Sunday, April 2nd open thread: ‘Do I Wanna Know?’
Here is the open thread for Sunday, April 2nd. Please feel free to post links to interesting articles and to discuss whatever issues arise during the course of the day. Nothing is off-topic here.
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Here is Arctic Monkeys performing “Do I Wanna Know?” This is live from 2013.
frui diem
Have you ever heard of the CIA’s Marble software? That is a rhetorical question because most likely you have not. Until today that is: WikiLeaks has released more documents which confirms the CIA can disguise its own hacking by making it appear as if the hacking came from foreign nations such as Russia and China. This rumor was on the internet several weeks ago and now this latest document dump confirms the CIA’s Marble software can do just that.
Here is more:
WikiLeaks has published hundreds more files today which it claims show the CIA went to great lengths to disguise its own hacking attacks and point the finger at Russia, China, North Korea and Iran.
The 676 files released today are part of WikiLeaks’ Vault 7 tranche of files and they claim to give an insight into the CIA’s Marble software, which can forensically disguise viruses, trojans and hacking attacks.
WikiLeaks says the source code suggests Marble has test examples in Chinese, Russian, Korean, Arabic and Farsi (the Iranian language).
It says: ‘This would permit a forensic attribution double game, for example by pretending that the spoken language of the malware creator was not American English, but Chinese.’
This could lead forensic investigators into wrongly concluding that CIA hacks were carried out by the Kremlin, the Chinese government, Iran, North Korea or Arabic-speaking terror groups such as ISIS.
Well that is pretty interesting don’t you think? The Democrats have been deflecting the American people away from the content contained within the WikiLeaks documents which showed the party rigged the primary for Hillary Clinton by using this Russian angle and now this calls into question even that.
It might sound like tinfoil hat material to suggest the CIA might be behind the hacking but it should be remembered that Barack Obama’s DHS did try to hack into Indiana’s and Georgia’s state elections under the guise of trying to “help” those states ensure there election systems were safe…
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
This is a little concerning: it is now being reported that Mike Flynn has agreed to testify on the Trump administration’s alleged ties to Russia if he is granted immunity. Here is more:
Mike Flynn, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, has told the Federal Bureau of Investigation and congressional officials investigating the Trump campaign’s potential ties to Russia that he is willing to be interviewed in exchange for a grant of immunity from prosecution, according to officials with knowledge of the matter.
As an adviser to Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign, and later one of Mr. Trump’s top aides in the White House, Mr. Flynn was privy to some of the most sensitive foreign-policy deliberations of the new administration and was directly involved in discussions about the possible lifting of sanctions on Russia imposed by the Obama administration.
He has made the offer to the FBI and the House and Senate intelligence committees through his lawyer but has so far found no takers, the officials said.
It wasn’t clear if Mr. Flynn had offered to talk about specific aspects of his time working for Mr. Trump, but the fact that he was seeking immunity suggested Mr. Flynn feels he may be in legal jeopardy following his brief stint as the national security adviser, one official said.
After years of bashing Hillary Clinton aides and confidants for either being granted immunity or pleading the Fifth, and claiming it was a sign of guilt, it is impossible for me to ignore this story and maintain credibility. However there is one bright spot to this.
While this sure looks like Mike Flynn has something to hide it does not mean that this will tie Donald Trump to the possibility of Russian collusion because Mike Flynn resigned after it was learned he lied to Mike Pence about having this conversation in the first place.
As I said, Mike Flynn apparently resigned AFTER the Trump administration learned about the conversation but of course this will be forgotten by the mainstream media. This is what happens when you bring a Democrat into the administration, I hope Donald Trump learned a lesson from this…
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Donald Trump takes aim at the Freedom Caucus
We all know Donald Trump has an affinity for taking to Twitter to lambaste his opponents and with his Obamcare replacement bill going down in flames he is at it again–this time taking on the Freedom Caucus.
Members of the Freedom Caucus were among the first people to support Donald Trump if my memory serves me correctly, certainly Paul Ryan (who the President has now aligned himself with) was not and the Freedom Caucus did him a favor by killing Obamcare-lite but of course Donald Trump does not see it that way.
Donald Trump is going to need the Freedom Caucus if he wants to get anything done so it would be best for him not to antagonize them with threats after one setback.
The Obamacare replacement bill was rushed to the table and only minimal changes were allowed, these changes were not enough to get the votes so the bill was pulled. Instead of threatening the caucus he should vow to work with them as well as the establishment to see if a suitable compromise can be reached. I think it was a mistake to go after them.
Regular readers of America’s Watchtower know that I have questions about how conservative Donald Trump really is and this does nothing to alleviate my concerns. It is going to be interesting to see where we go from here. It is also going to be interesting to see how the President’s most ardent supporters are going to react to him siding with the establishment wing of the the Republican party.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
During a press briefing yesterday Sean Spicer made a joke about how if the conspiracy theorists on the left found out Donald Trump used Russian salad dressing they would claim this was more proof of a Trump/Russia connection.
This was an obvious joke but CNN felt the need to fact check Russian salad dressing and here is what “the most trusted name in news” came up with:
“If the President puts Russian salad dressing on his salad tonight, somehow that’s a Russia connection,” Sean Spicer said.
Thing is, Russian dressing isn’t Russian. (Also, it’s really not for salads, but more of a sandwich spread — usually a Reuben.)
The mayo and ketchup concoction — often dressed up with horseradish and spices — was created in Nashua, New Hampshire.
Yep, Russian dressing is neither Russian nor a dressing, you certainly put Sean Spicer in his place CNN. This is what constitutes journalism in America with Donald Trump as President. Good job CNN, thanks for enlightening us on this issue of such vital importance.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
It is no secret that Donald Trump has gotten under the skin of Chuck Schumer, so much so in fact that it is now being reported here that the Democratic Senator from New York and Minority Leader verbally assaulted a woman in a restaurant after learning she had the audacity to vote for Donald Trump.
Here is more:
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., caused a scene at a Manhattan restaurant when he began yelling at a wealthy and well-connected Donald Trump supporter that the POTUS is “a liar.”
Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, lost his cool on Sunday night at Upper East Side restaurant Sette Mezzo, according to witnesses.
He was dining with friends when he encountered Joseph A. Califano Jr. — the former U.S. secretary of health, education and welfare under President Jimmy Carter and domestic policy adviser to President Lyndon B. Johnson — and his wife, Hilary, who were having a quiet dinner.
Onlookers said Schumer was incensed that Hilary — the daughter of William S. Paley, the founder and chairman of CBS — had voted for Trump, even though her husband, Joseph, is a well-known Democrat.
And he followed her outside after he drove them out of the restaurant:
It is just breaking that DNC Chairman Tom Perez has asked for the resignation of all staffers in a major overhaul. Here is more:
Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez has launched a major overhaul of the party’s organization, which has been stung by recent crises — and the DNC has requested resignation letters from all current staffers.
Party staff routinely see major turnover with a new boss and they had been alerted to expect such a move. However, the mass resignation letters will give Perez a chance to completely remake the DNC’s headquarters from scratch. Staffing had already reached unusual lows following a round of post-election layoffs in December.
I have to say this is much needed after the DNC rigged the primary to screw over Bernie Sanders and his supporters to secure the party’s nomination for Hillary Clinton. This has slipped from the minds of the public because of the fake news Russia hacking story and intentionally so.
The whole reason the Democrats have been pushing the Russia story with no evidence is to take the focus off what was in the hacked emails and it has worked perfectly. Those who supported Bernie Sanders and who were still upset at the DNC suddenly turned their attention to Russia as if that country had anything to do with what the party was up to behind the scenes. Displaced anger.
Donald Trump and the Republicans could learn a thing or two from this news: it is time to purge all of the holdovers from the Obama regime that can be legally purged and start anew. Then and only then will the leaks stop. Maybe…
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Donald Trump lifts Barack Obama’s climate policies
Before I get to the post I just want to let America’s Watchtower followers know that Lauri and I are home safely from our trip to Key West. What a beautiful location and I would highly recommend it to anyone. I am still trying to brush off the vacation hangover so it might take a day or two for me to get back into full-blog mode but here goes.
Earlier today Donald Trump signed an Executive Order to dismantle much of Barack Obama’s climate policy. Here is more:
President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an order to undo Obama-era climate change regulations, keeping a campaign promise to support the coal industry and calling into question U.S. support for an international deal to fight global warming.
The order’s main target is former President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which required states to slash carbon emissions from power plants – a key factor in the United States’ ability to meet its commitments under a climate change accord reached by nearly 200 countries in Paris in 2015.
Trump’s decree also reverses a ban on coal leasing on federal lands, undoes rules to curb methane emissions from oil and gas production and reduces the weight of climate change and carbon emissions in policy and infrastructure permitting decisions
America's Watchtower 