COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Thursday, October 12, 2017

American Pravda Part II - Social Media is Now Part of the Problem of Media Manipulation

61 comments:

  1. We have a current scandal brewing of an ugly fat slimy pig, Harvey Weinstein, a major media scumbag, a sewer of a man, setting the moral code of ordinary Americans. If Washington is a swamp, Hollywood is a retching cesspool. Between social media, Hollywood and the news media, we have an axis of evil in the culture war.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So there are editors at YouTube and they do favors for their friends...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One of which is an editor at the NYTimes.
      A NYTimes editor buries negative video stories about YouTube/Google, and gets great placement of NYTimes stories on YouTube.

      The NYTimes editor deserves a raise.

      Delete
  3. The Federals wanting RT to be registered as a 'Foreign Agent', so whatever Jesse Ventura says on that network can be labeled as Russian propaganda.

    Mr Trump advocating for revoking Federal broadcast licenses from stations that report what he calls "fake news", but that others know to be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

    Mr Trump demanding that certain people exercising their 1st Amendment rights in a public venue be fired by their owners.

    Those are the actions of an Axis of Evil in the culture wars.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's not a public venue it's a private venue which is precisely why the owners will have their say.

      I know this is hard to understand.

      Delete
  4. .

    Executive Orders

    The GOP and the Trumpkins complain about Obama signing the Iran Nuclear Agreement rather than sending it to the Senate for approval. This despite the fact that in the absence of the agreement, Iran would have had the bomb a couple years ago (if one can believe the people crying about Iran prior to the agreement).

    Today, Trump signed an executive order on healthcare which will affect 1/6 of the US economy. It will be interesting to see if those same Trumpkins and GOP officials will condemn Trump over this.

    Regardless, the action has officially stamped the US healthcare under the new banner of Trumpcare. The actions when combined with previous actions the administration was quietly taking will simply drive one more stake into the heart of Obamacare. It will be interesting to see what the voters think about it all.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Signing the new executive order is simply another example of a frustrated president striking out without much thought as to the repercussions.

      But face it, this guy is no genius.

      In responding to a question on the rising national debt, Trump offered up the rising stock market as the remedy not realizing that the two have zero to do with each other.

      Is Trump using diversion to get around a touchy subject, is he outright lying, or is he just that damn stupid?

      .

      Delete
    2. Is Trump using diversion to get around a touchy subject, is he outright lying, or is he just that damn stupid?


      Yes, yes and, it is not really an either, or situation, yes.

      Delete
    3. A rising stock market generally indicates a flourishing economy which means more tax collections for Uncle Sam so yes, Mr. Quirkster, the two, stock market and national debt, do have something to do with one another.

      I realize much of your personal economy takes place in underground poorly lit 'black' markets, away from the eyes of regulators, laws or tax collectors, to which I attribute your ignorance on this matter.

      Delete
    4. GREAT AGAIN: Unemployment claims fall to lowest level in 43 YEARS....DRUDGE

      Delete
    5. Don't ever hire Quirk as Comptroller of the Exchequer.

      Revolt first.

      Delete
    6. .

      A rising stock market generally indicates a flourishing economy which means more tax collections for Uncle Sam so yes, Mr. Quirkster, the two, stock market and national debt, do have something to do with one another.

      Damn, Bob, clueless people like you are the only reason Trump is now president. You know nothing about economics and you buy whatever shit Trump puts in front of you.

      The national debt represents money we never had but that we spent anyway. It is a fait accompli. That's why unless you want to default on your debts, any talk about not extending the debt limit (unless you are just looking for a reminder of how fiscally irresponsible you are) is ridiculous.

      The stock market has nothing to do with the debt. The only thing that does is the amount of taxes you take in (revenues) and the amount of money you spend. Trump proposals are going in the wrong direction on both of those.

      The stock market is going gang busters yet every day we are going further into debt. The CBO projects this year that the budget deficit will rise to $668 billion, higher than any of the last 4 years of the Obama presidency. At that rate, you add $1.2 trillion to the debt every 2 years.

      Trump says a rising stock market means we will be able to reduce the debt. In fact, during the primaries Trump promised to eliminate the debt ($20 trillion) during his presidency. Instead, CBO projects Trump will add $10 trillion to the debt during his presidency. $30 trillion is a big miss.

      The stock market rise means nothing if people making money off that rise don't pay taxes. Trump has promised the biggest tax cut in US history. It's got huge cuts for the wealthy, for corporations, and for people with the means to be involved in the stock market. It's estimated to cost $1.5 - $2.5 trillion over the next 10 years. Damn, Bob, I know you are an English major but even you ought to be able to add 2 and 2 and come up with 4.

      Trump is promising fiscal responsibility while practicing fiscal irresponsibility. Open you eyes.

      .

      Delete
    7. A rising stock market generally indicates a flourishing economy which means more tax collections for Uncle Sam so yes, Mr. Quirkster, the two, stock market and national debt, do have something to do with one another.

      Delete
    8. Don't ever hire Quirk as Comptroller of the Exchequer.

      Revolt first.

      Delete
    9. .

      You don't have to repeat yourself, Bob. Your vacuity is already confirmed.

      .

      Delete
  5. Today, Trump signed an executive order on healthcare which will affect 1/6 of the US economy. It will be interesting to see if those same Trumpkins and GOP officials will condemn Trump over this.

    It affects 1/6 of the economy whether Trump signs or not and leaving the bill on autopilot, it crashes and burns. The Republicans flatulently promised to kill it and it should be killed because it was larded by the Democrats with one big ass poison pill.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Does Obamacare have problems. Sure. But they would have far fewer if not for the efforts Trump has exerted since he took office.

      Trump has said Obamacare was failing but that he would do nothing to hurt or hurry it on its way. That of course was a lie.

      He has been bad mouthing the program since he took office. He and the GOP while not cutting all subsidies have been agreeing only to extensions of 3 months at a time. Trump says Insurers are backing out of certain markets. The uncertainty on subsidies Trump's actions and words engender certainly aren't encouraging them to stay.

      Obamacare exchanges have been suffering because of the overestimation of how many young people would join in lieu of paying the penalties in the law. There was a huge rate increase two years ago to compensate for it. Since then the exchanges have been doing better and were projected to stabilize this year. That was before Trump.

      The latest Trump executive action represents Trump's latest act of pique. He was shot down in Congress so now he offers to create more suffering by executive order.

      As I said, we'll see what happens and how the voters react.

      Bannon reportedly (unconfirmed) said that there is only a 30% chance Trump will be allowed to complete his first term. True or not, it sounds like something Bannon might say. I wouldn't go that far; however, I do expect Trump will be a 1 term president.

      .

      Delete
    2. .

      Trump's actions today represent the first step in eliminating one of the major accomplishments of Obamacare, the protections offered for those with pre-existing conditions.

      .

      Delete
    3. How to provide adequate health care for everyone is not an easy task to solve.

      As a practical matter I think sooner or later we will end up with 'single payer'.

      Delete
  6. CUBAN MUSIC

    Dangerous sound? What Americans heard in Cuba attacks

    By JOSH LEDERMAN and MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN

    The sound seemed to manifest in pulses of varying lengths — seven seconds, 12 seconds, two seconds — with some sustained periods of several minutes or more. Then there would be silence for a second, or 13 seconds, or four seconds, before the sound abruptly started again.

    A closer examination of one recording reveals it’s not just a single sound. Roughly 20 or more different frequencies, or pitches, are embedded in it, the AP discovered using a spectrum analyzer, which measures a signal’s frequency and amplitude.

    To the ear, the multiple frequencies can sound a bit like dissonant keys on a piano being struck all at once. Plotted on a graph, the Havana sound forms a series of “peaks” that jump up from a baseline, like spikes or fingers on a hand.

    “What it is telling us is the sound is located between about 7,000 kHz and 8,000 kHz. There are about 20 peaks, and they seem to be equally spaced. All these peaks correspond to a different frequency,” said Kausik Sarkar, an acoustics expert and engineering professor at The George Washington University who reviewed the recording with the AP.

    Those frequencies might be only part of the picture. Conventional recording devices and tools to measure sound may not pick up very high or low frequencies, such as those above or below what the human ear can hear. Investigators have explored whether infrasound or ultrasound might be at play in the Havana attacks.

    The recordings have been played for workers at the U.S. Embassy to teach them what to listen for, said several individuals with knowledge of the situation in Havana. Some embassy employees have also been given recording devices to turn on if they hear the sounds. The individuals weren’t authorized to discuss the situation publicly and demanded anonymity.

    Cuban officials wouldn’t say whether the U.S. has shared the recordings with Cuba’s government.

    Another big question remains: Even if you know you’re under attack, what do you do? Still dumbfounded by what’s causing this, the United States has been at a loss to offer advice.


    https://apnews.com/88bb914f8b284088bce48e54f6736d84

    What to do if one hears 'the sound' ?

    Earplugs.

    ReplyDelete
  7. "Signing the new executive order is simply another example of a frustrated president striking out without much thought as to the repercussions."

    Rand Paul has given it a lot of thought.

    Trump utilizes others.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Trump utilizes others.

      Sometimes, you are actually funny, Doug.

      Trump uses others. Well, at least, up to the point that he doesn't need them any more.

      Rand Paul?

      He is a two-faced liar, but a principled on.

      Today, we learn that Paul has been whispering in Trump's ear for a couple months now. He knew there would be no repercussions for his no vote because he already had a Plan B. His vote on Obamacare repeal was all pure kabuki.

      Right now, he and Trump are the best of butt buddies. Watch what Trump has to say about him when hearings start on the Budget.

      .

      Delete
    2. He is a two-faced liar, but a principled one.

      :)

      Pure Quirk, pure fountainhead Quirk !

      Pure Quirkwater from the spring !!

      Delete
    3. What this country needs is more principled two faced liars !

      Delete
    4. If you had used that as your campaign slogan you might not have been run out of Hamtramck.

      Delete
    5. I admire the way he can make a "point" without resorting to namecalling.

      Delete
  8. If only Quirk & Campaign '16 hadn't gotten run out of Hamtramck, Michigan by an enraged mob this country might have a fighting chance.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Are We All Unconscious Racists?

    Even if we accept at face value that the placement of one’s chair in a mock lab interview or decisions in a prisoner’s-dilemma game are significant “discriminatory behaviors,” the statistical connection between IAT scores and those actions is negligible. A 2009 meta-analysis of 122 IAT studies by Greenwald, Banaji, and two management professors found that IAT scores accounted for only 5.5 percent of the variation in laboratory-induced “discrimination.” Even that low score was arrived at by questionable methods, as Jesse Singal discussed in a masterful review of the IAT literature in New York. A team of IAT skeptics—Fred Oswald of Rice University, Gregory Mitchell of the University of Virginia law school, Hart Blanton of the University of Connecticut, James Jaccard of New York University, and Philip Tetlock—noticed that Greenwald and his coauthors had counted opposite behaviors as validating the IAT. If test subjects scored high on implicit bias via the IAT but demonstrated better behavior toward out-group members (such as blacks) than toward in-group members, that was a validation of the IAT on the theory that the subjects were overcompensating for their implicit bias. But studies that found a correlation between a high implicit-bias score and discriminatory behavior toward out-group members also validated the IAT. In other words: heads, I win; tails, I win.

    https://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2017/10/are-we-all-unconscious-racists/

    ReplyDelete
  10. He recognized the robber and asked 'Is that you?'

    The man replied 'No, it's not me,'
    police say

    http://www.wafb.com/story/36579417/cleveland-is-that-you-armed-robbery-victim-asks-no-its-not-me-suspect-replies-according-to-warrant

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :)

      One never wants to confirm one's identity when engaged in armed robbery !

      Delete
    2. High I.Q. armed robbers give a false name.

      "Is that you, John ?"

      "Nope, Joe here."

      Delete
  11. The latest count of women accusing Harvey of messing with them is now 32.

    from Tucker Carlson Show

    ReplyDelete
  12. "History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake"

    James Joyce


    Congress warned North Korean EMP attack would kill '90% of all Americans'
    by Paul Bedard | Oct 12, 2017, 4:25 PM


    John Kelly Says North Korea Threat Is Manageable
    Bloomberg

    Congress was warned Thursday that North Korea is capable of attacking the U.S. today with a nuclear EMP bomb that could indefinitely shut down the electric power grid and kill 90 percent of "all Americans" within a year.

    At a House hearing, experts said that North Korea could easily employ the "doomsday scenario" to turn parts of the U.S. to ashes.


    In calling on the Pentagon and President Trump to move quickly to protect the grid, the experts testified that an explosion of a high-altitude nuclear bomb delivered by a missile or satellite "could be to shut down the U.S. electric power grid for an indefinite period, leading to the death within a year of up to 90 percent of all Americans."

    Related: Secret South Korean war plans are safe after reported North Korea hack, Pentagon says

    Two members of the former congressional EMP commission said the threat to the U.S. has never been higher, in part because of the current high level of saber rattling by both sides and North Korea's surprising display over the past six months of its ability to deliver on its threats.

    "With the development of small nuclear arsenals and long-range missiles by new, radical U.S. adversaries, beginning with North Korea, the threat of a nuclear EMP attack against the U.S. becomes one of the few ways that such a country could inflict devastating damage to the United States. It is critical, therefore, that the U.S. national leadership address the EMP threat as a critical and existential issue, and give a high priority to assuring the leadership is engaged and the necessary steps are taken to protect the country from EMP," the experts told a House Homeland Security subcommittee.


    William R. Graham, chairman of the former EMP commission and its former chief of staff, Peter Vincent Pry, said that the U.S. has ignored the warning signs for years and that North Korea's military moves this year must be seen as a wake-up call.

    They said:

    Just six months ago.......

    http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/congress-warned-north-korean-emp-attack-would-kill-90-of-all-americans/article/2637349

    ReplyDelete
  13. A small earthquake rattled the area near North Korea’s nuclear testing field but it did not appear to be manmade, South Korea’s weather agency said on Friday, the latest to be observed after the North conducted its sixth and biggest nuclear test in early September.

    ...

    All six nuclear tests have been carried out in this location in the northwest tip of the country. According to 38 North, a Washington-based project which monitors North Korea, numerous landslides throughout the nuclear test site have been detected via satellite images after the sixth test.

    ReplyDelete

  14. Professional sports teams across the nation have stopped staying at Trump hotels, according to a Washington Post investigation, with many citing the president’s divisiveness.

    The newspaper reported that 16 of the 17 NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL teams that stayed at Trump hotels in recent years confirmed they will be checking in at other properties when traveling.

    Though some of the teams told the Post that they stopped staying at Trump hotels for other reasons, like bus access, several confirmed that they pulled out because of Trump’s politics.

    ReplyDelete
  15. One thing about old disheveled Harvey - he ought to take a pretty good guilty as all hell mug shot when he's arrested.

    ReplyDelete
  16. “What's really important right now is that there's an uprising — people are saying, ‘No, this is problematic,’” actress Blake Lively told The Times. “Women need to speak up, and women need to be heard.

    It's not one industry, and it’s every level of the food chain. It’s just something women learn to write off as the day-to-day of being a woman: ‘She asked for it because she wore a dress.’

    But thank God now the conversation is shifting.”

    ReplyDelete
  17. 'I want to add my voice of support for the women who have had the courage to speak out against Harvey Weinstein,' wrote Gosling on Twitter.

    'Like most people in Hollywood, I have worked with him and I’m deeply disappointed in myself for being so oblivious to these devastating experiences of sexual harassment and abuse. He is emblematic of a systemic problem.'
    He then added: 'Men should stand with women and work together until there is real accountability and change.'

    ReplyDelete
  18. Pay To Prey

    Pay To Prey: Weinstein’s Contract Basically Allowed For Sexual Harassment — So Long As He Paid The Company
    ALLAHPUNDITPosted at 8:41 pm on October 12, 2017


    Even if you’re not a legal eagle, you may at some point in your life have encountered the term “moral turpitude” when signing a contract. Employers will sometimes stick that phrase into the section dealing with termination for cause, for understandable reasons. The idea is that if you do something morally egregious, something that offends the sensibilities of the organization or brings it into public disrepute, you can be canned summarily. Your boss is under no obligation to keep an embarrassing degenerate on the payroll.

    A moral turpitude clause would have come in handy for Harvey Weinstein considering that, if his accusers are to be believed, he’s been harassing, intimidating, groping, extorting, and raping women for, oh, 20-25 years now. And yet, according to TMZ, no such clause was to be found in his contract with the Weinstein Company. On the contrary, Big Harv had an unusual twist on the traditional moral turpitude provision in his agreement. If he was accused of “misconduct” and ended up settling with his accuser, he had to reimburse the company for any legal expenses it incurred in the process — and then he had to pay them a fine. Of up to a million dollars.

    These sick bastards actually profited from Weinstein paying hush money to his victims.

    According to the contract, if Weinstein “treated someone improperly in violation of the company’s Code of Conduct,” he must reimburse TWC for settlements or judgments. Additionally, “You [Weinstein] will pay the company liquidated damages of $250,000 for the first such instance, $500,000 for the second such instance, $750,000 for the third such instance, and $1,000,000 for each additional instance.”

    The contract says as long as Weinstein pays, it constitutes a “cure” for the misconduct and no further action can be taken. Translation — Weinstein could be sued over and over and as long as he wrote a check, he keeps his job.
    Jeff Blehar acidically dubs that a “grab ’em by the p***y” clause. How many board members were able to buy second, third, fourth, or fifth homes thanks to Big Harv’s rape fines?

    If TMZ is right, the only ways Weinstein could be rightly fired under the agreement were if he was indicted or convicted of a crime (stay tuned!) or if he committed a “material fraud” against the company. In theory, him telling the company that he was paying hush money over *consensual* affairs instead of criminal acts would amount to fraud, which would justify him being fired a few days ago. But hold on: The agreement also says he was entitled to mediation and eventually arbitration with the company before he was canned, which wasn’t granted to him. That is to say, Harvey Weinstein, currently accused by dozens of women of acts ranging from extreme skeeviness to aggravated felony, may have been … improperly terminated under his contract.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rose McGowan, Weinstein’s most outspoken accuser, has spent the last few days begging Twitter followers to support her in calling on the Weinstein Company to dissolve its board of directors and shut down. There may be no need, though. Half the board already quit after the NYT published its expose, and now the remaining rats are scurrying:

      The two men now running the firm, Weinstein’s brother Bob and the company’s president David Glasser, could be the next out the door, a company official and two Hollywood executives told CNN.

      The two Weinstein Co. executives are coming under severe scrutiny because some of the allegations of misconduct by Harvey Weinstein date back decades, which raises the question: Why didn’t people in a position to know do more?…

      Other Weinstein Co. executives and people close to the company are deeply concerned about the likelihood of lawsuits against the company…

      The law firm’s investigation may also examine how Weinstein’s staffers facilitated his meetings with women who now accuse him of wrongdoing.

      Even if they survive lawsuits, they may not survive lost business. Case in point: example here

      One more point to put the TMZ piece in context. Per a Times story earlier today, the Weinstein Company board was aware of “three or four” settlements that Weinstein was involved in when it negotiated his new contract in 2015. That’s three or four instances of “misconduct” before they re-signed him as an employee. Given his legendary temper, given the “open secret” status of his treatment of women throughout the industry, any corporate board that was genuinely concerned about his behavior could have and would have used that as an opportunity to investigate precisely what he was doing with these women before handing him a lucrative new deal. Were they really consensual affairs or were they something else? At the barest, barest, barest minimum, if they were so ethically decrepit that they were willing to keep him on anyway (it was “the Weinstein Company,” after all), they could have laid down the law with a zero tolerance policy by adding a moral turpitude clause to his new contract. Any settlement of any sort, even for “consensual” behavior, would be grounds for firing. Instead they allowed him to pay damages, with no limit to how many times he could transgress. The arrangement was, quite literally, pay to prey.

      Here he is at a Women’s March a few months ago, ostensibly signaling his wokeness but in all probability scouting for targets.....picture

      https://hotair.com/archives/2017/10/12/pay-prey-weinsteins-contract-basically-allowed-sexual-harassment-long-paid-company/

      Delete
  19. .

    A Corporate Executive Tells Why Corporate Tax Cuts Won’t Create Jobs


    ...As an entrepreneur myself and a friend to many others, I know that lower tax rates will not motivate more people to start companies. People start companies for many reasons: a compelling idea, ambition for fame and fortune, a desire to be one’s own boss, frustration with one’s employer. I have never heard someone say, “I would have started a company, but tax rates were too high” or “I wouldn’t have started this company, but then George W. Bush cut tax rates, so I did.”

    ==============================

    ...While I can imagine tax regimes that would create disincentives for entrepreneurship, we don’t have that situation today in America, where tax rates on capital gains (the primary way that founders of successful start-ups make money) are already far lower than rates on ordinary income. Indeed, some of the most admired entrepreneurs — Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos — started their companies under significantly higher tax regimes. This is consistent with empirical research; the economists Robert Moffitt and Mark Wilhelm, for example, found that the large cuts in marginal tax rates in 1986 did not induce high-income men to work longer hours.

    The job-creation reasoning is equally specious when applied to the behavior of existing companies. As Warren Buffett notes, “I have yet to see” anyone “shy away from a sensible investment because of the tax rate on the potential gain.”

    =============================

    ...While I can imagine tax regimes that would create disincentives for entrepreneurship, we don’t have that situation today in America, where tax rates on capital gains (the primary way that founders of successful start-ups make money) are already far lower than rates on ordinary income. Indeed, some of the most admired entrepreneurs — Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos — started their companies under significantly higher tax regimes. This is consistent with empirical research; the economists Robert Moffitt and Mark Wilhelm, for example, found that the large cuts in marginal tax rates in 1986 did not induce high-income men to work longer hours.

    The job-creation reasoning is equally specious when applied to the behavior of existing companies. As Warren Buffett notes, “I have yet to see” anyone “shy away from a sensible investment because of the tax rate on the potential gain.”

    ===================

    There have been two recurring themes in my conversations about the tax-cut proposal with my Silicon Valley business peers, both Republican and Democrat. The first is derision about the shoddy business reasoning: Well-run companies don’t just spend recklessly with no plan or intention to stop if revenues don’t come in as hoped. But this is exactly what the tax-cut proposal does by wishing away huge tax-revenue shortfalls with stupendous growth projections.

    The second theme is shoulder-shrugging — after all, didn’t voters effectively ratify an agenda of tax cuts favoring the very wealthy?

    I’m not sure, but I choose to believe not. By 2027, when they are fully phased in, four out of every five dollars in proposed tax cuts will flow to the top 1 percent, an egregious wealth transfer to those who least need it.

    I am an entrepreneur and a businessman, but I am also a citizen. I believe tax cuts that deepen our already severe inequality in income and wealth are not in the long-term interests of any citizens, not even the very wealthy. Extreme inequality is corroding our civil society, poisoning our politics, and undermining our effectiveness as a nation. This is an extremely hard problem to solve, but when you’re in a deep ditch, the first thing to do is stop digging.


    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Get The Times from $15.99 $9.99 a month.

      I will read the article if you will pay for the subscription.

      Or, you can post the entire article.

      Delete
  20. .

    Trump to Scrap Critical Health Care Subsidies, Hitting Obamacare Again

    WASHINGTON — President Trump will scrap subsidies to health insurance companies that help pay out-of-pocket costs of low-income people, the White House said late Thursday. His plans were disclosed hours after the president ordered potentially sweeping changes in the nation’s insurance system, including sales of cheaper policies with fewer benefits and fewer protections for consumers.

    The twin hits to the Affordable Care Act — on successive days — could unravel President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement, sending insurance premiums soaring and insurance companies fleeing from the health law’s online marketplaces...

    After Republicans failed to repeal the health law in Congress, Mr. Trump appears determined to dismantle it on his own.
    Without the subsidies, insurance markets could quickly unravel...

    -----------------------------

    Lawmakers from both parties have urged the president to continue the payments. Mr. Trump had raised the possibility of eliminating the subsidies at a White House meeting with Republican senators several months ago. At the time, one senator told him that the Republican Party would effectively “own health care” as a political issue if the president did so...


    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Get The Times from $15.99 $9.99 a month.

      I will read the article if you will pay for the subscription.

      Or, you can post the entire article.

      Same problem.

      You are just playing with the poor readers !

      Delete
    2. Ah, well, no one believes a word written by The New York Times anyway.

      See above:

      American Pravda: NYT Part II

      Delete
    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    4. .

      Who gives a shit what you do?

      .

      Delete
  21. Late Thursday, Amazon announced via a spokesperson that Price had taken a leave of absence “effective immediately.” The spokesperson added, Amazon is “reviewing [its] options” for the projects in development with The Weinstein Company, Matthew Weiner’s Mad Men follow-up The Romanoffs and David O. Russell’s untitled series with Robert De Niro.


    The Amazon spokesperson did not make mention of McGowan’s claims.

    McGowan’s Twitter feed was briefly suspended earlier Thursday, Twitter claimed, for violating its terms of service agreement because the actress posted a phone number. Now, as McGowan pointed out, “it’s on.”

    ReplyDelete
  22. In the wake of revelations about Harvey Weinstein’s alleged years-long sexual harassment and assault, a producer of one of Amazon Studios’ highest-profile TV shows is ready to talk about her “shocking and surreal” experience with Amazon’s programming chief Roy Price.

    ...

    She agreed to an interview on Wednesday.

    Why are you ready to come forward now?

    Having power and influence is such a huge responsibility. As somebody with some power, I feel it is imperative for me to speak out.

    ...

    What were you feeling the evening of this alleged incident?

    It was shocking and surreal.

    What has it been like in the aftermath?

    I haven’t seen Roy. I’ve not been around him.


    Roy Price

    ReplyDelete
  23. The State Department has said 22 Americans are “medically confirmed” to be affected and that the number could grow. The symptoms and circumstances reported have varied widely, making some hard to tie conclusively to the attacks.

    The incidents began last year and are considered “ongoing,” with an attack reported as recently as late August.

    Cuba has defended its “exhaustive and priority” response, emphasizing its eagerness to assist the U.S. investigation. Cuban officials did not respond to requests for comment for this story but have complained in the past that Washington refuses to share information they say they need to fully investigate, such as medical records, technical data and timely notification of attacks.

    ReplyDelete
  24. But even as Republicans pursue a largely partisan approach without Democratic input, some predicted Wednesday there would be no adjustments to the proposed 20% corporate rate, since that seemed to be a core area of agreement.

    “That’s so locked and loaded that I just don’t see that changing,” said Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), a Trump ally.

    Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), chairman of the conservative Freedom Caucus, said the 20% rate was “for sure. I have commitments.”

    ReplyDelete
  25. Muslim on trial for plot to behead Pamela Geller: I was living in a ‘fantasy’
    By Pamela Geller - on October 12, 2017
    BOSTON BEHEADING PLOT

    Wright had a “fantasy” of beheading me. He could have fantasized about anything: travel to exotic places, spending time with wonderful people, having exciting adventures. Only in Islam does someone’s “fantasy” revolve around bloodshed and death.

    “Man on trial in beheading plot: I was living in a ‘fantasy,'” Associated Press, October 11, 2017:

    A Massachusetts man on trial for participating in a plot to behead conservative blogger Pamela Geller said Wednesday that he was living in a “fantasy” world and never wanted to hurt anyone.

    David Wright admitted sharing Islamic State propaganda online and discussing an attack against Geller. But he insisted he didn’t actually support the terror group and that his conversations about violence were just “trash talk” fueled by a desperate desire for attention.

    “I said a lot of fantastical things about what I intended, where I wanted to go and where I wanted to travel, and it was never real,” said Wright, who was wearing a plaid shirt and black sweater vest when he took the stand in the Boston’s federal courthouse. “It was fantasy,” he said.

    Wright, 28, is charged with obstruction of justice, conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and conspiring to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries. He could face up to life in prison if convicted.

    Prosecutors say Wright, his uncle and a third man agreed to kill Geller after she planned a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas in 2015. During the contest, two other men opened fire outside and wounded a security guard before they were killed in a shootout with law enforcement assigned to guard the event. The beheading plot against Geller was never carried out.

    Days later, Wright’s uncle, Ussamah Rahim, told Wright in a phone call that he couldn’t wait to attack Geller and decided instead to go after “those boys in blue.” Hours later, Rahim was approached by officers in a Boston parking lot and was fatally shot after he pulled out a knife and moved toward them, officials say.

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    1. Wright said he didn’t believe his uncle was serious about the attack on police and broke down in tears on the stand as he discussed his death.

      “I lost someone who was very close to me because I was so deluded and self-centered that I couldn’t see beyond my own need for attention,” Wright said.

      Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Siegmann asked Wright pointed questions about documents found on his computer, including one that encouraged Islamic State followers to kill Americans when they are walking in the streets, “thinking they are safe.” Wright also had a folder on his computer that included tweets sent by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was convicted in the Boston Marathon bombing.

      Siegmann pulled out the three large hunting knives Wright’s uncle bought and asked Wright whether the weapons were real. She also pressed Wright about videos on his computer, including ones that showed Islamic State members beheading people on a beach.

      “It was not fantasy to you that they were dying, was it?” Siegmann asked.

      Wright acknowledged telling his uncle that it was a “beautiful moment” when he heard of his plan to attack police. He also admitted to wiping the documents from his computer, transferring all of his Islamic State materials to a thumb drive after learning his uncle had been killed….

      https://pamelageller.com/2017/10/plot-geller-fantasy.html/

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    2. I think this fellow will be found guilty.

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