February 18, 2023

Something a bit odd I've noticed lately...Maybe you have, too.

If you're getting some weird contrary responses to your postings, check to see if the person has any postings of their own. I've found a few with no postings, which seems an oddity to me.

February 17, 2023

A Chinese billionaire banker has gone missing

https://qz.com/china-renaissance-ceo-billionaire-bao-fan-missing-1850126507

'The top dealmaker of China Renaissance Holdings is nowhere to be found. The Beijing-based banking firm said it “has been unable to contact” its founder and CEO Bao Fan in a regulatory filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday (Feb. 16). While the company did not say how long Bao had been missing, he’s been off the grid “for days,” Chinese business newswire Caixin reported, citing several unnamed sources.

“The Board is not aware of any information that indicates that Mr.Bao’s unavailability is or might be related to the business and/or operations of the Group which is continuing normally,” it said. The executive committee will be responsible for the day-to-day management and operations in his absence.

The disappearance of one of the most high-profile billionaire bankers in the country exacerbates concerns around Beijing’s crackdown on finance and tech leaders. The country’s draconian approach to law and order often leads to people being held in custody for anywhere between days to years without legal representation.'

February 17, 2023

A Chinese billionaire banker has gone missing

Source: QUARTZ

The top dealmaker of China Renaissance Holdings is nowhere to be found.

The Beijing-based banking firm said it “has been unable to contact” its founder and CEO Bao Fan in a regulatory filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday (Feb. 16). While the company did not say how long Bao had been missing, he’s been off the grid “for days,” Chinese business newswire Caixin reported, citing several unnamed sources.

“The Board is not aware of any information that indicates that Mr.Bao’s unavailability is or might be related to the business and/or operations of the Group which is continuing normally,” it said. The executive committee will be responsible for the day-to-day management and operations in his absence.

The disappearance of one of the most high-profile billionaire bankers in the country exacerbates concerns around Beijing’s crackdown on finance and tech leaders. The country’s draconian approach to law and order often leads to people being held in custody for anywhere between days to years without legal representation.



Read more: https://qz.com/china-renaissance-ceo-billionaire-bao-fan-missing-1850126507

February 17, 2023

Why FoxNews Lied About Dominion and Voter Fraud (my words)

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/february-16-2023
Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American

'A legal filing today in the case of Dominion Voting Systems against the Fox News Corporation provides a window into the role of disinformation and money in the movement to deny that President Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election.

The filing claims that FNC (FoxNews) peddled a false narrative of election fraud to its viewers because its pro-Trump audience had jumped ship after the network had been the first to call Arizona for Biden, and its ratings were plummeting as Trump loyalists jumped to Newsmax. “I’ve never seen a reaction like this, to any media company,” Carlson wrote to Suzanne Scott, chief executive officer of Fox News, on November 9. “Kills me to watch it.” On November 12, Hannity told Carlson and Ingraham, “In one week and one debate they destroyed a brand that took 25 years to build and the damage is incalculable.”'

Here are some direct quotes:

'On November 15, Laura Ingraham wrote to Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity: “Sidney Powell is a bit nuts. Sorry, but she is.”
On November 16, Carlson wrote to his producer, Alex Pfeiffer, “Sidney Powell is lying.”
On November 19, FNC chair Rupert Murdoch wrote: “Really crazy stuff.”
Hannity later testified: “[T]hat whole narrative that Sidney was pushing. I did not believe it for one second.”'

February 16, 2023

Wow. Trump Subpoenaed Michael Cohen...

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-suing-michael-cohen/

'Dumbest move I could possibly imagine': Michael Cohen reveals Trump just subpoenaed him in a lawsuit

'Michael Cohen spoke to MSNBC on Thursday about someone calling himself a "private investigator" trying to deliver a package to him. Ultimately, the truth came out that he was a process server trying to hand over a subpoena...Detailing the scene to Nicolle Wallace, Cohen explained that the documents made it look like it was a lawsuit from The People of New York (Letitia James) vs. a list of several people.

Well, after reading the document the first few pages I realized it's actually not from the attorney general but rather it's from Trump's lawyers. It's like five or six of them are subpoenaing me to come in a couple of weeks and provide a deposition." He confessed he had no idea why, and that there were several law firms listed, everyone from the typical names like Alina Habba and more.'

February 16, 2023

Watch: Biden chastises reporters to be 'more polite' -- then he'll answer their questions

https://www.rawstory.com/joe-biden-tells-press-polite/

Click on link for video:

'At the close of the press conference, the room erupted with questions being shouted from the media. Biden turned to walk away but paused about halfway to the door and turned. It wasn't clear if he said anything as he wasn't near the microphone but he did return to the podium.

“Give me a break, man. Come to my office and we’ll have a more polite conversation," he chastised the group.'''

February 16, 2023

Of Course She Did. Why Am I Not Surprised?

https://theintercept.com/2023/02/13/kyrsten-sinema-payday-loan/

'KYRSTEN SINEMA FOUNDED CONSULTING FIRM WITH ARIZONA FIGURE TIED TO PAYDAY LOAN INDUSTRY
Since 2007, the representative has had a consultancy with Chad Campbell, a former legislator who backed industry-supported bills and later lobbied for payday lenders.

Sinema’s alliance with Campbell foreshadowed her political transformation, an evolution that, as her power grew in national politics, saw the onetime progressive shun her roots as a Green Party member and anti-war activist to embrace the very industries she once railed against.'

It seems this thing never got off the ground, but not for lack of trying. (my words)

February 14, 2023

Glenn Kirschner on a Trump conviction...

I was watching a Youtube video today with Brian Tyler Cohen interviewing Glenn Kirschner on the likelihood of Trump being indicted and convicted in the Georgia case. Kirschner said he thought it was a high probability that Trump would be both indicted and convicted...He went on to say it was what happened next that was in question. What and how would the sentencing be completed?

That's when it became perfectly clear to me why Garland and the DOJ rounded up all the 'minions' of the Jan 6 insurrection. We don't know how they will react if Trump is convicted. But one thing is for sure, if they're incarcerated they won't be able to do much.

Kirschner said this should all go down within a relatively short time period. Until then I think we can expect some crazy shit to be happening.

February 14, 2023

Is the US going to stand by while Israel becomes an autocracy?

Source: The Guardian

'Israeli democracy is under unprecedented attack from within. Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government is following the playbook written by authoritarians in Hungary, Poland and other self-declared beacons of “illiberalism”: subordinate the judiciary and other independent bodies like public broadcasting to government control, all in the name of “the people”.

In the US, there is shockingly little debate about this brazen assault on what the US political class unfailingly celebrates as “the only democracy in the Middle East”. It is particularly disappointing that Democrats seem to be holding back. They have every reason – moral and political – to oppose Netanyahu’s autocracy-in-the-making. If recent history holds any lessons, they might want to go as far as making aid to Israel conditional on the preservation of proper checks and balances in the country.

A crucial lesson aspiring autocrats have learned is that they should move fast and break things – completely ignoring time-honored conservative precepts about “prudence” inspired by Edmund Burke. When their critics catch up, facts on the ground are often irreversible. What buys them time is the strategy that Steve Bannon memorably described as “flooding the zone with shit”: confuse people, in this case by offering learned disquisitions as to why intended changes to the legal system are completely harmless.

Rightwing US and Israeli thinktanks are becoming ever more closely integrated; so plenty of intellectual defenders of the constitutional coup stand ready to convince American audiences that proposed changes have parallels in well-functioning democracies: executive involvement in judicial appointments exists in the US as well; the Canadian parliament can override court decisions. As the sociologist Kim Lane Scheppele has pointed out, the result is the creation of a “Frankenstate”: just like the monster was put together from “normal” human parts, an autocracy can be created by cleverly combining elements that are perfectly innocent in other countries.'


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/feb/14/israel-autocracy-benjamim-netanyahu-joe-biden

February 14, 2023

Israelis stage giant protest against Netanyahu court reform

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-64362652

WTF, Israel, you elected this crook and his cohorts again? If you lose the U.S. as an ally, your country is screwed, the military and Mossad notwithstanding. (my words)

'An estimated 110,000 people have packed the streets of Tel Aviv, in one of Israel's biggest anti-government protests in the past decade. The rallies spread across the city centre as banners were hoisted calling for an end to the ruling coalition, which is the most right-wing and religious-nationalist in Israel's history.

t comes three weeks after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power, to form Israel's first stable coalition in three years. He said Israelis voted for a "full" right-wing government and for security.

Critics also say Mr Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, is trying to rein in the judges in an ultimate attempt to avoid going to jail himself.'