Florida State Seminoles

[aTm]

did anyone read the Adam Schiff rebuttal memo on the FBI /FISA/ Dossier?

whoever wrote it pretty much admits the FISA warrant was based on the dossier. I have to believe whoever wrote it thought it would never see the light of day and would be held up by a republican controlled committee.

I haven't read it. Was it released? Ive just been under the assumption that the Schiff memo was written specifically not to get released so they could say the GOP were hiding it (and thus, "the truth").

[eCat]

did anyone read the Adam Schiff rebuttal memo on the FBI /FISA/ Dossier?

whoever wrote it pretty much admits the FISA warrant was based on the dossier. I have to believe whoever wrote it thought it would never see the light of day and would be held up by a republican controlled committee.

I haven't read it. Was it released? Ive just been under the assumption that the Schiff memo was written specifically not to get released so they could say the GOP were hiding it (and thus, "the truth").

I think he thought that was going to happen too

[eCat]

A different perception on Trump's relationship with Russia

---------------

Recently President Trump tweeted, "I have been much tougher on Russia than Obama, just look at the facts. Total Fake News!"

The tweet was greeted with incredulity in some press circles. CNN called it "simply false." "The facts suggest the opposite," said the Washington Post. "Mostly false," declared Politifact, noting the president's statement "immediately drew guffaws among media commentators."

The reaction left some Republican national security and foreign policy hands shaking their heads. How could one add up the actions that Trump has taken on Russia, compare them to Obama, and conclude that Trump was not tougher?

In a text exchange, I asked one GOP lawmaker: If you believe Trump has been tougher on Russia, what is the best evidence? He quickly came back with a list. The U.S. is, he said:

Bombing Syria, Russia's main client, and generally unleashing the U.S. military in Syria, including against Russians when necessary.
Arming Ukraine.
Browbeating NATO allies to increase defense spending.
Adding low-yield nukes to our arsenal.
Starting research and development on an INF noncompliant missile.
Shutting Russia's San Francisco consulate.

To clarify some of the less-obvious references, on the "arming Ukraine" front, the lawmaker noted the Trump administration's decision to supply Ukraine with Javelin anti-tank missiles. (The Washington Post called Trump's decision "a worthy application of the 'peace through strength' principle'" that will help Russian President Vladimir Putin understand that "his aggressions … will be resisted.") The "low-yield nukes" reference is to developing a new generation of (relatively) small nuclear weapons that, the New York Times noted, "advocates say are needed to match Russian advances." The "INF non-compliant missile" refers to U.S. work on a new missile that does not comply with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and is "a direct response to Russia's deployment in recent years of its own treaty-busting missile," according to Time magazine. (Time added that, "The Obama administration worked unsuccessfully to persuade the Kremlin to stand down the program.")

The items on the list were all solid, hard-edged measures designed specifically to push back against Russian aggression.

So why do so many believe Obama was tougher on Russia? It wasn't that Obama took a harder line against Russian adventurism. Just the opposite. "Under President Obama, Vladimir Putin hardly had reason to fear that anyone would push back on anything," John Bolton, the U.N. ambassador under George W. Bush, noted recently.

But some journalists cite the measures the lame-duck Obama took in December 2016 in retaliation for Russian attempts to influence the presidential election as a case-closed argument that Obama was tougher. "Thirty-five diplomats were expelled," explained CNN's Tom Foreman. "They imposed sanctions on Russian businesses and agencies that were involved, and they closed two Russian compounds here in the United States. … You can certainly say Barack Obama could have been tougher, but any evidence that Donald Trump has been tougher than him, no, there is none. The statement is simply false."

Yes, Obama's December 2016 actions were actual punitive measures. But it's hard to compare them to the lawmaker's list of Trump actions — including, for example, U.S. forces killing at least 100 Russian mercenaries in Syria recently — and say Obama was the president who was harder on Russia.

The problem could be that some Trump critics appear to think of Russia only in terms of countering online election interference. They don't seem to think that real, physical-world actions, like blowing up Russian mercenaries and building new missiles and bombs, constitute a tough policy toward Russia.

It's an attitude that baffles some Republicans. "Sending Javelins to Ukraine and bombing that Syrian airfield is a bigger deal than virtually anything we could do to the 'troll factory,'" the GOP lawmaker said, referring to the Russians who created politically divisive Facebook ads and posts during the 2016 election season.

"Reporters live on Twitter and seek validation from it," the lawmaker continued. "They thus give outsized influence to it over, you know, real ordnance."

They also, perhaps, give outsized influence to what the president says, or does not say, without weighing it against the administration's actions. So when Trump refuses to condemn Putin or give him a mocking nickname, some journalists see that as the president being soft on Russia, even as U.S. munitions hit Russian targets in Syria.

In addition to the real-world stuff of missiles and bombs, other officials say the U.S. is also taking extensive action to counter the kind of Russian activity seen in the 2016 election.

"We have a significant effort," CIA Director Mike Pompeo said in a recent Capitol Hill hearing. "And it is not just our effort. It is a, certainly, all-of-intelligence-community effort — there may be others participating, as well — to do our best to push back against this threat. … It's a big, broad effort."

The problem was that Pompeo could not speak publicly about efforts that are highly classified to keep Russia in the dark about U.S. actions.

[bluetick]

Weird how It's left to a pro-Trump pundit to make a case that this administration is tough on Russia. The Donald brags about being a future mass-shooting hero, yet not one word about how he as CiC kicked Putin's ass on the battlefield. So far the WH has refused comment, vaguely referring to the dead mercenaries in Syria as "an incident." Seriously? Trump tweets about a successful bowel movement for crissakes. Something doesn't add up.

He still won't sign the sanctions Congress sent him, and he's yet to comment on the 13 russian indictments last week. Trump has no problem wishing harm on his numerous fellow American adversaries...strange how he runs silent and deep on all things Putin and Russia. Weird.

[hedge]

"Shutting Russia's San Francisco consulate."

That was more to punish SF than Russia...

[aTm]

Trump isn't exactly doing a lot with Russia, especially the limp wristed stuff the left generally thinks is tough (therefore they think he is doing nothing). But in reality, he could let loose a silent fart in a meeting with Putin and snigger under his breath and be tougher than the Obama administration was. Obama exerting US influence through foreign policy was non-existent. We drew red lines in the sand in Syria, then did nothing. We let Russia seize the Crimea without a whimper. When things were shaky diplomatically, the solution was to give the gift of the "reset button" on relations or whatever BS that was. Obama straight up laughed at Romney and said to the country that "the 80s want their foreign policy back" when Romney tried to talk about Russia.

And this is without even starting on the shit that happened with ISIS and Iran outside of Russian stuff.

[bluetick]

The case against oprama being soft on Putin and russia is legit. BHO was kind of a pussy in the foreign affairs arena. But to his credit he's never been personally associated with anything russia, never a hint of impropriety involving hundreds of millions of dollars or questionable land deals, no false denials wrt contacts or meetings, no ties to money launderers or secret Cyprus accounts etc etc. So he had that going for him.

[aTm]

The case against oprama being soft on Putin and russia is legit. BHO was kind of a pussy in the foreign affairs arena. But to his credit he's never been personally associated with anything russia, never a hint of impropriety involving hundreds of millions of dollars or questionable land deals, no false denials wrt contacts or meetings, no ties to money launderers or secret Cyprus accounts etc etc. So he had that going for him.

F! Take a seat.

It's a politically divided issue where if you are red team you think one thing and blue you think another (like every other goddamned thing now), but to say there was not a "hint of impropriety" involving the Obama admin/Russia/illegal deals is false. There was (is?) a decent amount of controversy over the approval of the uranium company sale.

[sardis]

The case against oprama being soft on Putin and russia is legit. BHO was kind of a pussy in the foreign affairs arena. But to his credit he's never been personally associated with anything russia, never a hint of impropriety involving hundreds of millions of dollars or questionable land deals, no false denials wrt contacts or meetings, no ties to money launderers or secret Cyprus accounts etc etc. So he had that going for him.

He was too busy cozying up to the muslim brotherhood..

[bluetick]

The case against oprama being soft on Putin and russia is legit. BHO was kind of a pussy in the foreign affairs arena. But to his credit he's never been personally associated with anything russia, never a hint of impropriety involving hundreds of millions of dollars or questionable land deals, no false denials wrt contacts or meetings, no ties to money launderers or secret Cyprus accounts etc etc. So he had that going for him.

He was too busy cozying up to the muslim brotherhood..

As expected, from a mooslim borned in Kenya. heh

aTm, the uranium controversy died on the vine. No uranium went to russia; the controversy mostly centered on russian interests transporting the stuff around the U.S. and Canada. There were quid pro quo accusations against Hillary that fell apart, but in any case never mentioned oprama. Republicans control Congress and the WH but haven't seen fit to investigate Uranium One. Maybe you know more.

[eCat]

they should see fit in investigating Bill Clinton receiving at $500K speaking fee from a Russian bank who then issued a buy order on Uranium One stock a month later before the deal was approved.

[eCat]

Demand is so high in one Ohio county for a free concealed weapon training class for teachers, sign-up was cut off at 300 and classes are scheduled to start Monday.

Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones announced earlier this week in a three-line tweet his agency would hold firearm instruction for 50 teachers in light of the deadly mass school shooting in Florida.

But his offer set off received such an overwhelming response, those slots filled in just 20 minutes and another 200 signed up over the next 24 hours.

The sheriff said Thursday his agency cut off sign-ups at 300 and classes will begin Monday: "We could have kept going to 500. Even secretaries have called."

[eCat]

Despite the horror of the high school massacre in Florida, U.S. schools overall are safer today than they were in the early 1990s, and there is not an epidemic of such shootings, a new academic study is reporting.

Researchers at Northeastern University say mass school shootings are extremely rare, that shootings involving students have been declining since the 1990s, and four times as many children were killed in schools in the early 1990s than today.

“There is not an epidemic of school shootings,” said James Alan Fox, the Lipman Family Professor of Criminology, Law and Public Policy at Northeastern. He said more children die each year from pool drownings or bicycle accidents.

There are about 55 million school children in the U.S., the study said, and over the past 25 years, about 10 students on average per year were killed by gunfire at school.

The researchers used data collected by USA Today, the FBI’s Supplementary Homicide Report, Congressional Research Service, Gun Violence Archive, Stanford Geospatial Center and Stanford Libraries, Mother Jones, Everytown for Gun Safety, and a New York City Police Department report on active shooters.

[eCat]

Inside the lives of functioning heroin addicts

https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/27/health/f ... index.html

He makes good money, which means he can afford his $350- to $600-a-week habit.

good god almighty

Todd may be functioning now, but Gitlow warns that tolerances and doses often change. As an addictive disease progresses, it is also influenced by life events and stressors. What happens if Todd loses his job someday or can't afford his preferred pills?

"They all start out functioning," he says. "The bulk of people taking heroin are probably functioning. It's only in the end stage that they're nodding off in an alley and have a pretty good shot of dying."

[bluetick]

NSA Director in a hearing in front of Congress just minutes ago asked if his agency had the means and wherewithal to punish Russia for meddling in our elections and stop their efforts: "yes, absolutely but we need authorization from the WH and it's not been forthcoming." When questioned about what possible reason the WH would have for their inaction, he responded that he was an order taker and not a policy maker.

The obvious unspoken answer is russian interference to date has aided the interests of the WH as well as other members of the GOP and that fact outweighs any damage inflicted upon on our democracy. Other factors besides the obvious may become known through further investigation.

[eCat]

why don't he just reach out to Facebook, Twitter , Reddit and Instagram and tell them to stop.

340m people worldwide were subjected to fake news on facebook instigated by Russia.

I'm convinced there is no debate that social media played a huge role in swaying opinions on the election and Trump was just a recipient of the value , but that's not to say that Hillary didn't benefit as well.

To focus on Trump as an enabler of that is not seeing the big picture.

What is the NSA going to do to a sovereign nation who uses our own homegrown private enterprise as a platform to influence the world?

I go to facebook now and 50% of the trending information that appears on my page is political even though I don't belong to any political groups or visit any political pages. Their algorithms ,even if they otherwise, are designed to support the spread of fake news and influence viewers to a particular bias. Probably another 20% is celebrity/athlete/people of note opinions on a particular subject.

[bluetick]

What is the NSA going to do to a sovereign nation who uses our own homegrown private enterprise as a platform to influence the world?

Nothing that requires WH authorization, obviously.

I get the sense that non-jaded Trump backers hold out hope that he's effectively covered his tracks well enough to stay the course. Time will tell, but these people don't really seem all that clever...especially when you consider Carter Page, Scaramucci.. Omarosa. Godamighty....Bannon and Miller and the Coffee Boy. Junior. Eric. Hope and Porter. Cohn and Stormy.

Executive privilege. Attorney client privilege (between Sr. and Jr. no less). Perjury trap! :::smh:::

[eCat]

What is the NSA going to do to a sovereign nation who uses our own homegrown private enterprise as a platform to influence the world?

Nothing that requires WH authorization, obviously.

yep, if its one thing we've learned about the FBI, CIA, DOJ and all the other acrnonyms Agencies is , its they wait around for Trump (or any president) to tell them what they can and can't do.

[aTm]

Yes, the spring semester was already known as "school shooting season" pre-Colombine, but of course the crazy mass-shooting thing was kinda reinvented there in 1999. I can remember schools having metal detectors in some places and it being discussed when I was in high school and middle school (I was a senior in high school the same year as Colombine). Pretty sure any time you had an "urban" school on film (ie Dangerous Minds) they usually showed kids going through metal detectors and such. There was not an idyllic time where there was no school violence. What changed in 1999 was that rich crackers in the suburbs found out their kids didn't necessarily take a daily trip to paradise where nothing would ever happen to them.

[aTm]

NSA Director in a hearing in front of Congress just minutes ago asked if his agency had the means and wherewithal to punish Russia for meddling in our elections and stop their efforts: "yes, absolutely but we need authorization from the WH and it's not been forthcoming." When questioned about what possible reason the WH would have for their inaction, he responded that he was an order taker and not a policy maker.

The obvious unspoken answer is russian interference to date has aided the interests of the WH as well as other members of the GOP and that fact outweighs any damage inflicted upon on our democracy. Other factors besides the obvious may become known through further investigation.

Fuck the NSA. To effectively fight the fucking Russians you know what they really need is authorization to spy on us. Fuck 'em to death.