The inevitable end result of our last 56 years

[Kirk Gallaway]

Exactly Matt, Ben's deep in his Thai cave, peering at the imaginary glimmerings of life in the U.S. Has absolutely no real understanding. He's fallen prey to every Fox buzzwords, dog whistles and faux dramas like a lamb lead to slaughter. Maybe that's why this alienated rant.

Ben: Krugman is smart, and makes some good points.And, remarkably, Krugman goes entirely mute on US border controls against cheap and illegal immigr labor. 

Oh my god that is remarkable Ben!.  "Krugman's entirely mute!!, What an insightful 2 sentence "everyman'  summary review, Ben. Sorry he couldn't read your mind and hear you barking at the moon, and give you the attention you deserve.. What could be wrong with him?. You can't challenge yourself to come  with a less dimwitted, cheap review than this!

Ben:Are you the face of the New Donk Party? Higher blue-collar wages are bad!!!!.

No, Ben We're not bad.! We are the DONKS!, We're  going to make sure you never work beyond $7.25 an hour again. But don't worry. if you just let us do our MSM mischief on you.  You'll eventually grow to like it. Just keep watching Fox!.

Ben:. I hope the Donks learn to stop calling everyone, everywhere, 24/7, a "racist."  Do Donks ever feel sheepish, or self-righteous, about defining whole groups of people they never met as "racists!!!." 

Oh my god, Ben !!! You've nailed the Donks! They've been keeping you underneath their heels all your life! It must feel good to must finally cry out at your Donk oppressors.. 

So you're always being victimized Ben? Is that why all the anger?

Ben:If you meet some racists from a particular demographic, party or group, does that mean all people in that group are racists?

That's a bunch of self pitying BS. As is your whole rant. Nobody's directly called you a racist here, or referred to any imagined demographic..

Maybe if you didn't approach us with multiple personalities and stop trying to be the "shock jock", and tried being earnest,  we might disagree, but you'd find out we're pretty nice guys.

Edited April 16, 2022 by Kirk Gallaway

[Benjamin Cole]

52 minutes ago, Kirk Gallaway said:

Exactly Matt, Ben's deep in his Thai cave, peering at the imaginary glimmerings of life in the U.S. Has absolutely no real understanding. He's fallen prey to every Fox buzzwords, dog whistles and faux dramas like a lamb lead to slaughter. Maybe that's why this alienated rant.

Ben: Krugman is smart, and makes some good points.And, remarkably, Krugman goes entirely mute on US border controls against cheap and illegal immigr labor. 

Oh my god that is remarkable Ben!.  "Krugman's entirely mute!!, What an insightful 2 sentence "everyman'  summary review, Ben. Sorry he couldn't read your mind and hear you barking at the moon, and give you the attention you deserve.. What could be wrong with him?. You can't challenge yourself to come  with a less dimwitted, cheap review than this!

Ben:Are you the face of the New Donk Party? Higher blue-collar wages are bad!!!!.

No, Ben We're not bad.! We are the DONKS!, We're  going to make sure you never work beyond $7.25 an hour again. But don't worry. if you just let us do our MSM mischief on you.  You'll eventually grow to like it. Just keep watching Fox!.

Ben:. I hope the Donks learn to stop calling everyone, everywhere, 24/7, a "racist."  Do Donks ever feel sheepish, or self-righteous, about defining whole groups of people they never met as "racists!!!." 

Oh my god, Ben !!! You've nailed the Donks! They've been keeping you underneath their heels all your life! It must feel good to must finally cry out at your Donk oppressors.. 

So you're always being victimized Ben? Is that why all the anger?

Ben:If you meet some racists from a particular demographic, party or group, does that mean all people in that group are racists?

That's a bunch of self pitying BS. As is your whole rant. Nobody's directly called you a racist here, or referred to any imagined demographic..

Maybe if you didn't approach us with multiple personalities and stop trying to be the "shock jock", and tried being earnest,  we might disagree, but you'd find out we're pretty nice guys.

Matt--

I do not live in a Thai cave. My home has been carefully hewn out of rock, and provides a type of "natural air conditioning."

I take offense at your characterization. 

 

[Douglas Caddy]

 

A Russian soldier says Putin's troops have been blowing up their own 'as if they were terrorists' (msn.com)

 

[W. Niederhut]

Boulevard of Broken Dreams

[Paul Brancato]

On 4/14/2022 at 12:55 PM, Steve Thomas said:

https://boingboing.net/2022/04/14/scotland-apologies-for-the-historic-persecution-of-witches.html

 

"In March, in honor of International Women's Month, Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon took the extraordinary step of formally, posthumously apologizing "to all those accused, vilified, or executed under Witchcraft Act of 1563." An estimated 4,000 mostly women were accused of witchcraft over a 200 year period. Two-thirds of those accused were executed."

As women, those accused were not allowed to speak in a courtroom.

 

Bout time.

Steve Thomas

 

[Paul Brancato]

Yes it’s about time. We should do it here, with a news conference and at least a Congressional attempt to make some amends.

Kirk - I think that CNN and MSNBC are as close to the Democrats as FOX is to the Republicans. 
I think that billionaires write the laws that Congress passes. So to separate political parties from mainstream media when discussing policy, or public from private enterprises when taking about censorship, is largely distinction without difference.

I also think that Chris, and Ben, who live elsewhere but post here, are entitled to state their opinions on America. Wherever you are in the world you get US news, unlike here where you almost never get news originating elsewhere. One can be an ignoramus and live here or an insightful thinker and live elsewhere. It’s hitting below the belt to dismiss them based on where they call home. 

 

[Benjamin Cole]

1 hour ago, Paul Brancato said:

Yes it’s about time. We should do it here, with a news conference and at least a Congressional attempt to make some amends.

Kirk - I think that CNN and MSNBC are as close to the Democrats as FOX is to the Republicans. 
I think that billionaires write the laws that Congress passes. So to separate political parties from mainstream media when discussing policy, or public from private enterprises when taking about censorship, is largely distinction without difference.

I also think that Chris, and Ben, who live elsewhere but post here, are entitled to state their opinions on America. Wherever you are in the world you get US news, unlike here where you almost never get news originating elsewhere. One can be an ignoramus and live here or an insightful thinker and live elsewhere. It’s hitting below the belt to dismiss them based on where they call home. 

 

Paul-

I like to see all viewpoints, here and elsewhere. I dislike personal animus. 

Edited April 17, 2022 by Benjamin Cole

[Benjamin Cole]

"Blinken told EU leaders he believes Russia's war on Ukraine could last until the end of 2022, CNN reports-Insider

https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-war-ukraine-could-last-all-2022-blinken-says-2022-4

I wonder what will be left of Ukraine in the aftermath? The repair costs will be enormous, let alone the human carnage.

How does Putin respond to appeasement? 

 

 

[Benjamin Cole]

Durham says CIA found data alleging Trump-Russia connection not 'technically plausible,' was 'user created'

Brooke Singman--Fox 

Sun, April 17, 2022, 2:31 AM·8 min read

 

Special Counsel John Durham asserted in a court filing Friday that the CIA concluded data from Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann alleging coordination between Donald Trump and Russia was "not technically plausible" and was "user created."

In the filing, Durham responded to objections from Sussmann’s defense regarding what evidence could be admissible at Sussmann's trial, which is scheduled to begin next month. Sussmann is accused of lying to the FBI by saying he was not attending a meeting on behalf of a particular client when he was actually presenting the information on behalf of the HIllary Clinton campaign and a technology executive with whom he worked.

DURHAM RELEASES FORMER CLINTON LAWYER MICHAEL SUSSMANN'S TEXT MESSAGE, SAYS HE PUT 'LIE IN WRITING'

Durham in February first revealed that the government would establish during trial that among the data "exploited" was domain name system (DNS) internet traffic pertaining to "a particular healthcare provider, Trump Tower, Donald Trump's Central Park West apartment building, and the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP)."

 

In February, Durham said data was exploited "by mining the EOP's DNS traffic and other data for the purpose of gathering derogatory information about Donald Trump," adding the data was used to establish "an inference" and "narrative" tying Trump to Russia.

But Sussmann is moving to preclude evidence concerning the "gathering" of that "DNS data" by "Tech Executive 1," who has been identified as Rodney Joffe, and his associates.

In Friday's filing, Durham argued that the gathering of the data is a "necessary factual backdrop to the charged conduct."

---30---

Before 2020, Durham was regarded as a straight shooter.

No doubt, many people now have a different perception of Durham. 

To me, Durham looks like Javert. 

[Matt Allison]

Ukraine is obviously news item numero uno at the moment, but when the enormous 1/6 conspiracy and coup plot is revealed to the nation in early June, it will be one of most momentous events in U.S. history.

And I can't wait.

 

 

[W. Niederhut]

3 hours ago, Paul Brancato said:

Yes it’s about time. We should do it here, with a news conference and at least a Congressional attempt to make some amends.

Kirk - I think that CNN and MSNBC are as close to the Democrats as FOX is to the Republicans. 
I think that billionaires write the laws that Congress passes. So to separate political parties from mainstream media when discussing policy, or public from private enterprises when taking about censorship, is largely distinction without difference.

Paul,

      While it is true that the corporate M$M on the entire political spectrum has long been involved in suppressing news coverage of U.S. CIA and military black ops-- Operation "Mockingbird"-- it is a stretch to claim that the quality and quantity of censorship/disinformation/propaganda on the left and right in the U.S. M$M is equivalent today.

      Nor is it consistently aligned with the Democratic Party!  In the case of the 2016 Presidential race, mass media corporations across the political spectrum (including the NYT and WaPo) consistently sabotaged Hillary Clinton, while suppressing stories about the Trump campaign's multiple contacts with Kremlin assets.  (My own theory is that the corporate media moguls in 2016 were mainly motivated by the prospect of Trump/GOP tax cuts.)

      IMO, Biden was correct recently when he described propaganda tycoon Rupert Murdoch as one of the most dangerous people on the planet.  (The same thing can be said of the less prominent right wing tycoons funding mass media propaganda in the U.S. today-- Robert Mercer, Phil Anschutz, and the corporate owners of Sinclair, Newsmax, OANN.)

     A number of academic studies in recent years have documented the relative ignorance and delusions of Fox News viewers compared to U.S. citizens who get news from more reliable sources.  Fox consistently censors the real news, and has even been busted for deceptively editing Presidential speeches and videos, (including Obama's Ferguson Address condemning the looting and riots in Missouri.)

     The most recent example was the study from UC Berkeley in which Fox News viewers who were paid to watch CNN experienced markedly improved reality testing.*  

* OSF Preprints | The manifold effects of partisan media on viewers’ beliefs and attitudes: A field experiment with Fox News viewers

      As for Ben, he's a good example of someone who has consistently amplified right wing disinformation on social media -- a phenomenon described by a professor at Stanford as, "ampliganda."

       For example, Ben bought into the Fox Trumpaganda re-framing Trump's January 6th coup attempt as a Deep State false flag "patriot purge."  He promoted the bogus "patriot purge" narrative here for months, while referring to the January 6th attack on the Capitol as a harmless "scrum."

       Ben also bought into the persistent Trumpaganda in the M$M denying Trump's longstanding involvement with the Russian mafia and Putin's oligarchs, (during the past 30 years!) and Trump's numerous 2016 campaign contacts with Kremlin assets and cut outs, including Julian Assange.  

       Most recently, Ben has been amplifying the Trumpaganda relating to Bill Barr's Durham "straw man" investigation, while ignoring the facts about the actual origin of the FBI investigation of Trump's Kremlin contacts in 2016.  Despite sharing the facts with Ben, he still doesn't seem to realize that the FBI investigation of the Trump campaign's Russia contacts was not initiated by the Steele Dossier (or Michael Sussman.)

      Trump and Paul Manafort had altered the 2016 RNC platform to reduce military aid to Ukraine before the FBI was even aware of Christopher Steele's research.  And Manafort had been under FBI surveillance, intermittently, since 2014 as a result of his work for the Kremlin in Ukraine.

       

   

Edited April 17, 2022 by W. Niederhut

[Kirk Gallaway]

3 hours ago, Paul Brancato said:

Yes it’s about time. We should do it here, with a news conference and at least a Congressional attempt to make some amends.

Kirk - I think that CNN and MSNBC are as close to the Democrats as FOX is to the Republicans. 
I think that billionaires write the laws that Congress passes. So to separate political parties from mainstream media when discussing policy, or public from private enterprises when taking about censorship, is largely distinction

without difference.

I also think that Chris, and Ben, who live elsewhere but post here, are entitled to state their opinions on America. Wherever you are in the world you get US news, unlike here where you almost never get news originating elsewhere. One can be an ignoramus and live here or an insightful thinker and live elsewhere. It’s hitting below the belt to dismiss them based on where they call home. 

 

Paul, Of course, any body from anywhere is"entitled to state their opinions"  in this case about America. But it's really about anything.  But there are "facts". When they're challenged to produce facts, they may not be able to but that in no way infringes their free speech. Yet that's what I'm hearing  a lot.
 

2. Paul:If we can read and think we see Democrats (or the NYT)lie about Biden’s son, or Hillary, or whoever the target is, understand why they are doing it, wish they had more courage to just do what’s right and oppose corruption in their own ranks as well as in the thoroughly corrupted elected segment of the Republican Party.

You bring up Hunter Biden. Biden can't open up a case against his son. That would be seen as autocratic. No one would believe such results. The DOJ opens a case against Hunter Biden. It takes time to build a case or haven't we noticed  how slow justice has been for Trump? Despite recordings of Trump attempting voter fraud? 

Now we hear the case is getting traction. What evidence do you have the Democrats are lying?. They're doing the same things the Repubs are doing, waiting and seeing what happens in the courts. It's simply not their job.. You're saying you wish the Dems had the courage to do what's right and oppose the corruption of Hunter Biden and Hilary, so you're  making the assumption that Hunter Biden and Hilary are guilty but you refuse to answer guilty of what?

Aren't those all legitimate questions to ask?

 

Edited April 17, 2022 by Kirk Gallaway

[Benjamin Cole]

I gather people here have different points of view, and that is great.

Is it possible to present your own point of view, or that of a favored personage or thinker, without personally denigrating another person's point of view? 

We here are primarily (I assume) JFKA researchers and buffs. This means we are (justifiably) skeptical of Deep State-M$M narratives.

Presently, media narratives appeared heavily colored along party lines, although as we all agree, both parties have a large dose of purple in them, and use their major orifices interchangeably.  

I am skeptical of Red-blue-purple narratives--but, certainly justifiably skeptical. 

The blue kool-aid Wuhan lab leak narrative---what to make of that? 

The Deep State-red "Afghan pull out is a disaster" narrative was similarly troubling. 

For the record, Fox News does not broadcast in rural Thailand.  

[Ron Bulman]

1 hour ago, W. Niederhut said:

Paul,

      While it is true that the corporate M$M on the entire political spectrum has long been involved in suppressing news coverage of U.S. CIA and military black ops-- Operation "Mockingbird"-- it is a stretch to claim that the quality and quantity of censorship/disinformation/propaganda on the left and right in the U.S. M$M is equivalent today.

      Nor is it consistently aligned with the Democratic Party!  In the case of the 2016 Presidential race, mass media corporations across the political spectrum (including the NYT and WaPo) consistently sabotaged Hillary Clinton, while suppressing stories about the Trump campaign's multiple contacts with Kremlin assets.  (My own theory is that the corporate media moguls in 2016 were mainly motivated by the prospect of Trump/GOP tax cuts.)

      IMO, Biden was correct recently when he described propaganda tycoon Rupert Murdoch as one of the most dangerous people on the planet.  (The same thing can be said of the less prominent right wing tycoons funding mass media propaganda in the U.S. today-- Robert Mercer, Phil Anschutz, and the corporate owners of Sinclair, Newsmax, OANN.)

     A number of academic studies in recent years have documented the relative ignorance and delusions of Fox News viewers compared to U.S. citizens who get news from more reliable sources.  Fox consistently censors the real news, and has even been busted for deceptively editing Presidential speeches and videos, (including Obama's Ferguson Address condemning the looting and riots in Missouri.)

     The most recent example was the study from UC Berkeley in which Fox News viewers who were paid to watch CNN experienced markedly improved reality testing.*  

* OSF Preprints | The manifold effects of partisan media on viewers’ beliefs and attitudes: A field experiment with Fox News viewers

      As for Ben, he's a good example of someone who has consistently amplified right wing disinformation on social media -- a phenomenon described by a professor at Stanford as, "ampliganda."

       For example, Ben bought into the Fox Trumpaganda re-framing Trump's January 6th coup attempt as a Deep State false flag "patriot purge."  He promoted the bogus "patriot purge" narrative here for months, while referring to the January 6th attack on the Capitol as a harmless "scrum."

       Ben also bought into the persistent Trumpaganda in the M$M denying Trump's longstanding involvement with the Russian mafia and Putin's oligarchs, (during the past 30 years!) and Trump's numerous 2016 campaign contacts with Kremlin assets and cut outs, including Julian Assange.  

       Most recently, Ben has been amplifying the Trumpaganda relating to Bill Barr's Durham "straw man" investigation, while ignoring the facts about the actual origin of the FBI investigation of Trump's Kremlin contacts in 2016.  Despite sharing the facts with Ben, he still doesn't seem to realize that the FBI investigation of the Trump campaign's Russia contacts was not initiated by the Steele Dossier (or Michael Sussman.)

      Trump and Paul Manafort had altered the 2016 RNC platform to reduce military aid to Ukraine before the FBI was even aware of Christopher Steele's research.  And Manafort had been under FBI surveillance, intermittently, since 2014 as a result of his work for the Kremlin in Ukraine.

       

   

Ampliganda, indeed.

[Matt Allison]

Behind the scenes, Putin appears to be cooking up a Plan B: Tell the gullible citizens of Russia that his "special military operation" was interrupted by NATO, who had then escalated the situation to war.

"Russia, being the good world citizen, will now return to the homeland so as not to increase chance of WW3."