A lot of what, lol? How to be obnoxious and choose really obnoxious and semi-trained people to carry out their obnoxious plans?
(my word of the day, lol!)
2 Likes
Speaking of the KGB…
Federal prosecutors said RT oversaw a series of “covert projects” that included funneling $10 million through a series of shell entities to a Tennessee-based company launched in 2023 that publishes videos on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Many of the videos published by U.S. Company-1 contain commentary on events and issues in the United States, such as immigration, inflation, and other topics related to domestic and foreign policy,” the indictment said. “While the views expressed in the videos are not uniform, the subject matter and content of the videos are often consistent with the Government of Russia’s interest in amplifying U.S. domestic divisions in order to weaken U.S. opposition to core Government of Russia interests, such as its ongoing war in Ukraine.”
Though the company is not named in the indictment, prosecutors said that it describes itself as a “network of heterodox commentators that focus on Western political and cultural issues” and features six commentators as its “talent.” Tenet Media describes itself using the same phrase on its website, and other details in the indictment align with the firm. Its website lists six right-wing personalities, including Dave Rubin, who has more than 2.4 million YouTube subscribers; Tim Pool, a podcast host with more than 1.3 million YouTube followers; and Benny Johnson, whose YouTube channel has nearly 2.4 million subscribers.
“We are disturbed by the allegations in today’s indictment, which make clear that myself and other influencers were victims in this alleged scheme. My lawyers will handle anyone who states or suggests otherwise,” Johnson wrote.
No, dude. If this is true, you’re not the victims here. You took dirty money and delivered a product. The rest of the country are the victims.
7 Likes
Off the top of my head, I would guess they are fans of Christopher Nolan.
3 Likes
2 Likes
3 Likes
The Springfield Police Department says it’s dealt with its fair share of rumors and misinformation.
“I think it’s sad that some people are using this as an opportunity to spread hate or spread fear,” says Officer Jason Via, Deputy Director of Public Safety and Operations. “We get these reports ‘the Haitians are killing ducks in a lot of our parks’ or ‘the Haitians are eating vegetables right out of the aisle at the grocery store’. And we haven’t really seen any of that. It’s really frustrating. As a community, it’s not helpful as we try to move forward,” Via says.
The rhetoric has gotten so heated, civil rights groups have stepped in. “Frankly, it’s embarrassing,” says Denice D Williams is the president of the Springfield NAACP.
3 Likes
4 Likes
6 Likes
Judging from each candidate’s reaction to the other, Kamala looks like she had a good time, while Donnie looks like he soiled his adult diapers.
Although in his mind, that arrogant, pouty look is supposed to be dignified and impressive… somehow.
5 Likes
6 Likes
With 50% Less Old Man!
4 Likes
… was going to joke about how Jon Stewart is one of the “old men” now — but of course he, like Walz, is about the same age as Harris
I guess white men just age hard 
5 Likes
Srsly, I think genetics has a great deal to do with it. And who knows what her TV-makeup ritual is? And Walz seems to be an outdoorsman.
This guy’s not white…
1 Like
Especially internally.
2 Likes
Presidents almost always seem to have grey hair when they leave the WH, regardless of what they looked like going in.
Except in Turmps case: that turd coasted through his term, acting on every impulse without concern. He DOES seem to have aged dramatically lately, though. Serves him right.
3 Likes
Is his hair even real?
3 Likes
No one could make a wig that bad.
3 Likes
2 Likes
Overall, I think it was a good Presidential Debate, and I think that Harris generally came off looking better than Trump.
Miscellaneous observations:
- Trump made the opening handshake super awkward.
- He’s not helping to shed the “weird” label that Walz applied. (Even if that’s not actually what he meant)
- I’m not sure I get the point of time limits and muted microphones if the rules surrounding them are not going to be consistently applied.
- Trump clearly took advantage of their willingness to turn his mic on whenever he wanted to talk, although I’m not sure it was to his benefit in most people’s eyes.
- The disparity was most obvious the one time Harris attempted to insist on responding to one of Trump’s attacks, and was cut off by the moderators. I did not observe them ever actually cut off Trump.
- I haven’t done any sort of deep analysis, but it felt like too many of the questions were driven by things that Trump has specifically said, and the Republican talking points in general.
- The obvious example was the question regarding Trump’s statement that Harris “Turned Black”. On one hand it seems like a good idea to challenge him on that, but it’s not as though his response was particularly satisfying. He either doesn’t or refuses to understand that people can be more than one race simultaneously.
- Harris’ response felt more substantial than the one she gave in the earlier interview, but it still feels utterly ridiculous that she needs to respond to it at all.
- The obvious example was the question regarding Trump’s statement that Harris “Turned Black”. On one hand it seems like a good idea to challenge him on that, but it’s not as though his response was particularly satisfying. He either doesn’t or refuses to understand that people can be more than one race simultaneously.
- Neither candidate did a great job of actually answering the questions, but by no means were their responses equivalent on any measure that matters.
- Nearly every Trump response devolved into xenophobic rants about immigrants, with occasional attacks on Harris and Biden.
- There were also multiple times he actively refused to answer, like about whether he would sign a national abortion ban, or whether he regretted anything about Jan 6.
- The abortion ban question is particularly telling since it effectively contradicts JD Vance’s statements on the matter, further illustrating the dysfunctional relationship they have.
- There were also multiple times he actively refused to answer, like about whether he would sign a national abortion ban, or whether he regretted anything about Jan 6.
- Harris’ responses tended to focus on restating her platform and policies rather than answering the questions directly. It’s not my preference, but I’m also aware that the Debate isn’t really for me anyway.
- Nearly every Trump response devolved into xenophobic rants about immigrants, with occasional attacks on Harris and Biden.
- Harris was clearly more prepared, both for the debate generally, and for her opponent.
- When she suggested that people watch one of his rallies to see how bonkers they are, and to see people leave from exhaustion and boredom was clearly calculated, and it paid off.
- There were a few times where the moderators fact-checked Trump. It certainly wasn’t enough, but that they were able to push back on claims of illegal immigrants eating pets and post-birth abortions is more than we usually get.
- Incidentally, there was a live blog going alongside the debate. They were wildly behind at times, and I doubt even a fraction of a percent of people watching bothered to check, but it’s still a worthwhile effort. A decent compromise would be to put something in the chyron that provides at least some of this information, but that could be difficult to do real-time, and it would probably be confusing to display this on a delay.
5 Likes