Links 9/21/16

This Bridal Party Ditched Their Bouquets And Held Rescue Pups Instead Huffington Post

Where Creativity Comes From Scientific American (resilc)

Know your grammar. pic.twitter.com/McifSbbeC9 @AcademiaObscura

I Used to Be a Human Being Andrew Sullivan, New York Magazine

How disease testing tech is saving lives faster BBC (J-LS)

China

What does China’s ‘belt and road initiative’ mean for EU trade? Bruegel

China revives off-budget fiscal stimulus Financial Times

The Coming European Debt Wars Michael Hudson, Defend Democracy

The ELSTAT case takes a new turn – IMF and Eurostat staff implicated Sigrún Davíðsdóttir (Richard Smith)

Brexit

Theresa May limbers up for a hard Brexit Martin Wolf, Financial Times. Important. Wish I had time to write it up. Wolf argues there will be no passporting if there is a Brexit, a conclusion we’d reached a while ago.

Nearly 5,500 UK firms use financial passport in the EU Open Europe

Peter Lilley: Brexit should be swift. Here’s how to do it. ConservativeHome. Richard Smith: “Another plan for a plan.”

One of the key conditions of RBS’ £46 billion bailout is on the brink of failure Business Insider

Lula da Silva to face corruption trial Financial Times

Syraqistan

US blames Russia for aid convoy attack BBC

The UK’s Devastating New Report on NATO’s Regime-Change War in Libya Nation. Resilc: “What? Our exceptional SecState was involved???”

“US Special Forces sabotage White House policy gone disastrously wrong with covert ops in Syria” Sic Semper Tyrannis. Finally, an explanation.

Contesting the U.S.-Saudi Bromance With 1,000 Cuts Foreign Policy in Focus (resilc)

The Senate Votes This Week on Resolution Against Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia American Conservative (resilc)

Deir Ezzor Attack Enables The “Salafist Principality” As Foreseen In The 2012 DIA Analysis Moon of Alabama. Chuck L: “The cynicism and indifference to suffering of whoever is directing US actions in Syria knows no bounds.”

Imperial Collapse Watch

Commentary: For $178 million, the U.S. could pay for one fighter plane – or 3,358 years of college Reuters (resilc)

Weapons Makers Hold Lavish Lovefest for Pentagon Official Who Manages Arms Sales Intercept

US Special Forces sabotage White House policy gone disastrously wrong with covert ops in Syria SOFREP (resilc)

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

Playing Algorithm ’n Blues Pepe Escobar, Counterpunch

Clinton E-mail Tar Baby

It Sure Seems Like Hillary Clinton’s Tech Guy Asked Reddit for Email Advice Motherboard (resilc)

2016

Exclusive: Hillary Clinton Campaign Systematically Overcharging Poorest Donors Observer (Dan F)

George HW Bush to Vote for Hillary Clinton Yahoo (furzy)

Hillary Clinton: My Plan for Helping America’s Poor New York Times. Do not read if you’ve eaten recently.

Hillary Clinton Invites Millennials to Vote & Chill Daily Beast (resilc)

Can Bernie Undo the Damage He’s Done to Clinton? New York Magazine. Resilc: “Never ever Clintoon’s fault. Always a victim.”

Trump’s Appeal To Rural Voters May Win Him An Electoral Vote In Maine FiveThirtyEight (resilc). As Lambert has pointed out…

Ralph Nader: Bernie Sanders’ Opposition to Third Parties is Why His Movement is in Disarray Democracy Now!

Donald Trump Jr. Skittles Tweet Sparks Outrage For Refugee Comparison NPR. EM:

Sounds like a fine visual/statistical analogy to me … but nice to know that blowing up an entire country (nay, multiple ones) and *causing* such a mass refugee crisis, as HRC did, is deemed less outrageous by our goodthinker-guides in the MSM than the above tweet! Over the past few decades NPR has become just as bad as WaPo/NYT … they should title the foreign policy segments of their evening newscast ‘CIA talking points memo’, it’s that bad.

. @nntaleb. Taleb shows why Nate Silver is wearing no clothes, statistics-wise.

Post office banking: an old idea getting a second look Christian Science Monitor (Lulu)

New study finds half of all the guns in America are owned by just 3 percent of population Slate (resilc)

California’s Drought Could Last For Centuries Motherboard (resilc)

A New York tale: Two men find bag, remove bomb, take bag Reuters (EM)

Guess How Much That Anti-LGBTQ Law Is Costing North Carolina Wired

Chip Ward, Peace Pipes, Not Oil Pipes TomDispatch

Wells Fargo

Warren Says Wells Fargo’s Stumpf Should Resign, Face Criminal Investigation Bloomberg

Wells Fargo CEO Met With Rancor at Hearing on Sales Wall Street Journal

Elizabeth Warren Accuses Wells Fargo Chief of ‘Gutless Leadership’ New York Times

Taxpayers Subsidized Wells Fargo Executive Pay Amid Bank’s Fraud International Business Times

Calls for New York Times Retraction on CalPERS

NYT’s Public Pension Birtherism Dean Baker

An Unwarranted Attack on Public Pensions By the New York Times Andrew Silton

Guillotine Watch

Drugmaker raises price of acne cream to $10,000 a tube Financial Times

How to hide it: inside the secret world of wealth managers Guardian (Richard Smith)

Class Warfare

The Anniversary of Lehman and Men Who Don’t Work TruthOut

Wage Gap Between Black and White Americans Is at 40-Year High Alternet. The result of the loss of good union jobs.

Free Trade’s Unwilling Victims Bloomberg (resilc)

US building up to pension crisis Financial Times

How to Make Sure Bad Bankers Are Held Accountable American Banker. Resilc: “CEO show trials on TV?”

US schools hit by weaker MBA demand Financial Times

Antidote du jour. Colin:

Your daily antidotes tend to be weighted towards vertebrates, for entirely understandable reasons, so I thought I would help you remedy that situation by sending you this picture of a snail. Basic garden variety, I think. It was hanging out in a blackberry patch.

pretty-snail-lnks

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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138 comments

  1. EndOfTheWorld

    Re: Elizabeth Warren talking. All she ever does is talk. She’s all talk–no action. She had a chance to DO something by backing Bernie Sanders for prez. But no, DOING stuff is not her style. She “talks a good game”, to use a sports metaphor.

    Can she be taken seriously as a true blue Wall Street watchdog if she whole-heartedly endorses HRC?

    1. scotty_mack

      You are correct, she is all talk. Warren is like a doctor who diagnoses a bullet wound and prescribes a band-aid. I think she’s the same old Republican she’s always been, but when the Democratic party moved to the right, she found herself a Democrat even though she was still sitting in the same seat with the same beliefs.

      1. EndOfTheWorld

        It’s so so easy for the congress critters to act like they are trying to do something, knowing full well the effort has no chance to succeed. Like saying somebody should go to jail in the Wells Fargo debacle. It’s a true statement, but with Loretta Lynch as AG will never happen.

        I think there will be a better chance of criminal cases against banksters with Trump as prez.

    1. DJG

      abynormal: Agreed. A definition of beauty. The elegance of the design of the shell and the selection of colors.

      [And I am reminded of Slow Food and its snaily mascot, all of which remind us of the wisdom of snails.]

  2. Roger Smith

    Re: Hillary Clinton Invites Millennials to Vote & Chill Daily Beast

    “After today, getting to see her character face to face, getting a great handshake, looking into her eyes and feeling the warmth of her heart, I definitely feel that she is the best candidate.”

    Which eye were they looking into? Where was her other one looking? No mention of that or her mysterious break in this article. Neurological disease isn’t supposed to be a joke, but come on. The hubris here is astounding. Pack your tent up, get some long term help, and enjoy the things that really matter. Maybe she could finally discover who she is, then learn to live with the truth. Just leave us all out of it please!

    1. Benedict@Large

      That’s probably why the elites pay her so much and so often for all that access. A great handshake, the look in her eyes, and the warmth in her heart. Yeah, that’s it.

      1. cat-bird seat

        Benedict@Large, Your post reminds me of an old Pink Floyd song entitled, “Dogs,” from the exceptionally awesome album, “Animals!” (The album is completely applicable for today’s BS, seriously!)

        …You have to be trusted by the people that you lie to,
        So that when they turn their backs on you,
        You’ll get the chance to put the knife in.

        http://www.pink-floyd-lyrics.com/html/dogs-animals-lyrics.html

        1. Emma

          Correction:
          For Roger Smith primarily – One could argue that in reality, Clinton has just as much a defective heart as Trump. I’d even posit the thought that neither of them have hearts at all. They have simple but highly effective filters. Mechanisms which determine which puppets (or muppets…..) will fill and/or maintain which positions of power for the stringmasters.

          Today, there’s really little in the US conducive to the rule of democracy when it’s a forever non-ending ill-judged “duopoly” d—-pic, is there?! Those televised debates are a great example of this. If either Clinton or Trump were genuinely concerned about democracy, ie. the people’s power, the debates would actually foster democracy. That means the debates would include both Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party and Jill Stein of the Green Party. The debates would embody the inclusionary activity of a part of a positive “join us” system.

          Indeed, if Clinton is ‘fighting for us all’ by presenting herself as the superior candidate to Trump through the vocalization of feminism and equality, then she’d surely show a modicum of toleration for that other female contender, Jill Stein of the Green Party (who by the way, shows a big heart for supporting the minds of the future of America). Even some leadership of democracy in action. As Abbey D’Agostino, the US Olympic runner said after colliding in a race with the New Zealand runner Nikki Hamblin, and who she helped her up, “I’m so thankful to be a part of this. It’s about the privilege of representing us and being more than just my race performance.” (See: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/runners-who-helped-each-other-after-dramatic-fall-hailed-as-symbols-of-olympic-spirit/ or: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/17/olympic-spirit-new-zealand-and-american-runners-help-each-other-after-collision )

          It’s through an act of audacity that mankind makes progress. Just as the suffragettes and blacks did once so long ago. They however perhaps realized more than either Clinton or Trump that in its simplest form, democracy is both anti-hierarchical and egalitarian. And most importantly, aimed at making NEW decisions, and when combined with politics, about getting things done.

          So, if the televised debates remain closed to both Jill Stein and Gary Johnson, then the people are not getting what is in their best interest (…and for a healthy heart so-to-speak….)………If (representative) democracy is what we’re all so often told, America is all about…..Otherwise, it’s an empty gesture causing more harm than good. As Gore Vidal said “It is not enough for me to win – the other must lose.” When hurting the opposition is more important than enacting the ideal of democracy, you’re acting against the interests of your people and democracy itself. But, the problem doesn’t really so much reside with either Clinton or Trump, but rather, with whatever or whoever pushes them into doing this in the US today….

          1. crittermom

            As someone who has not subscribed to TV in decades, I’m wondering if I’ll be able to see the debate which all stations are going to be carrying live, or if, as a mere citizen, I’ll be denied since I don’t ‘pay to play’ (by paying to watch TV)?

      1. rich

        Bill Clinton supports lower corporate tax rate, says reasoning for TPP clear

        http://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/21/bill-clinton-supports-lower-corporate-tax-rate-says-reasoning-for-tpp-clear.html?
        https://twitter.com/CNBC/status/778565969660743680

        Wall Street Goes “All In” for Hillary Clinton
        by Michael Krieger Wall Street, America’s most despised industry, is putting all of its eggs in the Hillary Clinton basket. I must say, I’m actually pretty shocked at the extent to which the industry’s heavyweights are backing her. There’s really only one explanation — they know she’s a sure thing.

        You don’t go into Wall Street to help the world. You go in to make money, stroke your ego and perhaps one day be lucky enough to be deemed “master of the universe” by some finance humping media outlet like Bloomberg or CNBC. Wall Street oligarchs aren’t rallying around Hillary because they find Trump offensive. The only thing these people find offensive is not making money. They know Hillary, they’ve paid Hillary, and they are 100% confident she will do their bidding. Trump on the other hand is unpredictable and injects into the environment what the current crop on Wall Street hates more than anything else, risk.

        The U.S. economy is totally rigged. While in the past, you were expected to take on a great deal of risk to earn an outsized return, most large returns these days have been gamed to such and extent that they amount to riskless schemes through which the U.S. taxpayer funnels money upward to a handful of oligarchs. Hillary will unquestionably keep this system in place. Trump, we just don’t know.

        This is why the real players Wall Street want Hillary. They want the riskless pillaging of society to continue uninterrupted. As usual, money talks.

        http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2016/09/21/wall-street-goes-all-in-for-hillary-clinton/#more-37801

        After you wipe your eyes, you begin to see clearly…or The supporters of HRC’s caboose will once again be cut loose.

    2. Jake

      …looking into her eyes.

      Didn’t Shrub do that with Putin? Psychopaths are notorious for their ability to look sincere.

  3. fresno dan

    http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-charlotte-police-shooting-20160920-snap-story.html

    http://www.theroot.com/articles/news/2016/09/report-disabled-black-man-shot-dead-by-police-while-reading-in-the-car/

    Quite a difference in the stories. Color me cynical, but I suspect the Root is far more accurate.

    The Root:
    “The victim’s daughter, identified on Facebook as Lyric YourAdorable Scott, found out that her father was dead via the news while recording from the scene of the shooting. The victim’s brother said he was holding a book, not a gun, and was just waiting on his son to be dropped off after school.”

    LA Times:
    “Officers saw the man get out of the car with a gun and then get back in, Trietley said. When officers approached, the man exited the car with the gun again. At that point, officers deemed the man a threat and at least one fired a weapon, he said.
    The man, identified as Keith Lamont Scott, 43, was taken to Carolinas Medical Center and pronounced dead.
    Officer Brentley Vinson, who shot Scott, has been placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure in such cases. Vinson has been with the department for two years.
    Detectives RECOVERED a firearm at the scene and were interviewing witnesses, Trietley said.”

    =====================================================
    WHETHER the firearm was on the victim is a whole other story….

    AND how many instances of the initial police version being 100% wrong before the media just begins with: “As usual, the police have invented a story out of whole cloth with the sole purpose of exonerating the police – we will provide the facts as they become available.”

    And one other point (with two links I am in great peril of going to moderation purgatory – I was reading a story about the cops in Fresno getting sued for PULLING A GUN on a 16 year old driving student (white male, the race of the instructor was not given. I think it is an error to equate police misconduct with race – they will be brutal to anyone) and being manhandled after being pulled over in a driver’s education car for having a stolen license plate on the car. I would assume such a car is well labeled as “student driver,” there are two people in the car – it seems to me that it is evident anybody thinking that this is a student driver. It strikes me as an OUTRAGE that the police approach with guns drawn. But we live in a world of rah rah police without any real accountability of our palace guards….

    AND, I had my license plate stolen* when I was in Sacramento – the police would not even take a report, never the less come and investigate – I was just told to go report it to DMV with certainly no sense of urgency at the DMV either. And CA charged me for a new plate…

    *I only drove my car once every couple of weeks, it was parked in the back of the apartment complex, but typically I would only pass the car on days I went jogging as I usually walked out the front of the complex – so it is possible the license plate was missing for a couple of days.

  4. Jim Haygood

    From The Nation article on the UK parliament’s Libya report:

    [Obama’s] decision to finally intervene in Libya left others exultant. Former State Department official Anne Marie Slaughter e-mailed Hillary Clinton in the days following Obama’s decision, writing, “I cannot imagine how exhausted you must be after this week, but I have never been prouder of having worked for you. Turning POTUS around on this is a major win for everything we have worked for …”

    Almost as good as “We came, we saw, he died,” though less succinct.

    Funny how names are destiny: “Howdy Anne Marie Slaughter, I’m Jim Atrocity … pleased to meetcha.”

    Although apparently we can do nothing about the neocon infestation of our gov’t, we can still mock the living sh*t out of them (which seems to bother them quite a bit, given their fragile egos).

    More from the Ivy League idiot Anne-Marie Massacre:

    Foreign military intervention in Syria offers the best hope for curtailing a long, bloody and destabilizing civil war.” — NYT op-ed, Feb 2012

    1. Carolinian

      Yes if the whole world would just accept US domination we could stop killing them. It’s really their fault.

      This was apparently Samantha Power’s argument the other night at that UN meeting. She said Assad and the Syrians are extending the war by defending themselves. If he would just leave and US approved jihadis take over everything would be peachy.

      1. Pat

        Did anyone point out that worked really well in Libya to Powers.

        I was trying to come up with an appropriate adjective to describe how unskilled, unethical, undiplomatic, etc she is but can only manage UN unAmbassador. Of course we also had a President who should have been firing a General or two instead giving a campaign speech so the fish does rot from the head.

        1. John Wright

          One must remember the original intent of any US foreign military action is always noble.

          If it fails or appears to be a failure the explanation may be one of the following:

          1. As more time passes, it will be clear it was a manifest good idea, maybe 20 years is enough.

          2. The foreigners receiving US military largesse dropped the ball when it was handed to them. Who could have known they could not do the right thing and descend into a failed state?

          3. The American people didn’t support the operation as they should have. More poor USA citizens should have joined the fight.

          4. The Russians/Chinese/Europeans undercut the US effort as they pursued THEIR interests. This could not be foreseen.

          5. The effort was too small, the US effort needed to be expanded but wasn’t because small minds restricted its scope.

          6. The original effort was well thought out by a coterie of think tanks and well-connected academics who have dedicated their lives (working lives, not actual lives at risk) to supporting the betterment of the USA in many ways. No alternative policy was remotely possible, this had to be done..

          1. Benedict@Large

            “One must remember the original intent of any US foreign military action is always noble.”

            Good intentions gone bad. Also known as making rotten policy goals palatable for wealthy liberals to provide their blessing.

            Sorry, but whatever YOUR goals were going in, or whatever you thought their goals were, the real goal is always one, and always the same. Accumulation by dispossession. Somewhere someone has their eye on something, and the only was they get it for the price they want to pay (next to nothing) is to get there first, and get there with a lot of guns.

    2. JTMcPhee

      And continuing the onomatopoeia of naming of our “leaders,” we have Josh Earnest, White House Spokesmodel, my all time favorite. Not to forget “Ash” Carter, who seems to like making more of his namesake all over the planet.

      Not to worry, it’s just a cynical game. As played, for example, by the guys in our jocular Penatagram who name the various “operations” we pay our Janissaries to perform: e.g., one was originally “nomenclatured” as “Operation Iraqi Liberation (OIL),” eventually changed to “Operation Iragi Freedom,” equally cynical in its way. ? Would really have to feel for vets who have to use VA medical services and have to listen, every time they call, to the advertising that makes up the “greeting” at the top of the phone tree, “We thank all our returning OIF/OEF troops for their service. You served us, now it is our turn to serve you.” Were it OIL, the poor troops might get restive…

    3. Katniss Everdeen

      slaughter, power, ash, earnest–Truth is stranger than fiction.

      It would be funny if it weren’t so pathetic.

    4. Skip Intro

      What the neocons can’t get by convincing Obama, they get by acts of war:

      Rogue Mission: Did the Pentagon Bomb Syrian Army to Kill Ceasefire Deal?

      A rift between the Pentagon and the White House turned into open rebellion on Saturday when two US F-16s and two A-10 warplanes bombed Syrian Arab Army (SAA) positions at Deir al-Zor killing at least 62 Syrian regulars and wounding 100 others. The US has officially taken responsibility for the incident which it called a “mistake”, but the timing of the massacre has increased speculation that the attack was a desperate, eleventh-hour attempt to derail the fragile ceasefire and avoid parts of the implementation agreement that Pentagon leaders publicly opposed. Many analysts now wonder whether the attacks are an indication that the neocon-strewn DOD is actively engaged in sabotaging President Obama’s Syria policy, a claim that implies that the Pentagon is led by anti-democratic rebels who reject the Constitutional authority of the civilian leadership. Saturday’s bloodletting strongly suggests that a mutiny is brewing at the War Department.

  5. rich

    Tuesday, September 20, 2016
    This is What Major League Military-Industrial Happiness Looks Like

    Former Speaker John Boehner is joining the law and lobby firm Squire Patton Boggs.

    The cover story is that Boehner will not be lobbying, the firm says, but instead “providing strategic advice to clients.”

    Last week, he joined the board of the tobacco giant Reynolds American. Board members at Reynolds American can make $400,000 per year in total compensation, according to The Wall Street Journal.

    He is expected to make even more at Squire Patton Boggs.

    Boehner will be joined at the firm by longtime aides John Criscuolo and Amy Lozupone, reports The Hill. His former deputy chief of staff, Dave Schnittger, and former policy adviser, Natasha Hammond, already work at Squire Patton Boggs.

    “With Speaker Boehner joining our team, we’re better positioned than ever to grow our brand throughout the world and to fully capitalize on our integrated global platform,” said Squire Patton Boggs CEO Mark Ruehlmann in a statement.

    Boehner resigned from Congress last October.
    http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2016/09/this-is-what-major-league-military.html

    ka-ching

    1. Robert Hahl

      “Boehner will not be lobbying, the firm says, but instead “providing strategic advice to clients.” Probably true. This kind of hire is about bringing in clients, not servicing them. The reason it works is that big names give CYA to corporate execs who, no matter what happens, can always say “We did everything we could. We hired the best!”

    2. MikeNY

      Well, no one knows the insides of the oligarch sausage factory better than Boehner. I’m sure there are plenty who will pay top dollar for his ‘strategic guidance’.

      1. Jim Haygood

        Probably the Weeping Cheeto will be best remembered for the astounding vulgarity of his inviting Israeli PM Netanyahu to criticize US foreign policy from the dais of the House. Boehner rejected the traditional courtesy of clearing the invitation with the president, whose job it is to conduct foreign policy.

        Within six months, Boehner was gone. Whereas Netanyahu not only remains in office, but just collected $38 billion in tribute aid from 0bama.

        * sigh*

        It just isn’t fair, is it? You’d think the Lobby would look after their foot soldiers better than this.

        1. NotTimothyGeithner

          Isn’t Boehner the last of the Gingrich gang? I believe he predates the recruitment profile Gingrich created for GOP candidates, so despite senior status, he’s not really one of them and has no real influence over the rank and file because he’s not one of them.

          Boehner had no real power except for disagreement over who should be the new leader from the rank and file which lacks an LBJ style leader to run a large congressional class.

        2. hunkerdown

          Ouster isn’t punishment, at least not always. Getting Netanyahu into the chamber under the President’s nose was about 25% of the way to a coup; that’s above and beyond for a House Speaker and might “earn” them a comfy retirement. Besides, the sooner you quit, the sooner you can start lobbying officially, where the water works might actually get something.

  6. temporal

    Can Bernie Undo the Damage He’s Done to Clinton?

    The only way Sanders can fix this is with a time machine. Go back in time, find everyone that has ever noticed even the smallest irregularities in how the Clintons and the Ds have diverged from their promises, the needs of the general population and the law. Then give each of them a mind-wipe. It will take a lot of time to erase millions of people’s ability to think independently but that’s what time machines are for, I suppose.

    Fortunately the author, Kilgore like most of what passes for the MSM these days, won’t need a visit.

    Once we accept that our current leaders, with the exception of those that are more popular or less popular than Hillary, are without fault, only then we will achieve nirvana.

    Can Clinton Undo the Damage She’s Done to Clinton? Yep, with a time machine.

        1. RMO

          Mr. Burns: “Smithers, fetch the amnesia ray”
          Smithers: “You mean the revolver sir?”
          Mr. Burns: “Yes.”

  7. timbers

    “US Special Forces sabotage White House policy gone disastrously wrong with covert ops in Syria” Sic Semper Tyrannis. Finally, an explanation. —- So even the grunts know Obama is training terrorists not “moderate rebels.” If only Americans knew that – or cared.

    1. fresno dan

      timbers
      September 21, 2016 at 8:01 am

      I used to think it was the MIC and nexus of self interest that propelled such actions that are so obviously counterproductive.
      We here in the US talk about fanatics, but it seems to me we are the ones immune to reality.

    1. Tom

      Surely it was all the fault of some overzealous “bad apples.” And just as surely, Clinton accepts all responsibility and is fully committed to rectifying the situation to the satisfaction of all injured parties.

      P.S. Waiting to hear from Warren on this one.

    2. Katharine

      “One elderly Clinton donor, who has been a victim of this fraud scheme, has filed a complaint with her state’s attorney general and a representative from the office told her that they had forwarded her case to the Federal Election Commission.”

      Only one? And why only forward to the FEC?

      “Credit card fraud law establishes criminal penalties for the deceptive or unauthorized use of another person’s credit card account in an attempt to steal money, goods, or services. Statutes prohibiting these types of crimes have been enacted at all levels of government. They are enforced by a number of agencies, from local police departments to the U.S. Secret Service.”

      (This is from http://www.hg.org/credit-card-fraud.html. I don’t vouch for the organization, just found it high in my search results.)

      I like the thought that the Secret Service is supposed to deal with this. Imagine the awkward phone calls between branches!

      1. abynormal

        wow. thanks for sharing the search. if she does take the WH…her health won’t survive all the investigations!

        1. cwaltz

          I’m pretty sure the House is just waiting for her to be installed and are already brainstorming impeachment charges.

          They want her in because they hate Trump(defeating him pushes the reset button in the Republican party) but will have no problem using her bad behavior as an excuse to do nothing other than criminally try her for anything and everything.

          1. uncle tungsten

            Good chance she is now just a foil for Kaine. All she has to do is drag herself across the line, take an ill health spin or two after the inauguration and hand over the baton. All systems go, and no one can impeach Kaine ….. yet.

          2. Skip Intro

            One hears this a lot, but IIRC, impeachment charges can only stem from acts in office. Civil and probably criminal prosecutions for events prior to her inauguration can be deferred until she leaves office (presumably in a box).

  8. fresno dan

    The Coming European Debt Wars Michael Hudson, Defend Democracy

    Bankers in Sweden and Austria, Germany and Britain are about to discover that extending credit to nations that can’t (or won’t) pay may be their problem, not that of their debtors. No one wants to accept the fact that debts that can’t be paid, won’t be.

    ======================================
    As we know the 1% and Davos Man never pay for their “financial innovations” – that means those at the bottom will pay. And yet people who demonstrably make the world poorer ….are still running the world.

    Remember this?
    Remarks by Chairman Alan Greenspan
    Before the Society of Business Economists, London, U.K.
    September 25, 2002

    “Full realization of the benefits of past innovations, and of those our grandchildren will experience, will depend on the forces of globalization already in play to develop the commercial potential of new technologies and to transmit the application of these technologies across our economies. By spreading expertise and expanding the division of labor and specialization to ever broader markets, those forces led to enhanced trade in the past half-century, which in turn has dramatically elevated the standards of living of nations that have chosen that path forward.”

  9. Synoia

    Hillary Clinton Campaign Systematically Overcharging Poorest Donors

    I wonder if those affected still plan to vote for Hillary.

    You get what you pay for.

      1. Brian

        Sounds like Stumpf and Clinton have the same social organizer. Perhaps an algorithm that steals the money so that the donor won’t be able to come to the party they throw with the stolen lucre. Two peas in a pod. One nation, under siege, for organized crime for all.

      2. DanB

        I’m sure that when the media get to the bottom of this it will be clear that Russian hackers are the actual perpetrators of this fraudulent conduct. Hillary is fighting for us, after all. Also, if those $250,000 a plate diners paid with credit cards, think of the possibilities.

    1. Vatch

      When I contribute to a political campaign, I send a check by mail. It’s slightly inconvenient, and I have to pay for postage, but I never have to worry about my account being charged extra without authorization. I’m comfortable donating to some organizations by credit card; for example, I have donated online to Naked Capitalism and Water Cooler without any problems at all!

    2. temporal

      Since many of the poor use a debit card I’d guess that’s where the action is. No mechanism to get the money back via debt card provider complaints and serious issues around auditing where the money was spent and how long it was there.

      The Clintons always did have it in for the poor so this scam is feature rich.

    3. Vatch

      Apparently the Clinton campaign could learn a thing or two about overcharging customers from Verizon. Instead of taking an extra $25 or $50 from their customers, Verizon appears to overcharge by thousands of dollars. See this:

      http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2016/09/verizon_data_overages_other_ch.html

      The $9,100 Verizon cellphone bill staggered and stumped Valarie Gerbus, causing a financial hit that could destroy her credit.

      For months, the mother of two from suburban Tampa paid $118 a month for her cellphone package that included 4 gigabytes of data, which she says she never exceeded. That changed last month when Verizon charged her with using an eye-gouging 569 gigabytes for a whopping $8,535.

      The company tacked on $600 when she dropped the plan. Gerbus said she refuses to pay the bill, saying she never used that much data. She said she asked the company repeatedly how the bill soared.

      She has yet to get an answer.

      This Naked Capitalism article from Sept. 3 is relevant:

      http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2016/09/9th-circuit-sets-aside-ftcs-consumer-protection-authority-for-common-carriers.html

  10. tgs

    US Blames Russia for aid convoy attack

    As is usually the case, no evidence supplied. As the article states, the UN has not yet determined that the attack was from the air.

    And once again, the article relies in part on ‘evidence’ supplied by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It is worth noting, SOHR is a one man operation run out of a private home in Coventry, England. Almost all the cable news channels that cover Syria use a lot of information provided by SOHR.

    1. Katniss Everdeen

      Per the idiot scarborough: “They” say Russian fighters bombed the convoy.

      michael hayden is “comfortable” blaming the Russians. No need to “prove malevolence,” since the Russians are “part and parcel” of everything bad currently happening in Syria, so it must have been them.

      We “report,” you “decide.” Or you could let “them” decide for you.

      1. tgs

        A few days back, the US attacked the Syrian army resulting in many casualties. Blaming Russia and Syria for attacking the convoy serves well to divert attention from the ‘bad optics’ resulting from attacking the Syrian army.

    2. uncle tungsten

      The White Helmet heroes were no doubt on the scene just in time to set up their cameras and record the action for SOHR. I guess they assisted the survivors to make off with the usable remnants.

  11. justanotherprogressive

    RE: Hillary Clinton Invites Millennials to Vote & Chill Daily Beast (resilc)
    Sounds like Daily Beast only interviewed the students carrying the Hillary signs……

    1. NotTimothyGeithner

      I wonder if they will prop up Hillary on a skateboard at all of her appearances to appeal to the kids.

      And here she comes, Cowabunga Clinton, She’s a hip, hip, hip in need of a hip Hillary!” Free college? Get off my lawn!

      1. Roger Smith

        I’d imagine one of the things she reminds millennials of the most are those annoying 80s-90s toys that took a large amount of awkward sized batteries. “42 D batteries… what the hell?”

        Remember kids, she has to be in bed by 8!

        1. NotTimothyGeithner

          Although I use “low info voter,” voters are still savvy in their own way, and the simple reality is Iraq, Libya, and Syria are the three most hate filled “blunders of the 21st” century and they have Hillary in common. She can harp on Love (“Love trumps hate” I’m sure Brock was paid a fortune for that gem), but people who have have no connection to the Clintons simply can’t overlook this narrative problem. It’s largely too late to change this.

          The country is a mess, so Hillary’s slogan is “I’m with her.” Hillary is doing fine from a financial standpoint. This is terrible messaging.

          Even her “Love Trumps hate” slogan amounts to “Trump is super Putin, so it’s time to settle for malaise forever.”

      2. polecat

        Hey! …. how ’bout they hold the first debate … in a skate park …..

        with the helmeted opponents welding tridents & pikes …. whilst doing airs ??

        I’d watch that for a quatloo ….

        I mean ..come on … if we’re going to have a spectacle … might as well be a good one …

        1. ambrit

          Owww… My brain just went into “Tilt” mode.
          Trump as Kirk fighting Hillary as Shahna. I’d bet a few quatloos on that too.

  12. Frenchguy

    More from the NYRB on Clinton/Trump:

    http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2016/10/13/can-the-unthinkable-happen/

    The usual about what a great candidate Clinton (“more progressive than any…”) is but the last paragraph gave me chills… :

    “One can acknowledge Clinton’s flaws and add some. Still, this election is barely even about her. It’s about whether the people and forces that exist to protect the United States from precisely what is happening now will rise to the occasion and do so.

    1. Jim Haygood

      Hillary has made clear how high the stakes are to “protect the US from precisely what is happening now”:

      According to inside sources, after the Sep 7 town hall with Matt Lauer, Hillary went ballistic, throwing a huge tantrum, with personal calls to Comcast executives, the parent company of NBC Universal.

      She was overheard threatening executives at NBC, saying, “If I lose, we all go down and that Fascist Fuck will have us swinging from nooses! What the fuck is wrong with you idiots?

      Donna Brazile was singled out by Hillary during the rant. Donna was told, “You stare at the wall like a brain dead buffalo, while letting fucking Lauer get away with this betrayal? Get the fuck to work janitoring this mess — do I make myself clear???

      http://victuruslibertas.com/2016/09/temper-temper-killary-goes-on-rampage-for-over-an-hour-throwing-glass-at-staffers-head/

      Apocryphal? Could be. But it’s quite consistent with four decades of anecdotal accounts.

      Donna Brazile as Hillary’s “janitor”? That don’t sound good. :-0

  13. human

    And yet society has always managed to adapt and adjust, without obvious damage, and with some more-than-obvious progress.

    tl:dr Stopped at the above as his cognition failed. He is obviously damaged.

    1. abynormal

      but its still a good inventory taker…made me go find a swing set (remember those haha)

      “Turkle describes one of the many small consequences in an American city: “Kara, in her 50s, feels that life in her hometown of Portland, Maine, has emptied out: ‘Sometimes I walk down the street, and I’m the only person not plugged in … No one is where they are. They’re talking to someone miles away. I miss them.’ ” …we’ll need each other more everyday and not know how to differentiate the human signals that keep us safe.
      scary.

  14. justanotherprogressive

    RE: Hillary Clinton: My Plan for Helping America’s Poor New York Times. Do not read if you’ve eaten recently.
    Took me a while, but I finally found a way to read that NYT article without paying for it. I won’t pay a plugged nickel to read anything on that rag….
    Well, I WAS warned….
    Her plan for Low Income Housing Tax Credits I assume means that it is just another “deduction” you can take off your income tax. For the life of me, I cannot figure out HOW that helps a person find a better place to live. Or doesn’t she know how people find housing? Or that what you can afford is based on your monthly income and NOT on how much of a tax break you get at the end of the year? Or does she think that the tax refund a middle class or poor person gets is enough to place a down payment on a house?

    And then there is the rest of that article.

    1. Roger Smith

      When corporations want benefits they ask for tax breaks among other things. Clinton hails from this oblivious world of corporate undertakers so it is likely her line of thought was that offering individuals those types of benefits too was “innovative”.

      But alas, oblivious. I love how she kept of her record of not being able to ignore mentioning Trump.

      1. justanotherprogressive

        Yea, I’m wondering if her Low Income Housing Tax Credits are really tax credits to corporations to build more low income housing….because they just aren’t making enough money gouging the middle class and the poor right now….

        1. hunkerdown

          justanotherprogressive, if She were interested in a new subsidy program for low-income renters, or better yet expanding the various subsidy programs already in place, She would have said as much. More likely, you’re right. But that’s okay, because moar jawbz for all those affluent high school Achievers who presume they “want”, when they “grow up”, to manage unbidden the lives of unwelcoming others, as if it were some sort of favor to us, rather than the performance of their entitled status in the spirit of pig-lover David Cameron.

          Besides, imaginary friends gotta eat, you know.

    2. Jason Boxman

      And no mention of fighting for 15, of course. I did a quick text search for that without reading and moved on with my life. The user comments looked relatively positive, though.

      1. Pat

        The Times is CTR central. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out there is a whole division dedicated to it and the Post exclusively. Individual unpaid commenters are not going to break through that noise. Bernie supporters found that out after they started that operation.(yeah it started before in the primary)

      2. Pat

        Oh and Clinton had to be browbeaten into supporting any increase to the minimum wage. She barely can bring herself to give grudging support to 12/hr. One of the reasons it was so galling to see her at the rally when Cuomo gave in in NY during the primary.

    3. a different chris

      Yeah I love “tax credits”… need to pay a mortgage for up to a year and then, if you can somehow get the paperwork right (and since you’re scared about it you generally wind up paying somebody), you wait for your refund. If you’re a risk-taker I guess you could lower your tax witholding but if you make a mistake – like the one everybody makes about being able to predict their own future – you are screwed. Did I mention the IRS wants 90% up front? Not a lot of margin for error there.

      >Or does she think that the tax refund a middle class or poor person gets is enough to place a down payment on a house

      Even if it is, you have to place the down payment first before you have the house and therefore well before you see the tax credit.

      Note that this works OK – sortof – for white people. Their parents usually can spot them the down payment, and then everything seems to come out in the wash. Of course, nobody mentions that said parents were able, on one income, to make their own down payment but the trick is not to improve anybody’s lives, but just to make sure that white people’s living standards stay above non-whites so they always have somebody to look down upon.

  15. 1% White Milk

    Re: Hillary scamming poor donors,
    ActBlue just tried to do this EXACT same thing to me today. Fortunately I had cancelled the card they attempted to use long ago. I had donated to Sanders in 06/2015 and then suddenly today I got a ping from ActBlue saying my card had been declined! Makes me wonder if any of my money actually went to Sanders…

  16. cm

    Just how bad is Oregon’s public pension funding crisis?

    Bad enough that Rukaiyah Adams, the normally polished investment professional who is vice chair of the Oregon Investment Council, broke down in tears last week as she spoke of passing a record $22 billion in unfunded promises to future taxpayers.

    [snip]

    As it stands, pension payments cost government agencies and school districts across the state about $2 billion every two years, and they’re panicking about the $885 million, or 44 percent jump, in required payments over the next two years.

    Article here

    1. Jim Haygood

      Oh my, oh my — she used the P-word! :-0

      “We’re beyond crisis,” Katy Durant, chair of the Oregon Investment Council, said in an interview after last week’s meeting. “We should have been addressing this 20 years ago and it’s just been building. It’s a little bit like a Ponzi scheme.

      [Link doesn’t seem to be live. Here it is again just in case:]

      http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/09/this_is_becoming_a_moral_issue.html

      Oregon assumes a 7.5% annual return, under government accounting standards which allow public pensions to make up their own assumptions.

      Just as one would expect, they overestimated return to conceal underfunding and keep current contributions low.

      This sneaky intergenerational transfer isn’t “for the children” — it’s “from the children.” If they can’t pay, we’ll just have to eat them.

      1. a different chris

        :) … Problem is that they grow up fast, I’m pretty fit but I would say when my son was about 1/2 his age now I was already in trouble, a few years later he could pin me like a lion would an impala….

      2. LifelongLib

        Well, if we increased Social Security to the point where it provided a livable retirement, states and other entities that can’t create dollars at will wouldn’t have to fund pensions. Or we could redistribute income to the point where it’s actually reasonable to expect most individuals to provide for their own retirements. If we aren’t willing to do things like that than we’re stuck with situations like Oregon’s — or alternatively, letting the elderly starve.

        1. Pat

          More than likely those pensioners will end up on Social Security. And don’t get me wrong we should increase Social Security. BUT, and this is a big but, not providing pensions that were part of the employment contract between employer and worker is theft. In most cases, those workers chose to work for an entity that paid less but provided better benefits, one of which was that pension. That money didn’t belong to the employer (states or businesses) it was the employees funds they were entrusted to invest and distribute later in the form of ‘pensions’.

          Let me repeat that, underfunding the pensions was theft. Using the cash in pension funds for operating expenses was theft. Counting the funds as cash is and was theft. Not all of those happened in this particular case, but it is long past time to call this what it is – THEFT. Oh, and in the case of State pension funds, they are also defrauding the public because they usually did this in order to hide the deficits caused by tax cuts to business and the rich.

          1. Jim Haygood

            Neither the federal nor the state governments abide by the ERISA standards they imposed on private pensions in 1974, when it comes to funding.

            They’ve known what prudent pension management is for 42 years … and chose to exempt themselves from it.

            Now the cornered rats are running into a leetle cash flow problem, even as the riled-up peasants are dipping torches in hot tar and sharpening their pitchfork tines.

  17. NotTimothyGeithner

    Whoa, I just had CNN on, and they were covering a group of black ministers calling for a boycott of Charlotte. CNN cut away when one minister mentioned Bill Clinton “our first black president” in what sounded like a negative light.

    Those ministers were quite the group. They weren’t pulling punches.

    1. fresno dan

      NotTimothyGeithner
      September 21, 2016 at 10:49 am

      My comment comparing the description of the incident in the Root versus the LA Times got exiled to moderation purgatory.
      I think hand held video is as profound as the printing press. At some point there is a cumulative effect of seeing one after another video of police abuse.
      I have already mentioned it, but I know the next excuse for the police will be that the person shot was not following orders. It has already been well documented that prison guards use the scam of shouting “stop resisting” to unconscious prisoners because they know they are being videotaped.
      There is a LOT of cognitive dissonance in this country – at some point rah rah police and videos of the police shooting people in the back is going to cause a crack up. The people in the palace will no longer be able to pardon their palace guards…

  18. paul Tioxon

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uisv62Xba5k

    “I wish somebody would share the news.”

    Indian Giver by N. Young

    Protest song against the oil pipeline on Sacred Lands in violation of legally binding treaties between The First Nations and the US Government. The rule of law and national sovereignty at stake, not to mention the oldest of the behaviors that makes us human, we honor our dearly departed, the dead, we bury them, and their final resting place is not to be disturbed as part of our honor as the living.

  19. voteforno6

    Matt Taibbi tweeted a link to David Dayen’s latest:

    The Obama Administration Must Prosecute Wells Fargo

    Will the feds prosecute Wells Fargo? They’ll probably have to do something, for opening the fraudulent accounts. They’ll probably use that as a smokescreen, though, to avoid prosecuting them for securities fraud. This story is just getting sleazier and sleazier.

    1. NotTimothyGeithner

      The Senate needs to make public all communication between and about Wells Fargo and federal agencies. The Obama Administration has had their chance. Obama only acts when he’s embarrassed.

      1. allan

        As I posted a link to on yesterday’s Water Cooler, DOJ is trying to claim (off the record) that the CFPB
        only told them about the WF case recently. And investigations take time.
        It’s a shame that they won’t have time to prosecute before the next administration comes in.

    2. neo-realist

      The “donors” won’t get jail that’s for sure. They will get more kabuki theater dressing down from the likes of Warren and eventually some big fines to give the impression that the administration is doing something about fraud, but not jail.

    3. Robert Hahl

      Dayen: “And fraudulent cross-selling was mostly lucrative to Wells Fargo—the fees on the fake accounts were minimal—insofar as it boosted the stock price.”

      Thank you. I did not understand how revenue from millions of mostly inactive accounts could produce a material effect on anything. Basically it was like showing growth of “eye balls” in the dot com boom era, growth without revenue is apparently still a thing on Wall Street.

    4. fresno dan

      After I retired and moved to CA I had to change my bank as my east coast bank did not have any west coast branches….and, if it weren’t for bad luck, I would have no luck at all….
      Yes, I opened an account at Wells Fargo. So the young person is signing me up, and convinces me to have more than one checking account because it is “not to good to have too much money in one account.” I, of course, asked if Wells Fargo was so insecure, maybe I shouldn’t bank there to begin with. But what economists call a dead weight loss, I figured I didn’t want to spend too much time screwing around getting a bank, so I went ahead and opened an account.
      So I got signed up, and her supervisor “checked” it – one saving account and two checking accounts.
      And about 2 months later I got all these charges for insufficient funds in my checking account. Which surprised me as I had about 20X funds in the bank versus checks written.
      Long story short Wells Fargo told me that I hadn’t arranged for funds to be CONTINUOUSLY deposited into the WORKING checking account. WHAT THE F*CK!!!!!!!!!!!!! The f*cking point of automatic deposit into my checking account was to spare me from having to do that all the time. Wells Fargo knew that I had automatic deposit and that I wanted that to go to my “checking” account OR their employees simply do not understand or do not comply with customers wishes.
      Anyway, Wells Fargo did cover the “bad” checks, but I of course ended my banking relationship with Wells Fargo.
      I also wrote to the FED about this as I was so enraged at this ridiculousness, and their whole attitude was “no harm, no foul” – the whole attitude was why are you harassing our noble banks?

      1. Jim Haygood

        ‘I also wrote to the FED’

        LOL … that’s like writing to Carlo Gambino to protest that one of his hit men tossed a gum wrapper on your lawn.

        Doubtless a whole committee of wise guys would arrive to sweep up the next morning.

  20. Jess

    Went to a hosted viewing party last night for a 12 minute livestream by Brand New Congress. FWIW, here’s my takeaway (including from the post-broadcast discussion by the 10 or so folks in attendance):

    Don’t know if it was a local problem but we had trouble with buffering and had to record and re-watch the program. If the problem was on our end, no big deal. But if it was widespread, then possibly indicative of tech deficiencies of greater concern.

    Hosts were four white women, one black woman, one guy of Indian or SE Asian ethnicity. All were college age; doubt if any of them was 25 or older.

    Bottom line: Lots of we-can-change-the-world youthful enthusiasm, short on concrete plans, and an amateurish, disappointing presentation overall. There’s a difference between a “slick” presentation, which can often backfire by being so slick that it appears — or is — inauthentic versus not being organized and prepared.

    Intro presenter, young blonde woman, starts out with an overview of the issues facing us. Laterals to the lone guy for “the plan”. Guy, and the two women who follow him, continue preaching to the choir about all the problems and issues that the intro presenter did not hit. Finally, about 2/3 of the way through, we get to “the plan”, such as it is.

    The goal is to run 400 Congressional candidates in 2018. Can run as Dems, R’s, Greens, Libertarians, whatever, as long as they meet three criteria:

    a) Their personal history — career, activism, etc., — must indicate that they will not sellout. Looking for teachers, nurses, activists, eco-types. Basically, fighters not part of the current corrupted political process.

    b) Must be good candidates, able to handle themselves in front of crowds, in debates, etc.

    c) Must agree with the BNC platform goals including the usual “get money out of politics”, universal health care, infrastructure improvements, rebuilding manufacturing capability, reduce incarceration/abolish private prisons, etc.

    Target overall demographic for candidate pool is blacks representing heavily black districts, Hispanics in Hispanic districts, conservative Christians in heavily conservative Christian districts, etc. And half the candidates should be women.

    Among the problems with the presentation and the plan:

    No mention in the demographic profile of poor and lower-income whites. Ignoring the demographic which is helping fuel the Trump campaign, and which is among those most hurt by offshoring, H1B programs, etc. Smacks of coastal elitism. (Three of the presenters were from California, one from North Carolina, one from New York. So a grand total of one presenter from flyover country.)

    During the brief 5 question period, presenters used the phrase “voter fraud” rather than “election fraud” and didn’t seem to be aware of the difference. One referred to the “two candidates” in the 2016 election, as if Jill Stein and Gary Johnson didn’t exist. (Buying into the two party duopoly framing.) And the proposed solution was to increase voter turnout to the point where sheer numbers of voters would overwhelm and defeat attempts at “voter fraud”. Evidently they are blissfully unaware of voter roll purges, reductions in polling locations, and machine manipulation of results.

    In recruiting and supporting candidates, the BNC “will work with businesses and labor unions”. No attempt to differentiate between local and small businesses versus the Chamber of Commerce/Business Roundtable types. No attempt to differentiate between the National Assoc of Nurses versus Trumka and the veal pen AFL-CIO.

    On TPP: It’s bad, but we’re focused on 2018 and making sure that we have a Congress that will insure that future trade deals are fair to American workers. Implies a lack of understanding that if TPP (and TTIP) pass, the results might be impossible to reverse and there might not even be a need for future trade bills.

    A near universal reaction among the group I was in was that the goals were too ambitious, that the leaders had no realistic idea of the money and manpower needed to support 400 candidates. I suggested they should target 30 to 50 races and that if half of those candidates got elected it would be a resounding victory of earthquake proportions.

    The presentation ended with viewers urged to go to the BNC website to learn more about the platform, nominate potential candidates, etc.

    The host of our viewing party noted that judging by the number and distribution of BNC Facebook groups, the group is woefully short of chapters in most areas. Heavy in CA, a smattering in the South and Midwest, and only two in the Northeast. There was also some discussion, much of it critical or skeptical, of the quasi-rival Our Revolution and its goals/platform/strategy/prospects for success.

    1. Katharine

      Thanks for the report, as I did not see the event!

      I have no problem with their aiming for 400 as long as they realize they may be lucky to get 100. As for presentation, I remember being really disappointed in Bernie’s big nationwide video event in 2015. It’s not the final consideration. They may be, or become, better organized than this event suggests. And if you look at other things they have said, they are not wedded to Democrats the way Our Revolution seems to be: they will help anyone who is committed to their essential goals. At the very least, I would say wait and see.

    2. Katharine

      Here’s a note from them on the problems:

      “Unfortunately, our local internet company had a historic moment of its own last night by having its first ever system-wide outage during the livestream event. Despite all the precautions we took by upgrading and testing our internet connection, running through multiple full tech rehearsals, pre-recording backups, and all that jazz, we ended up with some bad luck.”

      1. Jess

        If I had a tin foil hat that fit, I’d wonder at the serendipitous timing of that first-ever internet outage. Can you say, NSA?

        1. hunkerdown

          Jess, oh for crying out loud. The NSA isn’t made of magic. It’s a very boring data warehouse dealing with very interesting data sources. They buy their zero days from randos in the former Eastern Bloc, same as everyone else. Just about any old squeegee operator or aspiring alt-neolib redditor can rent a small segment of a botnet for $50/hr. Which takes care of the weapon and opportunity; motive, well, anyone invested in the status quo is a likely suspect.

  21. Robert Hahl

    – Guess How Much That Anti-LGBTQ Law Is Costing North Carolina

    $395 million and counting. Sounds like fiscal austerity by another name.

    1. cwaltz

      I’ve heard the GOP is trying to walk it back too.

      They keep trying to blame this on Charlotte for passing a law that protects the LGBT community and asking them to agree to “unpass” the law so they can rescind their stupid position that localities can’t pass laws to protect the LGBT community.

      I hope Charlotte tells them to pack sand.

  22. River

    Hillary Clinton Invites Millennials to Vote & Chill

    Similar to “Netflix & Chill”, vote for Hilary and then get screwed.

    1. Jim Haygood

      On a similar note, the Daily Mail has published a book-length novella of screenshots from Anthony Weiner’s online grooming of an underage high school girl.

      The girl’s father said he was horrified when he learned 51-year-old Weiner had been speaking with his daughter over Skype.

      ‘I couldn’t stomach that,’ he said. ‘That really was the worst part I think, was knowing that inappropriate behavior was available to my daughter by this man.’

      He said if he ever met Weiner: ‘There wouldn’t be any words. There would be no words. I hope I never come in contact with him. I’ll be in jail if I come into contact with him.’

      It’s Clintonville, Jake.

  23. optimader

    Donald Trump Jr. Skittles Tweet Sparks Outrage For Refugee Comparison NPR. EM:

    Social media have become home to two things in recent years: memes and public shaming.

    Out of the starting block the author of this article demonstrates his ignorance.
    Social media has become the home of many things, including as is pointed out in the critique, metaphorical analogies, and commenters that don’t grasp them in the blinding light of political correctness.

    Another unsupported assumption is that there would be any fidelity to accurate vetting that Syrian refugees are actually Syrian refugees.

    the skittle example is a good one.

    Of course the autistic neoliberal/neocon media mouth pieces don’t do any root cause reflection on why Syrians are leaving their country!
    Perhaps the most effective Syrian refugee program would be to stop bombing the fk out of their country?
    ,

    1. Pat

      It also doesn’t help that there are actual liberals out there like myself who will busily tell them all the reasons the scary we could end up with George W. Bush again story ignores that the reasons that Gore lost do not have to do with third parties or anything controllable by the voters but because of systemized voter disenfranchisement. He also didn’t fight the right battles in the recount, and ran into a rigged Supreme Court. But the biggest reason he lost was Gore was a terrible candidate, as in if he hadn’t lost his home state he would have been President (and I actually liked him).

      Oops. Not the story they want them to hear.

      1. NotTimothyGeithner

        With your “version” of events, people such as Donna Brazille come off as overpaid charlatans at best. If we listen to “Pat,” money donated to many Democratic campaigns would have been better spent by throwing it onto a fire. I can’t believe smart, smart, smart types who know Nader is Super Trump Putin could have been bamboozled into throwing money away.

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