Paywalled. — Wayfarer

There's a workaround if you use Chrome or Firefox, if interested PM me.

@Wayfarer, and others interested.

Use this website to bypass paywalls:

https://outline.com/

Insert the URL of paywalled article.

:ok:

Well, this is just batshit:

Several experts on financial crime and espionage told the FT that the most troubling part of the interplay between Trump’s past in business and his present in public office was his potential susceptibility to blackmail. Keatinge, the Rusi expert on illicit finance, calls such a scenario “the number-one fear of any intelligence agency”. Knowledge of an illicit transaction might not be as sensational as the most notorious claim in the former MI6 officer Christopher Steele’s dossier on Trump’s Russian connections — that Russian intelligence had footage of the future president instructing prostitutes to urinate on the Moscow hotel bed in which the Obamas had once slept. But it could be at least as powerful if used as kompromat with which to pressure the president. — FT

From the article above.

That scandalous accusation is very old news Posty. The Steele Dossier was leaked [pardon the irony] to Buzzfeed in, let’s see, January last year. Personally I never thought there was the least shred of credibility in that particular bit of tabloid trash, in fact it plays directly into Trump campaign’s hands by way of being such an obviously piece of ‘fake news’. And there’s a ton of incriminating stuff about Trump and Russia but whether any of it sticks is still anyone’s guess. Trump has done such a fabulous job of bullshitting the electorate that nobody knows what to believe - well, enough people to always provide him the benefit of all the doubt he’s sown. It’s like one of those firefighting airplanes that goes overhead and dumps this enormous cloud over everything.

Well, the links between the Russian intelligence and other structures of power in the post Soviet, now Russian Federation, are more credible given this investigation in my mind. Anyway, I always knew that Trump got help from the Russian intelligence community, just that the above gives more substance on how that happened.

Trump has done such a fabulous job of bullshitting the electorate that nobody knows what to believe - well, enough people to always provide him the benefit of all the doubt he’s sown. It’s like one of those firefighting airplanes that goes overhead and dumps this enormous cloud over everything. — Wayfarer

Well, Mueller won't let him bullshit out of this situation. There's no way he could pull off a fake news or "I don't remember" card here.

We’ll see about that. Guliani is already greasing the wheels by saying that Mueller’s team is ‘incredibly corrupt’. There is some suggestion that Mueller’s appointment might be retrospectively deemed unconstitutional. I think Trump himself feels that he is above the law, that he IS the law, and I’m pretty sure he’s going to move to wind up Mueller. Then we’ll see where the GOP really stands, although I expect the answer is they’ll all retreat quivering to their congressional offices. With Fox News and Sean Hannity beating the drum, the ‘core supporters’ are ready to say that Mueller is a deep state conspiracy, and maybe there’s enough momentum there to actually swing it.

Look at the hatchet job they did on James Comey. There’s a fair number of people who will believe Comey was lying, but Trump wasn’t. Heck, I bet some of them are even reading this.

If they due interfere with due process, things won't end well. Anyway, Mueller isn't the only investigational committee and if he does get shut down on any idiotic premise the power hungry nutjobs in office can muster, then the investigation will continue with the Senate committee or Congressional committee with everything Mueller has discovered being true and genuine evidence to adhere to in those committees also.

That's how I see events flowing if Mueller gets shot down. I don't think the evidence accumulated by Mueller's team can be discredited on any grounds. I hope I'm not wrong about this.

Me too.

:pray:

Or, alternatively, we can take a cue from the European playbook and pursue a level of economic interdependence between Russia and Europe that it would be in both their interest to not start wars. It also doesn't tell us what alternatives would be since there aren't really any and as far as renewable energies go, Germany already invests quite a lot. Unlike the USA it doesn't have its own oil reserves and its industry is far more energy efficient than the USA already.

And by the same logic the US is even worse as it, despite producing 40% of its own needs (which it could ramp up), it imports oil and gas from terrorist countries and shouldn't they be guarding against that? 40% of imports is from OPEC and gulf countries and also 40% from the evil Canadians.

When @Maw talks about Trump and the Supreme Court pick, it sounds EXACTLY like Hannity describes it:


:lol:

US politics devolved into repetitive tu quoque well before this. Everybody on the left complains about the right and vice versa and then both complain the other side complains about the other side complaining about the other's complaints. It's like watching children.

Meanwhile, the fact that the left maligns Kavanaugh isn't the fucking news. Are there good arguments against him becoming a member of SCOTUS or not. If not, why is the left wrong.

Everybody on the left complains about the right and vice versa and then both complain the other side complains about the other side complaining about the other's complaints. It's like watching children. — Benkei

Not complaining are we? :joke:

Not complaining are we? — unenlightened

I'm special. I'm a holistic complainer and complain about EVERYBODY. It's only fair.

It is clear to my mind that the Mueller investigation phenomenon is about a determination to protect long standing corruption.

I think Mueller himself will eventually be under investigation.

The entire Mueller process is a political stunt for the midterms. The establishment does not like Trump since he is successfully rocking the boat and messing up the international and national donor gravy train. This stunt is all about swaying public opinion via fake news. If the Mueller team had anything they would have leaked it by now, since this has been the pattern. They are looking to stain Trump by associations to third parties.

Trump has the authority to force Mueller's hand, but Trump is allowing it to continue, since he is gaining sympathy vote by being seen as the victim of the swamp, fake news and desparate Democrats. They are trying everything to discredit him, but it is all backfiring at the polls.

The FBI said there was evidence that many players has hacked Hillary's private server. These would have included our own intelligence agencies. They would have hacked her server to act as a sentry to help defend its potential vulnerability. If my job was to protect a VIP, I would follow them and eavesdrop so I can keep them in sight. This is not to hurt them, but to protect them.

What would happen if Trump had soldiers, loyal to any president, in these agencies, who had had access to this firewall protection data? Trump would have a Trump card, that he knows he can play at anytime. There wood be no need to act or fire anyone, since he can pardon himself and play the winning hand.

Image how many Democrats, including Obama, may have used this server to talk strategy. Or how many of the foreign players who are against trade balance used that server. Or how many donors used that server. Trump is being nice since he does not feel cornered. It is also possible Trump may already know the Mueller hand, through insider people loyal to the president. Washington is about suck-ups who do it for their own careers and who calculate who the winning team is. Trump is the winning team and Washington will eat its own.

I wonder if metaphysical relativism is the case and each person really does live in his own reality.

:rofl:

Merrick Garland

talks about Trump and the Supreme Court pick, it sounds EXACTLY like Hannity describes it: — Agustino

You are aware of the massive conflict of interest Hannity is facing in this story? That he's the third secret client of Cohen?

Hannity himself has said he's "not a journalist", but a talk show host, so why pay him any attention?

So Trump paid some Russian prostitutes to pee on a bed that Mr and Mrs Obama had slept in.

So this has all been a personal vendetta?

"The entire Mueller process is a political stunt for the midterms."
How do you account for the fact that Mueller (a Republican) was appointed by a Republican (Rosenstein), and Rosenstein was a Trump appointee? I'll certainly grant that Dems have, and will continue to use this politically, but isn't this typical of our political system? Need any reminders about Trump's making political capital out of the negative Hilary news?

" If the Mueller team had anything they would have leaked it by now, since this has been the pattern. They are looking to stain Trump by associations to third parties."
What pattern? There have been no leaks! We don't know what Mueller might uncover - and there's no justifiable basis for believing that an absence of leaks entails either Trump's guilt OR innocence.

The best case scenario for Trump is to let it complete and have him fully vindicated. If the Republicans are hurt politically in the meantime, that's unfortunate - but the same thing happens to Democrats. Personally, I'd like for our system of government to work, but it won't work well by applying double standards - so we have to expect political fallout, both deserved and undeserved.

In an interview with the British tabloid The Sun published Thursday, Trump said that it is a "shame" that European leaders had allowed so many migrants to enter their countries' borders.

"Allowing the immigration to take place in Europe is a shame," the U.S. president told the tabloid

"I think it changed the fabric of Europe and, unless you act very quickly, it’s never going to be what it was and I don’t mean that in a positive way," he continued.

"I think you are losing your culture," he told the tabloid. "Look around. You go through certain areas that didn’t exist ten or 15 years ago."

As if it weren't obvious before, Trump doesn't merely loathe illegal immigration, but non-white/non-European immigrants tout court, while using white nationalist language.

Bill Binney, former high ranking NSA official turned whistleblower: “Intelligence agencies are the Stasi of today”.


https://youtu.be/mPqDmTftW94

Above interview recorded 2 hours ago.

Bill Binney, former high ranking NSA official turned whistleblower: “Intelligence agencies are the Stasi of today”. — raza

Wut. "Intelligence agencies of today are the intelligence agencies of yesterday".

Makes a whole lot of sense. :worry:

Why are you misquoting?