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solarbirdThere's a bit of "everything else" to this post.
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Hackers Claim to Have Dirt That Could End Trump’s Campaign. After All We Know, What the Hell Could That Be?
AJ Vincens
15 May 2020
https://www.motherjones.com/2020-elections/2020/05/trump-hacker-ransom/
Hackers trying to extort a prominent New York City celebrity law firm doubled the ransom they were seeking on Thursday to $42 million, claiming that they have dirt on President Trump that could doom his reelection chances.
VICE News reported Friday morning that the hackers—who the prominent law firm of Grubman, Shire, Meiselas, & Sacks confirmed had targeted them with ransomware, claiming to have several hundred gigabytes of sensitive material involving Drake, Lady Gaga, and other celebrities—are now threatening to release material on Trump. The hackers have posted screenshots of a what they say is a Madonna tour contract to prove the trove’s legitimacy. The law firm confirmed to Page Six they’d been targeted and are working to address the situation.
“The next person we’ll be publishing is Donald Trump,” the hackers wrote on their website, according to VICE. “To you voters, we can let you know that after such a publication, you certainly don’t want to see him as president.”
That last claim is a bit odd, though: What could the hackers have that is worse than what’s already on the record?
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Opinion Why Mike Pompeo Is an Immediate Threat to the Middle East
Smart sycophant Pompeo is visiting Israel this week mid-pandemic in a transparent attempt to avert the End Times for a desperate Trump. From the Palestinians to Iran, the Middle East will pay the price
David Rothkopf
May 13, 2020
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-pompeo-trump-israel-netanyahu-middle-east-1.8839539
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Israel Wednesday with Iran, COVID-19 and the Israeli annexation of Palestinian settlements on the public agenda - and one large looming unspoken item likely to shape the conversation. Much like Marisa Tomei’s character Mona Lisa Vito in the movie "My Cousin Vinny," all the participants will be able to hear the ticking of a clock that means time is running out for any big plans they may have had together.
If political polls and the state of deepening crisis in the United States are any indication, the Trump crazy train is likely to be leaving the station next January and with it, the opportunity for Benjamin Netanyahu, his new partner, Benny Gantz, and the Israeli right, to cut a deal with American leaders who share their extreme views.
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Russia is interfering in our elections again. And Trump supporters are emulating Russian tactics.
By Evelyn N. Farkas
May 17, 2020 at 6:00 a.m. PDT
Evelyn N. Farkas was deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia from 2012 to 2015. She is a Democratic candidate to represent New York’s 17th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/17/russia-is-interfering-our-elections-again-trump-supporters-are-emulating-russian-tactics/
In 2017, I cautioned that any candidate for office who was outspoken about Russia ought to worry about Russian interference in their election. At the time, I had no idea I would be one of those candidates. But this month, I saw my face plastered on a screen behind Fox News host Tucker Carlson as he, not for the first time, made false statements about me.
U.S. national security experts warned years ago that Russia would meddle in our 2020 elections. The reality is worse: President Trump’s supporters are mirroring Russian tactics.
In 2017, I was attacked by the far right as well as Russian actors after speaking publicly as President Obama’s deputy assistant defense secretary for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia; today, the campaign against me appears to be domestic, albeit aided by Russian trolls. The political stakes are higher for all Americans this year, not just me. The tactics behind these attacks reveal a frightening development for American democracy.
In President Vladimir Putin’s Russia, disinformation and intimidation tactics are commonly used to silence domestic opposition. (So is murder.) False allegations, followed by contradictory, also false, narratives are the norm in Russian media and political discourse. Misinformation is so prevalent that many Russians are largely indifferent to what is actually true. In Trump’s America, similar tactics are taking hold. What began as a disconcerting nexus between Russia and the reactionary right in this and other countries has become part of the American right-wing repertoire.
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The ‘gender critical’ feminist movement is a cult that grooms, controls and abuses, according to a lesbian who managed to escape
Vic Parsons
May 17, 2020
https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/05/17/terf-gender-critical-feminism-movement-lesbian-cult-amy-dyess-transphobia/
“TERF is hate speech and it’s time to condemn it,” gender-critical writer Amy Dyess announced in October 2018 – words she now regrets.
“TERF is a slur used to sexually harass, threaten, and silence lesbians,” continued Amy’s viral Medium post, which was liked more than 4,300 times.
Back then, Amy was connected to an international network of powerful lesbians.
She believed, like many people in the “gender critical” feminist movement do, that the lesbian community to which she belonged was under attack from trans-rights activists.
She believed that lesbian identity itself was being infringed on and erased by trans women, and that the media didn’t care – more than that, she believed that the media was being controlled by trans people.
She believed that she was part of the fight back against trans-rights activists – part of the fight back against homophobia.
Amy, who is based in Seattle, doesn’t believe those things any more. Looking back on her time in the “gender critical” feminist movement, she is unequivocal: it’s a cult.
A cult that groomed her when she was vulnerable and sleeping in her car; a cult that sought to control her, keeping tabs on her movements and dictating what she could and couldn’t say; a cult that was emotionally and sexually abusive towards her.
- Hackers Claim to Have Dirt That Could End Trump’s Campaign. After All We Know, What the Hell Could That Be?
- Opinion Why Mike Pompeo Is an Immediate Threat to the Middle East
- Russia is interfering in our elections again. And Trump supporters are emulating Russian tactics.
- The ‘gender critical’ feminist movement is a cult that grooms, controls and abuses, according to a lesbian who managed to escape
----- 1 -----
Hackers Claim to Have Dirt That Could End Trump’s Campaign. After All We Know, What the Hell Could That Be?
AJ Vincens
15 May 2020
https://www.motherjones.com/2020-elections/2020/05/trump-hacker-ransom/
Hackers trying to extort a prominent New York City celebrity law firm doubled the ransom they were seeking on Thursday to $42 million, claiming that they have dirt on President Trump that could doom his reelection chances.
VICE News reported Friday morning that the hackers—who the prominent law firm of Grubman, Shire, Meiselas, & Sacks confirmed had targeted them with ransomware, claiming to have several hundred gigabytes of sensitive material involving Drake, Lady Gaga, and other celebrities—are now threatening to release material on Trump. The hackers have posted screenshots of a what they say is a Madonna tour contract to prove the trove’s legitimacy. The law firm confirmed to Page Six they’d been targeted and are working to address the situation.
“The next person we’ll be publishing is Donald Trump,” the hackers wrote on their website, according to VICE. “To you voters, we can let you know that after such a publication, you certainly don’t want to see him as president.”
That last claim is a bit odd, though: What could the hackers have that is worse than what’s already on the record?
----- 2 -----
Opinion Why Mike Pompeo Is an Immediate Threat to the Middle East
Smart sycophant Pompeo is visiting Israel this week mid-pandemic in a transparent attempt to avert the End Times for a desperate Trump. From the Palestinians to Iran, the Middle East will pay the price
David Rothkopf
May 13, 2020
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-pompeo-trump-israel-netanyahu-middle-east-1.8839539
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Israel Wednesday with Iran, COVID-19 and the Israeli annexation of Palestinian settlements on the public agenda - and one large looming unspoken item likely to shape the conversation. Much like Marisa Tomei’s character Mona Lisa Vito in the movie "My Cousin Vinny," all the participants will be able to hear the ticking of a clock that means time is running out for any big plans they may have had together.
If political polls and the state of deepening crisis in the United States are any indication, the Trump crazy train is likely to be leaving the station next January and with it, the opportunity for Benjamin Netanyahu, his new partner, Benny Gantz, and the Israeli right, to cut a deal with American leaders who share their extreme views.
----- 3 -----
Russia is interfering in our elections again. And Trump supporters are emulating Russian tactics.
By Evelyn N. Farkas
May 17, 2020 at 6:00 a.m. PDT
Evelyn N. Farkas was deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia from 2012 to 2015. She is a Democratic candidate to represent New York’s 17th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/17/russia-is-interfering-our-elections-again-trump-supporters-are-emulating-russian-tactics/
In 2017, I cautioned that any candidate for office who was outspoken about Russia ought to worry about Russian interference in their election. At the time, I had no idea I would be one of those candidates. But this month, I saw my face plastered on a screen behind Fox News host Tucker Carlson as he, not for the first time, made false statements about me.
U.S. national security experts warned years ago that Russia would meddle in our 2020 elections. The reality is worse: President Trump’s supporters are mirroring Russian tactics.
In 2017, I was attacked by the far right as well as Russian actors after speaking publicly as President Obama’s deputy assistant defense secretary for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia; today, the campaign against me appears to be domestic, albeit aided by Russian trolls. The political stakes are higher for all Americans this year, not just me. The tactics behind these attacks reveal a frightening development for American democracy.
In President Vladimir Putin’s Russia, disinformation and intimidation tactics are commonly used to silence domestic opposition. (So is murder.) False allegations, followed by contradictory, also false, narratives are the norm in Russian media and political discourse. Misinformation is so prevalent that many Russians are largely indifferent to what is actually true. In Trump’s America, similar tactics are taking hold. What began as a disconcerting nexus between Russia and the reactionary right in this and other countries has become part of the American right-wing repertoire.
----- 4 -----
The ‘gender critical’ feminist movement is a cult that grooms, controls and abuses, according to a lesbian who managed to escape
Vic Parsons
May 17, 2020
https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/05/17/terf-gender-critical-feminism-movement-lesbian-cult-amy-dyess-transphobia/
“TERF is hate speech and it’s time to condemn it,” gender-critical writer Amy Dyess announced in October 2018 – words she now regrets.
“TERF is a slur used to sexually harass, threaten, and silence lesbians,” continued Amy’s viral Medium post, which was liked more than 4,300 times.
Back then, Amy was connected to an international network of powerful lesbians.
She believed, like many people in the “gender critical” feminist movement do, that the lesbian community to which she belonged was under attack from trans-rights activists.
She believed that lesbian identity itself was being infringed on and erased by trans women, and that the media didn’t care – more than that, she believed that the media was being controlled by trans people.
She believed that she was part of the fight back against trans-rights activists – part of the fight back against homophobia.
Amy, who is based in Seattle, doesn’t believe those things any more. Looking back on her time in the “gender critical” feminist movement, she is unequivocal: it’s a cult.
A cult that groomed her when she was vulnerable and sleeping in her car; a cult that sought to control her, keeping tabs on her movements and dictating what she could and couldn’t say; a cult that was emotionally and sexually abusive towards her.
