#russian jr nationals 2020

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Hunter Walker at TPM:

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) has been making headlines for his “rocky rollout” since being named former President Donald Trump’s running mate last month. The bad headlines and poll numbers have been driven by Vance’s extreme comments about “childless cat ladies,” abortion, and more. Well, along with extreme comments, Vance has some extreme investments. 

Vance has had a six-figure stake in Rumble, an online video platform. The company has played host to Russian propaganda and to far-right personalities like Stew Peters and Tim Pool. It has also featured even more extreme content, including explicitly neo-Nazi images and themes like this song touting the “Reich” and calling for Jews to be placed in ovens from a “dissident rapper” with a dedicated page on the site. The site features a plethora of channels and videos dedicated to the concept of “white genocide,” which is a core belief for white supremacists. It also hosts channels for explicitly white supremacist organizations including VDare and Patriot Front, which has led masked demonstrations around the country. 

A former Marine, Vance was elected in 2022 after a career as a bestselling author and venture capitalist. In both the financial world and as he rose in politics, Vance has been backed by the Silicon Valley investor and right-wing donor Peter Thiel. The pair co-founded a firm, Narya Capital, in 2020. In keeping with Thiel’s preferred styling, the company was named after a reference to the “Lord of the Rings” fantasy novels.  In 2021, Narya Capital made a major investment in Rumble. The investment, which made Narya one of Rumble’s top shareholders, also gave the firm a seat on Rumble’s board. Financial disclosures filed by Vance in conjunction with his Senate bid also show that he made a personal investment in Rumble that was valued between $100,000 and $250,000.  Rumble went public in 2022 following Narya’s investment. In a filing last year that was reported by CNBC, Narya indicated it planned to sell more than three million shares of Rumble. Narya’s initial investment in Rumble totaled over seven million shares. 

[...] Vance isn’t the only figure in Trumpworld who has financial ties to Rumble. Donald Trump Jr., the former president’s son, signed a seven-figure podcast deal with the company last year. Trump Jr. reportedly played a “pivotal role” in persuading his father to bring Vance onto the Republican presidential ticket. Trump Jr. did not respond to questions about the extremist content on Rumble and about whether his financial relationships influenced his support for Vance.

Trump VP pick J.D. Vance is an investor in Rumble, a far-right YouTube alternative that is filled with Neo-Nazis content, along with antisemitism, white nationalism, anti-LGBTQ+ extremism, and other bigotries.

[notwiselybuttoowell]

Trump has spoken openly about his plans should he win the presidency, including using the military at the border and in cities struggling with violent crime. His plans also have included using the military against foreign drug cartels, a view echoed by other Republican primary candidates such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, the former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina governor.

The threats have raised questions about the meaning of military oaths, presidential power and who Trump could appoint to support his approach.

Trump already has suggested he might bring back retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who served briefly as Trump’s national security adviser and twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during its Russian influence probe before being pardoned by Trump. Flynn suggested in the aftermath of the 2020 election that Trump could seize voting machines and order the military in some states to help rerun the election.

Attempts to invoke the Insurrection Act and use the military for domestic policing would likely elicit pushback from the Pentagon, where the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is Gen. Charles Q. Brown. He was one of the eight members of the Joint Chiefs who signed a memo to military personnel in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The memo emphasized the oaths they took and called the events of that day, which were intended to stop certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over Trump, “sedition and insurrection.”

Trump and his party nevertheless retain wide support among those who have served in the military. AP VoteCast, an in-depth survey of more than 94,000 voters nationwide, showed that 59% of U.S. military veterans voted for Trump in the 2020 presidential election. In the 2022 midterms, 57% of military veterans supported Republican candidates.

Presidents have issued a total of 40 proclamations invoking the law, some of those done multiple times for the same crisis, Nunn said. Lyndon Johnson invoked it three times — in Baltimore, Chicago and Washington — in response to the unrest in cities after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.

William Banks, a Syracuse University law professor and expert in national security law, said a military officer is not forced to follow “unlawful orders.” That could create a difficult situation for leaders whose units are called on for domestic policing, since they can face charges for taking unlawful actions.

“But there is a big thumb on the scale in favor of the president’s interpretation of whether the order is lawful,” Banks said. “You’d have a really big row to hoe and you would have a big fuss inside the military if you chose not to follow a presidential order.”

Nunn, who has suggested steps to restrict the invocation of the law, said military personnel cannot be ordered to break the law.

“Members of the military are legally obliged to disobey an unlawful order. At the same time, that is a lot to ask of the military because they are also obliged to obey orders,” he said. “And the punishment for disobeying an order that turns out to be lawful is your career is over, and you may well be going to jail for a very long time. The stakes for them are extraordinarily high.”

[originalleftist]

Divide and Conquer.

I think a lot of people maybe misunderstand what is meant when we say that a third party vote is a vote for Trump/Republicans. After all, they're not actually voting for Republicans. How are they helping Republicans any more than they're helping Democrats by voting third party, or independent, or staying home? So it's easy to get defensive, and see this argument as just an attempt by Democrats to suppress alternatives.

But here's the thing: Republicans are the minority. Their signature policies are, often, hated by most Americans. Republicans have won the popular vote in ONE presidential election since the 80s. If the Republican Texas Attorney General Paxton's remarks about suppressing 2 million votes in 2020 are true, Texas would likely be a Blue state in a fair election. The only way they can win national elections is by suppressing the vote, or otherwise manipulating the outcome. And one of the ways that they do that is by trying to divide the opposition.

Divide and conquer. It's one of the oldest strategies in the books. If you are weaker than your opponents, you try to pit your opponents against each other, then gobble them up one and at a time. Republicans do this all the time, most notably by trying to pit the progressive Left against "moderate" or "establishment" Democrats. Their allies in the Kremlin have it down to an art form (in 2016, Russian operatives literally organized opposing rallies at the same time and place on social media).

This is why voting third party, or independent, or not voting, hurts Democrats more than it does Republicans, as a rule. Because you're not just taking a neutral third option. You're splitting the anti-Republican fascism vote. And that's the only way that they win. This is why a Biden primary challenger (Dean Phillips) and a third party candidate (Cornell West) both turned out to have gotten donations from Harlan Crow (the billionaire with the Nazi memorabilia collection who bought Clarence Thomas). This is why Steve Bannon is backing up RFK Jr. It sure as fuck isn't because they want a progressive alternative in the White House.

Keep this in mind next year. Whatever grievances you have with Democrats, remember that the only way MAGA Republicans win is if the majority who oppose them are divided, and that there is a reason why Right-wing billionaires and their media allies want you voting for "third party" candidates, and it sure as Hell isn't because they want a more progressive America.

Edit: Corrected "lackeys" to "allies" when describing the Kremlin's association with the Republican Party/MAGA. I don't think Putin works for anyone but himself.

[brookston]

Holidays 8.28

Holidays

Bow Tie Day

Crackers Over the Keyboard Day

Criminal Appreciation Day

Crumbs Between the Keys Day

Dream Day Quest and Jubilee

828 Day

Emerati Women’s Day (UAE)

Emmett Till Day

End of the Fairy Tale Day

Giving Black Day (a.k.a. Give 828)

Gone-ta-Pott Day [every 28th]

Green Shirt Guy Day

I Have a Dream Day

International Read Comics in Public Day

Manifest 828 Day

Mariamoba (Republic of Georgia)

National Bow Tie Day

National Grandparents Day (Mexico)

National Over It Day

National Power Rangers Day

National Thoughtful Day

Nativity of Nephthys (Egyptian Goddess of Love)

Race Your Mouse Around the Icons Day

Radio Commercial Day

Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day

Russian Germans Day (Germany)

Scientific American Day

Significant Historical Events Day

Tan Suit Day

Watermelon Day (French Republic)

World Day of Turners Syndrome

Food & Drink Celebrations

National Cheese Sacrifice Day

National Cherry Turnover Day

National Red Wine Day

Stuffed Green Bell Peppers Day

Subway Sandwich Day

4th & Last Monday in August

Araw ng mga Bayani (National Heroes’ Day; Philippines) [Last Monday]

August/Summer Bank Holiday (UK) [Last Monday]

International Day of Cyber Attack Ceasefire [Last Monday]

Liberation Day (Hong Kong) [Last Monday]

Motorist Consideration Monday [Monday of Be Kind to Humankind Week]

Notting Hill Carnival (UK) [Last Monday & day before]

Social Justice Day (Antarctica) [4th Monday]

Independence Days

Holy Empire of Reunion (Declared; 1997) [unrecognized]

Luana (Declared; 2019) [unrecognized]

Moldova (from USSR; 1991)

Ohio Empire (Declared; 2008) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Alexander of Constantinople (Christian; Saint)

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Abkhazia)

Augustine of Hippo (Christian; Saint) [brewers] *

Ayyankali Jayanti (Kerala, India)

Constant Troyon (Artology)

Edmund Arrowsmith (Christian; Saint)

Edward Burne-Jones (Artology)

Feast of the Mother of God (Georgia, Macedonia, Serbia)

Festival for Luna (Ancient Rome)

Festival for Sol (Ancient Rome)

Festival of the Neon Revolution

First Onam (Rice Harvest Festival; Kerala, India)

Frank Gorshin Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Hermes of Rome (Christian; Saint)

Julian (Christian; Saint)

Junipero Serra (Christian; Saint)

Marimba (Virgin’s Assumption; Georgia)

Mariotte (Positivist; Saint)

Media Aestas III (Pagan)

More Rum Day (Pastafarian)

Moses the Black (Christian; Saint)

Uncle Norton the Elephant (Muppetism)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 40 of 60)

Premieres

Animal Crackers (Film; 1930)

Cain's Jawbone, by E. Powys Mathers (Novel/Puzzle; 1934)

Come Clean, by Puddle of Mudd (Album; 2001)

The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas (Novel; 1844)

Do the Evolution, by Pearl Jam (Animated Music Video; 1998)

54 (Film; 1998)

Flying Leathernecks (Film; 1951)

Gallipoli (Film; 1981)

Get Rich Quick Porky (WB LT Cartoon; 1937)

Honeymoon in Vegas (Film; 1992)

I Have a Dream, by Martin Luther King Jr. (Speech; 1963)

Let’s Get It On, by Marvin Gaye (Album; 1973)

Lohengrin, by Richard Wagner (Opera; 1850)

Mary of Scotland (Film; 1936)

Mickey’s Follies (Disney Cartoon; 1929)

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (TV Series; 1993)

Narcos (TV Series; 2015)

The New Mutants (Film; 2020)

Perri (Disney Film; 1957)

Personal, 19th Jack Reacher book, by Lee Child (Novel; 2014)

Phineas and Verb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe (Animated Film; 2020)

Private Lessons (Film; 1981)

Q. Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, by Devo (Album; 1978)

Rope (Film; 1948)

Smile, by Katy Perry (Album; 2020)

Song of the Thin Man (Film; 1947)

Studio 54 (Film; 1998)

Tease for Two (WB LT Cartoon; 1965)

Travelling Without Moving, by Jamiroquai (Album; 1996)

The Truth About Mother Goose (Disney Cartoon; 1957)

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (Film; 1992)

Victoria (TV Series; 2016)

Walk This Way by Aerosmith (Song; 1975)

Yankee Doodle Bugs (WB LT Cartoon; 1954)

Today’s Name Days

Adelinde, Aline, Augustin (Austria)

Augustin, Tin (Croatia)

Augustýn (Czech Republic)

Augustinus (Denmark)

August, Gustav, Kustas, Kustav, Kusti, Kusto (Estonia)

Tauno (Finland)

Augustin, Elouan (France)

Adelinde, Aline, Augustin, Vivian (Germany)

Damon (Greece)

Ágoston (Hungary)

Agostino, Ermete (Italy)

Auguste, Guste, Ranna (Latvia)

Augustinas, Patricija, Steigvilė, Tarvilas (Lithuania)

Artur, August (Norway)

Adelina, Aleksander, Aleksy, Augustyn, Patrycja, Sobiesław, Stronisław (Poland)

Augustín (Slovakia)

Agustín (Spain)

Fatima, Leila (Sweden)

Agustin, August, Augusta, Augustina, Austen, Austin, Austina, Austyn, Gus, Gustava, Gustavo (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 240 of 2024; 125 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 35 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Coll (Hazel) [Day 21 of 28]

Chinese: Month 7 (Geng-Shen), Day 13 (Wu-Wu)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 11 Elul 5783

Islamic: 11 Safar 1445

J Cal: 30 Hasa; Nineday [30 of 30]

Julian: 15 August 2023

Moon: 92%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 16 Gutenberg (9th Month) [Mariotte]

Runic Half Month: Rad (Motion) [Day 1 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 68 of 94)

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 7 of 32)

Calendar Changes

Rad (Motion) [Half-Month 17 of 24; Runic Half-Months] (thru 9.9)

[mightyflamethrower]

n January 3, 2020, the Trump administration conducted a drone strike near Baghdad International Airport, killing Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani.

Soleimani had a long record of waging surrogate wars against Americans, especially during the Iraq conflict and its aftermath.

After the Trump cancellation of the Iran Deal, followed by U.S. sanctions, Soleimani reportedly stepped up violence against regional American bases—most of which Trump himself ironically wished to remove.

A few days later, Iran staged a performance-art retaliatory strike against Americans in Iraq and Syria, assuming Trump had no desire for a wider Middle East war.

Soleimani had a long record of waging surrogate wars against Americans, especially during the Iraq conflict and its aftermath.

After the Trump cancellation of the Iran Deal, followed by U.S. sanctions, Soleimani reportedly stepped up violence against regional American bases—most of which Trump himself ironically wished to remove.

A few days later, Iran staged a performance-art retaliatory strike against Americans in Iraq and Syria, assuming Trump had no desire for a wider Middle East war.

An inept Biden administration has utterly destroyed U.S. deterrence abroad through both actual and symbolic disasters: the Chinese dressing down of U.S. diplomats in Anchorage; the humiliating skedaddle from Afghanistan; the brazen flight of a Chinese spy balloon across the U.S.; the invasion of Ukraine by Russia; the October 7, 2023 massacre of 1200 Israelis; the serial Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea; the visible restraint of Israeli from fully replying to Iranian missile attacks on its homeland; and renewed bellicosity on the part of both North Korea and China toward American allies such as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.

Of course, a second-term Trump must radically reform the Pentagon and beef up the military while warning enemies of the consequences to follow from any unwise aggression.

But if opponents believe such admonitions remain only vocal threats, then empty verbiage surely will erode deterrence further—such as Joe Biden’s serial and empty braggadocio, “Don’t!”

Biden’s past theatrical finger-shaking translated into aggressors like Putin going into Ukraine, Iran sending missiles into Israel, and the Houthis serially hitting shipping in the Red Sea.

Given the past messes of the Iraqi, Libyan, and Syrian interventions, and the catastrophic Biden humiliation in Afghanistan, Trump in 2024 is much more emphatic about the need to avoid such overseas dead-end entanglements or even the gratuitous use of force that historically can sometimes lead to tit-for-tat entanglements.

Still, Trump’s selection of J.D. Vance as vice president, along with Tulsi Gabbard, RFK, Jr., and Tucker Carlson as close advisors, coupled with the announcements that former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and prior UN Ambassador Nikki Haley will not be in the administration, may be misinterpreted by scheming foreign adversaries as proof of Trump neo-isolationism.

Moreover, the U.S. is battered by an unsustainable $37 trillion national debt and a nonexistent southern border that saw 12 million illegal aliens enter with impunity.

So, the use of force abroad is now often seen in a zero-sum fashion as coming at the expense of unaddressed American needs at home.

Moreover, a woke, manpower-short military has not achieved strategic advantages from wars abroad, while disparaging and alienating the very working-class recruits who disproportionately fight and die in them.

Recently, even as President-elect Trump’s inner circle emphasized an end to endless conflicts, Trump warned Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin not to escalate his attacks against Ukraine. Yet that advice was followed by a Russian massive drone onslaught against civilian Ukrainian targets.

Putin no doubt wishes to encourage American enemies to test Trump’s deterrent rhetoric against his campaign’s domestic promises to mind America’s own business at home.

Is there a way to square the deterrence circle?

Trump will have to speak clearly and softly while carrying a club. And for the first few months of his administration, he will be tested as never before to make it clear to Iran and its terrorist surrogates, China, North Korea, and Russia that aggression against US interests will be swiftly and quietly met with disproportionate and overwhelming repercussions.

Yet Trump will likely have to rely on drones, missiles, and air strikes and not on major engagements, to deter enemies from aggression—and his domestic critics from claiming he turned into a globalist interventionist.

He is not.

Trump remains a Jacksonian. But such deterrence entails warning from time to time the reckless and adventurous abroad that our allies have no better friend than America and our adversaries no worse enemy.

In other words, Trump must remind Americans only by periodically deterring enemies can he prevent endless wars.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 12.14 (after 1920)

1939 – Winter War: The Soviet Union is expelled from the League of Nations for invading Finland. 1940 – Plutonium (specifically Pu-238) is first isolated at Berkeley, California. 1948 – Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann are granted a patent for their cathode-ray tube amusement device, the earliest known interactive electronic game. 1955 – Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Ceylon, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Libya, Nepal, Portugal, Romania and Spain join the United Nations through United Nations Security Council Resolution 109. 1958 – The 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition becomes the first to reach the southern pole of inaccessibility. 1960 – Convention against Discrimination in Education of UNESCO is adopted. 1962 – NASA's Mariner 2 becomes the first spacecraft to fly by Venus. 1963 – The dam containing the Baldwin Hills Reservoir bursts, killing five people and damaging hundreds of homes in Los Angeles, California. 1964 – American Civil Rights Movement: Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that Congress can use the Constitution's Commerce Clause to fight discrimination. 1971 – Bangladesh Liberation War: Over 200 of East Pakistan's intellectuals are executed by the Pakistan Army and their local allies. (The date is commemorated in Bangladesh as Martyred Intellectuals Day.) 1972 – Apollo program: Eugene Cernan is the most recent person to walk on the Moon, after he and Harrison Schmitt complete the third and final extravehicular activity (EVA) of the Apollo 17 mission. 1981 – Arab–Israeli conflict: Israel's Knesset ratifies the Golan Heights Law, extending Israeli law to the Golan Heights. 1985 – Wilma Mankiller takes office as the first woman elected to serve as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. 1986 – Qasba Aligarh massacre: Over 400 Muhajirs killed in revenge killings in Qasba colony after a raid on Pashtun heroin processing and distribution center in Sohrab Goth by the security forces. 1992 – War in Abkhazia: Siege of Tkvarcheli: A helicopter carrying evacuees from Tkvarcheli is shot down, resulting in at least 52 deaths, including 25 children. The incident catalyses more concerted Russian military intervention on behalf of Abkhazia. 1994 – Construction begins on the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze river. 1995 – Yugoslav Wars: The Dayton Agreement is signed in Paris by the leaders of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. 1998 – Yugoslav Wars: The Yugoslav Army ambushes a group of Kosovo Liberation Army fighters attempting to smuggle weapons from Albania into Kosovo, killing 36. 1999 – Torrential rains cause flash floods in Vargas, Venezuela, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths, the destruction of thousands of homes, and the complete collapse of the state's infrastructure. 2003 – Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf narrowly escapes an assassination attempt. 2004 – The Millau Viaduct, the tallest bridge in the world, is formally inaugurated near Millau, France. 2012 – Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting: Twenty-eight people, including the gunman, are killed in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. 2013 – A reported coup attempt in South Sudan leads to continued fighting and hundreds of casualties. 2017 – The Walt Disney Company announces that it would acquire 21st Century Fox, including the 20th Century Fox movie studio, for $52.4 billion. 2020 – A total solar eclipse is visible from parts of the South Pacific Ocean, southern South America, and the South Atlantic Ocean.

[mystlnewsonline]

Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev Charged with Ransomware Attacks

Russian National Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev Charged with Ransomware Attacks Against Critical Infrastructure Ransomware Attacks Against Law Enforcement Agencies in Washington, D.C. and New Jersey, As Well As Other Victims Worldwide; U.S. Department of State Offers Reward Up to $10M (STL.News) The Justice Department yesterday unsealed two indictments charging a Russian national and resident with using three different ransomware variants to attack numerous victims throughout the United States, including law enforcement agencies in Washington, D.C. and New Jersey, as well as victims in healthcare and other sectors nationwide. According to the indictment obtained in the District of New Jersey, from at least as early as 2020, Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev, aka Wazawaka, aka m1x, aka Boriselcin, aka Uhodiransomwar, allegedly participated in conspiracies to deploy three ransomware variants.  These variants are known as LockBit, Babuk, and Hive, and Matveev transmitted ransom demands in connection with each.  The perpetrators behind each of these variants, including Matveev, have allegedly used these types of ransomware to attack thousands of victims in the United States and around the world.  These victims include law enforcement and other government agencies, hospitals, and schools.  Total ransom demands allegedly made by the members of these three global ransomware campaigns to their victim's amount to as much as $400 million, while total victim ransom payments amount to as much as $200 million. "From his home base in Russia, Matveev allegedly used multiple ransomware variants to attack critical infrastructure around the world, including hospitals, government agencies, and victims in other sectors," said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "These international crimes demand a coordinated response.  We will not relent in imposing consequences on the most egregious actors in the cybercrime ecosystem." On or about June 25, 2020, Matveev and his LockBit coconspirators allegedly deployed LockBit ransomware against a law enforcement agency in Passaic County, New Jersey.  Additionally, on or about May 27, 2022, Matveev and his Hive coconspirators allegedly deployed Hive against a nonprofit behavioral healthcare organization headquartered in Mercer County, New Jersey.  On April 26, 2021, Matveev and his Babuk coconspirators allegedly deployed Babuk against the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C. "From Russia and hiding behind multiple aliases, Matveev is alleged to have used these ransomware strains to encrypt and hold hostage for ransom the data of numerous victims, including hospitals, schools, nonprofits, and law enforcement agencies, like the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C.," said U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger for the District of New Jersey.  "Thanks to the extraordinary investigative work of prosecutors from my office and our FBI partners, Matveev no longer hides in the shadows – we have publicly identified his criminal acts and charged him with multiple federal crimes.  Let today's charges be a reminder to cybercriminals everywhere – my office is devoted to combatting cybercrime and will spare no resources in bringing to justice those who use ransomware attacks to target victims." According to the indictment obtained in the District of Columbia, between April 21, 2021, and May 9, 2021, Matveev allegedly participated in conspiracies to deploy Babuk and to transmit a ransom demand.  Specifically, on April 26, 2021, Matveev and his Babuk co-conspirators allegedly deployed Babuk ransomware against the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., and then threatened to disclose sensitive information to the public unless a payment was made. "Data theft and extortion attempts by ransomware groups are corrosive, cynical attacks on key institutions and the good people behind them as they go about their business and serve the public," said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia.  "Whether these criminals target law enforcement, other government agencies, or private companies like health care providers, we will use every tool at our disposal to prosecute and punish such offenses.  Thanks to exceptional work by our partners here, we identified and charged this culprit." "The FBI is steadfast in our commitment to disrupting cybercriminals like Matveev," said Assistant Director Bryan Vorndran of the FBI's Cyber Division.  "The FBI will continue to impose costs on cyber adversaries through our joint collaboration with our private sector and international partners, and we will not tolerate these criminal acts against American citizens." The LockBit ransomware variant first appeared around January 2020.  LockBit actors have executed over 1,400 attacks against victims in the United States and around the world, issuing over $100 million in ransom demands and receiving over $75 million in ransom payments. The Babuk ransomware variant first appeared around December 2020.  Babuk actors executed over 65 attacks against victims in the United States and around the world, issuing over $49 million in ransom demands and receiving as much as $13 million in ransom payments. Since June 2021, the Hive ransomware group has targeted more than 1,400 victims around the world and received as much as $120 million in ransom payments. The LockBit, Babuk, and Hive ransomware variants operated in the same general manner: first, the ransomware actors would identify and unlawfully access vulnerable computer systems, sometimes through their own hacking, or by purchasing stolen access credentials from others.  Second, the actors would deploy the ransomware variant within the victim's computer system, allowing the actors to encrypt and steal data thereon.  Next, the actors would send a ransom note to the victim demanding a payment in exchange for decrypting the victim's data or refraining from sharing it publicly.  Finally, the ransomware actors would negotiate a ransom amount with each victim willing to pay.  If a victim did not pay, ransomware actors would often post that victim's data on a public website, often called a data leak site. Matveev is charged with conspiring to transmit ransom demands, conspiring to damage protected computers, and intentionally damaging protected computers.  If convicted, he faces over 20 years in prison. The FBI Newark Field Office's Cyber Crimes Task Force is investigating the case with valuable assistance from the Jersey City Police Department, New Jersey State Police, Newark IRS Criminal Investigation, and international partners from European Cyber Crime Centre of Europol, National Police Agency of Japan, Gendarmerie Nationale Cyberspace Command of France, National Crime Agency and South West Regional Organized Crime Unit of the United Kingdom, Kantonspolizei Zürich of Switzerland, High-Tech Crime Unit of the Dutch Police Services Agency of the Netherlands, Bundeskriminalamt and Landeskriminalamt of Germany, Mossos d'Esquadra Police Department of Spain, Norwegian Police Service of Norway, and Swedish Police Authority of Sweden. Trial Attorneys Jessica C. Peck, Benjamin Proctor, and Jorge Gonzalez of the Criminal Division's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS); Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew M. Trombly and David E. Malagold for the District of New Jersey's Cybercrime Unit in Newark; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Aloi for the District of Columbia's Fraud, Public Corruption, and Civil Rights Section are prosecuting the case. The FBI Tampa Field Office and Orlando Resident Agency, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Chauncey Bratt for the Middle District of Florida and CCIPS Trial Attorneys Christen Gallagher and Alison Zitron, made critical contributions to the case.  The FBI Washington Field Office and Metropolitan Police Department also provided valuable assistance. The Justice Department's Office of International Affairs and National Security Division also provided significant assistance. Victims of LockBit, Babuk, or Hive ransomware should contact their local FBI field office for further information.  For additional information on ransomware, including the LockBit, Babuk, and Hive variants, please visit StopRansomware.gov. Additionally, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today announced that it is designating the defendant for his role in launching ransomware attacks against U.S. law enforcement, businesses, and critical infrastructure. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice Read the full article

[newagesispage]

                                                                          DECEMBER   2022

THE RIB PAGE

Hooray for the midterm elections!!! And the republicans have the house. Pelosi will step down as Dem party leader. Kevin McCarthy may not lead the next majority, does he have the votes??

*****

The Oath Keepers spent hundreds of dollars at Olive Garden after their Jan. 6 shenanigans. I am not at all surprised. I never understood Olive Garden, I mean 1 dressing for salad? What is that?** Stewart Rhodes was found guilty of sedition!!!!!

*****

The Rolling Stones are now on a collectable coin in the UK.

*****

The Senate repealed the defense of marriage act and passed the respect for marriage act. If the state one marries in says it is legal, it is legal everywhere!

*****

Dr. Oz is trying to get his show back but word is the producers won’t talk to him. They feel he has damaged his rep.

*****

Hey Bill Maher, am I watching Fox?? You have become such a grumpy old man.

*****

Days alert: Oh Xander why fuck it all up?? Sarah, we’ll miss ya! Li and Kristen are just electric!! Let’s pull these 2 together. It would be great to get her away from Brady and he can find Teresa again!** Did Jada have an abortion?** Loved having the entire Patch fam in Salem. C’mon.. More!!

*****

A cruise ship with 800 covid cases docked in Sydney.

*****

Quentin Tarantino has a new book, Cinema Speculation.

*****

Bob Iger is back on top at Disney.

*****

They say a billion a year in interest for Musk’s twitter loan.** So people are buying the blue checks and pretending to be famous people. This has led to some funny moments but it is hardly worth it. Jim Carrey has opted out.

*****

It is sad that Biden has to seem embarrassed about his age. Society really hates aging.  

*****

Rudy will not face criminal charges.

*****

Oh no. Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde are over. I was routing for ‘em!

*****

Jesse Benton, who worked for Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul was convicted of facilitating an illegal campaign contribution from a Russian national to the 2016 Trump campaign.

*****

In 2020 Herschel Walker asked if Biden shouldn’t take a mental exam but he refuses to do it himself.

*****

Trump broke bread with Kanye and Nick Fuentes. What a crowd!

*****

It’s official- More people are smoking weed than cigarettes!

*****

Todd and Julie Chrisley were sentenced to 19 years in prison.

*****

I don’t really watch the AMA awards but the best dressed I saw were Pink, Karrueche Tran and Ari Lennox.

What? That day has come? No more Parade magazine in the Sunday paper?!

*****

It has been a busy month so just a short Rib page for these 30 days!

*****

R.I.P. Club Q victims, many other shooting victims, Ned Rorem, Clarence Gilyard Jr., Carol Leigh, George Lois, Aaron Carter, Gerald Stern, George Booth, Jason David Frank, Takeoff, Julie Powell,  Irene Cara, David Davis, Vanilla Beane, Coy Gibbs, Keith Levene, Bud Friedman, David English, Christine McVie, Viola Bader and Robert Clary.

[sywtwfs]

2020 Four Continents Championships, Bavarian Open & Russian Junior Nationals: Info & Streaming

The Four Continents Championships takes place in South Korea this week, while Russia selects its Junior World team at the Junior National Championships. Bavarian Open, a B competition in Germany, also features several top skaters among its entries. This post will be updated as more info appears.

Live results | Entries | Detailed schedule | Website | ISU

SCHEDULE

Korean Standard Time (UTC+9). Subscribe to our Google Calendar to get all competition times in your own time zone!

Feb. 6: Rhythm Dance 11:00; Pairs’ SP 14:15; Ladies’ SP 18:40 Feb. 7: Free Dance 13:30; Men’s SP 18:05 Feb. 8: Ladies’ FS 13:00; Pairs’ FS 18:15 Feb. 9: Men’s FS 11:30; Gala 17:30

=============================

Be careful of popups and ads on free streaming sites. We are not responsible for the quality of the streams; we only provide the links. Many streams for major figure skating events have geographic restrictions. In order to unblock streams, consider using a VPN (Virtual Private Network). Free VPN services are available, but the safer/more reliable ones require a fee.

HOW TO WATCH

Fan streams: These fan-run streams may livestream part or all of the event: Stream 1. Check the streams when the events are on. The streams are available worldwide.

ISU: The ISU will livestream the entire competition and gala on the Skating ISU Youtube channel in countries that do not have broadcasting rights for the event. See here for a list of broadcasters and geo-restriction info.

NBC Gold: Subscribers in the USA can watch the competition (excluding the gala) live on NBC Gold. NBC Gold is only available in the USA.

Channel One Russia: Russia’s Channel One will stream the entire competition and gala live. Schedule in Moscow Time:

2/6: Rhythm Dance 04:55; Pairs’ SP 08:10; Ladies’ SP 12:00

2/7: Free Dance 07:25; Men’s SP 11:35

2/8: Ladies’ FS 06:50; Pairs’ FS 11:55

2/9: Men’s FS 05:25; Gala 11:25

Official stream (geoblocked)

Fuji TV: Japan’s Fuji TV will air parts of the competition on TV. Viewers with Fuji On Demand can watch the entire competition live online (available in Japan only). Broadcast schedule in JST:

2/6: Ladies’ SP 20:00 (live? 1 hr 20 min in)

2/7: Men’s SP 20:00 (live? 2 hrs in)

2/8: Ladies’ FS 19:00 (taped)

2/9: Men’s FS 20:00 (taped)

Unblocked Fuji TV stream

SBS Sports: South Korea’s SBS Sports will air parts of the competition live. Schedule in KST:

2/6: Ladies’ SP 21:00 (live 2 hrs 20 min in)

2/7: Men’s SP 17:55 (live)

2/8: Ladies’ FS 20:00 (taped)

2/9: Men’s FS 20:00 (taped)

Official stream (geoblocked)

CCTV5: China’s CCTV5 & CCTV5+ will air parts of the competition live. Schedule in China Standard Time:

2/6: Rhythm Dance 14:00 (CCTV5, taped); Pairs’ SP 17:00 (CCTV5, taped)

2/7: Ladies’ SP 15:30 (CCTV5, taped); Free Dance 16:30 (CCTV5, taped); Men’s SP 22:45 (CCTV5, taped)

2/8: Ladies’ FS 14:05 (CCTV5, live 2 hrs 5 min in); Pairs’ FS 17:00 (CCTV5, live)

2/9: Men’s FS 12:30 (CCTV5, live 2 hrs in); Gala 16:30 (CCTV5+, live)

Official streams: CCTV5, CCTV5+ (geoblocked)

Instructions for creating an account on feiliuzhibo (free unblocked streaming)

Tencent: China’s Tencent will livestream parts of the competition. These streams may or may not be geoblocked; check when the events are on. Schedule and links in China Standard Time:

2/6: Pairs’ SP 14:00 (live 45 min in)

2/7: Men’s SP 19:00 (live 2 hrs in)

2/8: Ladies’ FS 14:00 (live 2 hrs in); Pair’s FS 18:00 (live 45 min in)

2/9: Men’s FS 12:30 (live 2 hrs in); Gala 17:00 (live 30 min in)

ELTA: Taiwan’s ELTA Sports 3 will air the entire competition and gala live. Schedule in China Standard Time:

2/6: Rhythm Dance 10:00 (live); Pairs’ SP 13:15 (live); Ladies’ SP 17:30 (live)

2/7: Free Dance 12:30 (live); Men’s SP 17:00 (live)

2/8: Ladies’ FS 12:00 (live); Pairs’ FS 17:15 (live)

2/9: Men’s FS 10:30 (live); Gala 16:30 (live)

Official stream (geoblocked)

TAP: TAP W will air the entire competition and gala live in the Philippines. Official stream; click on TAP W (geoblocked)

Other TV channels: Other TV channels may also air the competition. See here for a list of broadcasters with ISU broadcasting rights. Check your local TV channels for other skating broadcasts.

On demand: The ISU Youtube channel archives their livestreams. The videos are available in countries that do not have broadcasting rights. Videos will also be uploaded online by fans. Search skaters' names on Youtube and filter by upload date for the latest videos.

=============================================================

BAVARIAN OPEN

Bavarian Open is a B competition. Events will be held at novice, junior, and senior levels.

Results & entries | Schedule | Website | ISU

Designation: B competition When: Feb. 3-9 Where: Oberstdorf, Germany Level & disciplines: novice/junior/senior men, ladies, ice dance, pairs How to watch: Free live stream

Notable entries: Senior - Shun Sato, Yuto Kishina, Marin Honda, Satoko Miyahara, Mishina/Galliamov, Sales/Wamsteeker, Lauriault/Le Gac. Junior - Stephen Gogolev, Joseph Phan, Lucas Tsuyoshi Honda, Eric Sjoberg, Madeline Schizas, D’Alessandro/Waddell, Yoshida/Nishiyama, Brown/Brown, Nguyen/Kolesnik

=============================================================

RUSSIAN JUNIOR NATIONALS

Russian Junior Nationals will decide Russia’s Junior World team.

Results | Entries (English) | Schedule | Website

When: Feb. 4-8 Where: Saransk, Russia Level & disciplines: junior men, ladies, ice dance, pairs

Schedule (UTC+3)

2/6: Men’s SP 14:00; Ladies’ SP 17:30; Rhythm Dance 20:15 2/7: Men’s FS 14:00; Pairs’ SP 17:00; Ladies’ FS 19:00 2/8: Free Dance 12:00; Pairs’ FS 15:15

How to watch: Channel 1 Russian livestream (geoblocked to Russia). International livestream will be provided on the Channel 1 Youtube. Videos will also be archived on the Channel 1 Youtube.

[robertreich]

Putin and Trump Have Convinced me I was Wrong about the 21st Century

I used to believe several things about the twenty-first century that Putin���s invasion of Ukraine and Donald Trump’s election in 2016 have shown me are false. 

I assumed:

Nationalism is disappearing. I expected globalization would blur borders, create economic interdependence among nations and regions, and extend a modern consumer and artistic culture worldwide.

I was wrong. Both Putin and Trump have exploited xenophobic nationalism to build their power. (Putin’s aggression has also ignited an inspiring patriotism in Ukraine.)

Nations can no longer control what their citizens know. I assumed that emerging digital technologies, including the Internet, would make it impossible to control worldwide flows of information and knowledge. Tyrants could no longer keep their people in the dark or hoodwink them with propaganda.

Wrong again. Trump filled the media with lies, as has Putin. Putin has also cut off Russian citizens from the truth about what’s occurring in Ukraine.

Advanced nations will no longer war over geographic territory. I thought that in the “new economy” land was becoming less valuable than technological knowhow and innovation. Competition among nations would therefore be over the development of cutting-edge inventions.

I was only partly right. While skills and innovation are critical, land still provides access to critical raw materials and buffers against potential foreign aggressors.

Major nuclear powers will never risk war against each other because of the certainty of “mutually assured destruction.” I bought the conventional wisdom that nuclear war was unthinkable.

I fear I was wrong. Putin is now resorting to dangerous nuclear brinksmanship.

Civilization will never again be held hostage by crazy isolated men with the power to wreak havoc. I assumed this was a phenomenon of the twentieth century, and that twenty-first century governments, even totalitarian ones, would constrain tyrants.

Trump and Putin have convinced me I was mistaken. Thankfully, America booted Trump out of office — but his threat to democracy remains.

Advances in warfare, such as cyber-warfare and precision weapons, will minimize civilian casualties. I was persuaded by specialists in defense strategy that it no longer made sense for sophisticated powers to target civilians.

Utterly wrong. Civilian casualties in Ukraine are mounting.

Democracy is inevitable. I formed this belief in the early 1990s when the Soviet Union had imploded and China was still poor. It seemed to me that totalitarian regimes didn’t stand a chance in the new technologically driven, globalized world. Sure, petty dictatorships would remain in some retrograde regions. But modernity came with democracy, and democracy with modernity.

Both Trump and Putin have shown how wrong I was on this, too.

******

Btw, if you’d like my daily analyses, commentary, and drawings, please subscribe to my free newsletter: robertreich.substack.com

******

Meanwhile, Ukrainians are showing that Trump’s and Putin’s efforts to turn back the clock on the twenty-first century can only be addressed with a democracy powerful enough to counteract autocrats like them.

They are also displaying with inspiring clarity that democracy cannot be taken for granted. Democracy is not a spectator sport. It’s not what governments do. Democracy is what people do.

Ukrainians are reminding us that democracy survives only if people are willing to sacrifice for it. Some sacrifices are smaller than others. You may have to stand in line for hours to vote, as did tens of thousands of Black people in America’s 2020 election. You may have to march and protest and even risk your life so others may vote, as did iconic civil rights leaders like the late John Lewis and Martin Luther King, Jr.

You may have to knock on hundreds of doors to get out the vote. Or organize thousands to make your voices heard. And stand up against the powerful who don’t want your voices heard.

You may have to fight a war to protect democracy from those who would destroy it.

The people of Ukraine are also reminding us that democracy is the single most important legacy we have inherited from previous generations who strengthened it and who risked their lives to preserve it. It will be the most significant legacy we leave to future generations — unless we allow it to be suppressed by those who fear it, or we become too complacent to care.

Putin and Trump have convinced me I was wrong about how far we had come in the twenty-first century. Technology, globalization, and modern systems of governance haven’t altered the ways of tyranny. But I, like millions of others around the world, have been inspired by the Ukrainian people — who are reteaching us lessons we once knew.

[kazuha-pista-badam]

a thread about sambo 70's dirty work

tw// abuse of young kids in figure skating

this thread was originally made by someone else on twt. i'm just posting it here so y'all can spread it. you can also translate it in different languages.

for those who don't know: sambo 70 is a major sports club in russia and the figure skaters under this club are abused by their coaches eteri tutberidze & daniil gleikhengauz

some keywords: owg- winter olympics gp- grand prix jgp- junior grand prix gpf- grand prix final fs- free skate/long routine 4cc- 4 continents cup

Thread: Eteri Tutberidze and the team at Sambo 70 have a long and horrifying history of disregarding skater health, diminishing serious injuries, and forcing injured teenage athletes into premature retirement. All of this has been enabled by the ISU, judges, and commentators.

1. Yulia Lipnitskaya OWG: 🥇 (2014) WC: 🥈 (2014) Retired at: 19 (injury & anorexia) "Eteri Tutberidze was proud to inform the press that Yulia Lipnitskaya ... sometimes existed almost entirely on a diet of 'powdered nutrients.'"

2. Polina Tsurskaya Youth Olympics: 🥇 (2016) Junior GPF: 🥇 (2015) Retired at 17 after struggling with consistency due to body changes. Polina at her prime

3. Daria Panenkova Junior GP: 🥇🥈 (2017) Retired at 17. After she left Sambo, her old coaches accused her of shirking training: "[She] once again refused to go on the ice ... she said that did not want to go to training."

4. Anastasia Tarakanova Junior GPF: 🥉 (2017) Retired at 17, citing "health reasons." She also struggled with receiving funding and federation support at the end of her career.

5. Alena Kanysheva Junior GPF: 🥉(2017) - under coach Svetlana Panova. Switched to ice dance from singles at 15 following a chronic back injury aggravated by training the 4T (Quadruple Toeloop, a jump) at Sambo. Retired from the sport entirely at 16. Alena's beautiful JGPF FS

6. Elizabet Tursynbaeva (KAZ) Youth Olympics: 🥉 (2016) 4CC: 🥈 (2019) Worlds: 🥈 (2019) Retired at: 21, but had not competed since age 19. Despite a chronic back injury, she trained and competed a 4S. She cited her health as the reason for her retirement.

7. Evgenia Medvedeva Olympics: 🥈🥈 (2018) - had a stress fracture. Worlds: 🥇🥇🥉 (2016-17, 2019) Has not competed since age 20. She can only safely execute two types of jumps due to a chronic back injury that leaves her unable to turn to the left.

8. Alina Zagitova Olympics: 🥇🥈 (2018) Worlds: 🥇 (2019) Has not competed since age 17. Alina commented that she and Evgenia were not permitted to drink water to keep their weight down at the Olympics: "We just rinsed our mouths and spit it all out."

9. Daria Usacheva Jr Worlds: 🥈 (2020) Jr GPF: 🥉 (2019) Daria fractured her hip (reported by Russian media as an upper leg injury) in warmup at the 2021 NHK Trophy, at age 15. She left in a wheelchair and has not competed since. Tw: Injury, bodily harm

10. Alena Kostornaia GPF: 🥇 (2019) Euros: 🥇 (2020) Eteri claimed Alena had refused to share the ice with other girls. When Alena returned to Sambo after a season with another coach, she was placed on a "probationary period" that required her to re-master the 3A (triple axel, one of the hardest jumps) in two months. Alena later fractured her wrist during a 3A attempt and could not compete for an Olympic spot. Eteri said, "I believe that with such an injury it was possible to skate." She is 18

11. Anna Shcherbakova (2022 Olympian) Worlds: 🥇 (2021) Euros: 🥈🥈 (2020, 2022) Sambo's choreographer, Daniil Gleikhengauz, bragged that Anna could eat two shrimp for dinner and be full, and said he was "glad that she was not obsessed with food." Anna contracted pneumonia in the fall of 2020 and visibly struggled to breathe at 2020 Russian Nationals. Her coaches gave her something to inhale at the boards, possibly smelling salts. Despite this, her "tenacity" was praised by commentators. She is 17.

12. Alexandra Trusova (2022 Olympian) Worlds: 🥉 (2021) Euros: 🥉🥉 (2020, 2022) Sat out most of the fall of 2021 due to a fractured foot, but still competed quadruple jumps in the events that she entered. She is 17.

13. Kamila Valieva (2022 Olympian) Euros: 🥇 (2022) Kamila is undefeated this season and the favorite for the Olympic title. On Feb. 8, after the team event, it was revealed that she had tested positive for TMZ, a banned substance used to increase heart metabolism. She is 15.

14. Adian Pitkeev Jr Worlds: 🥈 (2014) Jr GPF: 🥈 (2013) Left singles skating at 18. Most elite men are able to compete well into their late 20s. Spent much of his career competing on a chronic injury. Despite this, Sambo coaches persisted in having him train quadruple jumps.

Skating fans are well-aware of the horrors that arise from Sambo 70's training methods. I hope that this thread will help bring this into a mainstream light. As fans, there's little we can do, but sports authorities can and should act.

Please protect these kids.

[beardedmrbean]

During the 2020 presidential election, the legacy media collectively disregarded the Hunter Biden laptop story as a baseless right-wing conspiracy and even a Russian disinformation effort.

But since President Biden was elected, the same media outlets that rejected the damning revelations as unsubstantial are now admitting there was legitimacy all along. Some critics have charged the combination of prominent newspapers and networks turning a blind eye and Big Tech censoring the New York Post's bombshell reporting aided Joe Biden's candidacy in the weeks ahead of his eventual election victory.

The New York Times published a story Wednesday evening that was a deep dive into the Justice Department's ongoing investigation of Hunter Biden, who himself publicly acknowledged in December 2020 that the feds were looking into his "tax affairs."

NEW YORK TIMES FINALLY CONFIRMS HUNTER BIDEN'S LAPTOP AFTER DISMISSING IT AMID 2020 ELECTION

The Times reported that while Hunter Biden has "paid off a significant tax liability," a federal grand jury has subpoenaed witnesses and documents regarding his foreign business dealings.

"The investigation, which began as a tax inquiry under the Obama administration, widened in 2018 to include possible criminal violations of tax laws, as well as foreign lobbying and money laundering rules, according to the people familiar with the inquiry," the Times wrote. "But prosecutors face a number of hurdles to bringing criminal charges, the people familiar with the investigation said, including proving that Mr. Biden intentionally violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, which requires disclosure to the Justice Department of lobbying or public relations assistance on behalf of foreign clients."

Buried in the Times' lengthy article was a paragraph addressing a "cache" of emails the paper reviewed as part of its report.

"People familiar with the investigation said prosecutors had examined emails between Mr. Biden, Mr. Archer and others about Burisma and other foreign business activity. Those emails were obtained by The New York Times from a cache of files that appears to have come from a laptop abandoned by Mr. Biden in a Delaware repair shop. The email and others in the cache were authenticated by people familiar with them and with the investigation," the Times wrote.

POLITICO CONFIRMS HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP EMAILS AFTER MEDIA DECLARED STORY ‘RUSSIAN DISINFORMATION’ AMID ELECTION

The laptop the Times referred to was the same laptop at the center of the New York Post's explosive reporting, which published several emails that came from a copy of Hunter Biden's hard drive just weeks before the 2020 election.

At the time, The Daily Caller independently verified the authenticity of what the Post described as the "smoking gun" email showing an advisor of Ukrainian energy company Burisma's board of directors thanking Hunter Biden for coordinating a meeting with his father in Washington D.C. in 2015.

But the New York Times was far more skeptical of the Hunter Biden laptop story, writing, "The authenticity of the email correspondence cited by The Post could not be independently verified."

"The Biden campaign on Wednesday rejected a New York Post report about Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son Hunter that the nation’s leading social media companies deemed so dubious that they limited access to the article on their platforms," the Times framed the revelations in an Oct. 14, 2020 report. "The report, appearing just three weeks before the election, was based on material provided by Republican allies of President Trump who have tried for months to tarnish Mr. Biden over his son. It claimed that the elder Mr. Biden had met with an adviser to a Ukrainian energy company on whose board Hunter Biden served."

The report offered non-critical coverage of Facebook and Twitter's decision to censor the Post's report claiming it was based on "hacked" material, which itself was an unsubstantiated charge, and even entertained the notion that Russia could be involved in the publicizing of Hunter Biden's emails.

NEW YORK TIMES STEALTH-EDITS REPORT ON HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP STORY, SCRUBS ‘UNSUBSTANTIATED’ FOLLOWING BACKLASH

The Times ran a separate report sounding the alarm about "Russian disinformation," claiming then-President Trump was warned that Russians were "using" his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, who was given the laptop before providing its contents to the press, to spread false claims about the Bidens.

"The intelligence agencies warned the White House late last year that Russian intelligence officers were using President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani as a conduit for disinformation aimed at undermining Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s presidential run, according to four current and former American officials," the Times wrote on Oct. 15, 2020.

Politico similarly elevated the "Russian disinformation" narrative, running the headline, "Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say."

The report on Oct. 19, 2020, authored by Natasha Bertrand, now a CNN reporter, highlighted an open letter signed by "more than 50 former senior intelligence officials" who insisted that the published emails from the laptop had "all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation."

The letter, which was parroted by much of the media, baselessly suggested the emails were hacked and could have been tampered with by the Kremlin in order to make their contents look incriminating.

Signatories of that letter included outspoken Trump critics John Brennan, James Clapper, Michael Hayden, Leon Panetta, and Jeremy Bash, many of whom work as analysts on MSNBC and CNN and supported Joe Biden's candidacy.

CNN BOSS, POLITICAL DIRECTOR SPIKED HUNTER BIDEN CONTROVERSY, LEAKED AUDIOTAPES REVEAL: ‘WE’RE NOT GOING WITH' STORY

However, like The New York Times, Politico confirmed some of the material first reported by the New York Post.

"A person who had independent access to Hunter Biden’s emails confirmed he did receive a 2015 email from a Ukrainian businessman thanking him for the chance to meet Joe Biden. The same goes for a 2017 email in which a proposed equity breakdown of a venture with Chinese energy executives includes the line, ‘10 held by H for the big guy?’" the Politico Playbook wrote in September 2021, based on reporting from Politico correspondent Ben Schreckinger's book. "Emails released by a Swedish government agency also match emails in the leaked cache, and two people who corresponded with Hunter Biden confirmed emails from the cache were genuine."

Politico added, "While the leak contains genuine files, it remains possible that fake material has been slipped in."

While The New York Times and Politico eventually saw the light, there are several news organizations that famously dismissed the Hunter Biden scandal during the 2020 election.

Washington Post columnist Greg Sargent quickly declared the day after the New York Post first began reporting on the alleged contents of Hunter Biden's laptop that it was "Trump's fake new Biden scandal," calling the allegations "laughably weak."

"While Trump and his propagandists would surely prefer to have a more compelling scandal to tout, the thinness of this new gruel is largely secondary," Sargent wrote on Oct. 15, stressing Steve Bannon's involvement in the distribution of the laptop's contents. "Trump’s last-ditch hope is to cast a vague pall of corruption over Biden ... But plainly, the mere fact of covering smears and disinformation, even negatively, itself rewards their purveyors."

TWITTER'S DOUBLE STANDARD EMERGES AFTER NY POST HUNTER BIDEN STORY BLOCKED, OTHER MEDIA GET PASS, CRITICS SAY

NPR public editor Kelly McBride addressed a listener's question about the news outlet's blackout of the Hunter Biden story at the time. After claiming the New York Post's reporting had "many, many red flags," including its potential ties to Russia, NPR apparently determined that the "assertions don’t amount to much."

"We don't want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories, and we don't want to waste the listeners’ and readers’ time on stories that are just pure distractions," NPR managing editor Terence Samuel told McBride. "And quite frankly, that's where we ended up, this was … a politically driven event and we decided to treat it that way."

Unlike NPR, CNN wasn't nearly as transparent with its efforts to spike the Hunter Biden story. In December 2020, Project Veritas leaked audio recordings of conference calls featuring CNN's top executives urging staff to avoid the Biden scandal during the election.

"Obviously, we're not going with the New York Post story right now on Hunter Biden," CNN political director David Chalian said during a conference call on Oct. 14, the same day the Post published its first story on Hunter Biden's emails. Chalian later insisted the report was "giving its marching orders" to the "right-wing echo chamber about what to talk about today."

"The Trump media, you know, moves immediately from -- OK, well, never mind -- the [Michael Flynn] unmasking was, you know, found to be completely nonsensical to the latest alleged scandal and expects everybody to just follow suit," then-CNN president Jeff Zucker told his staff on Oct. 16. "So, I don't think that we should be repeating unsubstantiated smears just because the right-wing media suggests that we should."

JAKE TAPPER DECLARES HUNTER BIDEN CLAIMS ‘TOO DISGUSTING’ TO REPEAT ON CNN: ‘THE RIGHTWING IS GOING CRAZY’

Apparently such messaging was received by CNN stars like Jake Tapper, who dismissed the allegations against Hunter Biden as "too disgusting" to repeat on-air and that the "rightwing is going crazy."

CNN media correspondent Brian Stelter suggested Hunter Biden scandal was "manufactured" and a product of pro-Trump "whataboutism."

"For all we know, these emails were made up, or maybe some are real and some are fakes, we don't know," Stelter told his viewers. "But we do know that this is a classic example of the rightwing media machine."

MSNBC anchor Katy Tur mocked the Post's story, saying it "dropped like a bomb," but to "wither under scrutiny, not really dropping like a bomb." NBC News national security correspondent Ken Dilanian called it a "fishy story" despite acknowledging that various emails and images that came from the laptop looked "legitimate." MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle attacked those who were covering the Hunter Biden controversy, referring to it as a "so-called story" with "unverified claims."

"We are now four days away from the election and the truth is more important than ever," Ruhle told her viewers. "The truth is that we're in the middle of a pandemic. The truth is that millions of Americans are out of work. The truth is we have to listen to science. And in these final days, instead of debating crowd size or unverified claims or conspiracy theories, we should be talking about policy, values, and ideas."

FROM ‘SMEAR CAMPAIGN’ TO ‘RUSSIAN DISINFORMATION,'  LIBERAL MEDIA TEAMED UP TO DISMISS HUNTER BIDEN STORY

Ahead of the final presidential debate, where Trump hammered his Democratic rival on his son's business dealings, NBC News correspondent Hallie Jackson offered a slanted preview of what was to come in the political showdown.

"The President's also expected to bring up Hunter Biden and unverified emails of his business dealings, described by many intelligence experts as having hallmarks of a foreign disinformation campaign," Jackson reported. "The Biden campaign says they're ready for the attack, hoping to flip the script to argue the President's more obsessed with Biden's family than American families."

Jackson also made an effort to degrade Trump's debate guest, former Hunter Biden associate Tony Bobulinski, who claimed the former VP was directly involved with his son's business dealings.

"While President Trump is expected to bring a former business associate of Hunter Biden's, Joe Biden is expected to bring small business owners struggling in this pandemic," Jackson told NBC's Lester Holt.

Perhaps the most memorable interview exchanges from the 2020 election cycle took place on "60 Minutes" when veteran CBS News journalist Lesley Stahl laughed off Trump's claim that Biden was "in the midst of a scandal" in an interview that aired just days before the election.

"He's not," Stahl replied.

"Of course he is, Lesley," Trump sternly doubled down.

"No, c'mon," Stahl continued to reject the president's claim, before lecturing him, "This is '60 Minutes' and we can't put on things that we can't verify."

The editorial board of the New York Post had choice words for the Times' long-delayed corroboration of its reporting, writing "Forgive the profanity, but you have got to be s---ting us."

"In the heat of the presidential race of 2020, the Times never missed a chance to cast doubt on the laptop, saying the information was 'purported' and quoting a letter from former Democratic officials who claimed — with no evidence — that it was Russian disinformation. As recently as September 2021, the Times called the laptop ‘unsubstantiated’ in a news story," the Post wrote Thursday. "Readers of the Times have discovered in March 2022 that Hunter Biden pursued business deals in Europe and Asia, and may have leveraged his father’s position as vice president to do it. Hunter also may not have properly registered with the government or declared all his income. All legitimate topics of discussion about a presidential candidate’s family, no?… Readers of The Post have known this since October 2020."

[newstfionline]

Sunday, August 18, 2024

Presidential candidates, polls, and the issues (APNORC.org) As Kamala Harris secures the Democratic nomination for president, people are more likely to feel Harris is honest, committed to democracy, disciplined, and cares about people like them, compared with Donald Trump. About equal shares describe Trump and Harris as capable of winning the election in November, a strong leader, and capable of handling a crisis. Forty-two percent think Harris has the right vision of the country and 35% say Trump has the right vision. When it comes to comparing the candidates on the issues, the public is more likely to trust Trump to do a better job handling the economy and immigration.  Harris is more trusted to handle racial inequality, abortion, and heath care. The public is closely divided on which candidate would do a better job of handling crime or the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.

The US military and its Chinese suppliers (Govini.com) While China cranks out advanced weapons at a prodigious rate, it has also embedded itself in the supply chains for vital components of U.S. military platforms and weapons systems, creating U.S. reliance on the Chinese industrial base. Data from Govini’s Ark.ai, the software system for defense acquisition, show that between 2005 and 2020, the level of Chinese suppliers in the U.S. supply chains quadrupled. In categories such as electronics, industrial equipment, and transportation, China’s expansion is even more pronounced. Between 2014 and 2022, U.S. dependence on China for electronics increased by 600%. Chinese companies are embedded in the supply chains of subcontractors to defense primes across system components such as electronics, software, fuses and detonators, and data links. Tracing these connections reveals an adversarial presence in critical long-range systems.

'Don’t become a statistic': Hurricane Ernesto brings rip current danger to millions (USA Today) Hurricane Ernesto's eye was hundreds of miles from the U.S. on Saturday as it made landfall on Bermuda, but the storm will bring weekend danger to East Coast beaches, according to rip current and high surf warnings. Over 1 million people were under high surf advisories, while another nearly 10 million had statements issued for rip currents, according to the National Weather Service. (Rip currents can prove a deadly hazard for people far away from the center of a hurricane.) As far north as New York City, officials closed beaches in Brooklyn and Queens for the weekend due to dangerous rip currents from Ernesto. New Jersey officials also warned of dangerous and life-threatening rip currents along the Jersey Shore.

The British Have Finally Learned to Love Peanut Butter (NYT) When the American political commentator and noted peanut butter lover William F. Buckley Jr. arrived at an English boarding school in the late 1930s, care packages from home would include jars of peanut butter, which his British peers, he later wrote, “one after another actually spit out.” But over the last decade, Britain and many other corners of Europe have come around. Perched between the jams and marmalades at Waitrose, a popular British grocery chain, there are now 35 varieties of peanut butter—creamy and chunky, sweet and salty and extra-dark roasted, crammed into jars, squeeze bottles and two-pound tubs. Peanut butter—or as Jon Krampner, the author of “Creamy and Crunchy: An Informal History of Peanut Butter,” calls it, the “all-American spread”—has well and truly landed across the Atlantic. Britain is not the first European nation to take up the sticky baton—the Netherlands outpaces even the United States in peanut butter consumption, according to Mr. Krampner. Yet the land of marmite is the most recent European country where the product has taken off.

In a Ukrainian prison, cells are full of young Russian conscripts (Washington Post) In the basement of a prison in northeastern Ukraine, dozens of Russian soldiers—some wounded, most barely adults—sat huddled on metal bunk beds Friday, dressed in mismatched T-shirts and flip flops. In one tile-floored cell secured with a heavy metal door, Garfield played on a TV in the corner. The prisoners of war are not seasoned fighters who were caught in battle in Ukraine, but Russian soldiers captured at home after a surprise Ukrainian incursion into Russia last week. Many are among Russia’s youngest men: conscripts fulfilling their year-long mandatory military service who were never supposed to see combat, let alone enter Ukraine. The capture of so many unprepared young men poses a significant challenge for the Kremlin. It also serves as a test case for Ukraine on how to handle such a large number of Russian POWs. Conscription service is a politically explosive subject in Russia, where all men must serve in the military once they turn 18. After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised concerned mothers that conscripts would not be involved in any fighting.

India to hold first assembly elections in disputed Kashmir in 10 years (AP) India on Friday announced three-phased assembly elections in disputed Kashmir, the first in a decade and in a new political environment after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in 2019 stripped the Muslim-majority region of its semi-autonomy and downgraded it to a federally controlled territory. Since those changes the region has remained on edge, governed by a New Delhi appointed administrator and run by bureaucrats with no democratic credentials. The new polls will be held between Sept. 18 and Oct. 1, India’s Election Commission said at a news conference in the capital, New Delhi. The vote will take place in a staggered process that allows the government to deploy tens of thousands of troops to prevent any outbreak of violence. However, contrary to the past, the local assembly will barely have any legislative powers with only nominal control over education and culture. Legislating laws for the region will continue to be with India’s parliament while policy decisions will be made in the capital.

China’s rhetoric drives Taiwanese back home (BBC) Recent Chinese policy moves to criminalise support for Taiwan are unnerving the plummeting number of Taiwanese people who live and work in China, as well as those living on the democratically governed island. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office was quick to assure the 23 million Taiwanese that its new polices are not targeted at them, but at an “extremely small number of hard-line independence activists”. The “vast majority of Taiwanese compatriots have nothing to fear,” the office said. But wary Taiwanese say they don’t want to test that claim. “I am currently planning to speed up my departure,” a Taiwanese businesswoman based in China said. “Any statement you make now could be misinterpreted and you could be reported.”

Typhoon Ampil moves away from Japan as train services resume and no major damage is reported (AP) A powerful typhoon that slammed the Tokyo area with heavy rains and brought mudslide warnings in northern Japan headed eastward out into the Pacific Ocean away from the coast Saturday. There were no reports of major damage. Tokyo and nearby areas were back to normal under sunny skies. Bullet trains that cancelled services between Tokyo and Nagoya, stranding thousands of passengers, resumed operations with the first morning train. Some local trains were still delayed, however, and dozens of airline flights remained cancelled. Typhoon Ampil was moving away from Japan’s eastern coast at 20 kph (12 mph), with sustained winds of 162 kph (101 mph), the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

US official says Mideast mediators are preparing for implementation of cease-fire deal in advance (AP) In a sign that mediators believe a Gaza cease-fire deal is imminent, a U.S. official said Friday that Mideast negotiators are working out logistics for the potential release of hostages and distribution of aid as part of any agreement to end the Israel-Hamas war. The official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity in keeping with rules set by the White House, said the proposal currently on the table basically bridges every gap between Israel and Hamas and mediators were making preparations before a final deal is approved. It was unclear what measures were being taken, but the official said a new “implementation cell” was being established in Cairo in advance. The cell would focus on logistics, including freeing hostages, providing humanitarian aid for Gaza and ensuring that the terms of the pact are met, the official said.

Palestinian killed as Israeli settlers torch West Bank village (BBC) A Palestinian man was shot dead as dozens of Israeli settlers attacked a village in the north of the occupied West Bank overnight, setting fire to houses and cars, Palestinian officials say. The settlers—some wearing masks—also threw rocks and Molotov cocktails in the village of Jit, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said. It is the latest in the series of attacks by extremist settlers on Palestinian villages in the West Bank, where there has been a spike in violence since Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on 7 October and the ensuing war in Gaza. Israel has built about 160 settlements housing some 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem—land the Palestinians want as part of a future state—in the 1967 Middle East war. The vast majority of the international community considers the settlements illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.

CPJ denounces Israel’s smearing of killed Palestinian journalists with unsubstantiated ‘terrorist’ labels (CPJ) The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Israel to stop making unproven claims that journalists slain by its forces are terrorists or engaging in militant activity, and demands international, swift, and independent investigations into these killings. “Even before the start of the Israel-Gaza war, CPJ had documented Israel’s pattern of accusing journalists of being terrorists without producing credible evidence to substantiate their claims,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martínez de la Serna. “Smear campaigns endanger journalists and erode public trust in the media. Israel must end this practice and allow independent international investigations into the journalists’ killings.” Since the war began on October 7, 2023, Israel has used questionable and sometimes contradictory evidence to label at least three journalists killed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as members or suspected members of militant organizations.

[hummussexual]

Former US president Donald Trump easily won Sunday's Republican straw poll of who is favoured to be the party's 2024 White House nominee, conducted at an annual convention of grassroots conservatives.

Former US president Donald Trump easily won Sunday's Republican straw poll of who is favored to be the party's 2024 White House nominee, conducted at an annual convention of grassroots conservatives.

Trump received some 59 percent support from attendees of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held in Orlando, Florida. He handily beat that state's governor Ron DeSantis, who stood in second place with 28 percent and is considered a leading rival to a potential Trump presidential run.

Ninety-seven percent of the 2,574 respondents said they approved of Trump's performance in office, while 99 percent opposed the work of the current president, Joe Biden.

The results are unsurprising, given Trump's popularity within the far-right wing of the Republican Party.

But the broader political world has been watching closely for any signs that Republicans might be ready to jettison the twice-impeached Trump and elevate newer conservative voices to the national stage ahead of the 2024 election.

In the hypothetical case that Trump does not run, 61 percent of respondents said they would back DeSantis in the party's presidential primary, far ahead of ex-secretary of state Mike Pompeo and Donald Trump Jr., each of whom received six percent support.

Trump received rapt applause Saturday when he addressed CPAC, reprising his false claims of a stolen 2020 election and praising a "smart" Vladimir Putin despite the Russian president overseeing a deadly invasion of Ukraine.

[talksaboutracing]

I posted 3,893 times in 2021

726 posts created (19%)

3167 posts reblogged (81%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 4.4 posts.

I added 947 tags in 2021

#lando norris - 181 posts

#missing carlando - 171 posts

#carlando - 150 posts

#carlos sainz jr - 141 posts

#random - 122 posts

#anon ask - 87 posts

#daniel ricciardo - 34 posts

#fernando alonso - 21 posts

#not tagging anyone because i'm tired - 20 posts

#charles leclerc - 20 posts

Longest Tag: 68 characters

#don't take stuff that doesn't specifically concern you too seriously

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Daniel calling Lando&Carlos children:

Also Daniel:

How old is he again? 😝

199 notes • Posted 2021-08-03 13:16:51 GMT

#4

How it started....

How it continued...

How it ended....

(in case you haven't seen it, the middle still is from the Blooper reel of COTA Halloween video (the actual video)- and apparently Carlos put his finger in Lando's mouth. Lando's words, not mine 😆)

202 notes • Posted 2021-07-25 17:05:06 GMT

#3

2021 F1 drivers; their full names, under which flag they race, nationalities/origins/descents) - as compiled from Wiki (if Wiki is wrong, then I’m sorry and if you have further details, let me know)

Fernando Alonso Diaz - Spanish

Valtteri Viktor Bottas - Finnish

Pierre Gasly - French

Antonio Maria Giovinazzi - Italian

Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton - British (father from Grenada)

Nicholas Daniel Latifi - Canadian; Iranian descent (Iranian father)

Charles Marc Hervé Perceval Leclerc - Monegasque

Nikita Dmitryevich Mazepin - Russian

Lando Norris - British; holds British and Belgian citizenship (Belgian monther)

Esteban José Jean-Pierre Ocon-Khelfane - French; Algerian/Spanish descent

Sergio Pérez Mendoza - Mexican

Kimi-Matias Räikkönen - Finnish

Daniel Joseph Ricciardo - Australian; Italian descent

George William Russell - British

Carlos Sainz Vázquez de Castro - Spanish

Mick Schumacher - German

Lance Stroll - Canadian; holds Canadian and Belgian citizenship (Belgian mother); Russian-Jewish/Belgian-English descent

Yuki Tsunoda ( 角田 裕毅 ) - Japanese

Max Emilian Verstappen - Dutch (Belgian mother, but he chose to use only Dutch nationality)

Sebastian Vettel - German

+ 2020 F1 drivers:

Jack Aitken ( 한세용 ) - British (Korean mother)

Alexander Albon Ansusinha ( อเล็กซานเดอร์ อัลบอน อังศุสิงห์ ) - Thai, born in Britain (British father)

Pietro Fittipaldi da Cruz - Brazilian; born in USA

Romain Grosjean - French; born in Switzerland

Nicolas Hülkenberg - German

Daniil Vyacheslavovich Kvyat - Russian

Kevin Jan Magnussen - Danish

Note: Some names are regular middle names, some are patronymics (Russian), some are paternal/maternal surnames (Spanish, Portugese) or other variations from different countries. And some people simply only have one given name and one surname ;)

219 notes • Posted 2021-01-04 11:37:48 GMT

#2

I don’t know if anyone has this one without watermarks... but I love this. Everyone else is standing where they should... and then there is Lando and Carlos :D

270 notes • Posted 2021-06-27 16:50:18 GMT

#1

If you know you know... that's it, that's the post 😉

304 notes • Posted 2021-10-14 16:23:10 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[yourreddancer]

February 2, 2022 (Wednesday)  HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

Today, retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman sued Donald Trump, Jr.; Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani; as well as Fox News Channel personalities, including Laura Ingraham, for obstructing an official proceeding “by intimidating and retaliating against a key witness.” The lawsuit describes an “intentional, concerted campaign of unlawful intimidation and retaliation against a sitting Director of the National Security Council and decorated military officer…to prevent him from and then punish him for testifying truthfully before Congress during impeachment proceedings against President Trump.”

Their goal, the lawsuit says, was to portray him as disloyal to the United States, a spy, and “a politically motivated ‘leftist’ within the military who was insubordinate and even broke the law.” In addition to the effect on Vindman himself, it said, the attacks “left a stain on our democracy.”

And so, on Groundhog Day, we have come full circle.

Vindman was a key witness in the first House of Representatives impeachment hearing in 2019. A Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, he had been on the July 25, 2019 call between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. After hearing the call, Vindman had reported to John Eisenberg, the top lawyer for the National Security Council, that the call was troubling, with Trump pressing Zelensky to deliver an investigation into Hunter Biden, the son of potential rival Joe Biden, in exchange for promised military aid to Ukraine so it could resist Russian incursions. Eisenberg told Vindman not to tell anyone else about the conversation.

Vindman’s opening statement before Congress recalled the American dream. He explained that his father, who had brought Vindman from Ukraine when three, was afraid to have his son testify against the president. Vindman assured him it would be okay. “Do not worry, I will be fine for telling the truth,” Vindman said he told his father, “because this is America, this is the country I have served and defended, that all of my brothers have served, and here, right matters.”

After Vindman’s testimony, he was ousted from the National Security Council, and his twin brother Eugene, a senior lawyer and ethics official for the NSC who had not been involved in the impeachment hearings, was also fired, escorted off White House grounds “suddenly and without explanation,” according to Alexander’s lawyer David Pressman. The two men were fired on the same day Trump told reporters that he was “not happy” with Vindman’s testimony.

On July 8, 2020, Vindman resigned from the military after more than 21 years, citing the “campaign of bullying, intimidation, and retaliation” led by the president for his decision to leave public service.

And now he is suing the allies of the former president, demanding they repair the damage they did, both to Vindman and to democracy. "The threat to our democracy came from a conspiracy among people within the highest reaches of our government and their close allies. President Trump and his aides and other close associates, including Defendants, waged a targeted campaign against Lt. Col. Vindman for upholding his oath of office and telling the truth."  “I filed this lawsuit,” he said, “because I believe in the active role all citizens must play in upholding our democracy.”

It’s an interesting moment. The former president is still strong. His fundraising emails, full of fake promises of 700x matching and dinners with the president, might sound just like scams, but they work: he started the year with $122 million in cash. He seems to be stockpiling it for himself; the only significant expenditure he has made is $1 million to a nonprofit, the Conservative Partnership Institute.

But things are not all ducky for him, either.That million-dollar payment to CPI is significantly higher than any other donation, and it went to CPI, where his former chief of staff Mark Meadows now works, weeks after the House created the January 6 committee, which has subpoenaed Meadows.

Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, is supposed to go live this month, but when Business Insider reached out to Trump’s people—including to former representative Devin Nunes, who left Congress to become the CEO of Trump Media and Technology Group—to ask about it, no one responded. The investor presentation for the company was “so bad, it is laughable—literally says nothing,” one person to whom it was circulated wrote. The special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) behind Trump’s company is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Yesterday, Trump tried to take back his statement of Sunday indicating he wanted then–vice president Pence to overturn the election. He released a statement saying he only wanted Pence to send the electoral votes back to the states “for reassessment.” This, too, would have been illegal, but it is significant because it shows he recognizes that his earlier statement adds to the case against him.

At his rally in Conroe, Texas, on Saturday, Trump promised to pardon the insurrectionists if he is reelected, and today Tara Palmeri of Politico reported that Trump had considered blanket pardons of the rioters, asking advisors if he had the power and if it was a good idea. Belying the idea floated by right-wing media that the rioters were “antifa,” he asked, “Is it everybody that had a Trump sign or everybody who walked into the Capitol,” who could be pardoned. Trump also wanted to announce that he was running in 2024 even before Biden’s inauguration, hoping to frame any future prosecutions as being politically motivated.

Representative Pete Aguilar (D-CA), a member of the committee investigating the insurrection, said on CNN that Trump’s promise is “absolutely” witness tampering. He wondered what it would take for Republicans to say enough is enough.  “I don’t know where the floor is on that side of the aisle,” he said.

  That seems a reasonable question, as right-wing personalities are upping the ante in their political rhetoric, echoing authoritarians in their suggestion that they will use the power of the government to go after those they consider political opponents. Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA, for example, has expressed interest in arresting President Biden's chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, saying, “[w]e are going to create criminal referrals…. There needs to be an example made of him.” 

As right-wing fury seems to mount, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol is quietly gathering evidence, and those testifying seem to be getting closer to the heart of the attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Yesterday, yet another member of former vice president Mike Pence’s team, top aide Greg Jacob, met with the January 6 committee for more than eight and a half hours.The leader of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, has appeared before the committee this week and has answered “many questions,” according to his lawyer, although he has exercised his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination with regard to other questions. 

Today, former Department of Justice lawyer Jeffrey Clark met with the January 6 committee for close to two hours. Clark backed Trump’s attempt to cast doubt on the election, and Trump entertained the idea of making him attorney general until Department of Justice leadership threatened to resign as a group if he did. Initially, Clark refused to answer a subpoena, and in December the committee voted to hold him in criminal contempt. The committee remained willing to talk, though, and apparently it now has.

We learned today that the committee has also subpoenaed from T-Mobile the phone records of Arizona Republican Party chair Kelli Ward and her husband, Michael Ward, both of whom signed a document falsely claiming that Trump had won Arizona’s electoral votes. The Wards filed suit in federal court today to block the subpoena, saying that because the Wards are osteopathic doctors who use their phones to talk to patients, the subpoenas violate patient-doctor privilege. 

Meanwhile, the committee has put off Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani’s testimony while it discusses the scope of his subpoena with his lawyer. Today, committee member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said that the committee expects to hear from Ivanka Trump, the former president’s daughter and White House advisor, whom the committee expects to call this week. 

Raskin also said public hearings will likely be held in April. This will make them uncomfortably close to the midterm elections, but they have had to be pushed back because of obstruction by Trump’s people.

And so we are back to where we were in 2019, when Vindman first reminded us that in America, right matters. At long last, will most of us decide that it does?