By David Futrelle
Three, three indictments in one! Three former Trump campaign officials are in the hot seat today. Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort is the big name on the list (along with his pal Rick Gates), for such fun things as conspiracy against the U.S. and money laundering. But even more intriguing is the GUILTY PLEA of relatively unknown Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, whom Mueller has presumably flipped, who seems to have been doing some active COLLUDING WITH THE RUSSIANS.
So here’s an open thread to discuss the news and any other indictment fun that transpires today.
NOTE: Sorry to have gone missing for so long. I’m still dealing with a combo of health issues that have made it very difficult to work. Thanks again for your patience and support.
@PeeVee
Found it! All we need is relative volume:
https://twitter.com/CAPAction/status/925813871436271616
@Gussie Jives
Re: ContraPoints debating Blaire White… I was on Natalie’s live stream briefly last night, long enough to hear this news… I’m super duper wary of it. While Natalie is free to do what she wants, I personally think there is no point in debating these people. Like you said, Blair White will not be engaging in a good faith debate, and Blair will come out looking better, and Natalie will come out looking worse.
I’m reminded of why PZ Myers always refused to get roped into debates with creationists, that these debates always look better on the creationists’ CVs than on the scientists. It’s very easy to lie and make false and deceitful claims but it’s very hard and takes a lot of information to actually counter them. The debate format also creates a false equivalency, that both sides presented are of equal merit.
I think her debating Blair is a terrible idea and while I love and support Natalie and think she’s brilliant, her perspective is a bit limited in some areas and I think that is causing her to be a bit naively optimistic about the outcome.
Axe,
Yep, that’s about right.
Apparently Trump’s Twitter was briefly deleted by a Twitter staffer on their last day of the job…
Well, it was a lovely few minutes 🙂
It’s the Twitter equivalent of that flight attendant who quit by activating the emergency inflatable slide and dramatically sliding away. In other words, I approve!
Incels getting the respect they deserve, from a fat man in a wig.
@GiJoel,
I saw that yesterday & thoroughly enjoyed it!
On the topic of very silly people, has everyone seen the tweets about Antifa’s supposed Nov 4th massacre / coup / revolution?
What really killed me was the name of the alleged Antifa leader: Mohammed Markstein. This thread is funny and also great for details.
The one thing dampening my hilarity is anxiety – so many people apparently believe this Nov 4th stuff and are getting very, very riled up. Take care, USians <3
No, Mish, not “Mohammed Markstein”. It’s “Mohammmed Markstein”, with three Ms. That’s like 50% more Muslimy, without detracting from the Jewyness.
Why are they getting worked up about the full moon, though?
Also, thank God for Jim Sterling, as he keeps reminding us.
“Mohammed Markstein” fits right in with the habit of many on the fringe right to lump everybody they oppose together into the same plot. I’m sure someone pushing the Nov. 4 conspiracy theory has found some way to throw in LGBTQ people in as well, because they and socialists really want Sharia law to take over the US.
Lets hope the people who’ve fallen for this all spend the weekend hiding under their beds. Unfortunately they’ll just calm down in time for the next panic.
Bit of an update:
Healing still seems to be proceeding well. The sutures have been dissolving for the last two weeks or so, no idea when they’ll be completely gone though. Currently in week 6 of healing, in two more weeks I can stop taking twice daily baths and engage in some ‘self-exploration’. TMI: Arousal is fairly uncomfortable since most of the relevant bits are still stitched, I’ll be very happy once that stops being an issue.
On the downside, I was really hoping that either the surgery or just being off my HRT for a month would jump-start my breast development, but unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be the case. My deficiency in that area is really starting to get to me again.
Oh, I also got a copy of the payment confirmation the other day. This surgery cost $10,081. I have no idea how much other places charge but I would highly recommend the Montreal clinic to anyone wanting this surgery. They take damn great care of ya!
Honestly, these people are dumb as hell.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/evbpkn/twitter-suspended-me-for-trolling-white-supremacists
Jesalin, continued good wishes for a speedy healing.
Hi, Kitty, glad to see you. *Waves*
@Jesalin
Hugs offered. I hope you continue to heal well.
Hugs accepted 🙂
I hope so too!
Oh, as an aside, and filed under: ‘Wtf ever made you think that was an acceptable question?’
When I got back from surgery my brother in law called and wished me a speedy recovery, which was nice. He then went on to ask me about the sensitivity of my clitoris…
Wtf?! *headdesk*
Jesalin, whaaaaaaaaat?!?
@Jesalin
Glad to hear you’re recovering nicely. As for your brother, just huh? What compelled him to say something on the level of “bags of sand”?
@The Adjunct
Agreed. Personally, what I’d like to see more of is direct challenges to the audience of the high-profile “anti-SJWs”. I realize there’s a kind of “Only Nixon could go to China” syndrome where anybody tainted with “SJW” will be immediately dismissed, but if set up properly, not necessarily in conversation, but just posing questions like:
— “Given the rampant dehumanization required for harassment campaigns, can you at least appreciate that there’s a human being on the other side of a Twitter feed or camera?”
— “Can you at least appreciate that the financial incentives to preserve the status quo far outweigh those backing the forces of change?”
— “Knowing those financial incentives, can you see the increased imperative to question the sources these people are relying on (if any)?”
What I see is the primary fallback in the excuse-making game is “both sides do it.” We’re all seeing it on display right now with Trump as Mueller is closing in on him. If we can cut through the obfuscations (and I realize that the audience for a lot of these YouTubers are teenagers, who might not yet be equipped to handle metaphysical concepts yet), taking that verbal sledgehammer to the last refuge of somebody caught being terrible will prevent the mental defenses from being erected in the first place.
Part of me wishes I had the time and confidence to do it myself. Until then, I leave it to Charlie Pierce at Esquire and the irrepressible Driftglass.
@Oogly
I have absolutely no idea. I even had to ask him to repeat the question because I just couldn’t believe I heard it correctly the first time.
Oh my gosh Jesalin, how does that sort of question even enter your mind! Jeeees. Like, I can understand something like “It must really hurt” or something like that, but wowwwwww.
@Gussie Jives, I don’t think their primary audience is teenagers. I have adult ex-friends who consider them news sources.
Stephen Paddock’s brother has been arrested for possession of child porn. His nursing home notified the police when he wouldn’t stop bragging about the shooting. The police did a background check and discovered he had an outstanding warrant for child porn, so they arrested him.
Twitter’s list of “Russian-related accounts” they sent to Congress apparently included an American who lives in the country of Georgia.
I don’t think they understand the bot problem yet.
Oooooooh, that’s bad.
Why is Doosh awful?
He says why.
He is constantly telling us, “I am bestest man and the bested because I’m a man that man’s the way I do.”
He tells you his rationale. Society has taught him and allowed him and rewarded him for being the pos he is. There’s no need to dig deeper. It’s all right on the surface. The guy isn’t exactly an enigma. Why would you imagine otherwise?
That assumption has alot to unpack.
I’m sorry I’ve been so spotty in coming back here, everyone, but I had to share this story with you all: Sophia (the robot) is given citizenship in Saudi Arabia. Ti on youtube made a video about this subject too.
I’m creeped out after learning how people are planning to build a robot-city. So this is just the first step.. and everything.. just feels fast-paced.
Hu’s on First,
What a nice family!
Reason number approximately 130,000,008 to take things like sexual harassment and threats of violence seriously.