Benjamin Cole Posted April 18, 2022 Share Posted April 18, 2022 (edited) "Twitter under one person's control frightens Internet safety experts"----WaPo. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/04/17/musk-twitter-ownership-control/ Elon Musk describes himself as a free speech absolutist. It will be fascinating to watch if Musk can win control of Twitter, and then honor his word on free speech, and if all that, what the results will be. I am uneasy with the WaPo's premise, that internet speech is best regulated. By corporate interests? By the Deep State? By an independent Internet Czar? By people who think like us? Edited April 18, 2022 by Benjamin Cole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W. Niederhut Posted April 18, 2022 Share Posted April 18, 2022 (edited) 6 hours ago, Steve Thomas said: What is the War in Ukraine? It's a Holy War! Just ask Russia. "During Friday’s edition of the program The Big Game on Channel One, deputy of the State Duma Vyacheslav Nikonov claimed: “In the modern world, we are the embodiment of the forces of good. This is a metaphysical clash between the forces of good and evil... We’re on the side of good against absolute evil, represented by the Ukrainian nationalist battalions... and the American temple of Satan, located in Salem, expressed its support for Ukraine. This is truly a holy war, a holy war we’re waging and we must win.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/russian-propaganda-turns-to-lord-of-the-rings-to-stir-ukraine-hatred?ref=home Steve Thomas Speaking as an former member of the old "White" Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, (ROCOR) I can assure people that Putin's KGB/FSB-controlled Moscow Patriarchate ROC was never considered a legitimate, canonical Orthodox Church by the Synod of free Russian Orthodox bishops in exile from the Soviet Union after 1917. In fact, the "White" Russian ROCOR Synod anathematized the MP ROC repeatedly, right up until 2007, when Putin and the FSB annexed the ROCOR in Western Europe and North America through an internal political coup. The MP ROC was always a mere tool of the atheistic Soviet police state-- following the incarceration and murders of Patriarch Tikhon and the legitimate Russian Orthodox hierarchs in the 1920s and 30s-- and it is now a mere tool of Putin's fascist Russian Federation police state. I realized this back in 2007, after Putin and the FSB seized my own parish church here in Denver. Putin is no Christian. He makes a show of lighting an occasional candle at ROC services, but it's all a facade. No Orthodox Christian would do what Putin is doing in Ukraine right now-- even during Orthodox Holy Week, which began today! (We're a week behind the Western/Papal calendar for Pascha (Easter) this year.) The phrase, "Abomination of desolation," from the Biblical Apocalypse, comes to mind. It's galling enough to watch what Putin is doing in Ukraine, without the added insult of Dugin and Putin's MP hierarchs justifying it as a "holy war" waged by their KGB-controlled, pseudo- Orthodox Church. Edited April 18, 2022 by W. Niederhut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Bulman Posted April 18, 2022 Share Posted April 18, 2022 I think this has to come from the top, over January 6th. It's not just about the former prez. It's about saving Democracy, however convoluted it is from fascism. Why Hasn’t Trump Been Indicted Yet? We Have Five Theories. (msn.com) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted April 18, 2022 Share Posted April 18, 2022 Wow! Moment Putin's nuclear bomber flies close to Ukraine border in major war escalation (the-sun.com) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted April 18, 2022 Share Posted April 18, 2022 Bleak Assessments of Russian Economy Contradict Putin’s Rosy Claims (msn.com) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/3267074-how-to-deal-with-putins-mercenaries/?email=effd2ff49e4b87287658acfc4bca4ee7116d6561&emaila=6c10519cee974e18c8467735235a7066&emailb=fbdd9bc7a601799485f96e2eebd1714b5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Cole Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 Interesting. Sen. Chris Coons Signals He Favors Sending Troops to Ukraine Coons said Putin 'will only stop when we stop him' by Dave DeCamp Posted onApril 17, 2022CategoriesNewsTagsRussia, Ukraine Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) signaled that he wants the US to send troops into Ukraine to fight Russia in an interview on Sunday. When pressed about the issue, Coons said Russian President Vladimir Putin “will only stop when we stop him.” Coons was asked on CBS News’s Face the Nation about comments he made last week in an address to the University of Michigan. In the speech, Coons said the Biden administration and Congress should “come to a common position about when we are willing to go the next step and to send not just arms but troops to the aid in defense of Ukraine … If the answer is never, then we are inviting another level of escalation in brutality by Putin.” When asked in the CBS interview if President Biden was wrong to say he’ll never send troops into Ukraine, Coons said, “The American people cannot turn away from this tragedy in Ukraine. I think the history of the 21st century turns on how fiercely we defend freedom in Ukraine, and that Putin will only stop when we stop him.” ---30--- Coons sits on the Foreign Relations Committee. Coons is apparently willing to break with Donk orthodoxy on China, so he may have an independent streak here or there. In November 2018, Coons joined Senator Marco Rubio and a bipartisan group of lawmakers in sending the Trump administration a letter raising concerns about China's undue influence over media outlets and academic institutions in the United States. They wrote, "In American news outlets, Beijing has used financial ties to suppress negative information about the CCP. In the past four years, multiple media outlets with direct or indirect financial ties to China allegedly decided not to publish stories on wealth and corruption in the CCP...Beijing has also sought to use relationships with American academic institutions and student groups to shape public discourse.-Wikipedia The Biden leadership vacuum may, or may not be filled, and the 'Phants hardly have any coherent alternatives to speak of. I sense a terrific opportunity for a third party. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Bulman Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 Mike Lee speaks with a forked tongue. Raskin says the former prez organized the coup attempt. Trump ‘organized’ the coup: Top investigator unloads on Trump's culpability | Watch (msn.com) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 Want to hear a nuanced discussion on the Ukraine situation? https://anchor.fm/rfkjr/episodes/War-Machine-and-NATO-with-Max-Blumenthal-e1hachj I believe I was critical of Max Blumenthal previously but, this discussion is compelling between RFK Jr and Blumenthal. He (Blumenthal) explains the other side of this situation which MSM neglects to cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 A few months ago we saw Joe Rogan have the state apparatus turn on him after he entertained guests like Dr Robert Malone and Maajid Nawaz. Now the bought and paid MSM has turned their aim on Elon Musk after his intention to buy Twitter was made clear, with his wish to restore free speech on the platform. Is he deserving of this heat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Cole Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 13 minutes ago, Chris Barnard said: A few months ago we saw Joe Rogan have the state apparatus turn on him after he entertained guests like Dr Robert Malone and Maajid Nawaz. Now the bought and paid MSM has turned their aim on Elon Musk after his intention to buy Twitter was made clear, with his wish to restore free speech on the platform. Is he deserving of this heat? The Elon Musk-Twitter story will be fascinating to watch. Musk is a self-described free speech absolutist. I guess the acid test would be several years down the road, if Marxists began surging into power on the basis of their tweets and other social media postings. Of course, Marxists would be censored also by M$M and establishment groups.... Nevertheless, is is remarkable that establishment groups today hold that even one un-censored social media platform, that is Musk's Twitter, would amount to a clear and present danger to freedom and democracy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Thomas Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 https://www.rawstory.com/oklahoma-corporate-welfare-kevin-stitt/ Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, just returned from a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago with a request for his state legislature to dole out cash for a corporation he desperately wants to lure to the state. Not only did he ask for the money for the undisclosed company, but the legislature also did it without even releasing the bill to the public. "So, after going to the fundraiser in Florida, Stitt came back with the idea for a rebate program to bring a company he won't disclose to the state and create 4,000 jobs. State leaders have been forced to sign non-disclosure agreements about the plan, which is called "Project Ocean." Kansas has a bid for Panasonic, offering $1.2 billion in incentives. At a press conference Monday, Stitt said he signed a non-disclosure agreement preventing him from saying the name Still, with nothing to go on, Stitt wanted the GOP-led legislature to pass an economic incentive of the company or revealing anything about the job possibilities and financials of the project. package for the company, with details to come later. The legislature did it, offering at least $3.6 billion for 500 direct jobs and at least 1,000 in the second year, 2,500 in the third year and 4,000 in the fifth year. That's $900,000 per job that Oklahoma is offering to pay the company. Oklahoma’s House Bill 3994 would prohibit sales of Tesla cars in Oklahoma because they don't use franchise dealerships the way others do. The company sells direct to the consumers. So, essentially, if the company is Panasonic, Oklahoma would pay $3.6 billion to a company to make batteries in the state for cars that the state's people can't even buy." Steve Thomas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Cole Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 44 minutes ago, Steve Thomas said: https://www.rawstory.com/oklahoma-corporate-welfare-kevin-stitt/ Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, just returned from a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago with a request for his state legislature to dole out cash for a corporation he desperately wants to lure to the state. Not only did he ask for the money for the undisclosed company, but the legislature also did it without even releasing the bill to the public. "So, after going to the fundraiser in Florida, Stitt came back with the idea for a rebate program to bring a company he won't disclose to the state and create 4,000 jobs. State leaders have been forced to sign non-disclosure agreements about the plan, which is called "Project Ocean." Kansas has a bid for Panasonic, offering $1.2 billion in incentives. At a press conference Monday, Stitt said he signed a non-disclosure agreement preventing him from saying the name Still, with nothing to go on, Stitt wanted the GOP-led legislature to pass an economic incentive of the company or revealing anything about the job possibilities and financials of the project. package for the company, with details to come later. The legislature did it, offering at least $3.6 billion for 500 direct jobs and at least 1,000 in the second year, 2,500 in the third year and 4,000 in the fifth year. That's $900,000 per job that Oklahoma is offering to pay the company. Oklahoma’s House Bill 3994 would prohibit sales of Tesla cars in Oklahoma because they don't use franchise dealerships the way others do. The company sells direct to the consumers. So, essentially, if the company is Panasonic, Oklahoma would pay $3.6 billion to a company to make batteries in the state for cars that the state's people can't even buy." Steve Thomas Sounds like a bad idea. Obviously, in a democracy, transparency is vital, and this is not transparent and should be voted down on the face of it. But the math may be better than indicated. Let's assume the $3.6 billion in tax give-aways for 4,000 jobs. But, usually in manufacturing, each factory job creates several more, in administration, transportation, warehousing etc. Those 4,000 workers will buy groceries, rent or buy houses, etc. A lot more than 4,000 jobs will be created in Oklahoma. And it is not $900,000 per job---the factory may be open for 10 year, 20 years. So, a guy might make $70k for 20 years in the factory, or $1.4 million. Still, does look like a bad idea. On a global scale, the same things happen. Business locates where government has the lowest environmental standards, the lowest wages (often repressed) and the most subsidies. Think China. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Allison Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 10 hours ago, Chris Barnard said: nuanced discussion on the Ukraine situation Translation: shameful attempt by a useful idiot to rationalize genocide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 (edited) A must read about the FBI today. From the article: Christopher Asher Wray is the epitome of straight white wealthy male privilege—a blue blood. He’s a Philips Academy boarding school kid, and, like his fellow Federalist Society confrère Brett Kavanaugh, a double graduate of Yale—undergrad and law school. He made bank representing shady characters at a boutique law firm whose main clients were the Russian natural gas concern Gazprom and Russian oil concern Rosneft. Obviously he’s a Republican. All of that is forgivable, except that almost halfway through his ten-year term, he’s done little to show the American people that he’s not still Trump’s hand-picked errand boy—the mobster’s choice. Index: Federal Bureau of Investigation (substack.com) Edited April 19, 2022 by Douglas Caddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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