Althouse: At the Hard Labor Cafe...

September 3, 2018

At the Hard Labor Cafe...

... you can take it easy.

80 comments:

steve uhr said...: Why do you think Trump has yet to visit our troops in Iraq or Afghanistan? Maybe he should build a golf course there. Oh I forgot. No new foreign deals.; 9/3/18, 9:21 PM
Sebastian said...: Another day, another Muslim outrage:

"The number of military personnel killed in a Boko Haram attack on an army post in Nigeria's northeast has risen to 48, according to sources.

The attack took place late on Thursday when scores of fighters in trucks stormed the base at Zari village in Borno state and briefly captured it after intense fighting."; 9/3/18, 9:29 PM
Inga...Allie Oop said...: Why do you think Trump has yet to visit our troops in Iraq or Afghanistan?”

That would be too much like real work. Plus he’s chicken.; 9/3/18, 9:34 PM
MadisonMan said...: Is this what I'm supposed to be outraged about this week -- that Trump hasn't visited troops?

Thanks for the Head's Up. I was wondering what it going to be after McCain.

I am so outraged. Spitting mad. I'm going to tweet about it!; 9/3/18, 9:37 PM
Michael K said...: I see the lefties come out at night. Maybe he is not into starting wars.; 9/3/18, 9:45 PM
Michael K said...: Thanks for the Head's Up. I was wondering what it going to be after McCain.

Yup the memo is out already.; 9/3/18, 9:45 PM
Inga...Allie Oop said...: “Maybe he is not into starting wars.”

Trump visiting the troops in Afghanistan would start a war? Huh?; 9/3/18, 9:49 PM
Michael K said...: Inga, your memo from the DNC did not explain that.; 9/3/18, 9:55 PM
Darrell said...: Trump works harder than any President has done in 40 years. He works smarter, too, so there is the multiplier effect. He's already done more than Bumblefuck Obama did in eight years. When Lefties try to dispute that, regular people tell them to shut their lyin' mouths. Pretty soon those words will be followed by an iron boot and a pick ax.

Yeah, it takes real courage to put your security staff and US troops in harm's way just to pull a PR stunt. Odumbo and Hillary must have had a ton of it. Dodge that sniper fire, Hill! Serpentine! Serpentine! You know how!; 9/3/18, 9:55 PM
Mike Sylwester said...: Here are key dates in 2016.

March 19 -- John Podesta is tricked into providing his DNC password

April 29 -- DNC becomes aware that its server is penetrated

May 5 -- CrowdStrike begins special monitoring of the DNC

May 25 -- Seth Rich downloads files from DNC server

June 12 -- Julian Assange announces that he soon will release DNC files

June 14 -- Washington Post reports that CrowdStrike says Russia is the hacker

June 15 -- Guccifer 2.0 boasts that he hacked the DNC server

July 10 -- Seth Rich murdered.

October 7 -- Assange begins to release the DNC files

-------

Michael Thau has written a superb article titled Julian Assange, CrowdStrike, and the Russian Hack That Wasn’t, which has been published on the American Greatness website.

Thau describes the DNC situation.

[quote]

On March 19, hostile actors had gotten ahold of all the emails in campaign chairman John Podesta’s main Gmail account. ... A fake email from Google arrived, saying he needed to change his password and providing a link. The link was also fake. Instead of changing his password, Podesta gave it away — along with all of his campaign emails.

The Clinton campaign learned of Podesta’s blunder almost immediately and must have suspected that the emails Assange was threatening [on June 12] to release were his [Podesta's].

[end quote]

On June 12, Clinton was 570 votes short of the 2,382 she needed to win the nomination. According to informal polls of superdelegates, Clinton would obtain the majority by the time the party's convention began on July 25.

However, Clinton and the DNC worried that Assange's release of files might prevent the party from unifying around Clinton during and after the convention.

Thau summarizes the situation in mid-June.

[quote]

For the rest of the week [June 5-11], the big election story was whether Sanders would exit the race gracefully and encourage his followers to forgive, forget, and rally round Hillary Clinton. But just 12 hours after Assange’s announcement [on Sunday, June 12], Sanders emerged from a meeting with his top advisors, refusing to concede and reiterating his determination not to let the media gaslight his candidacy into a lost cause.

[end quote]

-----

The DNC already had assessed the files that Assange might release. Thau writes:

[quote]

Podesta’s blunder had the potential to damage Hillary Clinton’s already precarious reputation with voters regardless of their feelings about Bernie Sanders. In some of his pilfered emails, top Clinton advisors, including Podesta himself, insulted her abilities and her ethics, commented on her poor health, made disparaging remarks about Catholics, Muslims, blacks, and Latinos, and complained that Clinton wanted “unaware and compliant” voters.

Many of Podesta’s emails also contradict claims made in defense of the private email server Clinton used as Secretary of State. Others reveal that the FBI investigation into the matter was anything but unbiased. At a minimum, the emails prove the Clinton campaign knew from the beginning that she was breaking the law.

It’s easy to forget how serious an issue Clinton’s private server was on June 12, 2016, three weeks before FBI Director James Comey publicly exonerated her. ....

Given Sanders’ supporters' anger and Clinton’s need for their enthusiastic support to prevail against Trump, her team would have been more concerned about emails revealing her disdain for Sanders’ supporters and some of their most beloved progressive policies. ....

[end quote]

The DNC was ready when Assange announced on June 12 that he possessed and soon would release DNC files. The DNC was ready to argue that Assange had obtained the files from Russian Intelligence, which had stolen the files from the DNC server.

DNC would argue further that many of the files had been altered by Russian Intelligence during the months since Podesta had been tricked.; 9/3/18, 10:06 PM
Xmas said...: Nike has picked Colin Kaepernick as the face of their 30th anniversary "Just Do It" campaign.

It's a bold strategy; 9/3/18, 10:10 PM
Mike Sylwester said...: Continuing my comment at 10:06 PM
-----

Scott Ritter has written a superb article, titled CrowdStrike: Making It Up as They Go Along?, published by the HomeFront Intelligence Network website.

-----

On June 12, 2016, Julian Assange announced that he had many files from the DNC server and that he would release them soon.

Two days later, on June 14, The Washington Post reported that CrowdStrike had determined that the files had been stolen by the Russian Government.

-----

Ritter tells the history of CrowdStrike.

During the year 2011, Dmitri Alperovitch, a Russian immigrant (his family immigrated when he was ten years old), was the Vice President of Threat Research at the McAfee company, which sells computer-security software.

During that year, Alperovitch wrote a McAfee report titled Revealed: Operation Shady Rat, which claimed that a major hacking operation (i.e. Shady Rat) was being conducted by the Chinese government.

Based on publicity from the report, Alperovitch and a colleague, George Kurtz, quit McAfee in September and October 2011 and founded their own computer-security company, CrowdStrike. Their new company soon obtained initial funding of $26 million based on Alperovitch's for discovering that Shady Rat was a hacking operation of the Chinese government.

-----

However, other computer-security experts argued that the Chinese government was not proved to be the culprit.

Ritter writes:

[quote]

While Alperovitch may have charmed the billionaires who were underwriting the CrowdStrike enterprise, several of his fellow cyber sleuths smelled a rat. One of them, Eugene Kaspersky, took the time to put his concerns into writing. Kaspersky is the CEO and founder of Kaspersky Lab, a well-regarded Russian-based cyber security company. “We conducted detailed analysis of the Shady Rat botnet and its related malware,” Kaspersky wrote in an August 2011 blog, “and can conclude that the reality of the matter (especially the technical specifics) differs greatly from the conclusions made by Mr. Alperovitch.” Moreover, Kaspersky stated, “We consider those conclusions to be largely unfounded ... we cannot concede that the McAfee analyst was not aware of the groundlessness of the conclusions ...

Symantec, the maker of the popular Norton Anti-Virus software, shared Kaspersky’s concerns over Alperovitch’s exaggeration and outright misrepresentation of the Shady Rat threat. ...

Both Lau and Kaspersky discounted Alperovitch’s efforts to attribute blame for the Shady Rat cyber attacks on China. “There has been some discussion,” Lau noted, “of this being a government-sponsored attack. However, the finger can’t be pointed at any particular government. ..."

In retrospect, Shady Rat appears to have been perpetrated for one purpose — to manufacture a narrative that could be exploited for the personal benefit of Dmitri Alperovitch, George Kurtz and Gregg Marston, the three former McAfee executives who founded CrowdStrike. ....

It appears that Alperovitch concocted the Shady Rat threat from thin air, and then promulgated its existence through private meetings with government officials predisposed to accept any public reporting that sustained the notion of a Chinese cyber threat to the United States. ...

[end quote]

From its very beginning, CrowdStrike has profited from dubious claims about their ability to determine that particular hacking operations were conducted by particular foreign governments.; 9/3/18, 10:12 PM
Mike Sylwester said...: Continuing my comment at 10:12 PM
-----

CrowdStrike began its special monitoring of the DNC server on May 5, 2016, and therefore must have determined that Seth Rich downloaded a large number of files onto a manual device on May 25. (The files released later by Assange end on May 25.)

CrowdStrike intended to prove that files had been stolen from the DNC server by Russian Intelligence, but Rich was a second culprit.

On June 12, Assange announced that he had files that had been stolen from the DNC server. Then on June 14, The Washington Post reported that CrowdStrike had identified Russian Intellligence as the hacker.

Although Assange announced on June 12 that he had the files and intended to release them soon, he did not begin releasing them until October 7. In the meantime, the DNC was preparing to tell a story -- after Assanger would release the files -- that the files had been in the possession of Russian Intelligence for a long time. After all, Podesta had been tricked by Russian Intelligence on March 19. Russian Intelligence had plenty of time to alter files to Clinton's disadvantage.

However, Seth Rich was a problem. If Rich's ever revealed that he too had stolen files directly from the DNC server, then Rich's set of files were not altered by Russian Intelligence.

-----

There was another problem. The DNC server had contained many files with discussions of searches of the NSA database. For months, the FBI had allowed contractors to search the NSA database for information about Republican politicians. The FBI contractors passed such information to the DNC, where it was organized, evaluated and discussed.

The NSA information was why Russian Intelligence penetrated the DNC servers. Russian Intelligence was not interested in the DNC's office politics. Rather, Russian Intelligence was interested in information about searches of the NSA database.

Russian Intelligence had been informed by a free-lance hacker about the NSA information on the DNC server. Russian Intelligence had paid for the tip and then itself had begun to penetrate and search the DNC's server.

Russian Intelligence did not intend to release any information to affect US politics. As long as its hacking remained secret, Russian Intelligence might be able to continue to monitor the DNC server for more information about searches of the NSA database.; 9/3/18, 10:21 PM
Mike Sylwester said...: Continued from my comment at 10:21 PM
-----

According to Scott Ritter's article CrowdStrike: Making It Up as They Go Along?, CrowdStrike found that the DNC server had been hacked by two entities, which CrowdStrike called Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear.

CrowdStrike determined that Cozy Bear had begun to penetrate the DNC server in the summer of 2015 (fifteen) and that Fancy Bear had begun to do so in April 2016 (sixteen). Fancy Bear was much more focused and unobtrusive in its searches.

Ritter writes:

[quote]

Cozy Bear was assessed by Alperovitch to be run by the Russian Federal Security Service, or FSB; Fancy Bear was attributed to Russian military intelligence, or the GRU. CrowdStrike’s Falcon software showed that Cozy Bear had been active in the DNC server since the summer of 2015, mapping out directories and exfiltrating data. Fancy Bear had penetrated the DNC server in April 2016, and had stolen some files related to opposition research.

[end quote]

In my own opinion, Cozy Bear was the free-lance hacker that had discovered the NSA information on the DNC server and had then informed Russian Intelligence (i.e. Fancy Bear) for a reward.

Cozy Bear was a free-lancer hacking various computers, looking for information that it could use or sell for profit.

Fancy Bear was Russian Intelligence hacking the DNC computer, looking for information about searches of the NSA database.; 9/3/18, 10:23 PM
Mike Sylwester said...: Continuing my comment at 10:23 PM
-----

The free-lance hacker was a Romanian who calls himself "Guccifer 2.0". Here are key dates in 2016.

June 12 -- Julian Assange announces that he soon will release DNC files.

June 14 -- The Washington Post that Russian Intelligence is the hacker

June 15 -- Guccifer 2.0 boasts that he hacked the DNC server

Apparently, Guccifer 2.0 felt that he -- not Russian Intelligence -- deserved the primary praise for hacking the DNC server.

Now in 2018 the boast of Guccifer 2.0 in 2016 is a problem for Robert "The FBI Whitewasher" Mueller, who will report that Russian Intelligence hacked the DNC computer in order to cause Americans to lose their faith in Democracy.

In fact, however, Russian Intelligence hacked the DNC computer in order to find more NSA information after being informed by Guccifer 2.0. Russian Intelligence wanted to keep this hacking operation secret for as long as possible.

Guccifer 2.0 is a problem in Mueller's scheme. Guccifer 2.0 hacked the DNC server in order to find information that he could use or sell for criminal profit. Neither Guccifer 2.0 or Russian Intelligence was motivated by any desire to cause Americans to lose faith in Democracy.

Mueller asserted in a recent indictment that Russian Intelligence concocted the imaginary persona of Guccifer 2.0 in order to divert the hacking blame away from Russian Intelligence.

The nonsense of this part of Mueller's indictment is exposed by Michael Thau's superb article, titled The Lies at the Heart of the Mueller Indictments, published on the American Greatness website.

Thau explains that Guccifer 2.0 made no effort to exonerate Russian Intelligence for hacking the DNC server. Rather, Guccifer 2.0 wanted simply to boast that he himself had been the first hacker to penetrate the DNC server -- well before Russian Intelligence had penetrated it.

Guccifer 2.0 said that he was Romanian (not Russian), but he said so only after he was asked on June 21 -- six days after his initial announcement.

Furthermore, Guccifer 2.0 sprinkled into metadata some obvious clues incriminating Russia in the hacking.

Guccifer 2.0 has not acted to exonerate Russian Intelligence from accusations of hacking. Rather, he wants only the credit for being the first hacker of the DNC server.; 9/3/18, 10:33 PM
Mike Sylwester said...: Continuing my comment at 10:33 PM
-----

Although Julian Assange announced on June 12, 2016, that he had DNC files and would release them soon, he did not begin to release them until October 7.

Already in June, the DNC and CrowdStrike were prepared to argue that the released files would be unreliable because the files had been altered while in the possession of Russian Intelligence for several months.

After Assange released the DNC files in October, however, the DNC soon dropped the long-prepared argument that the files had been altered.

Although Seth Rich had been murdered on July 10, Julian Assange hinted during August that Rich had provided a set of files that had not gone through Russian Intelligence on their way to Assange. Therefore, the documents released by Assange to the public could not have been altered by Russian Intelligence.

In this situation, the DNC decided to abandon its long-planned argument that the files had been altered by Russian Intelligence.

That argument was replaced by a new argument that Russian Intelligence has stolen and subsequently released the DNC files with the collusion of Donald Trump.

Clinton declared that Trump was unfit to be President because he was ingnoring a finding made by all of the USA's 17 Intelligence agencies that the DNC files had been stolen by Russian Intelligence.

-----

End of this series of comments.; 9/3/18, 10:36 PM
Gahrie said...: Why do you think Trump has yet to visit our troops in Iraq or Afghanistan?

1) Because the media would attack him as a panderer if he did.
2) He's been busy rebuilding the American economy.; 9/3/18, 10:42 PM
Rob said...: From the New York Times otherwise complimentaryreview of John Kerry's book: "Will the nation again turn its lonely eyes to this man? It seems unlikely. He’d be a worthy candidate, but another run would make Democratic voters feel, in some sense, like dogs returning to their sick."; 9/3/18, 11:13 PM
Sebastian said...: "Nike has picked Colin Kaepernick as the face of their 30th anniversary "Just Do It" campaign."

Happy to oblige: just boycott.

But it shows, as if proof were needed, that our corporate overlords also despise us.; 9/3/18, 11:23 PM
Arashi said...: It definitely shows a severe case of tone deafness at the very least. So we are supposed to buy their products because a former NFL quarterback and millionaire can't get a job otherwise?

I am firmly convinced that the world in general has gone stark raving insane.; 9/3/18, 11:40 PM
readering said...: Yeah this site attracts a lot of buyers of high priced performance shoes.; 9/3/18, 11:49 PM
readering said...: Next they will boycott still because it has shots of an American flag on the moon without showing how it got embedded in the moon dust.; 9/3/18, 11:51 PM
readering said...: Regarding Kerry, just before the Yale debate faculty advisor retired in 1976 i asked him who was the best Yale debater he ever saw. He named a BC Law student.; 9/3/18, 11:55 PM
narciso said...: He wasn't a particular good player or else hecwouldnt have to result to this shtick

In other news the Amsterdam stabber is blaming geert wilders.; 9/3/18, 11:55 PM
n.n said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/4/18, 12:03 AM
n.n said...: It's a girl! She was totally worth it.; 9/4/18, 12:03 AM
narciso said...: I mean he's better than Michael sams but that doesn't say much.

Mueller out right states that guccifer 2 is fsb, wherever draws that conclusion from who knows.; 9/4/18, 12:03 AM
Francisco D said...: Presidents visit the troops to build support for a war and for their decision to send troops. Trump ran a campaign against foreign intervention. Thus, there is no reason for him to visit the troops. The military knows they have his support anyway.

VIP visitors are a pain in the ass for soldiers in war zones. They have to go to great lengths to organize the tour and provide security. No POTUS who visits the soldiers has to be brave. He is as secure there as anywhere else.

Inga and her leftist friends have again shown their absolute lack of ability to reason. It's just slogans, cut and paste and mindless personal attacks. It's a good thing that the "resistance" members are so stupid. Otherwise, I might worry.; 9/4/18, 12:04 AM
readering said...: Fenwick looks like a a wuss for disinviting Bannon but I guess the point of the event is to make money. Some boycott threats work.; 9/4/18, 12:05 AM
readering said...: Remnick. Dang auotcorrect.; 9/4/18, 12:06 AM
readering said...: There are rationalizations for everything. Trump does what he pleases.; 9/4/18, 12:08 AM
readering said...: He is planning to go to Ireland!; 9/4/18, 12:09 AM
NKP said...: Nike. Not one dime. Ever. Any athlete displaying the Nike 'swoosh' logo. GFY. PGA golfers; I'm looking at all y'all. No more.; 9/4/18, 12:09 AM
narciso said...: The broader point is i don't see an answer in this expedition which is going on 17 years Now, then again letting the Taliban take over os,problematic.; 9/4/18, 12:13 AM
readering said...: I guess no one will be accused of murder with a red golf shirt.; 9/4/18, 12:17 AM
narciso said...: They would rather prefer drek like Quantico where we are the terrorists

https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/09/03/new-jack-ryan-series-blasted-for-pushing-masculine-american-heroism-white-male-entitlement?; 9/4/18, 12:26 AM
chickelit said...: Sebastian wrote: But it shows, as if proof were needed, that our corporate overlords also despise us.

Or it shows that they pander to their best customers.

Next, the makers of Hennessy cognac will sign Kaepernick for promotional photo shoot.

Don't think Big Booze gets political? link; 9/4/18, 12:29 AM
n.n said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/4/18, 12:31 AM
n.n said...: new-jack-ryan-series-blasted-for-pushing-masculine-american-heroism-white-male-entitlement

The leftists are obsessed with Jew... White privilege. Somethings repeat again, and again, and again.

masculine male... At least they distinguish between gender and sex, respectively, and note the close correlation. That is positive progress.; 9/4/18, 12:32 AM
narciso said...: He's polish American and Irish roots, surprisingly haaretz isn't impressed. yt?; 9/4/18, 12:46 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: It is fascinating how little attention BBQ Becky and Co. have received from whites here. A little too close for comfort, y'all? These comments are usually filled with her kind. She HAS to be a relative of Gahrie, Michael K, Jay Elink, John Henry, Bunkypotatoehead, Char Char Binks, Shouting Thomas, Big Mike, Annie, Tim In Vermont, Qwinn, or all the other charmers who get so,...animated when a black man speaks here.

I love the part where she says her race doesn't matter and when - after harassing a black family for hours - she starts to cry as the cops arrive.

Y'all got your act DOWN.; 9/4/18, 12:57 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: "In the past few months, the world has witnessed Coupon Carl, Permit Betty and Permit Patty, among several others, who have all called the cops on black people doing ordinary people things."

Ordinary people = white folks do them, too.; 9/4/18, 12:59 AM
narciso said...: I didn't watch much of the office but when I did he was one of the few I could stand.; 9/4/18, 12:59 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Since white folks have $100 for every $5.00 blacks have, this is hardly a protest.

I've seen white folks burn more money just to light cigars.; 9/4/18, 1:03 AM
Francisco D said...: " ...or all the other charmers who get so,...animated when a black man speaks here."

You flatter yourself, Ritmo.

I get bored with your inane chatter as you pretend to be an angry Black man.

Get YOUR act together, punk.; 9/4/18, 1:15 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Giving one to the white guy: I totally think this was legit, considering the way the black guy blindsided him, and the state of shock the white guy had to be in after that happened. To say the black guy wasn't *still* attacking him, after he saw the gun, is too little too late - he's wound up the guy he attacked - and, if he wasn't ready to suffer the effects of that (because he thought, in that small sphere, he had the upper hand) then, tough. Shouldn't been playin' Captian Save A Hoe and called the cops.; 9/4/18, 1:18 AM
NKP said...: "Since white folks have $100 for every $5.00 blacks have, this is hardly a protest."

Really? The 'One Percenters' in the NBA and NFL are mostly black. I don't have a problem with that. They have the talent. They do the work.

Maybe if the $5.00 people (whatever race they are) used their talents and did the work, they could be $100 people. Bitching is so much easier.; 9/4/18, 1:19 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Francisco D said...

"You flatter yourself, Ritmo."

Everyone wants me to be Ritmo for some reason (or for him to be me) which speaks to their grasp of race issues as well:

They're all reacting to their darkest fears and assumptions - not reality.; 9/4/18, 1:23 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Colonel Mustard said...

"Really?"

Yes.

"The 'One Percenters' in the NBA and NFL are mostly black."

You play basketball at the highest levels?

"I don't have a problem with that."

What that has to do with the price of tea in China is anybody's guess.

"They have the talent."

They spent years, alone, in front of a hoop with no net - and a lot of black folks sacrificing so they can.

"They do the work."

I know there's a *point* in here somewhere....

"Maybe if the $5.00 people (whatever race they are) used their talents and did the work, they could be $100 people."

Maybe, but not likely, because whites make a special place in this nation for us, and always has - even those guys in the NBA tell you that all the fucking time - so why do you know and respect them, and all they've accomplished with the help of the community supporting them, but don't hear them when they tell you how they - individually - got there? I'll tell you:

You willingly ignore the reality they tell you, for the dogma you're spitting at me now, and that's not healthy, or helpful, for anyone.

Bitching is so much easier.; 9/4/18, 1:34 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Talk about Hard Labor: Arby's drive-thru sign is turned into a shocking n-word message in Minnesota to the horror of passers-by; 9/4/18, 2:35 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: John Henry has admitted there's nothing in homeopathy, but he claims most people know that, which is why Britain no longer funds it and even the French are deciding not to teach it any longer.

But it's a perfectly legit product.; 9/4/18, 3:02 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: And Tim In Vermont thinks granola shit is cool to eat because he's a squirrel and the NIH says so, but I told him the NCCIH has a new director, and she’s a true believer in acupuncture so fuck you, Granola Boy, I'm sticking you with needles!

In. Your. Dick.

AFTER I work on your eyes....; 9/4/18, 3:17 AM
NKP said...: Crack', you're part of the problem, not part of the solution.; 9/4/18, 3:18 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Vaccine exemptions in Texas quadruple in last decade, state data show

There's a lot of Californians moving to Austin and Houston, and I've noticed a stupidity problem on the Right....; 9/4/18, 3:34 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Colonel Mustard said...

"Crack', you're part of the problem, not part of the solution."

And you call yourself The Crack Emcee, why, again?

BECAUSE I WANT TO BE PART OF THE FUCKING SOLUTION!

Does that sound plausible to you? You guys are DUMB.; 9/4/18, 3:36 AM
NKP said...: "BECAUSE I WANT TO BE PART OF THE FUCKING SOLUTION!"

No Crack', I don't think you do. Once there's a solution, you got nothin'; 9/4/18, 3:59 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: "The contrast between the outpouring of love for McCain in his last days and the astonishing vitriol directed at him in 2000 and 2008 demonstrates once again how disingenuous, low, and cheap American politics were well before Trump came on the scene."

- David French; 9/4/18, 4:18 AM
Etienne said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/4/18, 4:23 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Colonel Mustard said...

"No Crack', I don't think you do. Once there's a solution, you got nothin'"

What an asshole. Has it ever occurred to you that not all blacks are "activists" like you want to pigeon hole us into? I have said a million times I AM AN ARTIST - nothing more. I'm not a politician, I'm not part of BLM, I'm not in Al Sharpton's entourage or want to be Ted Cruz's best bud - I'm me and nothing more for you to chew on.

I've seen white people living their lives - not being the constant topic of discussion or followed around in stores - I know how real lives work and I'm getting mine. That means, no, I'm not respectable if I don't want to be or anything thing else I see whites ain't got to be to live. You don't like it, well fuck you.

I'm not "part of the solution" - I'm a human being - and I have every right to be.; 9/4/18, 4:23 AM
Etienne said...: President Trump and Secretary of State Pompeo tweeted that Syria and Russia must not attack the rebels in Idlib Province (as Syria and Russia prepare to do just that).

His reasoning is, that it will trigger millions fleeing to the west, which will bankrupt everyone in their path.

Brett McGurk (presidential envoy), a holdover from the Obama Administration, and not likely listened to very much, has the job of advising the administration on countering ISIS. He said:

"Idlib Province is the largest Al Qaeda safe haven since 9/11, tied directly to Ayman al Zawahri and this is a huge problem."

Problem Statement: Al Qaeda is bad, but they've embedded themselves with innocent civilians.

Solution 1: Allow Al Qaeda to exist, and fight them only when they come out of their forts.

Solution 2: Let Syria and Russia kill Al Qaeda, and suffer a worldwide refuge crisis.

Comment: This is sort of like the German Nazi Party in 1939.

1. Should we attack Germany for giving sanctuary to Nazi's, and trigger a worldwide refuge crisis.

2. Should we just attack the Nazi's when they come out of their forts.

Proposal: NATO should respond, and defend the Turkish border from Idlib refuges, and force them to remain in Syria, while helping the Russians to destroy the Al Qaeda safe haven.; 9/4/18, 4:24 AM
Etienne said...: Investors in the USA should be preparing for March 29, 2019. It is important to not be a part of the world economy (investments) by 11pm that day.; 9/4/18, 4:49 AM
rehajm said...: Sounds like a buying opportunity...; 9/4/18, 5:29 AM
rehajm said...: BECAUSE I WANT TO BE PART OF THE FUCKING SOLUTION!

Fucking strikes me as more of an emulsion.; 9/4/18, 5:31 AM
etbass said...: These cafe posts are becoming a septic tank of comments ( except Mike Sylwester, Thanks to him for much work).; 9/4/18, 5:38 AM
Etienne said...: rehajm said...Sounds like a buying opportunity...

roger that! sell before, buy after.; 9/4/18, 5:41 AM
Hagar said...: Ritmo and Crack have quite different writing styles and different problems with themselves.; 9/4/18, 6:56 AM
RBE said...: Funeralapolooza Palate Cleanser: http://www.atimes.com/article/a-funeral-for-a-world-that-never-was//; 9/4/18, 7:02 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Hagar said...

"Ritmo and Crack have quite different writing styles and different problems with themselves."

But our accusers are all the same kind of crazy.; 9/4/18, 7:03 AM
Chest Rockwell said...: "It definitely shows a severe case of tone deafness at the very least."

Not really. Who lines up for $200 sneakers while on SNAP and Bridge cards?

Not white kids.; 9/4/18, 7:04 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: "Trump is hated because the American people elected him to bury the Establishment. Last weekend the Establishment obliged by conducting burial services for itself."

Well said.; 9/4/18, 7:22 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Chest Rockwell said...

"Who lines up for $200 sneakers while on SNAP and Bridge cards?

Not white kids."

That's right - unlike black kids, meth heads are the very picture of financial propriety.; 9/4/18, 7:24 AM
narciso said...: When thc is through:

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/09/cleta-mitchell-glenn-simpson-is-a-liar.php; 9/4/18, 8:00 AM
Andrew said...: I very rarely join in boycotts. I think some things shouldn't be politicized. But I will never buy a Nike product again. What a completely stupid move on their part.; 9/4/18, 9:32 AM
Chest Rockwell said...: Nike stock is currently taking a sh!t....

https://quotes.wsj.com/NKE?mod=chiclets; 9/4/18, 9:57 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Bloomberg got the story - in 2018: The Dark Side of the Orgasmic Meditation Company

The Artvoice blog got the story - in 2018: A cult worse than NXIVM? — a mother’s plea to rescue her daughter from ‘OneTaste!’

But TMR? I had that shit in 2008: San Francisco's Sex Cult

And 2009: Quick - Somebody Call Gavin Newsom!!! No - Wait (We're Sure He's Already There,...)

And 2009 again: Women Getting Squirrelly (And Collecting Nuts)

But I'm expected to get my news from THEM!!!; 9/4/18, 10:34 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/4/18, 11:02 AM
readering said...: Adidas stock down today more than nike.; 9/4/18, 1:08 PM
Obadiah said...: I love the part where she says her race doesn't matter and when - after harassing a black family for hours - she starts to cry as the cops arrive.
There hasn't been any commentary here, but she's been shit on plenty elsewhere online. The dispatcher seemed like the hero of this story.; 9/4/18, 2:59 PM
n.n said...: Adidas stock down

It looks like the Germans are not immune.; 9/4/18, 3:37 PM
n.n said...: It's a boy! He was totally worth it.; 9/4/18, 3:38 PM