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geek tragedy
geek tragedy's Journal
geek tragedy's Journal
June 2, 2017
Yes, that is the same Peter Schweizer who wrote Clinton Cash, and is a henchman of Steve Bannon & Co.
Jared's in trouble.
Lawmakers ask whether looming debt left Jared Kusher vulnerable to Russian influence
Source: ABC News
Congressional investigators are seeking to determine whether President Trump’s son-in-law was vulnerable to Russian influence during and after the campaign because of financial stress facing his family firm’s signature real estate holding – a Manhattan skyscraper purchased at the height of the real estate boom.
And they are focused, officials told ABC News, on a December meeting Jared Kushner held with executives from a Russian bank.
...
Peter Schweizer, president of the Government Accountability Institute, (which was founded by Trump adviser Stephen Bannon and funded in part by a Trump mega-donor, Rebekah Mercer), said the meeting “had conflict of interest written all over it.”
“You worry about a quid pro quo, you worry about Kushner getting some financial arrangement from a Russian financial institution, and you worry about White House policy being shaped in a way that benefits either those banks or Russia at large,” Schweizer told ABC News. “That's the concern.”
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/lawmakers-looming-debt-leave-jared-kushner-vulnerable-russian/story?id=47780422
Yes, that is the same Peter Schweizer who wrote Clinton Cash, and is a henchman of Steve Bannon & Co.
Jared's in trouble.
June 2, 2017
*********************
Bannon has the knives out for Jared.
Ruh roh, Jared. Congress (and Clinton Cash author!) sniffing into Kushner debts
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/lawmakers-looming-debt-leave-jared-kushner-vulnerable-russian/story?id=47780422Peter Schweizer, president of the Government Accountability Institute, (which was founded by Trump adviser Stephen Bannon and funded in part by a Trump mega-donor, Rebekah Mercer), said the meeting “had conflict of interest written all over it.”
“You worry about a quid pro quo, you worry about Kushner getting some financial arrangement from a Russian financial institution, and you worry about White House policy being shaped in a way that benefits either those banks or Russia at large,” Schweizer told ABC News. “That's the concern.”
On Good Morning America on Friday, ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos pressed Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway to explain the nature of Kushner’s meeting with Gorkov, but she repeatedly refused to do so. “Jared has said that he’s willing to go and share whatever information he has,” Conway said. “He actually has made that clear for many months now, and he looks forward to doing that.”
Real estate analysts told ABC News that Jared Kushner’s first major acquisition, a Fifth Avenue office tower signifying his family’s move from New Jersey into Manhattan real estate, is shouldering a $1.3 billion in loans coming due in two years, and it is not bringing in sufficient rental income. An attempt by Kushner to broker a deal with a Chinese company to refinance and redevelop the building fell through shortly after the election.
“You worry about a quid pro quo, you worry about Kushner getting some financial arrangement from a Russian financial institution, and you worry about White House policy being shaped in a way that benefits either those banks or Russia at large,” Schweizer told ABC News. “That's the concern.”
On Good Morning America on Friday, ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos pressed Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway to explain the nature of Kushner’s meeting with Gorkov, but she repeatedly refused to do so. “Jared has said that he’s willing to go and share whatever information he has,” Conway said. “He actually has made that clear for many months now, and he looks forward to doing that.”
Real estate analysts told ABC News that Jared Kushner’s first major acquisition, a Fifth Avenue office tower signifying his family’s move from New Jersey into Manhattan real estate, is shouldering a $1.3 billion in loans coming due in two years, and it is not bringing in sufficient rental income. An attempt by Kushner to broker a deal with a Chinese company to refinance and redevelop the building fell through shortly after the election.
*********************
Bannon has the knives out for Jared.
June 1, 2017
http://io9.gizmodo.com/a-women-only-wonder-woman-screening-is-predictably-upse-1795542295
My wife is going this weekend, but since she has to take me along it'll be a co-ed screening.
A Women-Only Wonder Woman Screening Is Predictably Upsetting Dumb-Ass Sexists
Women have largely praised the Drafthouse’s special screening—both in words and ticket sales, as the show sold out within hours, and there have been many requests for more screenings by those who are missing out on the first one. Update: The Alamo Drafthouse in Austin has since added a second screening, and in a statement to Mashable, indicated they would be expanding the special screenings to several Drafthouse theaters across the country.
While many men have also been praising it, others have been complaining. Like, a lot. Some men have promised to boycott the Drafthouse in retaliation, and the movie theater company’s Facebook page and Twitter account are full of cries of “reverse sexism,” “misandry,” and whatever other nonsense these jackasses use to try and explain something that doesn’t apply here at all.
Let me be frank: A women-only screening of Wonder Woman is an excellent idea, and any man who thinks it discriminates against them needs to spend the rest of the day staring in the mirror while a single tear flows down their collective cheeks.
...
All of this doesn’t even touch on the role that Wonder Woman has played in the lives of millions of women, which is just as relevant a reason for these screenings. She is the comic book industry’s biggest female character, with a history and legacy spanning decades. Generations of women and girls have upheld Diana as an icon... a paragon of strength, wisdom, and equality. There’s a reason the United Nations chose her as an ambassador (even if they later rescinded the title). She’s certainly beloved by both women and men, but she holds a special place for women as a pillar of feminine power.
So, to all the men complaining that a couple screenings of Wonder Woman exclude them, I say this: just shut up. Women have had to deal with the bullshit of non-representation for generations, and we will probably keep having to deal with it for generations to come. Wonder Woman is the first blockbuster comic book film starring a woman in American history, and it happens to star comics’ biggest female icon. At the very least, women deserve to have a space—even if it’s just a single screening of a movie that’s going to open in literally thousands of theaters across America—where they can celebrate that together. Any man who doesn’t respect that doesn’t understand what Wonder Woman’s been fighting for all these years.
While many men have also been praising it, others have been complaining. Like, a lot. Some men have promised to boycott the Drafthouse in retaliation, and the movie theater company’s Facebook page and Twitter account are full of cries of “reverse sexism,” “misandry,” and whatever other nonsense these jackasses use to try and explain something that doesn’t apply here at all.
Let me be frank: A women-only screening of Wonder Woman is an excellent idea, and any man who thinks it discriminates against them needs to spend the rest of the day staring in the mirror while a single tear flows down their collective cheeks.
...
All of this doesn’t even touch on the role that Wonder Woman has played in the lives of millions of women, which is just as relevant a reason for these screenings. She is the comic book industry’s biggest female character, with a history and legacy spanning decades. Generations of women and girls have upheld Diana as an icon... a paragon of strength, wisdom, and equality. There’s a reason the United Nations chose her as an ambassador (even if they later rescinded the title). She’s certainly beloved by both women and men, but she holds a special place for women as a pillar of feminine power.
So, to all the men complaining that a couple screenings of Wonder Woman exclude them, I say this: just shut up. Women have had to deal with the bullshit of non-representation for generations, and we will probably keep having to deal with it for generations to come. Wonder Woman is the first blockbuster comic book film starring a woman in American history, and it happens to star comics’ biggest female icon. At the very least, women deserve to have a space—even if it’s just a single screening of a movie that’s going to open in literally thousands of theaters across America—where they can celebrate that together. Any man who doesn’t respect that doesn’t understand what Wonder Woman’s been fighting for all these years.
http://io9.gizmodo.com/a-women-only-wonder-woman-screening-is-predictably-upse-1795542295
My wife is going this weekend, but since she has to take me along it'll be a co-ed screening.
June 1, 2017
********************************
There's a not so subtle gender dynamic at play here as well--wouldn't do for certain elements to have Lebanese men lusting after an Israeli actress while watching her play a powerful, independent woman.
Their loss (we're going this weekend).
Wonder Woman banned by Lebanon over Israeli lead Gal Gadot
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-40114370The Lebanese interior ministry banned the film hours before its release, on a recommendation from the General Security directorate, reports say.
The nations are officially at war, but have observed a ceasefire since 2006.
A formal request to ban Wonder Woman was first made by the Ministry of Economy and Trade, which oversees a long-standing policy of boycotting Israeli exports, which it considers "enemy attempts to infiltrate our markets".
But the decision took cinemas by surprise. One of the first indications that the ban was approved came from Lebanon's Grand Cinemas chain, which tweeted on Wednesday: "#WonderWoman has been banned in #Lebanon."
The nations are officially at war, but have observed a ceasefire since 2006.
A formal request to ban Wonder Woman was first made by the Ministry of Economy and Trade, which oversees a long-standing policy of boycotting Israeli exports, which it considers "enemy attempts to infiltrate our markets".
But the decision took cinemas by surprise. One of the first indications that the ban was approved came from Lebanon's Grand Cinemas chain, which tweeted on Wednesday: "#WonderWoman has been banned in #Lebanon."
********************************
There's a not so subtle gender dynamic at play here as well--wouldn't do for certain elements to have Lebanese men lusting after an Israeli actress while watching her play a powerful, independent woman.
Their loss (we're going this weekend).
May 31, 2017
Is there a way to donate to the DNC but stop their damn phone calls?
Our phone rings 4-6 times a day. Sometimes it's the DNC, sometimes it's the DSCC, sometimes it's the DCCC, sometimes it's the Democratic governors association.
It's really out of control.
Is it just a matter of picking up the phone and telling each different group that we don't want any more phone calls (if that will even work--once our phone # gets on the list it seems like it never gets off)?
Or does not picking up the phone eventually result in them not calling?
May 24, 2017
Ben Jacobs @Bencjacobs
There was a local TV crew there when Gianforte body slammed me. Audio is posting soon at @GuardianUS
7:16 PM · May 24, 2017
https://mobile.twitter.com/aseitzwald/status/867523010286190594
Whitney Bermes @wabermes
Jacobs reported this to #Bozeman police. Just heard it come over the scanner.
Gianforte (GOP candidate for US House in Montana) just physically assaulted a reporter. COPS CALLED
Ben Jacobs of the Guardian is reporting Gianforte "body slammed" him and broke his glasses.
https://mobile.twitter.com/bencjacobs/status/867519689252929540
Ben Jacobs @Bencjacobs
There was a local TV crew there when Gianforte body slammed me. Audio is posting soon at @GuardianUS
7:16 PM · May 24, 2017
https://mobile.twitter.com/aseitzwald/status/867523010286190594
Whitney Bermes @wabermes
Jacobs reported this to #Bozeman police. Just heard it come over the scanner.
May 24, 2017
CBO report on Trumpcare: $119 Billion saved over 10 years, 23 million fewer people insured.
14 million fewer insured in 2018
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/52752
May 24, 2017
The Deplorables really are at the bottom of the moral abyss. Anyone peddling this nonsense is crazy, evil or both.
Kim Dotcom tried to hack Seth Rich's email. This week.
This is what the Deplorables have become--virtual grave robbers.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/the-life-and-death-of-the-seth-rich-conspiracy-theory/2017/05/23/aba640c4-3ff3-11e7-adba-394ee67a7582_story.html?utm_term=.630b440c3fe8
When Seth Rich’s Gmail account received an alert this week from Mega.com, attempting to start a new account on a website created by the New Zealand-based Internet businessman and convicted hacker Kim Dotcom, his family knew that something was off.
Over seven frenzied days, Dotcom had become a leading purveyor of the theory that Rich, a staffer at the Democratic National Committee who was shot dead near his home in Northeast Washington last summer, had supplied DNC documents to WikiLeaks and was killed as a result. Multiple security analysts and an FBI investigation have tied the release to hackers with ties to Russia. D.C. police have said repeatedly that they think Rich was slain in a random robbery attempt.
According to experts and Rich’s family, the emailed invitation from welcome@mega.nz appeared to be an attempt to gain access to Rich’s email. Joel Rich, who maintains his late son’s Gmail account, did not click the link. Meanwhile, Dotcom was promising on Twitter to prove that the younger Rich had been in contact with WikiLeaks — and Fox News host Sean Hannity was telling his 2.37 million Twitter followers to be ready for a revelation.
Hannity had invited Dotcom to appear on his show for what he said on Twitter would be a “#GameChanger” interview. The implication: that Dotcom would finally offer evidence of his claim that Rich had sent internal DNC documents to WikiLeaks before his death.
All that began to unravel Tuesday afternoon, when Fox News retracted a story that had claimed the same Rich-WikiLeaks connection, telling readers that the article was “not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting.” Fox News did not respond to a request for comment, but Dotcom wrote on his website that he would not speak further about his allegations.
The Deplorables really are at the bottom of the moral abyss. Anyone peddling this nonsense is crazy, evil or both.
May 23, 2017
Brennan: "frequently,those who go along a treasonous path do not even realize they're along
that path until it gets to be a bit too late."
Hmmmm.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/23/politics/john-brennan-house-intelligence-committee/
May 22, 2017
BREAKING****House Dems: FLYNN LIED TO SECURITY CLEARANCE INVESTIGATORS re: FOREIGN MONEY****
https://mobile.twitter.com/jakesherman/status/866761272284655617WASHINGTON (AP) - Top House Democrat: Documents show Flynn apparently lied to US security clearance investigators on foreign payments.
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