Perma Open Post For Interesting Links

This is a perma open open post page for links. That’s it. I’ll see links posted here and might link them, but more importantly, y’all can find them.

303 thoughts on “Perma Open Post For Interesting Links”

  2. Get out the zombie vote! Check your county for details on how registrations exceed 100% of the eligible voters:

    https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-releases/new-jw-study-voter-registration/

    I note that in Montana, the zombie vote is centered around Bozeman, where a few years back the city council tried to closed-door-session sneak in one of those “refugee resettlement” plans that have worked so well in Minneapolis. Gallatin was also one of the two counties that goosed along Tester’s reelection in 2018. I conclude that the local Dems are more corrupt than average.

    Reply

  7. Lawyer does a deep-dive on the USPS whistleblower’s interrogation. Notes that he did not recant, and calls out all of the various coercive techniques the interrogates are using to bend him:

    Very good read, especially for understanding the ways tilted authority figures may try to lean on you to change your stated position.

    Reply

    2. IF everything shown here is true, the scheme would be nearly brilliant, in that it looks very much like [inadvertent] human error. But put it all together, and *someone* is deliberately treating GOP and DEM poll watchers differently – and I presume that the laws/regulations on this require that treatment be identical.

      Of course, getting rid of GOP poll watchers is only *useful* if there are plans to do … something … while they are not observing.

      Reply

    3. I wish I could — I registered but for some reason I cannot log in, nor can I reset password. And I can’t message mods unless I’m logged in. When I try to re-register I’m told “username is taken” confirming that yes, it did register me (this happened immediately after registering, so yes, it’s me). Could someone there message mods and have ’em look at username “Reziac” ??

      Reply

        1. MeWe seems to sorta like me now, tho for a long time I couldn’t log in; my current problem is with thedonald.win … beta testing, people, it’s a thing! (Just hire me. I can break anything.)

          I think I’ve ‘joined’ three? MeWe communities of yours, at least they all asked similar entry questions (to which I cannot resist giving silly answers) but wasn’t sure if they overlapped or what!

          Reply

      1. Clarification: Sidney Powell, the attorney who took over and reversed Michael Flynn’s case, is female.

        She’s a tiger. Unlike those wusses at Porter Wright, she won’t back down.
        –

        Reply

        1. Okay – an update to Power Line’s post asserts that the withdrawal was only one of the cases they were prosecuting, was by mutual consent due to Trump wanting to take it in a different direction, one Porter Wright lacked requisite expertise to pursue, and that they found a firm with the necessary expertise.
          –

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        2. Further, from Judge Jeanine Saturday evening:

          I want to get my marker down immediately: Sidney Powell DID NOT kill herself.
          –

          Reply

  14. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/12/can-history-predict-future/616993/

    Insty linked this, but it’s worth preserving. This guy is a prototype Hari Seldon. He predicted our current mess a decade ago, based on the idea that we are producing more elites (college grads, in effect) than our economy actually needs. The surplus elites become discouraged and transform into anti-elites, fighting the system for the cushy sinecures that they think they deserve. He doesn’t say this, but the other effect is that the successful elites become nervous, even paranoid, about losing their status, which causes them to school together tightly, like so many minnows, requiring constant purity checks and viciously expelling those who fail. Sarah’s post “Is that a ship on your head?” describes this behavior in the court of Versailles, just before the French Revolution.

    The linked article doesn’t say this explicitly, but this may all trace back to the “all kids must go to college” push that started in the 1980’s. That was based on economic data from the previous couple of decades, which showed that college grads wound up much richer than non-grads. But in those decades, only kids who were really smart and driven went to college, so of course they prospered (on average). The use of that data to push everyone into college is an example of Reynold’s Law: giving the trappings of success to people who didn’t earn them does not make those people successful.

    I think his comment about “too many elites” may be too broad. It’s definitely possible to have too many lawyers, or professors of grievance studies, or even people doing basic research (it’s a luxury good, whose budget is not unlimited). I’m not sure it’s possible to have too many people doing applied R&D. Wealth grows by trade and innovation. More innovation means the pie gets bigger, faster, and we can afford more of the rest. But applied R&D is mostly STEM, which has inherent barriers to entry.

    (Just realized this post may be reserved for links about the recent diaper dump of an election. If so, I apologize.)

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  15. Video that goes over the congressional races; of particular interest are the red vs blue by district.

    I will also note that as of close-of-day Mike Garcia was way ahead in his CA district but since then the Dem has somehow come within 104 votes… in a normally very red area. (I would hazard that ALL blue wins in the Central Valley are illegitimate.)

    [wonder what WDE will think of me posting from a different PC.]
    [A: the usual cussing ensued.]

    Reply

  19. Dr.Shiva lays this out as normal vs abnormal patterns, and issues an open invitation to math-and-stats types, or anyone who can help (see end of video):

    He also notes that the Trump team has been in touch, so they’re very aware of all this.

    Also, WPDE.

    Reply

  22. Rudy and Sidney hold a press conference… the way they lay it out makes you want to stand up and cheer. This is Presidential Medal of Freedom stuff.

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  26. Alex Berenson indulged in BadThink about COVID.

    https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/11/amazon-versus-alex-berenson-me.php

    “When the first pamphlet in his series was published this past June Berenson had a close encounter with Amazon of the kind with which we have become all too familiar. His pamphlet was rejected by Kindle Direct Publishing. And then ensued the familiar dance:

    Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk criticized Amazon’s decision in a tweet that said, “This is insane@JeffBezos.”

    Amazon later said in a statement that “the book was removed in error.”

    On Friday [June 5], the self-published booklet was No. 2 on Amazon’s Kindle Store bestseller list.

    Berenson published the third pamphlet in his Unreported Truths series this week and went through the same routine with Amazon. One had to follow the story via Berenson’s Twitter feed. This was my favorite tweet after Amazon pulled his pamphlet.”

    Reply

    1. To be fair idiot bezos told us not to say anything about Covid that wasn’t “Approved” in his instructions. TO ALL OF US, including people doing SF.
      Also to be fair, they periodically remove the Dyce mysteries because they decide I’m pirating them from Ace.
      Yeah, I’m fairly sure he was a victim of malice, but incompetence is bad enough.

      Reply

      1. Which is the point people keep missing.

        “Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, and the third time is enemy action.”
        “Weaponized incompetence IS malice.”

        And Bezos and crew are doing the same thing that is getting our election stolen: “We’ll rewrite the rules and make everything electronic so you CAN’T contest it because by the time you get it close to a court the TOS or whatever will match OUR story and you won’t be able to prove jack.”

        Yeah, I get that he’s got his fist wrapped around authors’ throat. Get used to it. I’m quite certain that I just got turned down by a project lead within my company last week because the project was with the State Department and I’m a Republican. Not a blessed thing I can do about it….. but I’m not gonna shut up.

        Reply

        1. No. Look, I see your point, but they actually do the same to the left.
          I see signs of the programmers running with the bit between their teeth and trying to automate things that shouldn’t be automated.
          As for his fist? WAY less than the publishers, STILL. Not even comparable.
          As for your getting turned down…. I don’t think so. I have reasons to believe it’s not your political affiliation. (No, I can’t explain in public.)

          Reply

      2. Of course he did. From the article:

        “Do you think it’s a coincidence that @apple – which has much less to gain from lockdowns and arguably does better in a normal environment because phone use may rise with mobility – is far more willing to sell my books than @amazon?

        Yeah, me neither.”

        Never mind that the plague panic porn is based on a lie — as you well know — when suppressing the counter argument as the Commies demand is profitable too.

        Reply

    2. This is the guy who does the presentations and books on the perils of modern pot (well worth your time). He’s already on the badthinker list.

      Reply

  28. Looks like last night’s wail of woe from a Biden staffer on /pol/ was real:

    SIDNEY POWELL RELEASES THE KRAKEN!

    https://defendingtherepublic.org/

    Links thereon to Michigan and Georgia complaints.
    (The latter is CJ Pearson vs… probably to show standing, but OMG I cannot stop laughing.)

    Happy Thanksgiving, USA!!

    Reply

  29. Trevor Loudon: America’s ‘Unfolding Socialist Revolution’ & Connections to China’s Communist Party
    Names and details of how they’re taking over American politics

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  30. Quick overview of players in the CCP’s “Seed the Vote” project to flip red America blue:

    https://rumble.com/vbgrfl-seeding-the-vote-chinas-influence-in-the-2020-us-general-election.html

    Also, the website cited at the end has many more articles and videos.

    [Addendum to above: I’d not previously heard of Trevor Loudin, but turns out he’s a friend of a trusted friend who is vehemently anti-Democrat-shenanigans; they’d worked together during the Obama era.]

    Reply

  33. Re: Your (and others) comment about “I’m too old to really Do anything!” No you’re Not. I’m 70. Arthritis, bad back, etc. Here is My philosophy of “What can I do?”/Users/terryturpen/Desktop/if-i-cant-shoot-ill-load-if-i-cant-load-14238599.png

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    1. They also serve, who only load the brass.

      Or pitch the tents, or cook the soup, or provide a barn to hide in, or just keep the home fire burning so our guys have something to fight for.

      Reply

  36. Georgia “Victory Rally” live today (Dec.5th).
    Initial filler music is one fine rally song.
    Trump supposed to be on stage at 7pm EST.

    Reply

  37. Federal raid in Arizona. Wonder how much more is going on behind the scenes.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/12/04/exclusive-the-fbi-is-investigating-voter-data-theft-in-this-key-2020-election-battleground/?sh=3e73a32a34a4
    ===
    On the morning of November 5, as the 2020 election hung in the balance, Arizona federal agents raided a two-story house in Fountain Hills, Maricopa County, a county that had become a key battleground in the presidential race. The agents were looking for evidence of a cyberattack on an unnamed organization and stolen voter data. They left with eight hard drives, three computers and a bag of USB sticks.
    ===

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  38. Dear Mrs. Hoyt,
    I just finished reading “Monster Hunter: Guardian.” I’m a fan of the series, so it was just a matter of time ’til I got to the latest installment, and I was looking forward to reading about more adventures concerning monsters getting shellacked by the MHI crew.
    I got a LOT more than I expected, Mrs. Hoyt.
    The way you discussed the passing away of family, a mother’s devotion to her child and connections to a childhood friend and playmate were deeply and profoundly moving.
    I cannot even begin to find the words to express my gratitude for all the things you wrote concerning the above. You’re a tremendous writer.
    Again, Thank You so much.

    Reply

  39. Hi Sarah —
    Longtime blog lurker, very occasional commenter. Been looking for good contact info for you, as I’m about to publish a book called “The Secrets of the Heinlein Juvenille” about Heinlein’s wonderful 12+2 books for kids, examining what structural and thematic qualities have given them such astounding longevity. I can think of few people who might appreciate it more than you, and fewer still whose blurb might be more valuable than yours. Is there a good way to get a hold of you with a formal request?

    Thanks for the excellent bloggage and fiction over the years. I hope the coming Christmas season treats you splendidly!
    -Dan Sawyer

    Reply

  47. Governor Whitmer has police, 200 troops block Republican electors from Michigan state capitol

    https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/whitmer-has-police-200-troops-block-republican-electors-from-michigan-state-capitol/

    ===
    According to American Greatness, on Monday, Republicans in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin, New Mexico and Nevada all entered competing slates of electors which selected President Donald Trump, as Electoral College members in those same states cast ballots for Biden.

    However Republican electors in the state of Michigan, who also showed up to cast conditional ballots for President Trump and Vice President Pence, were forbidden entry after Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered state police officers to block them from entering the state capitol.
    ===

    Includes video.

    Reply

    1. Whites are most likely to harbor that dangerous subset who stands up and says, “See here, that’s not how it works at all…”

      Reply

  53. As requested, here are some lists for email marketing services (the closest thing I could find quickly to newsletter subscription services). I haven’t had a chance to review the services listed to see which would fit your needs best, but these two lists may have something usable:

    https://www.theworkathomewoman.com/free-email-marketing/

    https://www.emailtooltester.com/en/blog/free-email-marketing-services/#So_who_are_these_free_email_marketing_services_you_speak_of

    And here’s a website that seems to have possibly useful advice on making your efforts more effective:

    https://getsitecontrol.com/blog/7-great-email-newsletter-signup-examples/

    Reply

    1. I’ve had a ton of those, and currently have one but I can’t make it work. To explain, I wanted something more like substack. Subscribers pay for the newsletter, though a payment method setup by the newsletter creator/owner.
      Which is what I’m having some trouble finding.

      Reply

  54. So in regards to your hosting options: my SO and I were talking about the parler? parlor? debacle, and I mentioned they should either rent space in a colocation facility or buy some bullet-proof hosting. The kind used by spammers and such because they don’t get taken down no matter how many complaints get filed, etc. Then I remembered reading many, many moons ago about some folks in Europe who converted an old nuclear bunker into a literal bullet-proof data center, as most such services are still subject to the local stazi kicking in the door and cutting the lights. Long story longer – SO suggested I should look it up and post in as an option for your site hosting. When I started looking, found a 2009 article with a decentish list of such options, so thought I would post a few promising looking ones here. Biggest issue is they generally don’t offer a pre-built wordpress installation, you would likely have to rent a virtual private server (or an actual physical server, usually MUCH pricier) and install and maintain wordpress (or other software) yourself. As you mentioned your in-house IT department is spread a bit thin, this may not be the solution you seek, but maybe it will help other readers. Nota Bene – I know nothing about these companies specifically in terms of reputation, reliability, etc. – I am only posting a curation of the ones that look most promising (Swiss data protection laws are pretty solid, and likely the best option. Discarded one in the UK, because, well, UK is farther down the Orwellian-brick road than we are, far as I can tell. Caveat Emptor, do your due diligence before trusting anyone with your data, don’t try this at home, etc.

    https://www.bahnhof.net/ (Swiss, click the VPS section to get an idea what a virtual server will cost per month for hosting)

    https://www.mount10.ch/en/mount10/swiss-fort-knox/ (Another Swiss data-bunker).

    Neither of these specifically appear to be the one I remember reading about, which had a vague hint of – greyness, to it. Still, the idea at least may help. If anyone plans on searching for ‘bullet-proof’ hosting services specifically, most of which are gray- to black-market, I strongly recommend a good VPN and using DuckDuckGo. And double Caveat Emptor.

    Reply

      1. Never hurts to plan a fallback position! Sadly I have neither the resources to invest in, nor the skills to build myself, a set of alternative platforms for social media, blogging, publishing, and the appropriate infrastructure (outrage-proof hosting services). Wish to god I did, because I imagine there is an incredible amount of money to be made off of such a set of services, whether separately or as an integrated package, and all the more so if they can be made open-source and transparent in function.

        Reply

          1. I always talk myself out of paying the math tax – but am still tempted. would probably be cruelly humorous enough to let me win it, too. Just to teach me to be more careful with what I wish for.

            Reply

            1. WordPress delenda est? Or is it Cave Canum? Either way, mea culpa – I should *know* better than to use angle brackets in a comment. Should read: Insert Deity of choice would probably…

              Reply

  56. WO video analysis – link to Caleb Hull Twitter thread

    Reply

    1. Grr. That should have gone to the bozo’s profile, not his latest twatter. (OK, I don’t have the site, or cite it very often; I’m sure there is a way to get just the profile but I’m not going to mess with it just now.)

      Anywho, the profile says (as of January 11, 2021 at 15:15 Mountain Standard Time, emphasis added):

      Attorney, Marine, Triathlete, Historian, World Traveler, Chef. Former AUSA and Republican now Democrat. Political comedy, commentary, theatre and horror.

      Reply

      1. Okay, here is the analysis. Might as well attribute it to “RealityObserver” – that will let whoever is interested link to my Disqus profile and comments.

        If there is one thing you always have to remember, it is to read or watch things that purport to contradict your view of what happened.

        There is another thing – whether it is contradictory or supporting, look at it with a critical eye, and verify it.

        This is no exception.

        This video shows people trying to enter the Capitol Building, against opposition from people (reasonably assumed to be officers, either DC Metro or Capitol Police). That is a truth.

        What it also shows is that mace was being sprayed from inside. Reasonable. It also shows batons being wielded from inside. It shows what appears to be an officer down (there is a typical arm patch, although not completely identifiable). It shows him on his face, pointed OUT of the building entrance – which says he was struck from BEHIND. Ah. Who was behind him that might have struck him? Only other officers. Slightly later, as the batons were still being frantically wielded, it shows a protestor standing over the fallen officer, holding up his crutch as a makeshift SHIELD over the officer.

        Doesn’t look at all like the claim that this was a beating BY the PROTESTORS, does it?

        Then look at the source of the video. You have to go to the Twitter account of Hull, where he attributes it to one Ron Filipkowski. Hmm. Look up that name, and his posts elsewhere. Ah. This person is a rabid TRUMP HATER from Florida. Registered as a Republican, true – but that is meaningless in this day and age. What is he doing in DC, among the protestors, when he wants nothing more than to demonize and destroy Trump? No, he’s not a “journalist” either official or citizen – he’s a lawyer that had a political appointment to a judicial selection committee (which he resigned from when one of the CoViD panic scammers in his State was raided). There is also one INDIVIDUAL voice that comes clearly in the video – one that had to be very close to the camera, and most likely Filipkowski himself. That voice utters one phrase – “Get that son of a b**** out of there!” That was undeniably an incitement to further violence – but by WHOM?

        Reply

  67. By way of background for those not familiar with him, Michael Goodwin is an old-style Ed Koch NYC Democrat we is repulsed by the modern Democrats/left. He notes quite aptly that the Democrats are moving towards banning political speech under the guise of calling it hate speech. He also notes that Trump was correct when he said that he himself wasn’t the target but all of the many millions who dissent from what the Democrats seek to do.

    https://nypost.com/2021/01/12/dems-want-to-bring-down-anyone-who-ever-backed-trump-goodwin/

    Reply

  69. Here is a link to the third volume of an “Election Shenanigans” (my term) report by one Peter Navarro.

    Click to access The%20Navarro%20Report%20Volume%20III%20Final%201.13.21-0001.pdf

    I got the link from TheDonald.win (TDW)

    I have not yet read the report – if I can, I will try to post the summary chart highlighted at TDW – it is eye-opening.

    I think additional efforts to put together materials about the election horror are crucial – people who start questioning the speech crackdowns may also then respond to well-organized information about the fraud/theft.

    Reply

  71. Analysis of Ashli Babbit Video Suggests Coordinated Actions—Interview W. Masako Ganaha | Crossroads (Epoch Times)

    If this disappears from YT, it’s also on Epoch’s “Youmaker” site. But, spend YT’s bandwidth.

    Reply

  72. https://thenationalpulse.com/breaking/ex-capitol-police-chief-says-pelosi-mcconnells-sergeants-at-arms-refused-security-measures-while-new-timeline-proves-trump-incitement-claims-bogus/

    The writer got the WaPo article on Archive.is to prevent retconning, but the original is at https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sund-riot-national-guard/2021/01/10/fc2ce7d4-5384-11eb-a817-e5e7f8a406d6_story.html

    Timeline:
    11:50 (or 12, sources differ): Trump begins to speak
    12:40: first wave of protesters hits the Capitol (per Sund / WaPo)
    12:40 WI woman discovers first pipe bomb, calls guard, who calls others, reports it. Sund says this distracts him and prevents him from hearing T inciting the crowd with the word “fight”.
    1:00 (or 1:10 if he started at 12): Next time T uses the word fight (per rev transcript) close to end of his speech. May be irrelevant, given the timeline.
    1pm: Sund “realized … things aren’t going well… I’m watching my people getting slammed.”
    1:09pm: Sund called the Sergeants-at-arms of the House and Senate. He told them it was time to call in the National Guard.
    With NO obstructions, google maps says it would take 29 minutes to walk from the nearest edge of the Ellipse to the front of the Capitol. With a crowd, likely longer.
    1:30pm (or 1:40pm for later speech start) is the earliest possible time for someone who heard the end of T’s speech to arrive at the Capitol, assuming he started speaking at 11:50. 10 minutes later if noon start. With crowds slowing walk down, probably 1:45 (1:55) or later.

    Reply

  73. Sarah, you wanted a newsletter pointer. Have you looked at locals instead? You can free and subbed content, and you can set the monthly fee for that sub at anything you like. scott Adams is at $7 a month, others higher or lower. Similar to a patreon but less likely to knock you off.

    Reply

  79. Many here, I know, have been disappointed in the (lack of) advocacy from the bloggers at Power Line, but late to the ball is better than never attending:

    John Hideraher
    DID THE DEMOCRATS STEAL THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION?
    https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2021/01/did-the-democrats-steal-the-presidential-election.php
    Democrats are making extraordinary efforts to suppress all discussion of whether Joe Biden actually won the 2020 presidential election. In fact, they go even farther: they want to suppress all discussion of the extent to which voter fraud occurred. That naturally makes me want to write about voter fraud, and who really won the election.

    [SNIP]

    So, did the Democrats steal the presidential election, or not? I don’t know the answer to that question. No one does. A number of statistical analyses have been done, which on their face suggest large irregularities. I wrote about one such analysis, by John Lott, here.

    Beyond that, major questions remain unanswered. In several key swing states, there were midnight dumps of 100,000 or more votes, virtually all of which were for Joe Biden, something that can’t normally happen. Those dumps may have made the difference in the election. I have seen no attempt by any Democrat to explain or justify them. Maybe I’ve missed it, and maybe they somehow reflected actual ballots cast, but the burden of proof is on those who seek to justify such anomalies.

    Even greater doubts about the election arise from the deliberately loose procedures that governed voting. Something like 69 million mail-in votes were cast, and until two months ago, everyone agreed that mail-in voting is highly susceptible to fraud. But the laxity in 2020 went far beyond the risks inherent in mail-in votes. I put it this way: I don’t know whether the Democrats stole the 2020 election, but I do know that they tried hard to steal it.
    [END EXCERPT]

    Emphasis in original.
    ~

    Reply

  82. Take on McConnell’s throwing Trump under the bus by Michael Goodwin in the NY Post (Goodwin is an old school Ed Koch Democrat)

    Reply

  100. Democratic Party media arm declaring that every single Republican in the US should be treated like a terrorist:

    https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2021/01/27/msnbcs-jason-johnson-democrats-need-to-say-republicans-are-terrorists/

    Quote: “Democrats should declare all Republicans are “terrorists,” adding “you can’t negotiate, you can’t legislate and you can’t work with terrorists.”

    This is of course the same MSNBC that promotes working with Hamas, Hezbollah and the Mullahs of Iran, who are actual real world terrorists who openly espouse “Death to America”. Instead their vitriol is reserved for domestic political opponents they have declared to be “enemies of the state”.

    They mean to kill us all. Period.

    Reply

      1. Are you referring to posting here and in the original blog post I am making the comment with the link, or is there an actual double post in this perma-post?

        Reply

          1. Weird, as I only clicked enter once. Firefox did do an update yesterday, so I wonder if it was a browser issue that got fixed in the latest update.

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  101. Video of the early incursion. I’m thinkin’ the Proud Boys are thoroughly infiltrated. Noted a lot of what Michael Yon points out as markers undercover Antifa use to ID themselves to one another.

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  103. Just take a look at John “it’s okay for me to have a private jet and yacht” Kerry showing that he is literally incapable of understanding those who disagree with him and that the left’s “answers” are the only ones that are logical:

    https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2021/01/28/john-kerry-on-biden-climate-agenda-so-logical-i-dont-understand-the-opposition/

    Quote: Kerry said on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” that he does not “understand the opposition” because Biden’s agenda creates a better “standard of living” and “quality of life.”

    They are so out of touch that they simply are incapable of comprehending anything outside their bubble.

    Reply

  105. If you keep your data in “the cloud”, remember that what that means is that your data is being kept on servers owned by someone else, who has the power to delete your data at any time. They may promise not to do that, but events in recent months have shown that far too many companies are willing to break those promises and delete data they promised not to delete. So it’s important to find alternative solutions for keeping track of your data, ones that put you in control. There are all kinds of “cloud” services out there, which means there may be many suggestions for alternatives to those services. In order to group the suggestions for ways to control your data in one place, I ask that you please post tech suggestions as replies to this comment. Then they will be grouped together no matter how many days later they come.

    Open-source solutions are preferred over closed-source solutions, because closed-source solutions can go away with little warning if the company folds, or if they decide they no longer want to sell their product. But an open-source license means that even if the people making the product no longer want to work on it, you still have the right to use it, and anyone technically savvy still has the right to work on the product and improve it. So open-source tools are more likely to last long-term than closed-source tools. That said, if you know of a useful closed-source tool that helps you keep control of your own data, please do post it as well. Just make sure to mention that it’s not open-source. Finally, do please make sure you post a single link (to the project’s main website) with your comment.

    Reply

    1. Backups

      Making backup copies of your data is extremely important. Hard disks fail, USB sticks get lost, and laptops get stolen or get coffee spilled on them. A high-capacity portable hard disk is a very useful tool for backups, but if you keep it in your house, your data is still vulnerable to a building fire that destroys both your computer and your backup hard disk. So backups are one place where a cloud service does make sense, as long as that cloud service is trustworthy. And the best way to ensure a cloud service will not delete your data based on its contents is to make sure the cloud service cannot read your data at all. If they don’t know what’s in it, they’ll never be able to delete it based on its contents, or turn it over to a hostile government.

      That’s what SpiderOak One is: a backup service that encrypts your files on your computer before sending them to their servers for storage. SpiderOak can tell how much space you’re using, but can’t know the filenames or contents of the data you’re storing on their servers. So your private data will stay private.

      SpiderOak’s prices are $6/month for 150 GB of storage, $11/month for 400 GB of store, $14/month for 2 TB of storage or $29/month for 5 TB of storage. (If you choose to pay annually, you basically get one month per year free as the annual price is about 11x the monthly price). Their backup software runs on Windows, OS X, and Linux (which is why I personally use them, as it seems most backup companies don’t bother making a version of their software that runs on Linux).

      Reply

    2. Chat

      There are many convenient tools for online chatting, such as Discord. But with most of them, your data is not under your control. For example, Discord “servers” aren’t servers at all, but are more like chatrooms with multiple channels. They don’t run on a server that you set up and control; they are hosted on servers owned and controlled by Discord. So if you want to share private information, such as your brand-new ProtonMail email address, with people you trust, and ONLY with people you trust… your Discord “server” isn’t actually private. Discord has publicly said that “We put your privacy first and as a rule do not scan or read your messages. However, we can do so for safety reasons. If an issue arises, we will investigate, review the situation, and take proper action. We know there are cases where bad actors are acting to cause violence or harm in the real world, and we make it clear to them that they don’t have a place on Discord.” (Emphasis mine). So if you’re thinking of sharing private information on Discord, realize that it’s entirely up to them whether they keep your private information private. If they decide that your political beliefs “cause violence or harm”, as defined solely by them, they can and will take steps to silence you.

      If that’s not to your liking, you may want to use a chat server that is entirely under your control, or the control of someone you trust. The best solution for that is Matrix. Matrix is a chat protocol that relies on end-to-end encryption, with rotating encryption keys so that any messages in a private chatroom can only ever be decrypted by the people who were in the chatroom at the time the message was sent. Matrix also has “bridges” to exchange chat messages with people using other chat systems, like Discord, Slack, or Facebook Messenger. (Though of course, the messages you send to someone on Facebook Messenger will be visible to Facebook: Matrix’s end-to-end encryption only works if the messages stay within Matrix.)

      Setting up a Matrix server requires a little bit of technical knowledge. If you’re familiar with networking and systems administration, then you probably won’t find it daunting. Basically, if the phrase “set up a reverse proxy on port 8448” has you nodding your head and saying, “Yes, okay, I know how to do that,” then you probably have the appropriate skills to set up a Matrix server.

      Joining a Matrix server, on the other hand, just requires downloading the appropriate client for your device (PC, Mac, Android, iPhone, whatever) and finding a server to join. And it doesn’t matter much which Matrix server you join; all Matrix servers communicate with each other in a “matrix” (hence the name) so that you can join any chatroom no matter which server it’s hosted on. Yes, that means that someone malicious can set up a Matrix server and have a copy of all your chatroom’s messages… but remember the end-to-end encryption I mentioned earlier. Unless you are one of the people invited into a chatroom, you won’t have that chatroom’s encryption key and you won’t be able to read its messages; all you’ll have copies of is the encrypted messages that you don’t have a key for.

      If you have information, such as your new ProtonMail address, that you want to share privately only with a select group of people whom you trust, then Matrix is a good way to ensure that ONLY those people will ever be able to see that message. As far as online chat goes, I recommend Matrix above any other solution.

      Reply

  108. We’ve been talking about alternative eBook marketplaces. “Urbit” seems to be a decentralized infrastructure setup designed to avoid many of the problems of huge centralized servers like Amazon. They’ve been working on it for a while (2002!), and it’s now minimally functional. It seems that anyone with minimal Linux skills can set up a client. It’s built to use peer-to-peer encryption, and the overall architecture recently passed a security audit (although the implementation may have security holes). It uses Ethereum infrastructure to store identities. In its current state, it would work for passing samizdat, but (as far as I can tell) it does not yet have a native eBook reader. They’re working on integrating Bitcoin as one possible payment infrastructure, but it doesn’t seem to be fully there yet. There also is no “storefront” or e-commerce app yet.

    I’m including several links here, even though I know it will trigger moderation (sorry!), because their info is not well organized.

    Introduction to the concept: https://urbit.org/understanding-urbit/

    The main website: https://urbit.org

    A philosophical blog post (long but insightful): https://urbit.org/blog/platform-decay/

    You can try the system out by creating a free “comet”, but comets are unstable. (Their chosen nomenclature is amusing for SF people: galaxies, stars, planets, moons, comets, ships, jets, etc.) Everyday users will typically want a “planet”, of which 64K can be connected to a given “star” (a planet can change stars if necessary). Stars are for sale, but they also give them away as incentives for completing certain tasks: https://grants.urbit.org/ Creating an eBook reader, or linking in an existing one like Calibre, might be such a task, if one of the Huns has the skillset. Creating a storefront might be another.

    They are giving away groups of planets to interested communities (Huns might be an acceptable community). The application form is here, but the Huns should probably coordinate so that Urbit only gets one application: https://urbit.org/community/community-grants/

    Reply

    1. Related to above: https://www.coindesk.com/decentralized-social-networks-next-big-blockchain-opportunity

      And some corrections to the above: a user (“ship”) can change planets, but a planet can’t change stars If your planet’s star is underperforming, you may need to get a planet from another star. That whole hierararchy (galaxies, stars, planets) serves as an analog to the Internet’s DNS system. It’s all based on Ethereum, so I think the ability to use “Ether” digital cash already exists, but “Bitcoin” is being added. Planets typically sell for 0.025 ETH at present, or about $35. Stars typically sell for around 3 ETH, or about $4000. One star can have up to 64K planets, so there is an element of multi-level marketing here, or perhaps old-fashioned small-town boosterism. There may actually be storefront apps, or an obvious way to add them, but I haven’t found them yet.

      Wow, this turned into a rabbit hole. What we really need is a tech-savvy teenager with a lot of spare time (do those still exist?) to figure all this out.

      Reply

  109. Someone mentioned Micronetia over on MeWe (I forget in which group). I figured it should be listed here too:

    https://micronetia.devtru.st/welcome-to-micronetia/

    From their welcome page:

    “Micronetia is a system for people to create their own standalone blog, website or other internet connected resource that is hosted by them so that it can’t be arbitrarily deleted because some part of BigTech decided that either the content or its creator needed to be cancelled.

    “The initial Micronetia project uses a Raspberry Pi, the Ghost blogging/newsletter open source software and the free tier of service from Cloudflare to put up a website (such as this one) which can support thousands or millions of visitors but which is hosted securely in your living room where no one can delete it.”

    Reply

  110. Hi Sarah,
    There is a newish movie on Netflix called Fatima. I hear she is pretty famous in Portugal. I wonder if you might have any opinion, either on the apparition or the film.

    Reply

  112. Although there is much, much more out there, the Navarro Report(s), by Peter Navarro (“Assistant to President Trump and Director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy”), might just be the best detailed overall guide to the massive election and voter fraud that led to Joe Biden incorrectly being declared the winner of the 2020 election and installed in office instead of the true winner, Donald Trump.

    The Navarro Reports (there are three volumes in all), can be found (at least for now) as PDF files all together conveniently at

    navarroreport dot com

    whose three volumes are

    I. The Immaculate Deception: Six Key Dimensions of Election Irregularities

    II. The Art Of The Steal: Volume Two of the Navarro Report

    III. Yes, President Trump Won: The Case, Evidence, and Statistical Receipts

    For the less obsessive or more time-constrained, uncoverdc dot com has a summary article for all three parts, published soon after the corresponding ‘volume’ of the overall report…

    uncoverdc dot com slash 2020/12/18/immaculate-deception-election-fraud-evidence-should-haunt-this-country/

    uncoverdc dot com slash 2021/01/05/the-art-of-the-steal-volume-ll-of-the-navarro-report/

    uncoverdc dot com slash 2021/01/15/navarro-report-volume-lll-capstone-report-for-the-2020-election/

    Reply

    1. Oh… huh. very well.. direct copy then too:


      Commies go *SPLAT* on the ocean,
      Commies go *SPLAT* on the sea,
      Commies go *SPLAT* on the ocean,
      O bring back our Liberty!

      Bring back, bring back,
      O bring back our Liberty, to we
      Bring back, bring back,
      O bring back our Liberty.

      O blow ye Commies out o’er t’ ocean,
      O blow ye Commies out o’er t’ sea,
      O blow ye Commies out o’er t’ ocean,
      And bring back our Liberty.

      Bring back, bring back,
      O bring back our Liberty, to we
      Bring back, bring back,
      O bring back our Liberty.

      Last night as I lay on my pillow,
      Last night as I lay on my bed,
      Last night as I lay on my pillow,
      I dreamt that Marxism was dead!

      Bring back, bring back,
      O bring back our Liberty, to we
      Bring back, bring back,
      O bring back our Liberty.

      Commies went *SPLAT* on the ocean,
      Commies went *SPLAT* on the sea,
      Commies went *SPLAT* on the ocean,
      And that brought back Liberty.

      Bring back, bring back,
      O bring back our Liberty, to we
      Bring back, bring back,
      O bring back our Liberty.

      Reply

        1. That would seem obvious: after one has spaced a sufficient number of bodies their mass produces a microgravitational pull and causes them to clump together.
          ~

          Reply

  117. Class action lawsuit against Dominion, now taking plaintiff and affidavits:

    https://dominionclassaction.com/how-to-join

    Thank you for your interest in joining this class action lawsuit. In order to join the class, you must have been a US Citizen registered to vote during the 2020 Presidential Elections and have reason to believe that your civil rights were violated by the defendants listed in the lawsuit. To demonstrate the requirements to become a plaintiff apart of this class action, 2 things will be required, clear pictures of the front and the back of your Photo ID and a Notarized Affidavit stating under oath, your knowledge of the wrongdoing of the defendants.

    Reply

    1. I wonder whether thaat includes a certain junior senator from California’s declaration that “she would not take a vaccine recommended by President Trump”?
      ~

      Reply

    1. Oh, and that link includes information that might be helpful to figure out just exactly how it is that Sheila Jackson Lee keeps getting reelected despite being, um, who she is.

      Reply

  121. Possibly crap, as are ALL claims the election was fraudulent, but …

    The Deep Rig: How Election Fraud Cost Donald J. Trump the White House, By a Man Who did not Vote for Him
    Byrne is a libertarian who did not vote for Trump and has publicly criticized him: that said, he believes Election 2020 was rigged, and that should be objectionable to every person who believes, “just government derives its power from the consent of the governed.” In this book he explains what caused him in August 2020 to study election fraud, and what really happened during the 2020 election. He describes how his team of “cyber-ninjas” unraveled it while they worked against the clock of Constitutional processes, all against the background of being a lifetime entrepreneur trying to interact with Washington, DC. This book takes you behind the headlines to backroom scenes that determined whether or not the fraud would be exposed in time, and paints a portrait of Washington that will leave the reader asking, “Is this the end of our constitutional republic?”

    Per Wiki:
    Patrick M. Byrne (born November 29, 1962) is an American entrepreneur who is the former CEO of Overstock.com. In 1999, Byrne launched Overstock.com after leading two smaller companies, including one owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.

    In 2002, Byrne took Overstock.com public. Since its initial public offering, Overstock.com has increased revenue to almost $1.8 billion, while achieving profitability in 2009.

    In 2005, Byrne became known for his campaign against illegal naked short selling. Byrne and securities regulators maintained illegal naked shorting had been used in violation of securities law to distort prices of public companies’ stock. Under his direction, Overstock.com filed two lawsuits alleging improper acts by Wall Street firms, a hedge fund, and an independent research firm. In each case the defendants settled with Overstock.com out of court.

    Byrne has advocated for blockchain technology, including cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. He took an indefinite leave of absence from Overstock.com in April 2016 because of Hepatitis C complications, and he returned in July 2016 as CEO after his recovery. He then resigned in August 2019, following revelations that he had been in an intimate relationship with accused Russian spy Maria Butina and comments he made promoting the Deep State conspiracy theory. He later also began promoting conspiracy theories regarding the 2020 US Presidential Election, and was called “a leading election fraud conspiracy theorist” by The Daily Beast.
    ~

    Reply

  123. The World Economic Forum and various other socialist interests have strongly expressed a desire to impose vegetarianism on humanity. Low IQ populations are easier to control. And turns out there is a direct link between meat consumption and improved cognition in children:

    https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10408398.2018.1437024?scroll=top&needAccess=true

    From a study done in Kenya, using the local normal level of malnutrition as the baseline and following supplemented groups:
    ===
    After 2.25 years, the Meat group had the best health outcomes. The Meat group showed the greatest improvement on Raven’s Progressive Matrices (RPM—a measure of fluid intelligence), while the Milk group showed the least improvement, significantly below the other three groups (including the Control). While all groups started off with roughly the same RPM scores, Meat ended up approximately 0.65 standard deviations higher than Milk (Hulett et al. 2014), corresponding to a difference of around 10 IQ points. The Meat and Energy groups showed significantly more improvement on arithmetic tests than the Milk and Control. The Meat group showed a significantly larger percentage increase in end-of-term test scores compared to the others, with the greatest increase being in the arithmetic subtest. Over the course of the study, the Meat group had the highest levels of physical activity during free play, the greatest increase in leadership activities, and the greatest increase in initiative behavior. The Milk group had the lowest level of physical activity and leadership and initiative behavior among the three intervention groups.
    ===

    Reply

  129. What’s really going on in Mexico — how the Cartels actually run things. Hint: it’s much worse than the worst you’ve heard.

    Reply

    1. See also Braving Ruin’s videos, “Surveillance, Inc.” parts 1 and 2. (And I have good reason to believe he had insider information on the topic.)

      youtube / watch?v=g8SZb8Nh1Kk

      youtube /watch?v=EJdG5EGf9dg

      Reply

  133. Repost per request in Interesting links thread:

    The people screaming “insurrection” and “treason” as to January 6 2021 protestors and rioters are openly engaged in pushing revolutionary Marxism that declares the USA to be illegitimate and seeks its destruction and who are using the schools to indoctrinate generations of students to be Marxist revolutionaries.

    https://www.city-journal.org/california-ethnic-studies-programs-merchants-of-revolution

    Reply

      1. This seems likely to be overturned on appeal — but not for quite a while, not until the topic has cooled.

        OTOH:
        Pelosi: ‘Thank You George Floyd for Sacrificing Your Life for Justice’
        Biden: Floyd’s Murder Exposed the ‘Stain’ of ‘Systemic Racism’ on ‘Our Nation’s Soul’
        (From NRO newsfeed)

        Could our national “leadership” be any more stupid and pandering? (No, that is not an offer to hold their beer.)
        ~

        Reply

      2. Convicted of “Policing while white”.

        Side note: this thread is getting too long; browser is starting to have trouble with it. Might be time to open a new one for this year.

        Reply

  136. HarrisBiden quietly issued an executive order that seeks to silence any political opposition by declaring that anything deemed to help the Russian Federation is illegal and allows the immediate complete expulsion of the person doing so, along with any families or organizations, regardless of any actual intent.,

    https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/04/executive_order_canceling_the_constitution.html

    As we all know, anything that contradicted the Democratic Party line has been called “Russian disinformation”. By formally issuing an Executive Order that without trial or due process authorizes the complete barring of any commerce with such person (in a way that would make the Ferengi Commerce Authority jealous as to its reach), they have essentially declared that they can outlaw anyone at anytime by merely claiming that they are advancing the interests of Russia, This is the kind of decree that dictators such as Hitler, Mao, Chavez, Lenin, et al., all issued in order to set the stage to disappear political opponents.

    Expect this E.O. to be cited by the tech oligarchs, finance, web-hosts, etc., to cutoff anyone who voices dissent to the Democratic Party line.

    The reason Democrats are so anxious to pack the Supreme Court is so they can appoint justices who will go along with Democratic Party totalitarianism and persecution and elimination of political opponents.
    Reply

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  140. About those Middle Easterners caught coming over the southern border amidst the random illegals…

    Pro-Al-Qaeda ‘Wolves Of Manhattan’ Magazine Offers Bitcoin To Anyone Killing Police Officers In Western Countries, Recommends Lone Wolves Infiltrate Protests In U.S., Europe

    https://www.memri.org/jttm/pro-al-qaeda-wolves-manhattan-magazine-offers-bitcoin-anyone-killing-police-officers-western

    ===
    Discussing how lone wolves can exploit protests, the article suggests that they disguise themselves as protesters and pretend to have similar views in order to infiltrate the protesters and steer them to violent actions, such as car ramming.

    The article warns the lone wolf against stabbing protesters, since this could alert others to his motive and make it easier for them to capture or beat him. Instead, it recommends that the lone wolf hire a “militiaman,” or “mercenary” to do the car ramming.

    “This way, you will kill a large number of Crusaders because they are all gathered. Besides, this act will have other implications, as you can incite the protesters against the police, whom you will claim to be the ones who sent this man to ram them. You will be able to enrage the protesters to steer them to fight with the police,” said the article.

    It also encourages lone wolves to take advantage of the civil unrest in some countries to attack police officers. Elaborating on this, the article argues that this is easy, as the lone wolf can exploit the angry protesters, whom it describes as “Crusaders,” and steer them towards attacking the police.

    In addition, the article asks the lone wolf to take advantage of the protests to destroy and vandalize private property if he cannot gain access to public property. “If you cannot reach public property, target private property, vandalize cars, shops, and stands. Remember that all of the Crusaders are jointly with their government in war against Islam,” it said.

    It also highlights another advantage in this kind of protest, saying that lone wolves can bring knives and Molotov cocktail without raising suspicions. Additionally, laws concerning rioters are not harsh and often do not impose penalties on violent protesters such as those imposed on lone wolves, said the article. “Everyone [during a protest] is violating the law so if you got arrested – Allah forbid – your sentence will be different from that of a lone wolf.”

    The article further explains that “timing” is the most important factor when it comes to attacking the police. It adds that lone wolves should wait for an opportunity to present itself, such as when there is a fight between a protester and a police officer, and states that it is better in such cases to use Molotov cocktails than knives. “Particularly when the police officer is the one who started the fight. In such a case, it is the right opportunity for you to kill him and become a hero in the eyes of the protesters and even to encourage them to commit acts similar to yours,” said the article.
    ===
    And so on…

    Reply

  141. Codavilla nails it.

    “Conservatives’ congenital mistake is to try conserving something that no longer exists by supporting institutions that now belong to a regime so alien to republican life that it treats attempts at citizenship as crimes against the regime. And so they are. They call today’s American regime “our democracy.” It is “theirs,” all right, but not ours. It is a classic oligarchy.”

    https://amgreatness.com/2021/05/03/oligarchy-and-remedies/

    Reply

  142. The real problem is how many accessories before and after the fact they have:

    https://tomknighton.substack.com/p/federal-law-enforcement-stage-bank
    “Unless those other box holders have been convicted of something and those particular boxes were seized due to that conviction, it doesn’t freaking matter what those people may or may not have done.

    I know, I know, bad people suck. Criminals suck. Yet the government’s assertion that they’re criminals simply isn’t enough to justify taking stuff without a warrant, which is precisely what we’re talking about here.”

    4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments? What are they?

    Reply

  147. Science, the Transgender Phenomenon, and the Young | Abigail Shrier

    Excellent presentation. She points out that this is =designed= to destroy the family, and to “create a new victim class eager to become revolutionaries” (hence so many among Antifa’s ranks).

    Reply

  149. We all KNEW.
    “”These are Tea Party people.”

    And therefore had seen it once already. Boy, those “good guys” collecting paychecks at the IRS, the Treasury, the DOJ, they sure stepped up.

    https://twitchy.com/samj-3930/2021/07/09/we-all-knew-barn-burner-of-a-thread-really-puts-what-media-and-the-regime-did-to-trump-and-his-supporters-in-infuriating-perspective/

    Feddies love us, this I know
    for their shills all tell me so.
    “Good guys” may help it along,
    But “they’ll be there if things go wrong.”

    Yes Feddies love us,
    Yes Feddies love us,
    Yes Feddies love us,
    their shills all tell us so.

    They may shred the Bill of Rights,
    And come for us in the night,
    Set up ways so strangers snitch,
    Seize our stuff without a hitch.

    But Yes Feddies love us,
    Yes Feddies love us,
    Yes Feddies love us,
    their shills all tell us so.

    Reply

  150. For all the libertarian (note small “L”) minded, here is a link to a GoFundMe for the lawsuit fighiing vaccine mandates. Supreme Court cases are expensive, and this will eventually end up there. With luck, it will give some freedom back to healthcare workers across the US, and maybe be a precedent for other workers as well.

    Full disclosure: I am one of the plaintiffs, as I was fired from my job for not taking the shots. After several years working for them.

    I’d also appreciate it if you could pass this link around. Dare I hope for Instapundit?

    Thanks.

    https://www.gofundme.com/f/freedom-of-choice-methodist-mandating-vaccine?utm_campaign=p_cp_url&utm_medium=os&utm_source=customer

    Reply

      1. Unfortunately, neither is MY representative, so I can’t vote against them, but I hope their opponents will be at least Less Awful. And their districts ARE in driving distance for opposing candidate events..

        Reply

        1. By doing it this way, doesn’t she get to collect her $221 in-session per diem? I don’t know about Portugal’s prices but that seems likely to pay for pretty nice digs while there.

          Don’t it seem as if collecting your per diem while refusing to show up for work constitutes fraud?
          ~

          Reply

          1. It certainly does to me. Of course, my recommendation to Gov Abbott was to classify the seat as vacant due to “job abandonment” and hire a replacement. 😎

            Reply

  154. Worthy of notice:

    “When I’m flying, I put my helmet on, my visor down, my mask up,” he says, over a drum beat with images of fighter jets soaring and machine guns blazing.

    “You don’t know who I am, whether I’m African American, Asian American, Hispanic, white, male or female. You just know I’m an American airman [strategic pause] kicking your butt.”

    Would that it were true – but fortunately we’re not fighting for air superiority over Israel.
    ~

    Reply

  155. I wanna testify!

    The Elite Beltway Pedigree of Officer ‘Redneck’
    Officer Michael Fanone plays the part well.

    He speaks with what most Americans would consider a rural drawl. He wears flannel shirts during CNN interviews and photo shoots. Large tattoos bedazzle his neck and arms; he has a beard. In a swooning front-cover profile for Time magazine, Fanone told Molly Ball he considers himself to be one of the “rednecks” who voted for Donald Trump.

    But a few overlooked yet eye-popping details in Ball’s piece undermine Fanone’s public persona as the besieged D.C. undercover narcotics officer who donned an official uniform for the first time in 10 years to help rescue his colleagues from bloodthirsty Trump “insurrectionists” on January 6. Fanone has been on a nonstop publicity tour for seven months, stalking Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill and confronting his police union for its lack of support.

    It all has a familiar ring; a photo posted last week by Alexander Vindman, now on a nationwide media blitz to promote his book about his role in Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial, was more than ironic. (Vindman is the national security officer who listened to Trump’s call with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky and helped shape the conversation as an impeachable “quid pro quo.”)

    The pair illustrates how D.C. partisans will go to any extreme to destroy Trump and now, his supporters.

    Fanone, like Vindman, has deep ties to the Beltway establishment. He was born in D.C. in 1980 and raised in the suburb of Alexandria, Virginia, situated in one of the wealthiest counties in the nation and home to much of the capital elite. Far from the rough-and-tumble life he projects on CNN interviews, Fanone grew up a rich kid.

    [SNIP]

    Fanone’s father appears to be Joseph Fanone, senior counsel for Ballard Spahr, a Democratic Party-connected firm based in Philadelphia. (A search of past residences and other open source information seems to confirm the relationship. News organizations like Time have refused to name Fanone’s father.)

    According to a campaign disclosure website, Ballard Spahr donated 88 percent of its total political contributions to Democrats in 2020. One of the firm’s partners served as a legal advisor to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign last year. Ed Rendell, the former Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, is now a special counsel at Ballard Spahr.

    In January 2019, Ballard Spahr opened up a government relations office in Washington, D.C. A few months later, the head of the lobbying shop, Ken Jarin, co-hosted Biden’s first official fundraiser. The event raised more than $6 million.

    Lawyers for Ballard Spahr helped defend Pennsylvania’s rogue election rules for the 2020 presidential election. “We defeated more than a half-dozen lawsuits by the Trump campaign—represented by Rudy Giuliani and others—and a handful of Pennsylvania Republican Congressmen against the state and Boards of Elections in various counties, challenging mail-in voting practices and absentee ballot validity,” according to a post on the firm’s website. “In Delaware County, the Ballard Spahr team was successful in both state and federal courts. Our work helped secure the Third Circuit decision that cleared the path to election certification in Pennsylvania.”

    [END EXCERPT]
    ~

    Reply

    1. That seems only fair, doesn’t it? It isn’t as if we’ve a policy of providing free transport, housing, & food to refugees at, say, our Southern border.
      ~

      Reply

    2. As of 6:00 PM Thursday, according to Fox News’ Bret Baier, the State Department had announced that American refugees fleeing Afghanistan would not, repeat NOT, be charged for the repatriation flights, declaring (in effect), “We’re dumb but we ain’t that dumb. Nobody here is going to do a presser trying to answer those kinds of questions.”

      In other news, State Department Task Force Successfully Pours Piss From Boot – “We were helped by the under-secretary finding the instructions written on the boot sole after three days of looking.”
      ~

      Reply

        1. Well, maybe not so good. Subsequent reporting has been that, contrary to assertions of State Dept. spokeshacks, refugees are still be charged repatriation fees.

          It is probably just a slight delay of implementation of announced policy.

          Probably.
          ~

          Reply

  158. I Cannot and Do Not vouch for the reliability of this source The reporter previously broke the Virginia Governor Northam yearbook photo and the sexual assault accusations against the Virginia lieutenant governor, so you know he is dismissable as a far-right hack.

    But this report is interesting and has been ignored since breaking o August 4th:

    Dem Flips! Exposes Massive Voter Fraud, Implicates Influential Democrats
    Syndicated Via National File| PATRICK HOWLEY|

    Legendary Texas Democrat operative Gerry Monroe is blowing the lid off 2020 voter fraud in Harris County, Texas, which houses the city of Houston. As NATIONAL FILE has extensively reported, the Joe Biden campaign’s Texas political director Dallas Jones was implicated in a voter fraud scheme which saw a campaign assistant for Sheila Jackson Lee submitting fraudulent paper ballot applications on behalf of dead and unaware voters. Gerry Monroe will be interviewed on NATIONAL FILE TV (live on Twitter) in the 11 AM ET hour on Thursday August 5. Here is Gerry Monroe laying out some evidence:

    [SNIP]

    Voter Fraud Exists not only in Texas but in Every state

    ✅Non residents voting
    ✅Dead people voting
    ✅Mail in ballots same signatures voting multiple times

    (Twitter excerpt)

    Identities of living and dead people were stolen in Harris County, Texas to fraudulently vote in the 2020 election, according to bombshell audio obtained by NATIONAL FILE. A convicted forger who mailed the fraudulent ballot applications in Democrat Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee’s district worked as a campaign assistant for Sheila Jackson Lee’s 2020 campaign and has gotten paid by Jackson Lee’s campaign efforts in the past.

    The Joe Biden campaign’s 2020 Texas political director Dallas Jones oversaw this alleged voter fraud operation and he was interrogated by the FBI in the last weeks of the 2020 election according to insiders. The audio below includes phone calls in which people confirm that their identities or the identities of their dead relatives were stolen in Harris County.

    This information has been provided to the Texas Secretary of State for the purpose of aiding Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office in formal investigations.

    AUDIO CLIP 1: WOMAN SURPRISED TO FIND OUT SHE HAS BEEN VOTING: [SNIP]

    AUDIO TWO: A DEAD MAN APPLIES TO VOTE: [SNIP]

    AUDIO THREE: A DEAD MOTHER APPLIES TO VOTE: [SNIP]

    [END EXCERPT]
    ~

    Reply

  163. “Thousands of Washington home-care workers, represented by SEIU 775, remain exempt from Gov. Inslee’s vaccine mandate”

    https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/thousands-of-washington-home-care-workers-represented-by-seiu-775-remain-exempt-from-gov-inslees-vaccine-mandate/

    Because, y’know, vaccine mandates are ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY for public health, except when it comes to the health of older, sicker people who are most likely to die if infected. Inslee says it’s because if the workers had to be vaccinated, that would force patients out of their homes and into care facilities. Uh-huh. Where the state has no problem whatsoever with firing anyone who doesn’t get vaccinated.

    Reply

    1. The harder they push the greater the resistance they create. Parents value their kids and threatining them is not the path to follow.

      Parents take a stand against FBI crackdown on CRT opponents
      Parents and politicians are slamming the Department of Justice’s decision to bring in the FBI to investigate a spike in “threats against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff,” saying the Biden administration is likening their protests of “woke” policies such as Critical Race Theory — as well as mandatory mask wearing — to “domestic terrorism.”

      “Dear @TheJusticeDept Merrick Garland and @FBI Director Christopher Wray,” Asra Nomani, vice president of investigations and strategy at Parents Defending Education, posted on Twitter. “This is what a domestic terrorist looks like? You are criminalizing parenting, and you owe the people of America a swift apology.”

      She sarcastically signed the missive, “‘Domestic Terrorist,’ Asra Nomani.”

      Nomani’s group has been researching how school boards across the US implement “woke” ideas into curricula, such as critical race theory.

      [SNIP]

      In a separate tweet, Nomani claimed Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a “declaration of war” on parents when he announced the initiative on Monday.

      Another parent, Nicole Solas from Rhode Island, accused the FBI of being “the politics police,” while claiming any “legitimate” violence is already “sufficiently addressed by your local police.”

      “Arrest me,” she said in another tweet.

      [SNIP]

      “This is a coordinated attempt to intimidate dissenting voices in the debates surrounding America’s underperforming K-12 education – and it will not succeed. We will not be silenced,” Parents Defending Education said in a Monday statement.

      Elicia Brand, a parent from Loudoun County, told Fox News that parents “owe this to our children” and generations after to “stand strong in their fight for freedom.”

      “I encourage all parents to stand strong in their fight for freedom and parental rights and never falter in the face of unjustified threats,” she said.

      [SNIP]

      Sen. Josh Hawley joined with parents on Tuesday in their criticism, accusing Garland of only focusing on “democratic pushback against critical race theory,” rather than threats of violence.

      “All around the country, Americans are speaking out against the radical racist ideology sometimes called ‘critical race theory,’” the Missouri Republican wrote in a memo obtained by Fox News.

      “Americans have responded to this radical ideology by winning elections for local school boards and protesting peacefully at school board meetings. Yet your memo yesterday to the FBI and local U.S. Attorneys ignored all of this and warned of an insurgence of ‘threats of violence’ and ‘efforts to intimidate individuals based on their views.’”

      “I certainly share your view that threats of violence have no place in this country, but the backdrop of your memo strongly suggests that your concern is not violence, but democratic pushback against critical race theory,” he added.

      Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has also spoken out, saying his state “will not allow federal agents to squelch dissent.”

      “Attorney General Garland is weaponizing the DOJ by using the FBI to pursue concerned parents and silence them through intimidation,” he wrote in a Tweet. “Florida will defend the free speech rights of its citizens and will not allow federal agents to squelch dissent.”

      [END]

      In other news …

      “Homeschooling numbers have increased over 300% in the last two years, according to federal government Census data. This spike does not include Americans engaged in virtual learning through a public or private school program due to COVID protocols.

      [SNIP]

      “No doubt the push for Critical Race Theory, and the loss of confidence in the traditional institutions’ ability to teach children via virtual technology, played a significant role in a shift toward full-time homeschooling. The number of homeschool kids grew from 11.1% in 2020 to 16.5% in May 2021. Homeschool numbers are continuing to rise, along with their potential political influence. Homeschooling parents will undoubtedly have a larger impact on their local and state policymakers, and this is a good thing for America.

      “Two common points advocated by opponents of homeschooling are that homeschooling is inferior to a public-school education and that homeschooled children lack the social skills that other children learn in public- and private-school extracurricular activities. However, one reason for the record growth in homeschool is due to the dispelling of some of these negative assumptions through social media connections and support groups. All colleges and universities, including the Ivy League, accept homeschooled students and homeschooled students have traditionally performed better in college than public- and private-school students.

      “Not all pro-homeschool data have been published by homeschool advocacy groups. For example, one study, published in the Journal of College Admissions, found that homeschoolers who attended the College of St. Thomas averaged 26.5 ACT scores versus 25.0 for private- and public-school students. The researchers also found that homeschoolers finished their freshman year of college with an average GPA of 3.46 compared to 3.16 in the alternate group.”
      www[DOT]americanthinker.com/articles/2021/10/homeschooling_growing_by_leaps_and_bounds.html

      Elsewhere, [searchengine] the phrase:
      “The number of students enrolled in California’s public schools plummeted to 6,002,523 students in the 2020-2021 school year from 6,163,001 in the 2019-2020 school year. That’s a decrease of 2.6%”
      ~

      Reply

      1. I’m sure the “Good Guys” at the FBI will get right on this.

        https://www.bizpacreview.com/2021/11/15/crt-supporter-threatens-parents-i-got-over-a-thousand-soldiers-ready-to-go-locked-and-loaded-1163327/

        “A radical Critical Race Theory activist went on a violent rant at a Fort Worth School Board meeting claiming that he had 1,000 soldiers “locked and loaded,” threatening everyone in attendance before officers escorted him out of the room.”

        Reply

  165. https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/10/democrats-media-deploy-same-eliminationist-narrative-against-school-parents-as-they-did-against-tea-party/

    “Long-forgotten bondage, dwarfing heart and brain–
    All our fathers died to loose he shall bind again.

    Here is naught at venture, random nor untrue
    Swings the wheel full-circle, brims the cup anew.

    Here is naught unproven, here is nothing hid:
    Step for step and word for word–so the old Kings did!

    Step by step, and word by word: who is ruled may read.
    Suffer not the old Kings: for we know the breed–

    All the right they promise–all the wrong they bring.
    Stewards of the Judgment, suffer not this King !”

    “The Old Issue” Rudyard Kipling, 1899

    Reply

  166. This was quite a read:

    https://www.juliusruechel.com/2021/09/the-snake-oil-salesmen-and-covid-zero.html

    It’s long, but he sets out in layman’s terms (1) why all the anti-Covid measures aren’t helping but are in fact likely to make things worse; (2) how the public health authorities worldwide should have known that in advance; and (3) how the interlocking structures of Big Pharma, public health, and politicians (especially of the Davoisie type) have perverse incentives to continue on this bad path.

    The key catchphrase is “immunity as a service”.

    Reply

  169. Apparently PayPal is working for the IRS.

    https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2022/01/07/the-end-of-privacy-paypal-venmo-cash-app-to-report-600-in-total-transactions-require-your-tax-info-n1547739

    “PayPal told users:

    You may notice that in the coming months we will ask you for your tax information, like a social security number or tax ID, if you haven’t provided it to us already, in order to continue using your account to accept payments for the sale of goods and services transactions and to ensure there aren’t any issues when these changes take effect in 2022.”

    Reply

  170. By Any Means Necessary.

    https://spacenews.com/nasa-leasing-bill-transformed-into-voting-rights-legislation/

    “The Democratic leadership of the House, in an unusual move, then took the Senate-amended bill and stripped out the NASA provisions, replacing it with the text of two voting rights bills and now called the “Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act.” They did so because H.R. 5746 had already passed the House and Senate, so the amended version could go directly to the Senate floor without the threat of a filibuster from Senate Republicans, who oppose the voting rights legislation.”

    Reply

  172. I have some speculation, on something that caught my imagination (If that makes any sense.)
    Some people have “wild tales” about US Federal research.
    One Husband/wife team tells about “Stargates”, time travel, “Looking Glass”
    possible futures viewing, many other things including XT’s (offshoots of present day humans
    45,000 and 52,000 years hence.)

    If you think of Poul Anderson’s Guardians of Time stories, it can seem to make sense.
    The suggestion seems to be that the entities called “Grays” were members of the P45K-year group;
    the entities called “Nordics” were from P52K-year group…on different time lines.
    Could be that the Grays are taking pot-shots at us from their perch 45 k-years in one future,
    by establishing cult of _Moloch among proxy groups. If they established symbolism and ritual
    secret crimes, they could recognize and control their minions/proxies from the other end of
    the stargate.(Just Pop-in for a visit, maybe. To each Temple/office.)
    I would note that the symbol for a place for a demon to appear, is traditionally marked with
    a_Hexagram.
    Just think of G-d, Adversary, Angels, and let that marinate awhile.

    Think popular media, Stargate movie, Independence Day movie, drops on Simpsons, American Dad,
    “We’re Doomed” board game. Who knows what all. Are they Messages from somebody who can predict
    possible futures?
    See interview transcript of Dan Bursich Crain, also EaglesDisobey.net website
    Maybe a couple of pics? https://t.me/s/McafeeAfterlife/604 https://t.me/s/McafeeAfterlife/330
    https://t.me/s/McafeeAfterlife/372

    I couldn’t find the pic of kids on a hexagram.
    Geezertech on Gab.com

    Reply

  173. https://pjmedia.com/columns/athena-thorne/2022/01/17/is-this-how-democrats-will-steal-the-midterm-elections-n1550302

    The arbitrary new rules did not go through the correct process and enabled all sorts of irregularities, but they produced a few hundred votes more than the margin by which Biden was declared the winner in that state. The judge’s ruling that these votes had been cast illegally is a nice vindication, but it comes too late to undo the damage. The Democrats got what they wanted because they went ahead and did it anyway.

    Reply

    1. Oh, look, a fresh from the headlines example….

      https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/biden-admin-withholds-secret-iran-agreement-from-congress/

      “First, they create a conflict of interest with Russia as we are trying to prevent an invasion of Ukraine. Second, preemptive sanctions relief, and failure to transmit an interim agreement to Congress, would violate the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act. The administration needs to end their simultaneous surrender to Russia and Iran before it’s too late.”

      Reply

  175. https://www.samizdata.net/2022/01/why-i-am-against-most-covid-restrictions-if-not-all-of-them/
    Why I am against most Covid restrictions if not all of them

    1. Because freedom matters.
    2. Because freedom is nice in itself.
    3. Because freedom makes for richer people.
    4. Because freedom makes for happier people.
    5. Because freedom makes for a more interesting life.
    6. Because freedom makes for a better life even for lazy so-and-sos like myself.
    7. Because once you lose your freedoms it can take ages to get them back if at all.
    8. Because I disagree with the apparent (i.e. never stated but always assumed) belief that the only thing that matters is reducing death and hospitalisation as a result of Covid.
    9. Because I disagree with the apparent belief that living as long as possible is the sole purpose of life. [I say that and then think, “Well, actually, freedom tends to make for longer lives, in the long run.”]
    10. Because freedom makes for longer lives.
    11. Because I doubt that the restrictions have worked even on their own terms. Or if they have worked on their own terms they haven’t worked that much.
    12. Because it is going to take years to pay for this.
    13. Because in addition to all the ways the government has already buggered up the lives of the young (housing, education, minimum wages etc (probably)) this just makes things worse.

    Reply

    1. In the event of a nuclear explosion, I become a moderate, standing resolutely between the devotees of St. August and the proponents of the artificial forest, and yelling “Divide them half and half people. No need to fight.”

      Reply

  184. Um link interessante sobre uma mulher the 30 anos que era ‘stateless” ate’ conseguir cidadania brasileira.
    I really enjoy your blog and love your posts.

    Reply

  186. Came across this today – seems to fit with your post yesterday, but not sure if another commenter linked it.

    A snippet:

    “Think of all the times in just the past few years you’ve been gaslighted. They lied to you about open borders…they lied about Hillary’s 30,000 deleted emails…they lied about spying on Trump…they lied about Russian Collusion…they lied about a perfectly fine Ukrainian phone call…they lied about massive Biden corruption in Ukraine and China… they lied about the Hunter Biden laptop…they lied about the origins of Covid…they lied about the need for lockdowns and masks…they lied about the need for Covid vaccines…they lied about the vaccines being “safe and effective”…they lied and covered up all the deaths and injuries from the vaccine…they lied about the success of miracle drugs Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin…they lied about the stolen 2020 election…

    You’ve been the victims of nonstop severe gaslighting for a decade now. You’re all part of a human psychology experiment in the limits that government and media can go in propaganda and brainwashing…while you can see they’re lying right in front of your eyes.

    And these are the exact same people now telling you Democrats just over-performed, and stopped a GOP red landslide, against all odds, without cheating and stealing the midterm election. “

    https://rootforamerica.com/democrats-just-stole-another-election/

    Reply

    1. Kylee, the post is well written, and I know I should be the last person to complain of typos, but you have one repeated in the first paragraph. The word you want is “imagine” not “Image.”
      Also you use “in my currently” And that’s nonsensical. Neither “in” nor “my” are necessary. Currently suffices, as does “presently” or just “now”.
      Other than that you express yourself fluently and better than most of your generation. And your points about public school are well made.
      Continue reading and writing. Reading will smooth out your expression and add to your vocabulary. Well done.

      Reply

    2. Here’s an interesting insight into the current hostility towards home-schooling (aside from it being generally more effective than the government run schools):

      https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/homeschooling-and-the-managerial-elite/
      Homeschooling and the ‘Managerial Elite’
      [SNIP]
      Nate Hochman eviscerates the left’s case against homeschooling (“‘A Revulsion from Distinctness’,” Dec. 1). No greater indictment of the poor quality of government schooling exists than the move toward homeschooling.

      In nearly all facets of our lives, a virtuous cycle plays out: As we become wealthier, we rely more and more upon specialists to perform tasks for us, and as we rely more and more upon specialists, we become wealthier. Compared to just a few decades ago, today we less often prepare our own meals at home and more often dine on meals prepared by restaurants and supermarkets; today we less often change the oil in our own cars and more often go to Jiffy Lube and Pep Boys; today we less often even drive ourselves to restaurants and supermarkets, as we more and more outsource to companies such as DoorDash and Uber Eats the task of delivering our groceries and meals from supermarkets and restaurants to our front doors.

      As Adam Smith taught, prosperity grows with greater specialization. Compared to non-specialists, specialists perform their tasks more reliably and faster. But if specialists are to develop and use skills that are beneficial not only to themselves but also to the public, specialization must be driven by markets – that is, driven by consumers and producers spending their own money.

      In the case of government schooling, the specialists who operate this system are shielded from market forces. Government arranges for their ‘customers’ to be captive and for their pay to be disconnected from how well or poorly the children under their charge are educated. Government-school administrators’ prosperity depends not on educating children but on playing politics. As such, the specialized skills acquired and honed by government-schooling administrators have little to do with teaching and almost everything to do with politicking.

      The fact that so many Americans, who rely more and more upon specialists in most areas of life, now are turning to homeschooling is strong evidence that the specialized skills of government-school administrators are not ones that make these schools sources of true learning. …
      [END EXCERPT]

      Don’t just read the whole thig – follow the embedded link to the opeing post in the discussion and read that, too.
      ~

      Reply

      1. Pfui – Biden’s no honest politician.

        But I bet Xi has receipts.

        OTOH, how much good can Doltin’ Joe do him if those receipts are made public? So, does he burn the asset?
        ~

        Reply

  192. Possibly useful for vocabulary and period detail about men’s clothing, this place posts analyses of movie/tv menswear: https://bamfstyle.com/

    He occasionally wanders as far back as the late 19th c. (most recent articles I saw for that era were Warren Beatty in McCabe and Mrs. Miller and Christopher Lee’s first Dracula outing), but mostly covers 50s-70s movies and tv, including the obligatory Cary Grant, Sean Connery and Roger Moore suits.

    Reply

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