September 29, 2017

Twitter briefs Congress on Russian-linked accounts

Source: The Hill

Representatives from Twitter on Thursday briefed staff from both the House and Senate Intelligence Committee on how Russian trolls and bots may have used the platform to influence the 2016 election.

Colin Crowell, Twitter’s vice president of public policy, led a group of four officials who trekked tight-lipped from one side of the Capitol to the other. The briefings took place behind closed doors and the officials after each left quietly through a back door, evading the press.

Twitter briefed investigators on the findings of an internal review into disinformation networks on its site — an issue that took on a new urgency after Facebook said roughly 470 Russian-linked accounts had purchased thousands of advertisements on its site, some of which were designed to inflame social tensions.

According to a public report issued Thursday afternoon, 22 of the accounts identified by Facebook had corresponding accounts on Twitter. The company also said that it had identified another 179 related or linked accounts. Twitter “took action on the ones we found in violation of our rules.” Twitter also provided committee staff with about $275,000 worth of ads bought by the Russian state media arm, RT, and targeted to the U.S. market in 2016. The campaigns were directed at followers of mainstream media and primarily promoted RT tweets related to news stories, according to the report.

Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/353002-twitter-briefs-congress-on-russian-linked-accounts

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When the Fairness Doctrine died, it opened the way for Fox, hate-talk radio and other right wing organs to use sophisticated techniques of swaying public opinion (brainwashing) that were learned in Korea and perfected in Vietnam and after.

In the meantime, we have Charles Koch, who has developed a fifth-column political structure dedicated to getting rid of democracy and imposing unrestrained capitalism on America.

Finally, we have Russians Aleksandr Dugin and Nikolai Klokotov, who wrote 'The Foundations of Geopolitics: The Geopolitical Future of Russia,' back in 1997.

Here's what Dugin and Klokotov say to do to destabilize America: "Russia should use its special services within the borders of the United States to fuel instability and separatism, for instance, provoke "Afro-American racists". Russia should "introduce geopolitical disorder into internal American activity, encouraging all kinds of separatism and ethnic, social and racial conflicts, actively supporting all dissident movements – extremist, racist, and sectarian groups, thus destabilizing internal political processes in the U.S. It would also make sense simultaneously to support isolationist tendencies in American politics."

So there it is. Cold war ain't over, guys, and the traitors Trump, Pence, and most of Trump's administration are IN IT up to their nose hairs. Not only ignorant incompetents, but TRAITORS.

September 21, 2017

Republican lawmaker loses job for saying running over protesters is a movement we can all support

Source: Think Progress

“Nobody cares about your protest,” the post says. “Keep your ass out of the road.”

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DiSanto published that post, which has since been deleted, less than a month after an alleged neo-Nazi used his vehicle to murder a counter-protester and injure 19 others during a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The tactic has also been used by militant groups like ISIS.

DiSanto’s post largely escaped media scrutiny until this week. But following a number of reports about it, on Tuesday, her employer, Keller Williams Realty, announced it had severed ties with DiSanto, posting on Facebook that “...due to recent events, Lynne Disanto is no longer associated with Keller Williams Realty Black Hills.” The post won’t immediately affect DiSanto’s standing in the legislature, however — House Majority Leader Lee Qualm (R) told the Associated Press she’ll stay on as House Majority Whip despite the controversy.

As recently as August 15, Fox News’ website was home to a page glorifying running over protesters. A video on the page, which was republished from the conservative Daily Caller, was headlined, “Here’s A Reel Of Cars Plowing Through Protesters Trying To Block The Road.”

Read more: https://thinkprogress.org/lynne-disanto-south-dakota-loses-real-estate-job-for-posting-meme-encouraging-running-over-protesters-c81e74aede0a/

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They want protesting to be dangerous so no one does it.

They want us to be docile so they can empty the treasury for their profits.

They don't want us to vote.

They don't want democracy.

September 14, 2017

Clinton was very politic in her book about the Obama Administration's failure to...

...publicize the Russian cyberattack and Republican collusion to fix the 2016 election.

I'm not quite as 'politic.' I wish he had put it out there, trumpeted it from the rooftops. Had Obama done that, the Republicans and their idiot base, those disgusting, drooling, racist, nazi xenophobes, would have absolutely freaked out. They surely would have.

But...and here’s the big ‘but’: Treason was committed. Republican traitors colluded with a hostile foreign power to rig an election. An American presidential election. That hostile power hacked voter rolls in at least 38 states. That hostile power hired trolls to get on social media in swing counties, even down to the precinct level and sway opinion. Trump lost by 2.9 million votes, but the Republicans are also guilty of gerrymandering districts and instituting voter suppression measures specifically aimed at people of color. Now, Trump squats illegally in the White House. He has continued to enrich himself, starting 49 new businesses since his election. He has pulled us out of Paris. He has unleashed cabinet appointees that have the specific purpose of tearing our regulatory structure apart. He has overturned DACA and hundreds of thousands of young immigrants now will be deported. We’ve had nazis marching in our streets causing violence. But at the same time the people of color are being deported, Trump properties in the United States are being used by elite Russian ‘birth tourists’ to have babies that automatically have US citizenship. This, of course, if you look at Putin’s strategy in the long term, will be the US ruling class in 30 years. In fact, this whole situation couldn’t be going much better...for Putin. For us, not so much. We need to impeach this dirtbag and investigate his criminal administration and campaign organization, as well as about half the Republican party for TREASON. They will NEVER be able to assume the mantle of patriotism ever again. Nor the mantle of morality. They are amoral, sociopathic and indecent. I wouldn’t even want Trump in my state let alone in my house. He is a disgusting, vagina-grabbing TRAITOR to this nation we love.

So, as much as I love Obama, and I do, he was wrong in 2016. Treason is treason. There’s no politic time to bring it up, I suppose, but when he knew he needed to say. At this point, honestly, I don’t give a rat’s ass about the feelings that might have been hurt among the Republican base. Fuck them. This is my country, too. I was raised here, and I’ve worked hard all my life, over 40 years now. And I’ve enjoyed the political freedom we have. Now, the nazi scum are taking over and what will we have? Another Holocaust? Do you want to end your days in a fucking for-profit concentration camp? They are being built. Yes, they are.

No real American, and that most decidedly includes ALL of us, including the dreamers, regardless of racist laws, can afford to be complacent. RESIST all of this tooth and nail. Every minute. Every day. Call, email, write your legislators. Demonstrate and march. Donate money if you can. Sign petitions. Don’t either Trump and his nazi deplorables get away with ruining this country. Because they are. They are ripping apart our institutional, social and economic fabric.

We must work together as Americans to stop them and bring them to justice.

September 11, 2017

From Putin's perspective, things in the US couldn't be going much better.

This is like a bad movie. First let's look at 4 things that are happening:
Russian birth tourists are flocking to Trump hotels to have dual-citizenship babies. http://www.thedailybeast.com/russians-flock-to-trump-properties-to-give-birth-to-us-citizens

White nationalists are having a recruitment heyday because Trump has let them come out in the open. http://www.motherjones.com/media/2017/09/fighting-white-supremacists/

The Dreamers are being deported along with their families. kpete has a post up now about that.

Republicans are introducing a bill that will further destroy Social Security and Medicare. This bill, in some form is expected to pass.

So now let's look at the bad movie script:
Russia ensures election of 'Manchurian candidate' to US presidency.
Russia hacks into voter rolls in 38 states and hires trolls to ensure this candidate and his party will win.
The new 'president' brings white nationalism out into the light, gives it legitimacy, and ensures a recruitment boom.
The treasonous president and his party continue voter suppression efforts to make it harder for people of color.
Elite Russian 'birth tourists' are giving birth to Russians who are also US Citizens, and who Putin plans to have rule us when the time comes.

Social Security is attacked, regulations are attacked, we pull out of Paris, and hundreds of other things, which in effect distract us from the above.

Make no mistake. We are playing Putin's game here.

The big five bolded above scare me more than anything else, because reality seems a lot like that bad movie script.

September 4, 2017

For Labor Day: 15 things everyone would know if there actually WAS a liberal media.

This is a Daily Kos classic, and I thought it worth sharing on Labor Day here. Good piece.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2013/08/07/1229087/-15-things-everyone-would-know-if-there-were-a-liberal-media?detail=emailclassic

Read the article - it has some great graphics.

1. Where the jobs went.
2. Upward wealth redistribution and/or inequality.
3. ALEC.
4. The number of people in prison.
5. The number of black people in prison.
6. U.S. health care costs are the highest in the world.
7. Glass-Steagall.
8. Gerrymandering.
9. The number of bills blocked by Republicans in Congress.
10. The Citizens' United Supreme Court decision.
11. Nixon’s Southern Strategy.
12. Tax cuts primarily benefit the wealthy.
13. What is happening to the bees.
14. The effect of temporary workers on our economy.
15. Media consolidation (particularly in light of the huge Sinclair Media Group takeover)

Please enjoy and pass on, especially to those conservative friends and family members

September 4, 2017

Thank a union if you like weekends...

Many Americans forget how much we working people all owe to the union members who fought, bled and too often died forcing big corporations to give workers reasonable benefits. Since tomorrow is Labor Day, here is the list.

Here's the link: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2012/05/16/1092027/-Thanks-a-Union-36-Ways-Unions-Have-Improved-Your-Life?detail=emailclassic

You might have seen it before, but here are 36 reasons we should all thank unions:

Weekends
All Breaks at Work, including your Lunch Breaks
Paid Vacation
FMLA
Sick Leave
Social Security
Minimum Wage
Civil Rights Act/Title VII (Prohibits Employer Discrimination)
8-Hour Work Day
Overtime Pay
Child Labor Laws
Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA)
40 Hour Work Week
Worker's Compensation (Worker's Comp)
Unemployment Insurance
Pensions
Workplace Safety Standards and Regulations
Employer Health Care Insurance
Collective Bargaining Rights for Employees
Wrongful Termination Laws
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
Whistleblower Protection Laws
Employee Polygraph Protect Act (Prohibits Employer from using a lie detector test on an employee)
Veteran's Employment and Training Services (VETS)
Compensation increases and Evaluations (Raises)
Sexual Harassment Laws
Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
Holiday Pay
Employer Dental, Life, and Vision Insurance
Privacy Rights
Pregnancy and Parental Leave
Military Leave
The Right to Strike
Public Education for Children
Equal Pay Acts of 1963 & 2011 (Requires employers pay men and women equally for the same amount of work)
Laws Ending Sweatshops in the United States

September 1, 2017

Damned if he did... Truth about Trump & the dark, evangelical hypocrisy thrust upon Pres. Obama

Source: Daily Kos

Around this time last year, President Obama visited flooded areas of Louisiana. At the time of his visit, 13 deaths had already occurred; 7 trillion gallons of rain had already dropped; 24 inches of rainfall had already been measured; $15 billion in damages had already been estimated. Evangelicals lambasted President Obama for not visiting sooner.

Yesterday, Trump visited a dry airport near the flooded areas of Texas. At the time of his visit, 16 deaths had already occurred; 11 trillion gallons of rain had already dropped; 49 inches of rainfall had already been measured; $50 billion in damages had already been estimated.

Trump didn’t hug a neck, kiss a cheek, wipe a tear. He didn’t encounter water falling from the sky or puddling upon the earth. He didn’t mention the loss of a police officer or the drowning of a family of six. And evangelicals offered no criticism of Trump.

Because they are hypocrites. Because they treated President Obama in the manner we would have expected racists to treat him.

Read more: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/31/1695100/--Damned-if-he-did-Proof-of-Trump-the-so-called-evangelical-racist-hypocrisy-against-Obama?detail=emaildkre

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Daily Kos might not a totally 'pure' mainstream source, but I felt like you should all see this because it is so true. I loved Obama, though I disagreed with him on a couple of things. But he was my president, and I was proud of him, and proud to be an American during his time in office. This shows the ugliness of racism, and puts the shortcomings of the current orange occupant of the White House in stark contrast.

Obama was a class act. He had the respect of the world.

Trump is frittering away the greatness of this nation we love, and replacing it with small-minded hatred, racism and right wing nationalism.

Obama is a statesman.

Trump is a clown.