliated” only recently (I wonder why?) Mueller is a Republican, and although I don’t know about McCabe, he followed protocol rigorously to exclude any conflicts of interest during and after his wife’s unsuccessful run. Do you really want to get into the mindset that whenever the Intelligence services take a position that “your side” hates, you impugn them on the basis that they must be in hock to “the other side”? The left did that for decades, do you want to do it too, just to join a bunch of unprincipled pols and give the benefit of the doubt to a scumbag like Trump and his campaign? Where will America be if both sides start routinely slandering e.g. the FBI, in defiance of facts? What about the rule of law – isn’t that supposed to be a conservative obsession?
the issue isn’t a Trump issue
as much as you want people to talk about something else (as always), there is in fact a Trump issue here.
specifically, the data that CA used was obtained under false pretenses.
and how does that make it a Trump problem? well, the guy who oversaw the FB program at CA, and who was VP and Sec of the company until August 2016, was Steve Bannon.
expect to hear a lot about “illegal campaign coordination” in the next few weeks.
the issue isn’t a Trump issue
as much as you want people to talk about something else (as always), there is in fact a Trump issue here.
specifically, the data that CA used was obtained under false pretenses.
and how does that make it a Trump problem? well, the guy who oversaw the FB program at CA, and who was VP and Sec of the company until August 2016, was Steve Bannon.
expect to hear a lot about “illegal campaign coordination” in the next few weeks.
Cleek, could you please turn down the intensity of the Orbital Mind Control Lasers that are forcing Marty to follow Cleek’s Law so rigorously?
Or turn them way, way, up. A petawatt or two should do the job. thnx.
Cleek, could you please turn down the intensity of the Orbital Mind Control Lasers that are forcing Marty to follow Cleek’s Law so rigorously?
Or turn them way, way, up. A petawatt or two should do the job. thnx.
Mueller is not a Republican, Comey is not a Republican, and that’s irrelevant to my point anyway. Perhaps a better understanding of the power of an “independent” law enforcement agency is necessary to grasp how ludicrous it is to paint any of these FBI officials as somehow abused or bullied.
Mueller is not a Republican, Comey is not a Republican, and that’s irrelevant to my point anyway. Perhaps a better understanding of the power of an “independent” law enforcement agency is necessary to grasp how ludicrous it is to paint any of these FBI officials as somehow abused or bullied.
Marty doesn’t like having His President questioned.
Please don’t fall for his disavowal of Trumpism.
Marty doesn’t like having His President questioned.
Please don’t fall for his disavowal of Trumpism.
“Mueller is not a Republican.”
I found it hard to believe too that Vivian Vance ordered the murder of Martin Luther King.
“Mueller is not a Republican.”
I found it hard to believe too that Vivian Vance ordered the murder of Martin Luther King.
Mueller is not a Republican
of course not. once we ignore his last-known voter registration, the obvious proof presents itself: if he was a Republican, there’s no way he’d spend a second questioning anything a fellow Republican ever did, and he’d spend his days whattabouting anyone who did.
Mueller is not a Republican
of course not. once we ignore his last-known voter registration, the obvious proof presents itself: if he was a Republican, there’s no way he’d spend a second questioning anything a fellow Republican ever did, and he’d spend his days whattabouting anyone who did.
No, that’s what you hear.
I didn’t hear nuttin’. That’s what you WROTE.
No, that’s what you hear.
I didn’t hear nuttin’. That’s what you WROTE.
Mueller is not a Republican, Comey is not a Republican, and that’s irrelevant to my point anyway.
On what basis do you say that they are not, and how is it irrelevant when you have said: Funny how no one noticed that it isn’t the Republicans that control the media, or the FBI?
In case you hadn’t noticed, I was standing up for the concept of an “independent” law enforcement agency, and while they have not been able to be abused or bullied before, these norms are changing under the regime of the appalling Trump. If you think firing people two days before their retirement doesn’t send a chilling message to other public servants, some of whom may not be all that principled, think again.
Mueller is not a Republican, Comey is not a Republican, and that’s irrelevant to my point anyway.
On what basis do you say that they are not, and how is it irrelevant when you have said: Funny how no one noticed that it isn’t the Republicans that control the media, or the FBI?
In case you hadn’t noticed, I was standing up for the concept of an “independent” law enforcement agency, and while they have not been able to be abused or bullied before, these norms are changing under the regime of the appalling Trump. If you think firing people two days before their retirement doesn’t send a chilling message to other public servants, some of whom may not be all that principled, think again.
Funny how no one noticed that it isn’t the Republicans that control the media, or the FBI?
Plus of course the obvious point (so obvious I missed it) that Sessions is the AG, with power over the DOJ including the FBI, and I assume you will agree that he is a Republican?
Funny how no one noticed that it isn’t the Republicans that control the media, or the FBI?
Plus of course the obvious point (so obvious I missed it) that Sessions is the AG, with power over the DOJ including the FBI, and I assume you will agree that he is a Republican?
“we have to try to use this to make Trump look bad”
He doesn’t really need anyone’s help.
“we have to try to use this to make Trump look bad”
He doesn’t really need anyone’s help.
And I guess the flip side is “I have to try to pretend this doesn’t make Trump look bad” (or at least no worse than Obama/Clinton).
And I guess the flip side is “I have to try to pretend this doesn’t make Trump look bad” (or at least no worse than Obama/Clinton).
I don’t think it makes Trump look bad or good, I think it is a fact of marketing life, political marketing in particular. Facebook isn’t worth $160 a share because my mom likes to see pictures of the great grandkids.
It’s the data. They, meaning CA, the Dems and thousands of other people/organizations, found a way to mine FB data. A way provided to them by FB, who did nothing to stop it until it hurt their stock price. And then just made token efforts.
I don’t care how Trump looks. He spends full time answering the latest charge, if he was good at his job he would be ineffective at this point, and he sucked to begin with. Who cares? He can’t do any real harm. Give him the wall and they DACA, how much will be built before someone else gets in office? Really?
I don’t think it makes Trump look bad or good, I think it is a fact of marketing life, political marketing in particular. Facebook isn’t worth $160 a share because my mom likes to see pictures of the great grandkids.
It’s the data. They, meaning CA, the Dems and thousands of other people/organizations, found a way to mine FB data. A way provided to them by FB, who did nothing to stop it until it hurt their stock price. And then just made token efforts.
I don’t care how Trump looks. He spends full time answering the latest charge, if he was good at his job he would be ineffective at this point, and he sucked to begin with. Who cares? He can’t do any real harm. Give him the wall and they DACA, how much will be built before someone else gets in office? Really?
people of enormous political power as FBI leaders, former and present.
They have and continue to use or abuse that power in support of your agenda.
I’m guessing that you are acquainted with a very different group of FBI agents than the ones that I have known over the years. All of whom were well on the conservative side of the political spectrum. Support for any kind of “liberal agenda” was nonexistent.
people of enormous political power as FBI leaders, former and present.
They have and continue to use or abuse that power in support of your agenda.
I’m guessing that you are acquainted with a very different group of FBI agents than the ones that I have known over the years. All of whom were well on the conservative side of the political spectrum. Support for any kind of “liberal agenda” was nonexistent.
I’m guessing that you are acquainted with a very different group of FBI agents than the ones that I have known over the years. All of whom were well on the conservative side of the political spectrum. Support for any kind of “liberal agenda” was nonexistent
You make a point, as a Republican (!), that I hesitated to make as an old hippy, who assumed (along with everyone else I knew) that all law enforcement pretty much was on the side of the right. I don’t imagine it’s changed that much.
I’m guessing that you are acquainted with a very different group of FBI agents than the ones that I have known over the years. All of whom were well on the conservative side of the political spectrum. Support for any kind of “liberal agenda” was nonexistent
You make a point, as a Republican (!), that I hesitated to make as an old hippy, who assumed (along with everyone else I knew) that all law enforcement pretty much was on the side of the right. I don’t imagine it’s changed that much.
Plus of course the obvious point (so obvious I missed it) that Sessions is the AG, with power over the DOJ including the FBI, and I assume you will agree that he is a Republican?
And, while we’re on the subject, Rosenstein (the Deputy AG who is Mueller’s boss, and the only one who can fire him) is a Republican. And Mueller (previously head of the FBI under Bush II) is a life-long Republican, too. (By the way, like all flaming liberals, Mueller is an ex-Marine.)
Plus of course the obvious point (so obvious I missed it) that Sessions is the AG, with power over the DOJ including the FBI, and I assume you will agree that he is a Republican?
And, while we’re on the subject, Rosenstein (the Deputy AG who is Mueller’s boss, and the only one who can fire him) is a Republican. And Mueller (previously head of the FBI under Bush II) is a life-long Republican, too. (By the way, like all flaming liberals, Mueller is an ex-Marine.)
when the very first words you utter are, “Obama did the same thing,” it is pretty much a dead giveaway of where you are coming from.”
No, that’s what you hear.
Let’s go to the videotape….
Thus fundamental political theory 101. You can’t imagine that CA came up with this as an original thought.
When Obama mined FB for his candidacy he was hailed as a new generation leader who understood the advantage of social media the way Kennedy understood the power of tv.
Now it’s suddenly criminal, and unethical which I happen to agree with in both cases, but it isn’t new except in its effectiveness.
OK then.
What is criminal and/or in violation of their terms of agreement with FB is not the fact that they scraped friend data. That was legal at the time they did it, and when Obama did it, and from FB’s point of view it was a feature they used to market their API to developers.
The distinction, to beat the poor dead horse once again, is that Obama’s team disclosed that participation in his stuff *was participation in his campaign*. CA’s on behalf of Trump did not.
And, being a company owned and operated by foreign nationals, there may be other violations of election law involved.
The Ukrainian call girl thing is just langiappe.
If you want to talk about data privacy, fine. If you don’t want to have your point mistaken as a claim that “Yeah, but Obama did it too!”, perhaps don’t lead off with “Yeah, but Obama did it too!”.
In any case, not much point in giving all of us a hard time about it, you said what you said. If what you said wasn’t what you meant to say, say what you meant to say. But don’t blame all of us for reading what you wrote.
when the very first words you utter are, “Obama did the same thing,” it is pretty much a dead giveaway of where you are coming from.”
No, that’s what you hear.
Let’s go to the videotape….
Thus fundamental political theory 101. You can’t imagine that CA came up with this as an original thought.
When Obama mined FB for his candidacy he was hailed as a new generation leader who understood the advantage of social media the way Kennedy understood the power of tv.
Now it’s suddenly criminal, and unethical which I happen to agree with in both cases, but it isn’t new except in its effectiveness.
OK then.
What is criminal and/or in violation of their terms of agreement with FB is not the fact that they scraped friend data. That was legal at the time they did it, and when Obama did it, and from FB’s point of view it was a feature they used to market their API to developers.
The distinction, to beat the poor dead horse once again, is that Obama’s team disclosed that participation in his stuff *was participation in his campaign*. CA’s on behalf of Trump did not.
And, being a company owned and operated by foreign nationals, there may be other violations of election law involved.
The Ukrainian call girl thing is just langiappe.
If you want to talk about data privacy, fine. If you don’t want to have your point mistaken as a claim that “Yeah, but Obama did it too!”, perhaps don’t lead off with “Yeah, but Obama did it too!”.
In any case, not much point in giving all of us a hard time about it, you said what you said. If what you said wasn’t what you meant to say, say what you meant to say. But don’t blame all of us for reading what you wrote.
I didn’t reference FBI agents, I referenced people who rose to executive ranks in the FBI. They carry tremendous political power and the “your agenda” I referred to was the harassment and removal of the President.
I couldn’t imagine Mueller is a Republican, but ok I was wrong. Coney is an Obama Democrat, no matter what he was, Rosenstein hasn’t fired Mueller, but then he hired him. Most important, all of those people are interested in protecting the power of the FBI, from any one else.
I didn’t reference FBI agents, I referenced people who rose to executive ranks in the FBI. They carry tremendous political power and the “your agenda” I referred to was the harassment and removal of the President.
I couldn’t imagine Mueller is a Republican, but ok I was wrong. Coney is an Obama Democrat, no matter what he was, Rosenstein hasn’t fired Mueller, but then he hired him. Most important, all of those people are interested in protecting the power of the FBI, from any one else.
Mueller is not a Republican, Comey is not a Republican
Mueller is, famously, a (R).
Comey was for his entire life until quite recently, he is currently unaffiliated. I can’t imagine why.
Both were appointed to their positions by George W Bush.
Seriously man, c’mon.
Mueller is not a Republican, Comey is not a Republican
Mueller is, famously, a (R).
Comey was for his entire life until quite recently, he is currently unaffiliated. I can’t imagine why.
Both were appointed to their positions by George W Bush.
Seriously man, c’mon.
By way of analogy, imperfect as they may be, we have one situation that is like a friend calling to see if it’s okay to stop by for a few beers and a chat. We have another situation that is like someone sneaking into your house and drinking a few beers taken out of your fridge.
Both involve someone coming into your house and drinking your beer, yet they are not the same thing. Of course, on the other hand, that’s not to say you have to let anyone drink your beer under any circumstances if you don’t want them to. You can always tell your friend you’re busy.
By way of analogy, imperfect as they may be, we have one situation that is like a friend calling to see if it’s okay to stop by for a few beers and a chat. We have another situation that is like someone sneaking into your house and drinking a few beers taken out of your fridge.
Both involve someone coming into your house and drinking your beer, yet they are not the same thing. Of course, on the other hand, that’s not to say you have to let anyone drink your beer under any circumstances if you don’t want them to. You can always tell your friend you’re busy.
is like someone sneaking into your house and drinking a few beers taken out of your fridge
a guy learns that you’re a good source for beer. so he comes over and tells you he wants to chat. you chat and give him some beers, but he doesn’t drink them himself; he actually takes the beers and sells them to his friends when you’re not looking.
is like someone sneaking into your house and drinking a few beers taken out of your fridge
a guy learns that you’re a good source for beer. so he comes over and tells you he wants to chat. you chat and give him some beers, but he doesn’t drink them himself; he actually takes the beers and sells them to his friends when you’re not looking.
Mueller is
an ex-a former Marine.An ex-Marine is what you call someone who went postal and shot up a shopping mall. 🙂
Mueller is
an ex-a former Marine.An ex-Marine is what you call someone who went postal and shot up a shopping mall. 🙂
The left did that for decades
Not for nothing, but “the left did that for decades” because, for decades, the FBI and the intelligence services illegally interfered with people’s constitutionally protected rights to assemble, speak, be free from unwarranted searches and seizures, and generally disagree with the policies of the government.
If anyone thinks that’s what’s going on now, I have a bridge to sell you.
The left did that for decades
Not for nothing, but “the left did that for decades” because, for decades, the FBI and the intelligence services illegally interfered with people’s constitutionally protected rights to assemble, speak, be free from unwarranted searches and seizures, and generally disagree with the policies of the government.
If anyone thinks that’s what’s going on now, I have a bridge to sell you.
He spends full time answering the latest charge….
Trump is no different from any other president in this regard, except for the fact that he’s so unsuited by temperament and personal history to be president that there are so many more charges that can be made. It’s not just that people are out to get him; it’s that there’s so much to get him on. And the number of people who are out to get him and the level of desire they have for getting him are not independent of his past and his character. I’m out to get him to some degree, because he’s a rotten piece of sh*t who’s horrible for this country and the world.
He spends full time answering the latest charge….
Trump is no different from any other president in this regard, except for the fact that he’s so unsuited by temperament and personal history to be president that there are so many more charges that can be made. It’s not just that people are out to get him; it’s that there’s so much to get him on. And the number of people who are out to get him and the level of desire they have for getting him are not independent of his past and his character. I’m out to get him to some degree, because he’s a rotten piece of sh*t who’s horrible for this country and the world.
That’s very true, russell.
That’s very true, russell.
“If anyone thinks that’s what’s going on now,”
There were and are other ways to abuse power, the FBI has and is using all of them. It’s just ok with you this time.
“If anyone thinks that’s what’s going on now,”
There were and are other ways to abuse power, the FBI has and is using all of them. It’s just ok with you this time.
how is the FBI abusing its power?
how is the FBI abusing its power?
cleek beat me to it!
cleek beat me to it!
They’re conducting a secret investigation without authorization, except everyone knows about it, including their bosses and congress. It’s a really tricky deal.
They’re conducting a secret investigation without authorization, except everyone knows about it, including their bosses and congress. It’s a really tricky deal.
i googled a bit and the thing that keeps coming up is the Nunes memo.
i hope that’s not where this is going. because that’s in Crazytown, and my mom always told me to never go there.
i googled a bit and the thing that keeps coming up is the Nunes memo.
i hope that’s not where this is going. because that’s in Crazytown, and my mom always told me to never go there.
She said that ain’t the way to have fun, son….
She said that ain’t the way to have fun, son….
There are so many great renditions to choose from, but:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj600c_TmUo
There are so many great renditions to choose from, but:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj600c_TmUo
It’s just ok with you this time.
In a nutshell, you are reading my mind, and on the basis of your imaginary understanding of what I think, you are calling me a hypocrite.
You have been plainly disingenuous throughout this thread. But, you want to accuse me of hypocrisy.
I don’t need this crap. Adios.
It’s just ok with you this time.
In a nutshell, you are reading my mind, and on the basis of your imaginary understanding of what I think, you are calling me a hypocrite.
You have been plainly disingenuous throughout this thread. But, you want to accuse me of hypocrisy.
I don’t need this crap. Adios.
When do we get use the term Nazi as a synonym for republican:
https://thinkprogress.org/20000-illinois-republicans-voted-for-nazi-7bbeeb7631fd/
When do we get use the term Nazi as a synonym for republican:
https://thinkprogress.org/20000-illinois-republicans-voted-for-nazi-7bbeeb7631fd/
When do we get use the term Nazi as a synonym for republican?
Perhaps when someone like Jones gets the nomination and Republican leaders don’t reject him out of hand. Which, this time, they instantly did.
When do we get use the term Nazi as a synonym for republican?
Perhaps when someone like Jones gets the nomination and Republican leaders don’t reject him out of hand. Which, this time, they instantly did.
This guy is definitely a pigfucking republican:
https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/03/21/director-pro-trump-group-boasted-asking-airline-passengers-rag-their-heads-if-they-were-terrorists/219687
This guy is definitely a pigfucking republican:
https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/03/21/director-pro-trump-group-boasted-asking-airline-passengers-rag-their-heads-if-they-were-terrorists/219687
Perhaps when someone like Jones gets the nomination and Republican leaders don’t reject him out of hand.
but Republican voters didn’t.
Perhaps when someone like Jones gets the nomination and Republican leaders don’t reject him out of hand.
but Republican voters didn’t.
Yet another Godless liberal democrat terrorist perverted by socialist public schooling and from a broken brown family:
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5ad912c5d629717dd35ca6486ef96b51bca633c525aa82ec9cf45abb2949fc4c.png
http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2018/03/racism-in-action
Yet another Godless liberal democrat terrorist perverted by socialist public schooling and from a broken brown family:
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5ad912c5d629717dd35ca6486ef96b51bca633c525aa82ec9cf45abb2949fc4c.png
http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2018/03/racism-in-action
“I couldn’t imagine Mueller is a Republican, but ok I was wrong.”
The next time Mueller and Rosenstein show up at the
stinking Federalist Society and their membership cards don’t work, their imaginations are going to fail them to.
“I couldn’t imagine Mueller is a Republican, but ok I was wrong.”
The next time Mueller and Rosenstein show up at the
stinking Federalist Society and their membership cards don’t work, their imaginations are going to fail them to.
Jones was running unopposed for the nomination. Good work showing your true colors, GOP.
Jones was running unopposed for the nomination. Good work showing your true colors, GOP.
too
too
Jones was running unopposed for the nomination. Good work showing your true colors, GOP.
Come on, Snarki. Given how many places the GOP has seats at risk, it’s not really surprising that they didn’t bother to recruit someone to run for what is a safe blue seat anyway.
They admit it was a mistake. But not, I think, an exceptional one in most circumstances. Just as it would be understandable if the Democrats didn’t bother putting up someone for a safe red seat (at least in years when there were more of those). Even though it could result in someone who was a real socialist (as opposed to merely self-labeled as one, like Bernie) getting their nomination unopposed.
Jones was running unopposed for the nomination. Good work showing your true colors, GOP.
Come on, Snarki. Given how many places the GOP has seats at risk, it’s not really surprising that they didn’t bother to recruit someone to run for what is a safe blue seat anyway.
They admit it was a mistake. But not, I think, an exceptional one in most circumstances. Just as it would be understandable if the Democrats didn’t bother putting up someone for a safe red seat (at least in years when there were more of those). Even though it could result in someone who was a real socialist (as opposed to merely self-labeled as one, like Bernie) getting their nomination unopposed.
it’s looking like Lipinski got a big boost from Republicans voting for the more conservative Dem.
it’s looking like Lipinski got a big boost from Republicans voting for the more conservative Dem.
Seriously? Illinois Nazis?
https://youtu.be/ulCw7RJ5eE8
Seriously? Illinois Nazis?
https://youtu.be/ulCw7RJ5eE8
wj “they made a mistake” is rather weak tea.
If the local GOP committee couldn’t be bothered to work to keep a Nazi or Klan member or a child molester from being their flag bearers, it says A HUGE AMOUNT about their priorities.
Disband the party in that district. Print maps of where the Nazi lives with a “surveyors mark” on the spot.
F’n snowflakes. GOP napalma est.
wj “they made a mistake” is rather weak tea.
If the local GOP committee couldn’t be bothered to work to keep a Nazi or Klan member or a child molester from being their flag bearers, it says A HUGE AMOUNT about their priorities.
Disband the party in that district. Print maps of where the Nazi lives with a “surveyors mark” on the spot.
F’n snowflakes. GOP napalma est.
I assume you mean ‘napalmanda’. Otherwise the party either is an incendiary itself or it has already been torched or (if we have a verbum deponens here) the torching it used to commit is in the past.
/grammar nazi
I assume you mean ‘napalmanda’. Otherwise the party either is an incendiary itself or it has already been torched or (if we have a verbum deponens here) the torching it used to commit is in the past.
/grammar nazi
I like that, Snarki and Hartmut: GOP nalpamanda est.
Honestly? IMO, anyone at this point still supporting and voting for the GOP is presumed to be a traitor to the US.
I like that, Snarki and Hartmut: GOP nalpamanda est.
Honestly? IMO, anyone at this point still supporting and voting for the GOP is presumed to be a traitor to the US.
I wonder what Marty (or wj for that matter) has to say about PA Republicans threatening to impeach 4 PA Supreme Court judges.
All millennium, the GOP has been acting like a headstrong doofus who cheats on his pilot’s license exam, and thinks that’s good enough to fly a plane.
–TP
I wonder what Marty (or wj for that matter) has to say about PA Republicans threatening to impeach 4 PA Supreme Court judges.
All millennium, the GOP has been acting like a headstrong doofus who cheats on his pilot’s license exam, and thinks that’s good enough to fly a plane.
–TP
not just a grammar nazi, a LATIN grammar nazi
props!
not just a grammar nazi, a LATIN grammar nazi
props!
Irony is dead, chapter the four-thousand-three-hundred-and-ninety-ninth.
Irony is dead, chapter the four-thousand-three-hundred-and-ninety-ninth.
Even though it could result in someone who was a real socialist (as opposed to merely self-labeled as one, like Bernie) getting their nomination unopposed.
Electing socialists is the equivalent of electing Nazis?
Even though it could result in someone who was a real socialist (as opposed to merely self-labeled as one, like Bernie) getting their nomination unopposed.
Electing socialists is the equivalent of electing Nazis?
Electing socialists would be much worse. Nazis were friendly to big businesses, at least.
–TP
Electing socialists would be much worse. Nazis were friendly to big businesses, at least.
–TP
Even though it could result in someone who was a real socialist (as opposed to merely self-labeled as one, like Bernie) getting their nomination unopposed.
So-called “real” socialists (i.e., marxist communists of one of a million or so stripes-worse than ‘effing Protestants if you ask me) hate on the Democratic Party with a white hot passion, and most likely would not deign stoop to finagle a nomination to be a Democratic Party candidate.
It would appear nazis are not so discriminating.
Even though it could result in someone who was a real socialist (as opposed to merely self-labeled as one, like Bernie) getting their nomination unopposed.
So-called “real” socialists (i.e., marxist communists of one of a million or so stripes-worse than ‘effing Protestants if you ask me) hate on the Democratic Party with a white hot passion, and most likely would not deign stoop to finagle a nomination to be a Democratic Party candidate.
It would appear nazis are not so discriminating.
Electing socialists is the equivalent of electing Nazis?
Right?
Electing socialists is the equivalent of electing Nazis?
Right?
For the sake of simplicity, “socialist” is taken to be synonymous with “Stalinist.”
…Simplicity!!!!
For the sake of simplicity, “socialist” is taken to be synonymous with “Stalinist.”
…Simplicity!!!!
I wonder what Marty (or wj for that matter) has to say about PA Republicans threatening to impeach 4 PA Supreme Court judges.
I view them about the same way I viewed the idiots (in the 1960s) who ranted about “Impeach Earl Warren” because they disliked the Supreme Court decisions outlawing discrimination against blacks. That is, they are a bunch of losers who resent the fact that their illegal shenanigans have been overturned. To which I say: Karma’s a bitch.
I wonder what Marty (or wj for that matter) has to say about PA Republicans threatening to impeach 4 PA Supreme Court judges.
I view them about the same way I viewed the idiots (in the 1960s) who ranted about “Impeach Earl Warren” because they disliked the Supreme Court decisions outlawing discrimination against blacks. That is, they are a bunch of losers who resent the fact that their illegal shenanigans have been overturned. To which I say: Karma’s a bitch.
Electing socialists is the equivalent of electing Nazis?
I was trying to say that liberals (at least in my experience) are no more likely to actually embrace a real socialist than conservatives (at least real ones) are to embrace an admitted neo-Nazi. Which is to say, they’re not. They might be willing to accept his vote for something that they wanted to pass, but they wouldn’t support him or his positions otherwise.
Electing socialists is the equivalent of electing Nazis?
I was trying to say that liberals (at least in my experience) are no more likely to actually embrace a real socialist than conservatives (at least real ones) are to embrace an admitted neo-Nazi. Which is to say, they’re not. They might be willing to accept his vote for something that they wanted to pass, but they wouldn’t support him or his positions otherwise.
For the sake of simplicity, “socialist” is taken to be synonymous with “Stalinist.”
Of which there are at least 20 varieties all claiming to be ‘true’ Stalinists!
LOL.
For the sake of simplicity, “socialist” is taken to be synonymous with “Stalinist.”
Of which there are at least 20 varieties all claiming to be ‘true’ Stalinists!
LOL.
I was trying to say that liberals (at least in my experience) are no more likely to actually embrace a real socialist than conservatives (at least real ones) are to embrace an admitted neo-Nazi.
Perhaps the degrees to which “Democrat” maps to “liberal” and “Republican” maps to “conservative” (i.e. not totally in either case or equally in the two cases) is part of the reason for the misunderstanding.
I was trying to say that liberals (at least in my experience) are no more likely to actually embrace a real socialist than conservatives (at least real ones) are to embrace an admitted neo-Nazi.
Perhaps the degrees to which “Democrat” maps to “liberal” and “Republican” maps to “conservative” (i.e. not totally in either case or equally in the two cases) is part of the reason for the misunderstanding.
To which I say: Karma’s a bitch.
Sign seen in Hue
“I saw that”
Karma
To which I say: Karma’s a bitch.
Sign seen in Hue
“I saw that”
Karma
still waiting to learn how the FBI is abusing its powers.
/Double Jeopardy Music
still waiting to learn how the FBI is abusing its powers.
/Double Jeopardy Music
Being mean to poor, little Trump.
Being mean to poor, little Trump.
I was trying to say that liberals (at least in my experience) are no more likely to actually embrace a real socialist than conservatives
I’m not sure there are direct analogies between the two parties, or between “liberals” and “conservatives” however construed.
I was trying to say that liberals (at least in my experience) are no more likely to actually embrace a real socialist than conservatives
I’m not sure there are direct analogies between the two parties, or between “liberals” and “conservatives” however construed.
Most important, all of those people are interested in protecting the power of the FBI, from any one else…
I think rather they are interested in protecting the FBI from becoming the personal tool of a president who has no interest in either the rule of law or the constitution.
Most important, all of those people are interested in protecting the power of the FBI, from any one else…
I think rather they are interested in protecting the FBI from becoming the personal tool of a president who has no interest in either the rule of law or the constitution.
This, on Facebook, I think is entirely fair comment.
(And yes it is about data protection rather than the relative moral positions of Trump vs Obama, which is not even worth discussion.)
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/03/zuckerberg-facebook-cambridge-analytica-statement/556187/
Sandy Parakilas, a former employee at Facebook who worked on a team dedicated to policing third-party app developers, told The Guardian that he warned Facebook executives about the problem of data leaking out of the company’s third-party applications, and was told: Do you really want to see what you’ll find? “They felt that it was better not to know,” he said. “I found that utterly shocking and horrifying.”
Equally troubling, Carol Davidsen, who worked on the Obama 2012 campaign, recently tweeted that Facebook knew they were pulling vast amounts of user data out of the system to use in political campaigning and did nothing to stop them. “Facebook was surprised we were able to suck out the whole social graph, but they didn’t stop us once they realized that was what we were doing,” she said. “They came to office in the days following election recruiting and were very candid that they allowed us to do things they wouldn’t have allowed someone else to do because they were on our side.”
The Obama team was not doing exactly the same things as Cambridge Analytica, but this is a shocking revelation about how much data was leaving Facebook, and how little was done to stop it.
In Zuckerberg’s statement about the weekend’s scandal, Facebook lays the blame squarely on a Cambridge psychology professor, Alex Kogan, for building an app that vacuumed up data from unwitting users and stored it outside the system, so that it could be used by Cambridge Analytica. And that is fair: Users could not have imagined that when they took a personality quiz, they would end up in the voter targeting database of a company associated with Steve Bannon.
But that is clearly not the only issue here….
…many of the capabilities that seem to frighten people about Cambridge Analytica do, in fact, exist right within Facebook’s own ad-targeting infrastructure. At what point does Facebook look at those capabilities and decide that something needs to change? It seems like it is far past the time to begin such an investigation.
This, on Facebook, I think is entirely fair comment.
(And yes it is about data protection rather than the relative moral positions of Trump vs Obama, which is not even worth discussion.)
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/03/zuckerberg-facebook-cambridge-analytica-statement/556187/
Sandy Parakilas, a former employee at Facebook who worked on a team dedicated to policing third-party app developers, told The Guardian that he warned Facebook executives about the problem of data leaking out of the company’s third-party applications, and was told: Do you really want to see what you’ll find? “They felt that it was better not to know,” he said. “I found that utterly shocking and horrifying.”
Equally troubling, Carol Davidsen, who worked on the Obama 2012 campaign, recently tweeted that Facebook knew they were pulling vast amounts of user data out of the system to use in political campaigning and did nothing to stop them. “Facebook was surprised we were able to suck out the whole social graph, but they didn’t stop us once they realized that was what we were doing,” she said. “They came to office in the days following election recruiting and were very candid that they allowed us to do things they wouldn’t have allowed someone else to do because they were on our side.”
The Obama team was not doing exactly the same things as Cambridge Analytica, but this is a shocking revelation about how much data was leaving Facebook, and how little was done to stop it.
In Zuckerberg’s statement about the weekend’s scandal, Facebook lays the blame squarely on a Cambridge psychology professor, Alex Kogan, for building an app that vacuumed up data from unwitting users and stored it outside the system, so that it could be used by Cambridge Analytica. And that is fair: Users could not have imagined that when they took a personality quiz, they would end up in the voter targeting database of a company associated with Steve Bannon.
But that is clearly not the only issue here….
…many of the capabilities that seem to frighten people about Cambridge Analytica do, in fact, exist right within Facebook’s own ad-targeting infrastructure. At what point does Facebook look at those capabilities and decide that something needs to change? It seems like it is far past the time to begin such an investigation.
At what point does Facebook look at those capabilities and decide that something needs to change?
Regulation is what’s needed here. Self-regulation has never been very successful.
At what point does Facebook look at those capabilities and decide that something needs to change?
Regulation is what’s needed here. Self-regulation has never been very successful.
At what point does Facebook look at those capabilities and decide that something needs to change?
when the money stops flowing.
if you hang out on FB, you need to understand that you are the product, not the customer. they derive their revenue from collecting your interactions there and selling them to third parties, who will then analyze them and use them to target messages to you. on FB and elsewhere.
that is the business model.
it makes them, and companies like them, lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of money.
self-regulation in the presence of billions of dollars does not have a good track record.
At what point does Facebook look at those capabilities and decide that something needs to change?
when the money stops flowing.
if you hang out on FB, you need to understand that you are the product, not the customer. they derive their revenue from collecting your interactions there and selling them to third parties, who will then analyze them and use them to target messages to you. on FB and elsewhere.
that is the business model.
it makes them, and companies like them, lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of money.
self-regulation in the presence of billions of dollars does not have a good track record.
Forbes
for laughs, folks should go to any of the common software developer websites and search for “facebook social graph”.
if you have a couple of hours and some very basic coding skills, you too can “scrape the social graph”. they don’t do friend’s data anymore as a matter of policy, but you can still have lots of fun and entertainment.
per the forbes article, twitter offers a more machine-friendly API and has become the preferred resource.
Forbes
for laughs, folks should go to any of the common software developer websites and search for “facebook social graph”.
if you have a couple of hours and some very basic coding skills, you too can “scrape the social graph”. they don’t do friend’s data anymore as a matter of policy, but you can still have lots of fun and entertainment.
per the forbes article, twitter offers a more machine-friendly API and has become the preferred resource.
russell @8:33
Forbes link is faulty…..
russell @8:33
Forbes link is faulty…..
Forbes?
Forbes?
Forbes!
Forbes!
There’s now video of the Uber vehicle striking the pedestrian.
There’s now video of the Uber vehicle striking the pedestrian.
As it happens, I just yesterday paid a visit to the Site Formerly Known as HOCB (or, variously, TIO) and to my utter surprise it redirected me to some sort of Asian porn site.
I was grateful that I didn’t do that on my work computer.
…and then I realized that it has been a while since I visited here, too. Quite a while.
So. Here I am. I’ve gotten a kid all the way through college, I think, since I last commented. I’ve got another kid who will be driving unsupervised in the very, very near future and is shopping for colleges.
Maybe I should talk about food pantries or something. Our church is partnered on one that feeds a few thousand people a month, which is at once fairly impressive and not nearly enough to meet demand. But I am still sort of a novice-level grocery-getter, and I do that in place of actually serving the people that need food. It uses up about a half day a week. Still sore from yesterday’s run, which included over half a ton of #8 cans of stuff, all of which we got for free.
Hope everyone is as well as they can be.
Slart
As it happens, I just yesterday paid a visit to the Site Formerly Known as HOCB (or, variously, TIO) and to my utter surprise it redirected me to some sort of Asian porn site.
I was grateful that I didn’t do that on my work computer.
…and then I realized that it has been a while since I visited here, too. Quite a while.
So. Here I am. I’ve gotten a kid all the way through college, I think, since I last commented. I’ve got another kid who will be driving unsupervised in the very, very near future and is shopping for colleges.
Maybe I should talk about food pantries or something. Our church is partnered on one that feeds a few thousand people a month, which is at once fairly impressive and not nearly enough to meet demand. But I am still sort of a novice-level grocery-getter, and I do that in place of actually serving the people that need food. It uses up about a half day a week. Still sore from yesterday’s run, which included over half a ton of #8 cans of stuff, all of which we got for free.
Hope everyone is as well as they can be.
Slart
Slarti!
Slarti!
Zuckerberg stated plainly from the time he was in college gearing up Facebook that the human race will get over its quaint notions of privacy once he gives them no choice but to.
Our privacy is an untapped, uncapitalized (oh, well, if you put it like that, then please proceed) market to be monetized like every fucking thing from Walden Pond on down the line.
We are the marks.
So, spotting Groucho trying to get a bead on the hot horse, along comes another bunch of grifting Chicos spying an untapped market that needs monetizing … voila … if you’ll excuse my entrepreneurial French … your newly lost privacy, which of course you gave up because the small print was written in disappearing ink .. our friend Chico here who will sell you, for a fee, 37 ways of judging the horses and securing your multi-various privacies.
Here’s what we do. You want to see your own data, maybe make a fucking phone call, well, you suspect, we’ll need some fingerprints and an eyeball scan. What’s the password? What’s the backup password?
Remember to write down those passwords on a piece of paper, all 26 of them at least 11 characters long and using one cap, two numbers, an emoji, and a gerund spelled backwards.
Here’s a pencil. That’ll be $2 to rent the pencil and hurry up because its the only one left.
Better yet, for a monthly subscription fee, we’ll automatically change your passwords for you. Yeah. Then we’ll sell the new ones to a guy in Bucharest who will alert us to alert you that you need to be alert to buying this here super-subscription that encrypts your passwords on top of every thing else.
Two dollah. We have overhead.
See every grift needs a snappy rhyme to go with: subscription encryption, in this case. Presented to you by a guy dressed like an enchilada but wearing a Sherlock Holmes hat to make him look on the up and up. Mum’s the word.
And speaking of mum, don’t use your grandmother’s maiden name as your password, for God’s sake. Think how easily your grandmother gave up her maidenhood. She gave it away to the first guy who asked, so why would you trust her with YOUR privacy?
You know when you put your debit card in the ATM on the side of the bank. It’s best to skulk and dart your eyes around while you do it, cause someone has a placed a tiny camera to watch you type in your password and read your debit card number. No, don’t look NOW! Jeebus!
For $12 a month, my company will sell you the Debit Card Shield, patent pending, mind you, to protect your identity in all yer transactions.
Never mind the fact that our offshore subsidiary sold the tiny camera to the scofflaws in the first place and is just now developing and marketing a device that can see thru the Debit Card Shield, so the more we think about it, the more YOU look like a steady stream of income for us, and if you don’t like it, buy our stock and work both ends of your predicament.
You are the customer and the product. You are the target audience. You buy yourself back from the market which has you coming and going at all times.
This individual human being nonsense is just a thing they tell you.
Zuckerberg stated plainly from the time he was in college gearing up Facebook that the human race will get over its quaint notions of privacy once he gives them no choice but to.
Our privacy is an untapped, uncapitalized (oh, well, if you put it like that, then please proceed) market to be monetized like every fucking thing from Walden Pond on down the line.
We are the marks.
So, spotting Groucho trying to get a bead on the hot horse, along comes another bunch of grifting Chicos spying an untapped market that needs monetizing … voila … if you’ll excuse my entrepreneurial French … your newly lost privacy, which of course you gave up because the small print was written in disappearing ink .. our friend Chico here who will sell you, for a fee, 37 ways of judging the horses and securing your multi-various privacies.
Here’s what we do. You want to see your own data, maybe make a fucking phone call, well, you suspect, we’ll need some fingerprints and an eyeball scan. What’s the password? What’s the backup password?
Remember to write down those passwords on a piece of paper, all 26 of them at least 11 characters long and using one cap, two numbers, an emoji, and a gerund spelled backwards.
Here’s a pencil. That’ll be $2 to rent the pencil and hurry up because its the only one left.
Better yet, for a monthly subscription fee, we’ll automatically change your passwords for you. Yeah. Then we’ll sell the new ones to a guy in Bucharest who will alert us to alert you that you need to be alert to buying this here super-subscription that encrypts your passwords on top of every thing else.
Two dollah. We have overhead.
See every grift needs a snappy rhyme to go with: subscription encryption, in this case. Presented to you by a guy dressed like an enchilada but wearing a Sherlock Holmes hat to make him look on the up and up. Mum’s the word.
And speaking of mum, don’t use your grandmother’s maiden name as your password, for God’s sake. Think how easily your grandmother gave up her maidenhood. She gave it away to the first guy who asked, so why would you trust her with YOUR privacy?
You know when you put your debit card in the ATM on the side of the bank. It’s best to skulk and dart your eyes around while you do it, cause someone has a placed a tiny camera to watch you type in your password and read your debit card number. No, don’t look NOW! Jeebus!
For $12 a month, my company will sell you the Debit Card Shield, patent pending, mind you, to protect your identity in all yer transactions.
Never mind the fact that our offshore subsidiary sold the tiny camera to the scofflaws in the first place and is just now developing and marketing a device that can see thru the Debit Card Shield, so the more we think about it, the more YOU look like a steady stream of income for us, and if you don’t like it, buy our stock and work both ends of your predicament.
You are the customer and the product. You are the target audience. You buy yourself back from the market which has you coming and going at all times.
This individual human being nonsense is just a thing they tell you.
Or watch this and skip the reading:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqypaqLEfM8
Or watch this and skip the reading:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqypaqLEfM8
Slarti!
How’s the hog-splitting?
Slarti!
How’s the hog-splitting?
I’ve learned a thing or two, Count. And I have two freezers full of pork.
We also have bunnies. Cute, fluffy, tasty bunnies.
How’s things with you?
I’ve learned a thing or two, Count. And I have two freezers full of pork.
We also have bunnies. Cute, fluffy, tasty bunnies.
How’s things with you?
“There’s now video of the Uber vehicle striking the pedestrian.”
Once we replace the human pedestrians with self-walking robots, this sort of thing won’t be a worry.
It’ll just be one algorithm running over another algorithm, what we’ll come to refer to as the “flat algorithm” with a rueful chuckle.
“There’s now video of the Uber vehicle striking the pedestrian.”
Once we replace the human pedestrians with self-walking robots, this sort of thing won’t be a worry.
It’ll just be one algorithm running over another algorithm, what we’ll come to refer to as the “flat algorithm” with a rueful chuckle.
Well, slart, I like pork and the occasional braised rabbit.
Had a scrumptious pig tail topped by fried pig ears the other week at a new Latin restaurant in my town.
But I have people to do the dirty work and prep.
I have aspirations to become more vertically integrated in that respect, but my apartment complex disapproves of livestock holding pens right chere in the apartments.
I’ve learned nothing since we last communicated here.
Don’t be so scarce.
Well, slart, I like pork and the occasional braised rabbit.
Had a scrumptious pig tail topped by fried pig ears the other week at a new Latin restaurant in my town.
But I have people to do the dirty work and prep.
I have aspirations to become more vertically integrated in that respect, but my apartment complex disapproves of livestock holding pens right chere in the apartments.
I’ve learned nothing since we last communicated here.
Don’t be so scarce.
I actually feel as if I have unlearned a great many things.
Could be one reason for my reticence. I just know nothing anymore. But could also be partially because I am busy doing things that keep me exhausted, physically. And also that I have had the flu on four (4) separate occasions this winter. Two different varieties, repeated once each.
Yeah, it’s the winter I skipped my flu vaccination. So, yeah. Dumber and more tired than before, is kind of my tagline these days. And sicker, maybe.
Although I have done some cool things mathematically and algorithmically, none of that would be of much interest here.
I actually feel as if I have unlearned a great many things.
Could be one reason for my reticence. I just know nothing anymore. But could also be partially because I am busy doing things that keep me exhausted, physically. And also that I have had the flu on four (4) separate occasions this winter. Two different varieties, repeated once each.
Yeah, it’s the winter I skipped my flu vaccination. So, yeah. Dumber and more tired than before, is kind of my tagline these days. And sicker, maybe.
Although I have done some cool things mathematically and algorithmically, none of that would be of much interest here.
Although I have done some cool things mathematically and algorithmically, none of that would be of much interest here.
Are you sure?
Although I have done some cool things mathematically and algorithmically, none of that would be of much interest here.
Are you sure?
Although I have done some cool things mathematically and algorithmically, none of that would be of much interest here.
There is a tiny minority of applied mathematicians.
Although I have done some cool things mathematically and algorithmically, none of that would be of much interest here.
There is a tiny minority of applied mathematicians.
Define “tiny.” Show your work.
Define “tiny.” Show your work.
A shaft of light in the dark…
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/03/how-anthony-ray-hinton-survived-death-row.html?
The thing that I find fascinating and more pleasing is that people genuinely are sorry. They hear what I went through. I thought people wouldn’t care, but people generally do care. I get letters all the time from people that tell me that they care, and that they wish that there’s something they could do. They’re sorry that I went through this. I find that striking because I believe that we live in a world where people only care about themselves, but I have been proven wrong…
A shaft of light in the dark…
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/03/how-anthony-ray-hinton-survived-death-row.html?
The thing that I find fascinating and more pleasing is that people genuinely are sorry. They hear what I went through. I thought people wouldn’t care, but people generally do care. I get letters all the time from people that tell me that they care, and that they wish that there’s something they could do. They’re sorry that I went through this. I find that striking because I believe that we live in a world where people only care about themselves, but I have been proven wrong…
…and then I realized that it has been a while since I visited here, too. Quite a while.
The wanderer returns! Welcome home, Slarti.
…and then I realized that it has been a while since I visited here, too. Quite a while.
The wanderer returns! Welcome home, Slarti.
Never mind the fact that our offshore subsidiary sold the tiny camera to the scofflaws in the first place and is just now developing and marketing a device that can see thru the Debit Card Shield
Now that’s just pathetically poor engineering. Anyone with sense would have incorporated a camera in the Shield design in the first place. Just in case they had a future desire to use it….
Never mind the fact that our offshore subsidiary sold the tiny camera to the scofflaws in the first place and is just now developing and marketing a device that can see thru the Debit Card Shield
Now that’s just pathetically poor engineering. Anyone with sense would have incorporated a camera in the Shield design in the first place. Just in case they had a future desire to use it….
https://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/John-Dowd-lead-Trump-lawyer-in-Russia-probe-12773474.php
https://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/John-Dowd-lead-Trump-lawyer-in-Russia-probe-12773474.php
Cute, fluffy, tasty bunnies.
Good to see you again, Slarti!
–TP
Cute, fluffy, tasty bunnies.
Good to see you again, Slarti!
–TP
Slartibartfast: I don’t know you well enough (or really at all) to presume to say welcome back, but I would just mention, FWIW, that your name gets reasonably regular mentions, along with such comments as “if Slarti ever comes back after he gets done with splitting hogs”.
Slartibartfast: I don’t know you well enough (or really at all) to presume to say welcome back, but I would just mention, FWIW, that your name gets reasonably regular mentions, along with such comments as “if Slarti ever comes back after he gets done with splitting hogs”.
I actually feel as if I have unlearned a great many things.
The beginning of wisdom. Good on ya.
I feel the need for some of that myself, more and more.
Cool to see you around the old neighborhood!
I actually feel as if I have unlearned a great many things.
The beginning of wisdom. Good on ya.
I feel the need for some of that myself, more and more.
Cool to see you around the old neighborhood!
Almost like old times!
Almost like old times!
Yeah. Now write something incomprehensible already!
Yeah. Now write something incomprehensible already!
Hey Slarti!
Hey Slarti!
New company called Emerdata was set up by Cambridge Analytica last year. One of the directors is Alexander Nix, and Channel 4 News has just reported that Mercer’s daughters became directors just after CA were notified that C4News was about to go with Wylie’s whistleblowing. There’s also an Erik Prince (of Blackwater) connection:
http://uk.businessinsider.com/cambridge-analytica-executives-and-mercer-family-launch-emerdata-2018-3
New company called Emerdata was set up by Cambridge Analytica last year. One of the directors is Alexander Nix, and Channel 4 News has just reported that Mercer’s daughters became directors just after CA were notified that C4News was about to go with Wylie’s whistleblowing. There’s also an Erik Prince (of Blackwater) connection:
http://uk.businessinsider.com/cambridge-analytica-executives-and-mercer-family-launch-emerdata-2018-3
It’s like a screwed up mini-illuminati.
It’s like a screwed up mini-illuminati.
Make that nano-illuminati. Or pico or femto. Whatever.
Make that nano-illuminati. Or pico or femto. Whatever.
And, of course, as ever, serious props for the fjords, Slart.
And, of course, as ever, serious props for the fjords, Slart.
Although I have done some cool things mathematically and algorithmically, none of that would be of much interest here.
try us…
Although I have done some cool things mathematically and algorithmically, none of that would be of much interest here.
try us…
and welcome back, if you don’t have the keys but would like to post a “what I did while the world was going to hell in a handbasket” post, email it to me and I’ll get it up.
and welcome back, if you don’t have the keys but would like to post a “what I did while the world was going to hell in a handbasket” post, email it to me and I’ll get it up.