I can't stand Erin Burnett, but

I absolutely can't take any more of Matthews. I'm done with him. Totally.

Here's proof the Republicans are REALLY worried about midterms

Before this year, I've been polled via phone (or anything) maybe once, maybe twice. That's in all my years of voting (quite a few).

I just hung up from about the 5th poll in maybe 2 months tops.

I've learned that you can tell who the client is by whether they say, "If you're a Republican, press 1" or "If you're a Democrat, press 1" and, of course, which races they're discussing.

My Congressman is SERIOUSLY worried. There were questions about guns -- (paraphrased) is beefing up background checks and yadayada something else not too big a deal enough or is something more needed" (Yeah, ban on assault rifles you nincompoop).

And, "Do you want your MoC to work with Trump to pass his agenda or serve as a counter to him?" I loved that one.

Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Donald Trump . . . Nancy Pelosi?

Would you rather have Speaker Ryan work with Trump or would you rather Have Nancy Pelosi?

There was lots more, and if I remember them I'll add them. Naturally, political party and demogrpaphic info was included as well.

But it's REALLY clear to me my local RepubliCON is absolutely terrified. I don't think this was his first poll -- I think at least 2 of the others were his as well.

I'm just delighted.

Malcolm Nance: Russia OWNS Trump (new video)

Actually, it's a podcast. I watch Malcolm every chance I get, so I've heard him say a lot about things, but I thought he had a bit of new information in this:

Wow Rosa DeLaurio goes after DeVos

Rep. Rosa DeLauro gets in a heated exchange with Betsy DeVos over a potential plan to preempt state regulations on student loan collectors: “Who made this decision? What was the process? ... Who do you believe this serves?” (via ABC)

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/976180367299350528

So, would you be surprised to learn about Facebook's Russia ties??

RUSSIAN INVESTMENT, 2009:
Facebook Takes That $200 Million Investment From The Russians At A $10 Billion Valuation.
https://techcrunch.com/2009/05/26/facebook-takes-that-200-million-investment-from-the-russians-at-a-10-billion-valuation/amp/

Russians Spend Big for a Piece of Facebook
By CLAIRE CAIN MILLERMAY 26, 2009 https://mobile.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/technology/internet/27facebook.html
A Russian investment firm, Digital Sky Technologies, has invested $200 million in the social networking company Facebook in return for a 1.96 percent stake, the two companies said Tuesday.

The investment values Facebook’s preferred stock at $10 billion, a $5 billion drop from October 2007 when Microsoft paid $240 million for a 1.6 percent stake. With the latest round of financing, Facebook has raised about $600 million since it was founded in 2004.

Mark E. Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder and chief, said that the Microsoft investment was made at the “absolute peak of the market” and that it was a part of Facebook’s partnership with Microsoft, which includes advertising and search agreements.

“Relative to the economic conditions for when the Microsoft deal happened and that being more of a strategic partnership than a straight financial investment, we feel really good about the progress we’ve made,” Mr. Zuckerberg said in a conference call with reporters.
MORE AT LINK


Russians’ Large Stake in Facebook Grows Larger
BY ANDREW E. KRAMER JANUARY 3, 2011
https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/01/03/russians-large-stake-in-facebook-grows-larger/


THU MAY 17, 2012 / 4:24 PM EDT
Facebook bet pays off for Russia's Usmanov https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSBRE84G1BM20120517

Interesting insight on Trump Jr divorce via John Fugelsang

DID the Russians Alter The Results of the Election?

I've always been uncomfortable with the too-quick, too-pat response from our IC that no votes were changed, or even that they doubt any votes were changed. It always feels like they're simply trying to hide the truth -- either that we don't know, or don't know how much, or know but don't want to freak people out so they're less likely to vote (a concern I find unlikely), etc. IOW: their responses just never rang true.

Here's one thread from last October I happened across today and thought I'd share.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mike Farb (@mikefarb1 #unhackthevote) is one of the key researchers and activists on election integrity on Twitter.

Cambridge Analytics

They Targeted Twitter
They Targeted Facebook

They May Have Targeted Voter Registration Files!

Thread

https://twitter.com/mikefarb1/status/924386327956779008

UNROLLED (You'll have to go to the Twitter thread to access the linked articles):

There was a Fascinating Medium Article that Caught Our Interest.
A Programmer From Cambridge Analytics and His Work Published on Github
Within Minutes Of Taking Screen Shots of This Page it was Removed!

The Python scripts there were very interesting.
One is for guessing the political interests of a Twitter user.
The other one initially seems rather innocent. It contains code to determine the latitude and longitude of a given address.
The crazy part about that script is in the comments.
The data the script is built to analyze contains fields called "voter_id" and "CongressionalDistrict". WTF?

This Would Be Exactly What You Would Use To Target And Hack a Voter Registration Database!!

Anyone Who Had Access to a Voter Registration Database Could Use This to Find the Latitude and Longitude of Any Address in the Database

It Would Also Be Easy to Find the Coordinates of All the Polling Places. Add Demographic and Historical Data, Mix to Taste.

With Very Little Work, These Scripts Could Be Used to Figure Out Where You Need Votes to Win, and Where They Need To Be.

With Access to Voter Registration Databases, You Could Even Move Those Voters to Where You Need Them To Be.

Move a Voter to a Different Precinct or County Two Things Happen.
They Can’t Vote
Their ID Could Then Be Used to Cast An Electronic Vote.

You Could Move Voters to Different Polling Stations. You Could Make Sure Their ID Doesn’t Match Their Registration.

We Know These Databases Were Targeted. These Attacks Weren't a Training Exercise. They Had a Goal and a Plan.

Weaponized Information Doesn't End at Microtargeting. It Starts There.
Why The Hell Did Cambridge Analytics Design These Scripts?
Who Provided them with Voter Registration Files.
Did They Actually Hack Voter Registration Files?
Did They Alter The Results of the Election?


There are links in the original article that do still point to these scripts.

One thing REALLY bothers me about Lamb's campaign:

His disavowal of Nancy Pelosi, presumably to ward off attacks on him trying to pin her to him.

First, IMO she's not that liberal. But she was one of THE MOST EFFECTIVE Speakers of the House ever.

Second, and more important, the GOP will vilify and demonize ANYONE who's the Dem Leader of the House -- and all the easier to do when she's a woman (so yes, it's also sexist).

Third, and a little less important but still an issue, leadership IMO on Lamb's part would have involved standing up to that line of attack. What / who will he next feel required to disavow because of Republicon attacks, which they now know he's vulnerable to?

IMPORTANT NOTE: This post is NOT an argument pro or con Pelosi. It's NOT an argument pro or con Lamb and his centrist views. It's about ONE single issue about how he waged/handled his campaign. I think we have to be smarter than that, frankly.

Erik Prince in the news lately -- here's something I almost forgot

and it dovetails very nicely with the current news. All too nicely.

Current news:
Basically, Eric was in the Seychelles at that meeting that George Nader also attended to help set up backchannel communications with Russia. A backchannel would, by definition, bypass our own IC, and other agencies and institutions. The better to conduct inappropriate business with, my dear.

Liberal Redneck - The Right to Bear Harm

Salty, but delicious