October 23, 2018

Rethinking our purchasing items from Amazon.

https://www.alternet.org/amazon-pitched-ice-buy-its-facial-recognition-surveillance-technology-report

Facial recognition technology is one more surveillance tool that can, and likely will be abused. This has been posted on before but apparently it is now being actively used by some local police departments.

October 4, 2018

A Former Obama Operative Built a New Anti-Republican Attack Machine

Source: Bloomberg

But the main requirements for being a successful oppo researcher—time, patience, and dogged determination—were qualities Burton saw in abundance among his Resistance compatriots. Many were skilled professionals whose expertise he thought he could weaponize for politics if they were willing to spend their free time doing things like digging through social media accounts and newspaper clippings or hunting down property records and arrest filings at the local courthouse. When he put out a call for help on Rohrabacher, he soon had at his disposal a forensic accountant, a team of corporate lawyers, and a fluent Russian speaker—Tanya, the New York consultant. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s all hands on deck,” she says. “If someone has a special ability, they should be using it to help take back the House.” (She and other volunteers I spoke to for this story asked that their full names not be used to protect their identities and prevent problems at work.)

With his Citizen Strong partners, all veteran researchers, Burton has spent the year choosing his targets. In February he decided to focus on districts that leaned slightly right—ones like Rohrabacher’s that haven’t been competitive but would be if a Democratic wave emerged. That bet looks prescient. A recent New York Times poll showed Rohrabacher, a 15-term incumbent, tied with his Democratic challenger. Control of Congress will hinge on whether Rohrabacher and other endangered Republicans can withstand a midterm wave. Citizen Strong’s October surprises will make survival that much harder.

Burton has a trove of anti-Republican material. The art of oppo lies in culling and distributing that kind of information to tell a particular story—a negative story—that will tarnish the incumbent and weaken his or her support. Sometimes researchers will quietly slip it to reporters, hoping it will yield a story and gain the imprimatur of a nonpartisan news outlet. Other times, oppo can be the basis of an ad campaign or used to build a website voters and the media can scrutinize—a bit like WikiLeaks. (Burton says none of his material is obtained through hacking or other illegal means.) With the midterms looming, he’s begun disseminating his “citizen oppo” in three Senate races, 22 House races, and 133 state legislative races across 13 states. He’s hoping these last-minute attacks will help push many of these races into the Democratic column, flipping control of the House—and possibly even the Senate—as well as state legislatures that will play a critical role in redrawing congressional lines in 2020, a process that will shape national politics for the next decade.

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-10-04/a-former-obama-operative-built-a-new-anti-republican-attack-machine

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This may turn out to be the "October Surprise."

October 3, 2018

Lindsey Graham demands Sen. Amy Klobuchar apologize to Brett Kavanaugh during Fox News appearance

Source: Rawstory

Graham said that he felt sorry for Dr. Christine Beasley Ford.
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“I think [Dr. Ford has] been used and abused. My beef is with the Democratic Party who laid in wait, betrayed her trust, and didn’t tell her we would go to California. My beef is with the fact that they’ve done everything they can do to destroy her life,” Graham said.

During the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Kavanaugh rudely attacked Klobuchar after she questioned him about his drinking habits.

“This is the one that bothers me the most. He apologized to Amy Klobuchar for snapping at her,” Graham said. “What would you do if you were accused of all these things? Here’s what I think, Amy Klobuchar should apologize to Judge Kavanaugh and his family for being part of a smear campaign I haven’t seen in over 20 years in politics.”

Read more: https://www.rawstory.com/2018/10/lindsey-graham-demands-sen-amy-klobuchar-apologize-to-brett-kavanaugh-during-fox-news-appearance/

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Is this M*ther F*cker for real???

October 1, 2018

'Powerful senators won't believe me': New violent and explicit accusation surfaces against Brett Kav

Source: Rawstory

The Senate Judiciary Committee posted a letter from an individual. Kavanaugh was asked about the evening prior to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony last week. The individual’s name was censored, but the content is violent and disturbing.
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“Kavanaugh and a friend offered me a ride home,” the person wrote in her letter. “I don’t know the other boy’s name. I was in his car to go home. His friend was behind me in the backseat. Kavanaugh kissed me forcefully. I told him I only wanted a ride home. Kavanaugh continued to grope me over my clothes, forcing his kisses on me and putting his hand under my sweater. ‘No,’ I yelled at him.”

The source said that the boy in the backseat reached around and put his hand over the source’s mouth and held her to keep her in the car.

“I screamed into his hand. Kavanaugh continued his forcing himself on me,” the source continued. “He pulled up my sweater and bra exposing my breasts, and reached into my panties, inserting his fingers into my vagina. My screams were silenced by the boy in the backseat covering my mouth and groping me as well.”

The accuser then said that Kavanaugh slapped her and told her to be quiet before forcing her to perform oral sex on him.

“He climaxed in my mouth. They forced me to go into the backseat and took turns raping me several times each,” the source said. “They dropped me off two blocks from my home. ‘No one will believe if you tell. Be a good girl,’ he told me.”

Read more: https://www.rawstory.com/2018/10/powerful-senators-wont-believe-new-violent-explicit-accusation-surfaces-brett-kavanaugh/

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If this is true, holy crap!