#i am trying to read about what sanctions were imposed and i do not see anything that would affect women selling cross stitch patterns here

[pancakeke]

did etsy have an actual legal leg to stand on when they banned all Russian sellers or did they just not want to invest any time into understanding the impact of sanctions against Russia so they did a blanket ban to avoid getting into trouble.

[carriesthewind]

Good evening everyone! As I said in an answer to a previous ask, there wasn't a public call-in line to listen to the Show Cause Hearing in Mata v Avianca (the ChatGBT lawyer case) today.

However, while we are waiting for a transcript of the hearing (because there was a court reporter! yay!) and a written decision by the judge, we did get this absolutely anxiety-inducing live tweet of the hearing:

(Caveat: this thread was not an official transcript of the hearing and should not be taken as such. It is possible the actual events and statements made in the hearing differ significantly from this report - i.e., take this with a grain of salt and reserve final judgement for the actual transcript.)

I'll put the full thread with some (light) commentary below the cut.* But the overall impression I am left with is that the judge seems to feel this pair of attorneys are treating their duty of candor toward the tribunal with the same seriousness with which they are treating their duty of competence to their clients. (And in this case, that's a very bad thing.)

*The full thread except for a soon-to-follow part 2 because I ran out of space for images again.

(All of the following screenshots are from the above tweet thread by Inner City Press @ innercitypress on twitter, made on June 8, 2023.)

Normally I would overlook that "you, personally," but in this case, you really get the feeling that the judge is concerned that LoDuca might just start talking about what Schwartz did again.

Establishing LoDuca's base of knowledge - he should know how to look up cases and check if they are real; he should know what a real case looks like.

The March 1 submission was the plaintiff's opposition to the motion to dismiss, where they first cited the fake cases.

How bad this answer is depends, I think, on LoDuca's wording here. Best case scenario, his statement about Schwartz was a specific statement about what inquiry was reasonable for him to do under the circumstances (which - for that first filing - I think is actually a reasonable argument. You don't expect your colleague to just make up cases). Worst case, this reads like him trying to wiggle out of his obligations. I will withhold judgement until I see the official transcript.

Rule 11, by the way, refers to Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 11(b) states:

(If you remember the Order to Show Cause, we are dealing with a Rule 11(b)(2) issue here. Rule 11(c) allows the court to impose sanctions for violations of Rule 11(b))

Oh no, bad answer. (If anyone reading this is good at photoshop, I cannot express how badly I want a version of the "this sign can't stop me because I can't read" meme with the sign being the quote from defendant's reply where they say, "The undersigned has not been able to locate this case by caption or citation, nor any case bearing any resemblance to it.")

Oh that is not a good way of characterizing those orders. (Those were the orders, remember, where the Court said, "By April 18, 2022, Peter LoDuca, counsel of record for plaintiff, shall file an affidavit annexing copies of the following cases cited in his submission to this Court: as set forth herein. Failure to comply will result in dismissal of the action pursuant to Rule 41 (b), Fed. R. Civ. P.")

I would simply perish on the spot.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention in my original attempted summary of "Varghese" - the first paragraph states that it is a wrongful death suit by the widow of the passenger. Then the second paragraph states that the passenger was denied boarding on a flight due to overbooking and thus missed his connecting flight and therefore incurred additional expenses. The case was such nonsense that I legitimately forgot about that inconsistency by the time I got to the end.

Your honor I plead "2 stupid 2 sanction."

(I believe the "different fonts" is in reference to the April 25 affidavit, in which the case names - and some of the surrounding text - are in a different font from most of the text in the affidavit. It seems like this is because they may have been copied straight from ChatGPT. See e.g., #3 below. It's hard to tell just based on this twitter thread, though.)

A short and simple answer! You did it!

"I have all the answers I need" is not a good sentence in this context.

Very genuinely: shorter is better here. At least I don't think he hurt himself with that statement.

Judge Castel: How do you conduct legal research?

Schwartz: I research cases.

Judge Castel: Do you read them?

Schwartz: Well, I may have once upon a time, but after hearing you ask that question in this context, I have decided to retire from the practice of law forever and also possibly sink into the ground and die. Also, by answering "yes," here, I just realized that I'm either admitting that I read the cases I submitted and therefore must have known they were fake, or else I just possibly committed perjury. Oh shit oh fuck.

Oh god I'm cringing myself into a pretzel just reading this.

Hey, by the way? You can actually use google (esp. google scholar) to do legal research. (It's not a good tool and you will miss things, but it will do in a pinch.) But. Um. If you know that...why didn't you double check your cases at very least on google when you were told they seemed to be made up?

So, once again, I am going to withhold judgement until I see the actual transcript. That said, if Schwartz did say this, I would like to compare it briefly to a part of the chat transcript he provided to the court. Here is the first question asked about the Montreal Convention in the provided transcript:

"analysis"

Oh god. I can't even provide commentary on this one. I hope this is worse than the actual transcript will prove to be. I'm reading through my fingers like I'm watching a horror movie.

"Misperception" (or "misconception") doesn't work once you have evidence that should cause you to doubt - like not being able to find a case that was supposedly published in the Federal fucking Reporter.

This is overshooting "2 stupid 2 sanction" into "too stupid to function."* You either looked for "Varghese" or you didn't. If you looked for "Varghese," it is not credible that you continued to have a good faith assumption that ChatGPT couldn't lie. If you didn't look up "Varghese," you just lied to the Court under oath.

*Just to be clear: for an ordinary person, this would be a very understandable lack of knowledge issue. A lawyer has no excuse not to know this.

Judge Castel: Mr. Schwartz, I think you have the fucking audacity to try to lie to me to my face in my fucking courtroom.

Honestly at this point I'm surprised he could still talk. I think screaming, "I'm melting, I'm melting!" as he vanished into steam, leaving his crumpled suit behind, would be an appropriate response.

NO.

Oh no, oh honey.

Ok. Two options here (again, assuming he actually fucking said "They said they couldn't find them," in response to the Court asking, "When Avianca said you cited non existent cases?"):

Schwartz is once again trying to purposefully downplay what the defendant's reply brief actually said and dodge responsibility.

Schwartz honestly, truly believes that when the defendant filed a reply containing the line, "The undersigned has not been able to locate this case by caption or citation, nor any case bearing any resemblance to it," they were just asking for assistance with their legal research?!??!

I honestly don't know which is worse.

Oh no....

Oh man, I haven't gone over it here yet, but I think that "I looked up the judge" is a panicked attempt at bringing up a talking point the Professional Responsibility Lawyers raised in their memorandum of law. (Again, I'm giving this reading of his response with the caveat that it is based only on this thread, not the official transcript, which might read very differently and contain different/more info.) The Professional Responsibility attorneys noted in a footnote that two of the judges listed in the "opinion," including the "author," were actual 11th circuit judges, and the other is an actual 5th circuit judge. My read of this footnote was as an extra little detail tossed in by the Professional Responsibility attorneys to try to dress up their argument that the "opinions" had various "indicia of authenticity."

But here's the problem. If Schwartz is telling the truth - if he was reading carefully and critically enough that he bothered to look up the judge (why would you do that if you didn't think the case might be fake?!) there is no way he could have missed that the case was gibberish. Again, if this is really what he said at the hearing, he either lied in the hearing, or he must have know the "opinions" were bogus when he gave them to LoDuca to file.

"Did it cross your mind" - if the court actually said this, oh my god.

Hey, that's the point that I made in my original post(s)!

This whole thing about the "+h" to "th" with the notary date is from the recent affidavits filed on 6/6/23, you can read them about them if you want, I'll be honest, I don't really care as much about the notary stuff so I'm going to skip it for the moment.

....and I've run out of space for images again. Part II to follow shortly!

[tellthestoryofmybrokendreams]

Wild Heart

Fandom: Avatar: the Last Airbender

Pairing: Zuko/Katara

Status: Complete

Words: 2,805

AO3 Link 

Next

Desc: Sometimes Zuko wonders if his horrible Agni Kai and banishment or his struggles - with his nation, his destiny, and himself...if all his hardships were worth it. But then he sees her smile.

A/N: Hello all! I'm obsessed with Bleachers, and so many of their songs fit Zutara. So I challenged myself to write a fic for every song. Here's the first one! These fics are ordered in the track order, not in chronological order. Cont...

Basically everything in here is like canon level, except it goes into a bit of detail about Zuko's scar and the healing process. Some of the flashback dialogue/information is taken directly from the show, or Zuko's prequel comic and "The Search". (Which aren't canon, but it's easier to steal from them than to try to get a read on Ozai or make up Fire Nation traditions lol.) I put a lot of effort in to keeping literally everything canon except the very ending, the only difference is that you see Zuko's thought process throughout. This was tough, considering in early season three he's pretty WACK and like ridiculously OOC, especially in "The Beach", and I hate it, but I wanted to show all those little ways that Zutara is still pretty damn canon. Bryke just made Aang their self-insert so he HAD to get the girl. 

Anyways, enjoy!

~

The Fire Lord sits in his study and looks over a proposition from the Earth Kingdom to impose sanctions on the Northern Water Tribe until they agree to help their sister tribe with rebuilding. He knew the first year after the war would be the hardest, but Spirits was this terrible. Every move, every decision, every little choice he made seemed to have boundless political repercussions. Was he endorsing this? Shaming that? At the last big meeting with the Fire Council and various noblemen of the country, he’d served wine to the attendees and apparently picked sides in an argument between two men who owned neighboring vineyards and both claimed the same bit of land between them.

Zuko sighs and rubs his eyes, dropping his head in his hands.

He was tired, he was confused, and he was more than a little fed up. Trials for those involved in the war were still ongoing, and he knew by the end of them all his army would be small and his prisons overflowed.

The other nations needed reparations, both in money and physical assistance as they rebuilt. He was happy to provide all the aid he could, but they needed so much help and the Fire Nation had to rebuild as well. The village his friends had described to him, the one destroyed by pollution from a Fire Army factory, was far from unique. It was clear to Zuko that his predecessors didn’t care very much about their people, or at least not at an individual level.

Was it all really worth this new life?

Zuko had lost his mother and his cousin when he was only eleven. He’d then endured abuse and manipulation from his father and sister ten times worse than before. He’d been indoctrinated into a culture of imperialism and superiority, hearing all throughout his childhood that his nation and his family were superior and deserved all the glory in the world.

Even with the presumption and arrogance he was surrounded and seduced by, he’d still been a source of shame for his father, and suffered for it. Azula was born lucky. He was lucky to be born. It was what his father had reminded him day after day when he couldn’t master firebending like Azula could, when he cared too much, when he spoke out of turn, when he expressed himself, whenever he was less than perfect.

He knows now, perfect in his father’s eyes is something he could never achieve. And if he had? Well, that would be a real reason to be ashamed.

And then he’d just wanted to go to a war meeting. He’d just wanted to show his father he was capable. That he was worthy of love and respect.

When he’d heard the general’s plans to send new recruits into battle as a diversion, like koala-lambs to the slaughter, he’d spoken out before he knew what he was doing. What he had known was that it was wrong, and that he’d hated it.

“You can’t sacrifice an entire division like that! Those soldiers love and defend our nation! How can you betray them!?”

“Prince Zuko! How dare you speak out of turn and oppose your superior! It is not your place to dispute General Himura’s plans, and to do so is an act of complete disrespect. There is only one response to your insolence, an Agni Kai!”

Zuko turned to General Himura, who must be a cowardly man to sacrifice their new recruits as a distraction instead of launching an invasion honorably.

“I am not afraid. I accept.”

At sundown, the Agni Kai began. Zuko may not have been as powerful as his sister, but he knew he could take a cowardly, and likely weak, old man. He had been confident, but when he turned to face Himura, he saw a face he’d never expect to oppose in a dueling arena. His father, Fire Lord Ozai.

Zuko fell to his knees, both in shock and submission. He couldn’t believe his father was prepared to duel him. Everyone knew who would win. But of course it was Ozai, he may have spoken against a general, but it was in the Fire Lord’s war room. Any disrespect in the Fire Lord’s sanctum is disrespect to the Fire Lord himself.

He could feel tears begin to well in his eyes as he bowed to Ozai, “Please Father! I only had the Fire Nation’s best interests at heart. I’m sorry for speaking out of turn!”

“You will fight for your honor!”

“I meant you no disrespect! I am your loyal son.”

“Rise and fight Prince Zuko!”

“I won’t fight you.”

“You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher!”

All Zuko could see as he looked up with tears rushing down his cheeks, was his father’s angry face. And then he raised his fist with white-hot flames blazing, and Zuko felt the worst pain he could ever imagine.

He woke up in the Palace medical chambers. He reached up to feel his damaged eye, and hissed at the pain of his bandages rubbing against the skin edging the burn. He couldn’t see anything from his left eye, and he prayed to the Spirits it was only because of the bandages.

His father stood above him, looking disgusted.

“Prince Zuko, you have shown yourself to be unworthy of the crown and unfit to stand upon the land of our noble ancestors. You are therefore stripped of your birthright and banished from the Fire Nation until you can prove your worth.”

Ozai turned and made his way to the door. Right before exiting, he turned back to his son, “I hope you will not be arrogant enough to keep your full head of hair after losing to the Fire Lord,” he sneered in cruel amusement, “No one likes a sore loser.”

Zuko pulls himself out of his memories and shakes his head to clear it. That was a long time ago. His father’s barbarism could no longer affect him.

Well, it did, but only in the ruined economy and society of the Fire Nation. Zuko no longer flinches when he enters the war room, nor does he feel the stab of pain and resentment in his chest when someone describes him as lucky in any capacity.

But his new life as Fire Lord, somehow boring and hard at the same time, and even all the strength he’d gained, doesn’t quite seem worth all his pain. Those three, almost four, years of searching desperately for the Avatar all across the globe, they weren’t fun. He’d had to face his father and his sister, two people who should have loved him unconditionally, and realize that they were twisted, evil people with no hope of being saved. He’d struggled with, and eventually accepted, the fact that nearly everything he’d learned throughout his childhood about the Hundred Year War and the man who started it was wrong. That what he was doing was wrong. He’d fallen into anger and hatred of himself more than once, despising himself for his actions, and the world around him for driving him to make them.

Really, was all that worth it?

And then his wife strides into his study with a smile on her face and makes her way to his side to give him a kiss. Katara settles into his lap and strokes his cheek tenderly, then snuggles into his chest and rests her head on his shoulder as she reads over the documents in his hand curiously.

“How’s my favorite Fire Lord doing today?”

He closes his eyes and leans into her hand. He can’t feel anything where Ozai burned him nearly five years ago, but he thinks he can always make out a ghost of his wife’s touch. She doesn’t even have to use her healing, there’s just something about her that makes the impossible seem otherwise.

“Better, now that you’re here,” he answers with a smile.

Thinking back, that’s sort of always been the case. His day has always been made better when Katara was around, even if that just meant Aang was close by. Really, even his past self, angry and stupid as he may have been, could appriciate her glowing brown skin and fierce blue eyes that never lost the love in them.

Even throughout his stupid decisions, his betrayal, and his repeated attempts to hurt them, she’s always seen right through him. She may not have trusted him, but she’d always known that beneath all the anger and hatred and animosity, he was really a scared kid who wasn’t sure what was right. Even when she’d yelled at him beneath Ba Sing Se, called him a terrible person and declared that as the Fire Lord’s son he was only capable of evil. Even when she blamed him for her mother, she knew. This time, she’d been the one covering things up with her anger, because she’d known that all he needed was to see the light. And honestly? She could have been just the person to help him.

When he’d offered up the story of his mother, desperate for her not to hate him, not even knowing why, she’d remembered the truth she’d always known. Her heart and hand reached out to him, and he took it. And really, he’d never let go. She’d apologized, and he’d confessed that he was considering choosing his own destiny. She’d even offered to heal his scar. And when she’d brushed her fingers across it, he’d known she was special, that she probably could heal it. Especially with that Spirit Water. Uncle had told him in their weeks at sea that the water from the Spirit Oasis could reverse death if the soul hadn’t left the body yet; he’d never imagined they’d give that away to the Avatar’s waterbending master.

But despite all this, he’d still been weak. He’d longed for his father’s love, convinced he had no one else’s. And he’d betrayed her. He’d fought her and the Avatar, and he’d stood aside in horror as Azula killed him.

“I thought you had changed!” she had yelled as they fought.

“I have changed,” he’d responded, and he had. He finally knew the truth, he just forced himself to ignore it.

“She has the Spirit Water,” he’d thought, trying to excuse it all. He’d get to go home, see the people and land he missed. His father would welcome him back with love, perhaps even hug him. His honor would be restored. It was everything Zuko had wanted.

And yet, it still didn’t feel right. All he could see when he went to bed every night was Katara, holding the Avatar’s body with a look of pure despair. He knew, even if he was loosening his grip on her hand, he still grasped her finger tips.

He’d kept a hold on them as he made his way through the beginning of the life he’d always wanted. Terrified of losing it if the Avatar resurfaced, he’d hired an assassin. And as soon as he’d gotten home, he’d collapsed on his bed and screamed, “Stupid stupid idiot why would you do that it’s not right he’s a child-”

This had run through his head on repeat, even as he’d tried to make it work with Mai. But she just hadn’t got it, hadn’t got him. He hadn’t been sure he’d made all the right choices, but she hadn’t seemed to care about his inner turmoil. Whenever he’d been concerned, her emotionless face had seemed to say “Why do you care so much? Why are you so freaked out? You’re the Fire Prince, what do you have to worry about?” She’d mostly wanted to kiss and laze about in that privileged way only royals could. He’d given her gifts, tried to be thoughtful, just like a boyfriend should. She’d just disregarded it, hadn’t even cared that he’d wanted them to be happy, he really had. And even though he’d fought with her and had no fun throughout their tiring relationship, he’d still gotten jealous of Ruon-Jian. She was the one who’d really wanted it, she was the one who had a crush on him when they were kids. And she still couldn’t keep her eyes off some idiot jock at a house party? She’d been chatting with him! She never chatted with anyone! He’d gotten angry, and he’d shoved Ruon-Jian. And then she’d yelled at him for not keeping his temper under control, and declared their relationship over. If he had been honest with himself, he would have known that it was a relief, a weight off his shoulders. But he’d still been deluding himself, and he’d still thought he wanted a perfect Fire Nation girlfriend.

The thought occurred to him once or twice that he needed Katara to lecture some sense into him, maybe smack him with a water whip a few times.

But he tried to make up with her, with Azula, with Ty Lee. They’d attempted to have a group therapy session, like they were normal teens with normal problems just contemplating their place in the Universe instead of four of the most important teens in the world at the time, each with a crucial role to play in the war they’d had no choice but to fight in.

He’d told them he was angry at himself, which was true, but he’d told them he didn’t know the difference between right and wrong anymore, which was a lie. He’d known the difference, but he’d still purposely chosen wrong and he was furious at himself for it. He’d silently cried himself to sleep that night, aching to reach out and take Katara’s hand properly, like he should have before, but knowing that he didn’t deserve to hold it then.

His uncle’s disappointment had hurt the most. And even though Iroh was so, so disappointed, he’d still sent that letter. As Zuko read the history of his great grandfathers, and heard Iroh explain the truth, he’d known Uncle was right. There was good and evil at war in him, confusing him, the good in his heart, and the evil forced into his mind over and over again. He’d known then his true destiny, to repeat this fight between good and evil carried out between two people who should love each other. Roku and Sozin were best friends and battle brothers. He and Azula were brother and sister.

And yet, selfishly, he’d stayed just a little bit longer. Mai was being good to him again and it was just so nice. He’d even let himself have a petty little Fire Court problem: he hadn’t thought he’d been invited to the war meeting. But he had! He’d gotten to sit at his father’s right hand and give his opinions without fear of getting a flaming fist to his good eye.

But then his opinion had led to Ozai and Azula deciding to burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground, and he had to admit the time for being selfish was long since past. He’d packed his things and prepared for the Day of Black Sun, writing a note to Mai explaining everything and timing his confrontation with his father so he’d have to listen instead of giving his son another scar.

And finally, he’d grabbed Katara’s hand properly. She pulled him up to his feet...and then tried to pull her hand away in fear of him gaining her trust again just to break it. He deserved it, obviously. But he fought to prove himself to her, and he did. Now her hand grabbed his tightly and pulled him close.

He would never let go again.

And now as they hold each other close once again, thoughts of family dancing at the back of their minds, he decides, definitively, that it was worth it. He’d do it all again, ten times worse, if it meant he could still have Katara.

“I will need your help on this one though my love, I’m afraid I’m far from understanding Water Tribe politics.”

She tosses her head back and laughs, and for the millionth time he memorizes her every detail. Her big, beautiful blue eyes, her long mahogany tresses she wears in Water Tribe braids pulled up into a Fire Nation top knot that holds her crown perfectly, her golden brown skin that always has that magical glow to it, the slope of her nose, the way her full lips curl in when she genuinely smiles...he could go on. He knows every little bit and bob of her body and he adores each one. Every night in their bed he lays a kiss to every inch of her, thanking the Spirits again and again for blessing him with this goddess.

He would do anything to keep them perfect like this, he knows it.

~

Further notes: For the record, my family and I had a huge debate on what degree Zuko's burn was and what level of damage it would have caused. It's weird since the scar's appearance suggests 3rd or 4th degree, but he can still hear and move his eye, suggesting 2nd. Eventually we settled on moderate 3rd degree and concluded that he lost sight in the eye but not movement. He's got a good amount of nerve damage, and his skin is likely leathery and tight. With modern medicine and skin grafting, he would have had a much better time, and if treated quickly enough he may have been able to eventually regain sight. Frustratingly, there isn't much documentation of thermal burns to the eyes and their effects, seeing as a burn like Zuko's is extremely rare. Generally, if your eye is burned your whole face is burned and they're usually more concerned with your ability to breathe.

[alexsmitposts]

It is All about Race, Awful Hypocrisy Hypocrisy to Say it’s Not! While I am following closely various discussions on Western mass media and social media, simultaneously engaging in several direct exchanges, one overwhelming leitmotif that I see is clearly emerging: “What is happening in the United States (and the UK, France and other parts of Western Empire) is not really about the race. Let us protest peacefully, let us not allow ‘rioting’ to continue, and above all, please let us not single out the white race, Western culture as a sole villain. Let us have peace, love each other… Then things will miraculously improve; terrible occurrences will soon go away.” I have worked and lived on all continents, from far away island nations of South Pacific (Oceania), to Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. Of course, I lived in Europe and North America, too. Colonialism, neo-colonialism, imperialism – these are all my topics. Seriously! I have been studying them, investigating them; I wrote and made various documentary films about them. On several occasions I came very close to losing my life, confronting them. My conclusion after all that I saw and experienced and survived? You can probably guess it: “To claim that the race is not what has been, for centuries, dividing our Planet, is outrageous hypocrisy. Or deranged wishful thinking. Or something much worse: it is calculated blindness that serves only the ruling, white group of people.” To make it blunt: Our Planet has been reduced to only two races: White and “the other”! On top of it, the color of one’s skin is not always identical to what the West, in general, perceives as the Caucasian/white race. To be “white” is the state of mind. It means: belonging to the culture which perceives itself as “superior”. The culture which sees itself as ‘exceptional’, and somehow ‘chosen’ to judge and advice the entire humanity. It also means ‘a state of indoctrination and obedience, as well as lack of intellectual courage’. All this, in exchange for the privileges; fabulous privileges! “Plunder the world, and live well above your means; live grotesquely plush life! And while you are living it, do not forget to whine, demand more, and keep repeating that ‘you are also exploited and, actually, a very poor victim’”. Denying the privileges is part of racism, too, as it demonstrates unexpectable spite for the real victims! Or, perhaps, self-imposed blindness. Citizens of some countries, such as Russia, Cuba, and Turkey, may look mainly ‘white’, but they are actually not. They are not invited to the ‘club’, because their mindset is different because they are not submissive because they think on their own. *** Such conclusions may not be popular in New York, London, Paris, or Berlin. Especially not now, when the United States and the entire West are in turmoil. The culture which was built on blood, bones, rape, and theft, ‘culture’ shaped by more than 500 years of colonialist terror, is now turning, twisting, and trying to justify itself. It tries to survive while staying in a driving seat. Countless editorials penned by both ‘conservative’ and so-called ‘liberal’ scribes are carpet-bombing the pages of newspapers at both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Fear of perhaps mortally injured beast – Western regime and its citizens – is delectable by its repulsive stench, and it stinks for miles. Suddenly, most of the so-called ‘progressive’ publications do not want to hear from those writers and thinkers who are shooting powerful projectiles in the form of highly uncomfortable truth. Actually, in the West, there are hardly any true “left-wing” sites or magazines left, of course with some shining exceptions. What is really progressive these days? I don’t want to name the sites or publications here, but you are most likely aware of which ones I am talking about: they almost exclusively carry the stuff written by the Western/white men, for other white men’s consumption! They never cross the line: their criticism of the Western white-dominated world is half-hearted, “peaceful”; in short cowardly. A white man is an individual who has been brought up and indoctrinated in a certain way, who thinks, speaks, and writes in a manner that is expected from him or her by the Western regime. And all these ‘non-whites’, all over the world, including the minorities in the Western countries, are expected to sit on their asses, shut up and listen to him or her, but mostly him. And of course, to obey. Or else! Or else: they will be verbally attacked and humiliated, eventually, they will get sanctioned, their governments were overthrown, countries invaded. There will be corpses all over, the stench of burning flesh, overflowing mass graves. And ‘at home’, in the West? Bullets shot at their eyes, or necks squashed by military or police boots. So, what actually happened a few weeks ago to Mr. George Floyd, has been constantly happening to non-white people all over the world, to the entire communities and countries. Then, suddenly, people, all over the world, had enough! Almost everywhere, not just in China, Russia, Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, Libya, Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Enough of being treated as some lower, subservient races. Enough of being treated like a scum; brutalized, killed like Mr. Floyd! *** Now, in the West, both liberal and conservative media is making noises, claiming that Mr. Floyd was “not a saint”, that he used to serve some time in prison. What can I say? People, in general, are not saints. People and countries. Very often, circumstances make them behave in a very nasty matter. But if you are raised as a second-class citizen, if you are beaten, day and night, by your own regime, are you expected to turn out to be a romantic poet? Get real! Our countries, non-Western ones, are not always behaving like saints, either. But they are still better, much better, than those that have been murdering hundreds of millions in their colonies! Don’t they understand, in Washington, London, and Paris, why those millions of people, from Tokyo to Buenos Aires, from Africa to Asia, are now marching in support for the African-American people? It is because all of us, outside Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand, are somehow related to Mr. Floyd! Yes, we read those phony essays. We observe those cynical little smiles on the faces of the people who are denying racial and racist division of the world. Individuals who are defending the status quo, the rule of that tiny minority over the planet, so they could maintain their advantages. Some defenders of status quo are now going as far as claiming that the rebellion against the white rulers is actually some sort of dark conspiracy theatre, triggered by the well-concealed business elites, or that it is connected to COVID-19; but above all, that it is not spontaneous at all. It is clear, where they really stand and what they want to achieve. It is never “them”. It is always somebody else. They keep pointing fingers at some invisible bankers, or the minorities in their own countries. You know precisely what I mean. As long as it is not them! But it is all much simpler: most of Europe and North America are constructed on white racism. And so is imperialism, colonialism. Citizens in the West are voting right-wing scum, voluntarily, and consistently. Can you imagine a genuine North American or European “internationalist”? Maybe a few. Perhaps 1%. Not more! So, the proverbial gold keeps flowing in. And billions of non-whites are rotting alive, in all corners of the globe. My friends, my comrades, all over the world, are now opening their eyes, realizing what is happening in the United States and its colonialist daddy: Europe. Many of them, of course, already knew. At least they knew something. But those who did not, are now wide awake, getting well aware of the brutality of the Western regime, as well as of the racist nature of the “global arrangement”. Those who were, for centuries, manufacturing consent, justifying and glorifying colonialism, imperialism, racial discrimination, as well as Western supremacy, can suddenly do nothing to stop the avalanche of awareness. This may be the beginning of the end of segregation, of global apartheid. Just the beginning of the true struggle for equality. A knee of a beefy white racist cop in Minneapolis, which had cut the supply of air, killing an African-American person, somehow managed to trigger that avalanche. Nobody wants to live like this. Oppressed nations do not want to be threatened this way by those white Western cynics and nihilists: like Clinton and Trump, Navarro, Pompeo, and others. What a hellish troop of third-rate violent people! Oppressed minorities inside the empire, be they of African descent, Hispanics or Chinese, are sick of the vicious and repulsive racism. Mostly, they are frightened to speak. But now, day by day, they are gaining courage. *** The United States of America has been built on the genocide of the non-white people. The great majority of native folks had been slaughtered so the small number of the first and brutal European settlers could thrive. This is “to some extend” known fact, but learning in-depth what really happened to the original inhabitants of ‘America’ has been thoroughly discouraged. Word ‘genocide’ is hardly ever uttered, in connection with the first chapters of U.S. history. Actually, it is taboo. Slavery has been turned into folklore. Millions, tens of millions of broken, methodically destroyed human lives, is hardly ever presented in its real, nightmarish authenticity. People in Africa were hunted down like animals, tortured, raped, killed, and shipped like cattle to the so-called ‘free’ and ‘democratic’ “New World”. Does a country constructed on such macabre foundations have really any moral right to call itself ‘free’? Can it be allowed to police the world? It is as if you would allow that murder cob who killed Mr. Floyd, to run a nation! And those states which are now forming Europe? Their citizens are the descendants of those who were hunting down millions of human beings. Offspring of those who perpetrated and then got rich on such mass-slaughters as those of the Namibians, or people who used to inhabit what is now known as Congo. When dragged to the broad daylight, it is all very, very uncomfortable, isn’t it? Better to sweep the truth under the carpet, and talk about “love”, “goodwill”. And then keep robbing and murdering as before, far away from the cameras! This way, nothing would ever change. Repeating over and over again: “race does not matter; it is actually all about class”, could make those who are in control of the world feel good about themselves, even sometimes sorry for themselves, which is actually their favorite state of mind. But it is a terribly hypocritical and deceptive position. And it has to be unveiled if there is ever to be justice! *** On 3 June 2020, UN News, published an essay condemning the situation in the United States: “Voices calling for an end to “the endemic and structural racism that blights US society” must be heard and understood, for the country to move past its “tragic history of racism and violence”, the UN Human Rights chief said on Wednesday. “The voices calling for an end to the killings of unarmed African Americans need to be heard”, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a statement. “The voices calling for an end to police violence need to be heard”.” Ms. Bachelet, a Chilean, knows precisely what she is talking about! She knows what it is to have someone’s knee choking your aorta. Her father, an army General during the socialist era of President Salvador Allende, was murdered after the US-sponsored coup led by Augusto Pinochet. Ms. Bachelet herself was kidnapped and tortured. She looked ‘white’, but obviously not ‘white enough’ for Washington and its local assassins. What is truly significant is that even the United Nations (usually subservient to the US) is now unwilling to remain silent. *** Race ‘issues’ have to be addressed. Racism, inside the national boundaries, as well as on the global scale, has to be fought against, by all means. The depressing state of our planet is a result of racism. Look at the map of the world at the beginning of the 20th century, and you will see: a great majority of the nations were colonized by the West. Colonialism is one of the most evident forms of racism. It humiliates victims, it robs them of everything: of culture, dignity, land. To a great extent, most of the world is still being colonized. Even right now, as this is being written. Almost the entire Planet is brutally controlled by the racist West-centric education system, and by the mass media which is controlled by the White boy’s Western narrative. Things have been arranged, so that the people in non-Western countries have been ‘learning’ and ‘getting informed’ about themselves from the Western curriculums and the fraudulent sources disseminated by the US and British media outlets. That is grotesquely racist, isn’t it? Close to 10 million people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in just a quarter of a century. It is because they have coltan, uranium, and other essential raw materials, desired by the West. But also, because to the West, their black lives matter close to nothing. My film, “Rwanda Gambit”, is clearly addressing the issue. But who cares? In the West, they rather watch porn, instead of learning the greatest genocide of the 20th Century, which they helped to trigger! And who cares about the West Papuans, who are murdered with almost the same intensity by the Indonesians, on behalf of their Western masters? After all, the West Papuans are blacks, therefore matter nothing. On those millions, mountains of corpses, huge companies, and even entire countries are thriving, prosper. While their CEOs and Presidents are talking rubbish about some ‘corporate responsibility’ and love for democracy. And most of the white Europeans, Canadians, Australians, have to sacrifice very little, in order to live their obnoxiously luxurious lives. Isn’t this racist? The entire arrangement of the world is! Soon, it will be impossible to hide behind all those lies. I work at the frontlines. Where human bodies are crushed by all that “love” of the white colonialism and racism, directly but also indirectly. Racist violence is the most repulsive and the creepiest thing on Earth. I want it to end; once and for all. I don’t care if some shops get looted or trashed in the process. Peaceniks who are crying over them are mostly sitting in their plush living rooms, watching censored news. They do not see those tens of millions of victims of racism rotting in tropical heat, floating on the surfaces of polluted rivers, thousands of kilometers away! Images of Mr. Floyd being murdered, slowly and sadistically, is as close as they ever got to reality. For centuries, they did all they could in order not to see. Now they are running out of excuses. Not to see, not to fight against the endemic global racism is a terrible crime. A crime that has been taking place for more than 500 years. The crime against humanity.

[whisker-biscuit]

Harley Quinn is Not A Good Role Model: Chapter 16

Rated T-M for language and graphic descriptions of violence

Pairing: Dr. Flug/Black Hat

Summary: Dr. Flug Slys is a successful psychiatrist working at one of the world’s most respected mental institutes for the criminally insane. But this new patient is unlike anything he’s ever encountered. Flug is determined to help him, nonetheless.

Black Hat has other ideas.

Chapter 15: The Best Laid Plans, Version 2

That night, Flug went home early and spent a good half hour writing emails back and forth between his boss and the Inspector, trying to figure out a good date and time for their collaboration. The meeting was eventually set for that Thursday at 15:00, by the Institute’s time zone. It was going to be the best chance they had to get such important information, and Flug began writing down prospective questions and follow-ups.

The psychiatrist was startled out of his brainstorming by another email notification, however, and he cocked his head bemusedly when he didn’t recognize the address. It was a company-sanctioned one, so he went ahead and opened the message.

Dr. Slys,

This is Nurse Susie Hase, we’ve met a few times at work. I know this is very short notice, but I was hoping to talk to you tomorrow if that’s possible, maybe at the break room? Please let me know if or when we can talk.

Susie

She was the nurse he saw most often when filling prescriptions; the one he had run into the day of – well, that day. Flug frowned at the rather out-of-left-field email and pulled up a reply. Something quiet moved in his stomach as he responded with a ‘yes that’s fine, but it’d have to be very early tomorrow. Maybe 8 am?’

His computer dinged again almost immediately, and Flug chewed at his lip as he read the hasty affirmation and the promise of it being a short get together. He didn’t have any problem with Susie, really, but they’d rarely interacted beyond professional courtesy and the nagging in his gut wouldn’t go away. And after the almost accusatory questions from Ben and Lucas the day before, the doctor was feeling more than a little suspicious.

He let the suspicion stew a bit instead of dismissing it; paranoia had helped him survive this long and he wasn’t going to discount it with the bizarre, sick feeling tucked away in the corner.

...

The Institute didn’t really have a break room, but more of a mingling space. It was at the very end of the Floor 1 hallway, past all the staff offices, where the building stopped in a square-shaped dead end with a large barred window overlooking the parking lot. Someone had put a fake potted plant in one corner and it suddenly became the place to go when one wanted to unofficially hang out with a coworker.

Flug had never had much of a reason to come here, simply because he was strictly on professional terms with most of the other psychiatrists. But the nagging feeling still wouldn’t leave until he had passed his office door and ambled around the corner. He spotted Susie standing quietly at the window, sipping from a porcelain mug, and she turned around at the sound of his approach.

“Hello Dr. Slys,” the nurse offered tentatively. “I’m glad you could make it.”

“Um, yeah.” The doctor fidgeted in response and rubbed the back of his bag. “I know it’s really early, but I d-didn’t want to impede on, either of our schedules and I wasn’t sure what you...wanted to talk about. What did you want to talk about?”

Susie wrapped her hands more snugly around her steaming drink. She looked a little embarrassed. “I just, wanted to ask you how you’ve been.”

He stared at her. “Uh, sorry?”

“I know that’s, that’s a personal question!” She huddled closer to the fake fern. “Or at least, it’s a little out of ordinary to ask you that, so I don’t know if it’s a personal question? I just...thought I needed to ask you.”

“Uh…” Flug was strangely incoherent today, and it wasn’t even 8 am yet. “It’s not...I don’t mind. I’ve been...” Stressed. Emotional. Overanalyzing. “...the usual. No big deal.”

“Oh.” Susie blinked. “Well I ah, hope the usual isn’t too bad?”

“No, it’s not. Actually, I’d say things have been better, lately.” He thought of yesterday, of music and Black Hat and staying professional. The ends of his mouth quirked unseen.

“That’s good, I’m happy to hear it.” The nurse looked down at her mug. “I know this is kinda out of the blue, asking to hang out like this, but I just wanted to make sure you were okay. So I understand if you, wanted to leave now.”

“Um.” He really needed to stop starting his sentences like that. “I really don’t mind, but uh…why would you – what’s the reason for the worry?”

Susie grimaced and her eyes flitted up to his widened goggles. “I’ve just been…well you remember how we bumped into each other in the lobby the other day? You looked really stressed out that day and I just…haven’t been able to stop thinking about that. I – I wanted to make sure you were doing okay.”

“Well that’s…really kind of you.” Kinder than some coworkers who would not be named. “I’ve been fine, really. Me being stressed is just a-another part of me, at this point.”

“You don’t have to explain that to me, Doctor.” Her lips curled into a sad smile for a moment. “But are you – I mean do you need anything? I know you tend to skip lunch sometimes, but my partner always packs more than enough for me everyday so if you wanted something…”

She was looking him up and down, very cautiously, and Flug realized she might be thinking some not so nice things about his skinny form. He opened his mouth to cut off that train of thought and –

“Hey!”

Both doctor and nurse flinched at the sound of Bautista’s voice behind them. They turned almost simultaneously to see him standing in the middle of the hallway, arms cross and cool expression on his face. His eyes wandered briefly to Susie in observation before settling back on the doctor.

“Dr. Slys, I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” The man dropped his arms and moved forward heavily to join them. Flug tensed up and felt Susie shift uneasily behind him.

“What do y-you want?” He forced his shoulders down from his neck and put his hands on his hips. “If this is about Black Hat’s case again, then –”

“Nah, not about that,” Bautista waved one hand dismissively. He stepped close and towered above both of them. “I wanted to ask you about that one day, but I haven’t seen you at all. Have you been avoiding me?”

“Um, maybe, maybe I should go…” Susie said quietly from her place at the fern. She stepped around Flug’s right side only to stop short when Bautista moved left to block her. The only way she could leave was to shimmy between the wall and his side, and the nurse took a stiff step backwards as she realized this. There was a pinched look on her face that suggested discomfort and something vaguely alarmed.

“H-Hey, hang on a minute,” Flug stared up at his imposing coworker. “You can’t just – please let her through.”

“It’s Susan, right?” The man ignored him, staring at the nervous woman. “Listen, I wanted to sort some things out with this guy here, so you wouldn’t mind staying as a third party, right? Like a neutral witness? Thanks.”

He turned back towards the psychiatrist and folded his arms again.

“So I’ve been thinking about what happened, all the shit that was said. It was the heat of the moment, you know. Nothing really worth getting upset about. You understand, right?”

“You’re not – what?” Flug was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that this man wasn’t letting someone leave. “This is…really a – a conversation that we should have in p-private, Doctor.”

“It’s private enough, Slys.” Bautista waved his hand again. “I just wanted to know where things stood, yeah? There was an argument, and you said some things, and I said some things, and it was unfortunate. But we can move on, I’m willing to move on if you are, so. All’s well that ends well.”

“Please let me through,” Susie whispered. Her arms were clutched around her waist, pulling at her uniform. “I need to be somewhere, please let me through.”

Bautista barely gave her a side glance. He stared at Flug, waiting for his response.

“Ah, ah, you weren’t…very cordial that day.” He stuttered, attention torn between the towering coworker in front of him and the cowering coworker beside him. “You – what you said could have been – it was extremely hurtful, it w-wasn’t all well at all!”

The man’s face contorted into something darker. “You seemed fine to me, you just stood there like nothing. It wasn’t that big a deal.” He poked a finger at the doctor’s chest. “If it was so bad you should have said so. I just wanted to make sure we’re cool.”

“We’re not cool,” Flug couldn’t help but hiss. “I r-really wish you’d leave me alone. Can you leave us alone? And let her g-get through?” He gestured to the withdrawn nurse.

“Fine, fine! Lauren wanted us to get along, I figured this was us getting along!” The bigger man nearly threw up his hands, exasperated. “But I guess since you don’t give a shit about that, we’ll just stay weird and hostile. Happy?”

“Just – just please. Go away.” The psychiatrist replied through gritted teeth. “You’re making both of us uncomfortable.”

Dr. Bautista snorted. “Uncomfortable, right. Like we’re on a damn playground.” He gave Flug an irritated look and passed over Susie completely, turning on his heel and sauntering back the other way. The doctor felt the bravado leave his chest in a puff.

“Oh thank god,” the nurse breathed. It was so quiet she probably hadn’t meant for him to hear. Flug looked her way and stiffened again at the way her body shook. Distress scarred her face.

“I’m really, really sorry about that.” He spoke quietly, mindful of her anxiety. “I wasn’t e-expecting to run into him, I didn’t mean for him to – to corner you like that.”

She glanced at him and didn’t respond. Instead she started rubbing her arms through her lab coat like she was cold.

“Are you o-okay?” He hovered without pressing in on her personal bubble. “Do you, do you need anything?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine Doctor,” Susie murmured quietly. Her eyes trembled. “I just – I need to go now. I’m glad you’re doing well. Sorry for wasting your time.”

With that the nurse hurried off down the hall, leaving Flug alone with the fake plant. He pursed his lips as he watched her rigid back take a sharp right and disappear from sight.

This was becoming a problem. An accidental trigger was one thing, no matter the subject matter, but now Bautista had actively bullied two coworkers into a literal corner. Stressful for anyone, but what Susie had looked like before she left…

Flug shoved his hands in his pockets angrily and began walking back to his office. He had an appointment with Martin and Dementia in an hour – he wasn’t going to be late for that – but all he could think about was the disturbingly familiar way his coworker had trembled, the way she hugged herself as if to ward things away.

The worst part was, Bautista hadn’t technically done anything. He hadn’t physically touched them, hadn’t gotten visibly upset and had used words that weren’t obviously inflammatory. He even had the excuse that he was trying to mend things, because he had said as much to both of them. Bringing it to Dr. Rorschach’s attention would probably be futile, and Flug wasn’t willing to drag Susie into it if the third witness’ testimony was demanded.

The more he thought about it, the more the doctor was upset about it, and when Martin showed up in a fairly chipper mood, he wasted no time in grabbing the oblivious intern’s coat sleeve and tugging him towards the elevator in a vex-driven haste.

Dementia was waiting for them with one eye smushed between two bars like it was a peephole.

“Hey guys! Happy new week! Even though it’s Tuesday and not Sunday. Why does the new week start on Sunday anyway? Why not Monday? That’s when school starts, and work starts, and aren’t there like, religions or something about Sunday being the last day of the week? Hey Martin Maje, what do you think?”

“Uhhh…” Martin looked a little dazedly between the overexcited patient and the over-irritated doctor. “I don’t know, I um, I’m not religious.”

“Me neither! We finally have something in common, yay! Can you believe it, Flug?” The girl backed away as her psychiatrist opened the door and stepped inside without comment. “Hey, don’t ignore me, I asked you a question.”

“…You both already had something in common.” Flug closed the door behind the intern and locked it.

“Really? What’s that?”

“You’re both younger than twenty five.”

“…Huh. I guess you’re right. Hey Intern, how old are you?” Dementia got nearly nose to nose with the startled guy.

“Does it matter? I don’t, really feel comfortable telling you my age.”

“Pfft, coward. I’m diecinueve!” She giggled as Martin looked at her blankly. “I’m nineteen, numb nuts!”

“Really? I thought you were younger.”

“Nah, that’s just the straitjacket hiding my girlish figure. I’m a tried and true adult – or I guess I’m a tried and convicted adult, heh!” The inmate bounced over to Flug, who remained silent and unreadable from behind his mask. “What’s your problem today?”

“I don’t have a problem.” He took a step back.

“Yes you do, you’re all weird and distant. Your glasses are doing that thing again.” She followed his step with her own step.

“My glasses don’t ‘do that thing’, they can’t do anything, they’re goggles, Dementia.” He stepped to his left, towards Martin who blinked owlishly at the scene.

“Yes they do! They do that thing where the light reflects too much and I can’t see your eyes at all! It’s super creepy and weird and cool.” She shimmied into a sidestep to mirror him.

“That has nothing to do with my mood, that’s just what happens with light sometimes! How would I even control something like that?” He maneuvered around the intern so the poor kid was in between them.

“I don’t know, I’m not a weird science nerd like you, but I’ve only seen it when you’re in a bad mood.” She made the same action again. “Which has been like, a lot but it’s mostly when you’re angry or really, really angry.”

“I think you mean furious.” He rounded around Martin again. She followed him. “I’m not furious right now anyway.”

Soon they were walking circles around a confused, frozen intern; the doctor going backwards and his patient going forwards.

“Then what are you? Frustrated?”

“No, stop following me.”

“Are yooou…flustered?”

“Dementia, I’m warning you!”

“Are you – what’s the word? Flabgobbled?”

“The word is flabbergasted, Dementia, and yes I’m pretty flabbergasted that you’re making us do this ring-around-the-rosy thing!”

“I’m not making you do anything, Flugmeister, I’m just making you uncomfortable.”

“Well stop it!”

“Not until you tell me what’s got your panties all tied up!”

“Dementia!”

“NO!”

“Uh, not to interrupt but,” Martin said awkwardly, “could you guys maybe not do this around me? I’m getting dizzy.”

Dementia pushed into him lightly with her shoulder, making him stumble. “Only if you help me figure out why Flug’s acting so weird.”

“I’m not – gah!” The fed-up psychiatrist threw his hands in the air and sat down where he was. “Fine! Fine, you win, I stopped first, I lost. Are you happy?”

“Oh yeah, totally.” The patient bumped against the intern to make him sit, then joined them both. “But you still haven’t answered me. Why so mopey?”

Flug pressed his palm against his goggles. “If I tell you, will you promise not to tell anyone else?”

“Cross my heart and hope to die!”

“And will you promise to cooperate with our session today?”

“Cross my heart and hope to lie!”

Martin burst out with a laugh and Dementia giggled along with him. The doctor kept rubbing at his headwear.

“Okay, sure, why not. I’ve got a coworker who’s been giving me trouble, and this morning he was kinda harassing me and someone else. Alright?”

“Well why are you all brooding? Just go punch the guy and live your life.” She tried to make a threatening move towards the intern, but it wasn’t very successful with her outfit. He flinched anyway.

“It’s not that simple, Dementia. There are rules and regulations, and you could get in serious trouble for assaulting another staff member. Verbally or physically, it doesn’t matter. I’m not risking my job for that.”

“Are you…talking about Dr. Bautista?” Martin asked, chewing his lip. “Has he been messing with you?”

Flug regarded him suspiciously. “Why do you ask?”

“No reason.” The teen picked at a loose thread on his jeans.

“Ooh, has he been harassing you too?” The girl leaned in close. “This guy has been going after both of you? Now you two have something in common, how awesome is that?”

“Is that true, Martin?” The psychiatrist watched the intern fidget. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he answered quickly, “he wasn’t really doing anything mean. Just…saying stuff sometimes, when we run into each other.”

“Like what?”

“Oh, Doctor, you don’t have to –”

“Like what, Martin.”

The kid flinched. “Ah, just, these last few days, you know, he’s been saying it’s good I got moved to be with you and her. He said I…would fit in well. That you guys could dress me up like – yeah. Just, not nice things.”

Flug didn’t realize he was gripping his clothes until he tried to pull on his bag and his fingers got stuck in his lab coat. If he had been angry before, he was livid now. On his left, Dementia’s eyes narrowed into reptile slits.

“That’s it, that’s fucking it.” The doctor announced. He looked up at the room camera, grateful for the millionth time that this one didn’t have audio recording.

“Who’s fucking it?” Dementia asked, confused but still predatory.

“No, I mean I’m done with this. I can’t talk to my boss about Bautista without getting innocents involved. You,” he looked at Martin, “you probably can’t even talk to anyone. I’m sick of this. I’m so, so sick of not being able to do anything.”

“Are we planning something wicked?” His inmate whispered, expression glittering. “Are we gonna take him out, stealth mode style?”

“We’re not going to take him out, Dementia.” Flug tapped one finger to his hidden lips. “But there are other ways to do things. Ways to be sneaky, no way to incriminate yourself, no way to prove anything.”

He looked at Dementia, who jittered in hungry excitement at the mere idea of chaos. He looked at Martin, who seemed slightly concerned but also very, very thrilled. Flug could practically feel his own mouth tilt into a perfect imitation of one of Black Hat’s grins.

“How much do you guys know about pranks?”

Welp, here’s the next chapter everybody! Seems Black Hat isn’t the only schemer, hehehe. Now we have two plans, with two unsuspecting victims, on week two. Go figure, hah.

[juchechat]

Hi! I've gone through your entire questions & answer tag and I've reblogged some of the other posts I've seen by you on my dash, so I just have a few general questions and I'm sorry if these are essentially repeats. During my 2nd year of high school (I live in the United States) we had an entire unit on the DPRK that was essentially vilifying it (unsurprising) and had several stories about foreigners (largely from the US) going there and reporting on all the atrocities. (1/?)

(2/?) there was one story in particular that I was wondering if it was true and what it says about the DPRK if it is. Essentially it started by talking about the fact that the citizens are constantly monitored and have endured psychological trauma to the extent that they believe the leader or his soldiers know what they’re thinking and live in a constant state of underlying terror as a results. I feel like it’s probably exaggerated, but my main question is how strict is the surveillance?

(3/?) Additionally, there was a story of a group of South Koreans who would sneak in radios, dvds, movies, etc. to expose North Koreans to the outside world and that people, esp younger people, were beginning to view the leader as bad and were starting to want to rebel. I also heard that sometimes people in south korea will send stuff in through the air, like tied to balloons. Is there any truth to that?

(4/?) I’ve seen several videos of news reporters that have gone in with doctors who are trying to address the health crises being faced by some of the poorer residents. The idea behind it was that the leadership does not care about the citizens at all, just maintaining power. Additionally, a lot of the videos critiqued the idea of the DPRK being at all equal or progressive because all the citizens are educated in ways that serve only to benefit the leadership. Is this true and if it is wouldn’t        

(5/5) wouldn’t that kind of contradict you saying that the DPRK has more equal rights that other Asian/south east Asian countries? I’m not suggesting you are wrong about the DPRK because I definitely agree the US and the “West” as a whole has worked at vilifying and inhibiting DPRK’s growth for decades, I’m just trying to get a better understanding from people far more informed that I am. Thanks in advance!          

Citizens of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea are under a lesser state of surveillance than citizens in the global north (or even in South Korea) as most resources dedicated to security go specifically to the national borders – both north and south are effectively still at war as the conflict has yet to see any resolution due to the interference and presence of U.$. settler armed forces and U.$. imperialism and its lackeys.

As far as we know no one in the Korean People’s Army knows how to “read minds” and Comrade Kim Jong-un is not Professor X from the X-Men, such thoughts are endorsed by western media since it’s very fond of the racist narrative that Koreans are childish naive people that require the steady paternalist hand of white colonisers.

Electronic goods such as mobile phones, dvds, radios, televisions, and others (like movies) are sold in the DPRK. Both north and south Korea have used balloons in the past to carry and spread propaganda pamphlets about each other, so it’s possible “stuff” (contraband) is sent from South Korea through balloons though it’s not a particularly efficient way of delivering goods considering how easily they can be spotted.

The DPRK is a workers state built on socialism, access to free universal healthcare and education are guaranteed constitutional rights unlike in capitalist countries so it is a very ill intentioned assessment to believe that the leadership of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the government of the DPRK do not care about the workers.

Since this is a heavily embargoed and sanctioned country, when health crises happen the DPRK is unable to import necessary urgent medical goods. This deliberate policy of the U.$. and its imperialist allies is one of methodical genocide – they would rather let Koreans die of preventable diseases and famine so they can have “hard evidence” to further justify their attacks upon the DPRK.

The U.$. is not yet satisfied with having murdered millions of Koreans in the Korean War or having imposed and backed fascist dictatorships in South Korea, it further craves for the blood of innocents, for the blood of third world peoples.

[bluewomanposts]

Is a religious wedding that is chopped secretly valid?

Faruk Beşer discussed his article in today's column about the fact that our young girls should not accept those who want to marry him only with the official marriage. New Dawn. Com's columnist, Faruk Beşer, has conveyed to us an article addressing the end of marriages that have been officially married only with the marriage of imam today, with frustration: CORNER ARTICLE OF FARUK BEŞER;

First question: After finishing college, we got into a marriage with a gentleman. However, I had previously made an imam marriage with another friend, unaware of our family. Now this friend says that he could not divorce me, that I could not marry someone else, otherwise I would have forbidden, it prevents me from getting married. He doesn't think of marrying me either. There were times when we were alone with him. Does the marriage we have done with him tie me now? Second question: I am 33 years old, I left my husband, I have a child. Now I love a man, I want to marry him. He also left his wife. But she does not want to make a formal marriage with me, her family wants it, we will marry her imam marriage. Some of my relatives call me, don't do this. What do you say? Let me try to answer two questions by combining them: Our test on the relationship between men and women is Hz. It is a test that begins with Adam and Eve and will never end. Hz. The fact that Adam and Eve lost this test at first shows that this is a difficult test. Let me repeat one more thing that I have always said: The most important test of Adam is sexuality and eating. The winners of these two do not have difficulty in other issues. Now, with regard to the common aspects of these questions, we can say:

Marriage is a very strong treaty (misak-ı galiz) with the words of the Quran. The fact that a contract can be strong cannot be achieved by leaving only at the discretion of one of the parties. Both morality and law must have sanctions. We are not governed by sharia, so that we have its legal sanctions. Therefore, it is difficult for the party holding power to act justly with the motive of conscience and morality, no matter how religious. So there is an obligation to make an official marriage to at least protect some of their rights to the extent recognized by current law. We are not burying the injustices imposed by today's marriage law, but at least with the current formality, some rights of the woman will be protected. We cannot approve of injustice to women because man is being injured today. If we gather our minds, we hope that one day, we will remove the injustice to both sides. Let us be excused for a joke like this: Can the injustice done to men on marriage and divorce be seen as a divine punishment for the injustices of Muslim men against women? In short, our girls who have momentary feelings and who accept secret marriage or just religious marriage should not be angry but they cannot act wisely. They should never do this. The situation in our regions where the law of this is respected can be discussed. Secret marriage is not a marriage anyway. It consists of fitting a cover in a non-permit flirtation.

A man who does not want to make a formal marriage with you without any obstacle can never be in good faith. How will you trust such men? You will probably live with you for a while, after a while you will find better and leave you, and you will be the side that is damaged. Nevertheless, a woman who accepts such a wedding, secret or open, has made a contract with her own specific will. It is no longer possible to ignore his personality and decision and see this marriage completely meaningless. Everyone should bear the consequences of their choice. If the other party performs its duties as a spouse, it may be right to not be able to divorce any more. If not, he cannot use this power just to harm the other party. The victim woman then tells the matter to two referees who know the fiqh. If they also decide that the man is unfair, even if the man does not accept, they terminate this marriage, and from this decision, the woman can wait for his violence and marry someone else. Let's talk about another issue, seasonal marriages (marriages) on Sunday. And an important book Abdulkerim Zeydan, one of the greatest scholars of our century, is a scholar worth to be introduced and not a special article, but a book subject (May Allah be merciful). Let's leave this for later. His masterpiece ‘el-Mufassal fî-akâmi'l-mer’ah, which he wrote at the end of his life, is the widest work on his subject. It cannot be excused for those who started to speak as women in Islam no longer see her. This work is very meticulously translated by Miraç publications. 'Encyclopedia of Women and Family Fiqh in all aspects' It was printed in fifteen volumes under the name . It is worth announcing. Congratulations. Read the full article

[plusorminuscongress]

New story in Politics from Time: Anonymous Trump Administration Official Claims Staffers Are Working to ‘Thwart’ the President

An anonymous “senior official in the Trump administration” is claiming to be part of a network of appointees and others who are working to thwart President Donald Trump from inside his own White House.

In a New York Times op-ed headlined “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration,” the unnamed author wrote that “many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of [Trump’s] agenda and his worst inclinations.”

The Times said it published the op-ed without the author’s name to protect the official’s job, while still allowing the message to get out.

The staffer said senior officials considered trying to remove Trump under the 25th Amendment to the Constitution — which allows for a president’s removal if a majority of the Cabinet and the Vice President deem him or her unfit to serve — but decided against doing so.

“Given the instability many witnessed, there were early whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment, which would start a complex process for removing the President. But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis. So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until — one way or another — it’s over,” the staffer wrote.

The official dubbed the group of resistors the “steady state,” rather than the so-called “deep state” that Trump has repeatedly railed against.

“The erratic behavior would be more concerning if it weren’t for unsung heroes in and around the White House. Some of his aides have been cast as villains by the media. But in private, they have gone to great lengths to keep bad decisions contained to the West Wing, though they are clearly not always successful,” the official said.

As evidence, the official pointed to the Trump Administration’s “two-track presidency” with regards to its handling of issues like Russia, saying that the Administration has expelled Russian spies, worked to punish Moscow for election meddling and imposed sanctions at the same time as Trump himself has refused to clearly state that Russia was behind election interference.

The writer said many individuals in the Trump Administration are proud of “bright spots,” including deregulation, the tax cut bill and increased military spending. However, the official said, “these successes have come despite — not because of — the president’s leadership style, which is impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective.”

The op-ed comes as esteemed Watergate reporter Bob Woodward is coming out with a book that features compromising anecdotes from inside the Trump Administration. Woodward says he spoke at length with current and former White House officials to source the book, called Fear: Trump in the White House. Trump, however, has attacked Woodward’s reporting, and has previously called anonymous and unnamed sources “fake news.”

“When you see “anonymous source,” stop reading the story, it is fiction!” he tweeted on Aug. 29.

When you see “anonymous source,” stop reading the story, it is fiction!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 29, 2018

On Tuesday, he tweeted about Woodward’s book saying: “The already discredited Woodward book, so many lies and phony sources, has me calling Jeff Sessions ‘mentally retarded’ and ‘a dumb southerner.’ I said NEITHER, never used those terms on anyone, including Jeff, and being a southerner is a GREAT thing. He made this up to divide!”

The already discredited Woodward book, so many lies and phony sources, has me calling Jeff Sessions “mentally retarded” and “a dumb southerner.” I said NEITHER, never used those terms on anyone, including Jeff, and being a southerner is a GREAT thing. He made this up to divide!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2018

By Michael Zennie on September 05, 2018 at 04:46PM

[ladystylestores]

Your Wednesday Briefing – The New York Times

Brazil’s leader tests positive for coronavirus

President Jair Bolsonaro — who has repeatedly downplayed the threat of the coronavirus in Brazil, which is experiencing the worst outbreak outside the United States — said on Tuesday that he had been infected with the virus.

Mr. Bolsonaro, 65, said he had been tested after experiencing fatigue, muscle pain and a fever. He did not express contrition for his handling of the pandemic, saying that the demands of his job had put him at risk.

“I am the president; I have to be on the front lines of the fight,” he said. He compared the virus to “rain, which is going to get to you.”

The president once described the coronavirus as “a measly cold.” When asked in late April about Brazil’s rising death toll, he replied: “So what? Sorry, but what do you want me to do?”

Details: Critics have called his handling of the pandemic — which has included shunning masks, encouraging mass rallies of his supporters and championing unproven remedies — reckless. Brazil now has more than 1.6 million confirmed cases and more than 65,000 deaths.

Related: The World Health Organization has acknowledged that airborne transmission of the coronavirus may be a threat in indoor spaces. Here’s how to protect yourself.

In other developments:

The U.S. gave formal notice that it was withdrawing from the World Health Organization, officials said Tuesday. Effective in 2021, the move would cut off one of the organization’s top funding sources.

Melbourne will be locked down for six weeks after experiencing a record number of daily coronavirus cases, officials said.

The virus death toll in India surpassed 20,000 on Tuesday. With more than 719,500 confirmed cases, the country has overtaken Russia to become the third hardest-hit, after the U.S. and Brazil.

The U.S. government will pay the vaccine maker Novavax $1.6 billion to expedite the development of 100 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine by the beginning of next year.

The British government has promised $2 billion to save its cultural institutions, sending a powerful message about the centrality of arts in democracy, our theater critic writes.

As countries across the world reopen travel but block American visitors, a long-held sense that the U.S. passport was a golden ticket is fading.

Here are the latest updates and maps of the outbreaks.

Sweden becomes a cautionary tale

Since the coronavirus emerged in Europe, Sweden has captured international attention by conducting an unorthodox experiment: What happens when a government allows life to carry on largely unhindered?

Our European economics correspondent explains what happened: Not only have thousands more people died than in neighboring countries that locked down, but Sweden’s economy has fared little better. Its central bank expects its economy to contract by 4.5 percent this year, and the unemployment rate jumped to 9 percent in May from 7.1 percent in March — comparable to the economic damage in Denmark.

Details: More than three months after its neighbors imposed lockdowns, the coronavirus is blamed for 5,420 deaths in Sweden, a country of 10 million. Per capita, that is 40 percent more deaths than in the United States, 12 times more than in Norway, seven times more than in Finland and six times more than in Denmark.

What it means: Many countries have lifted restrictions on the assumption that doing so would revive their economies. But Sweden’s result suggests that a failure to impose social distancing can cost lives and jobs at the same time. The pandemic has disrupted businesses regardless of government policy, in part because people simply avoid shopping and dining out.

A troubling snapshot of global warming

Wildfires in the Arctic released more polluting gases into the Earth’s atmosphere in June than in any other month in 18 years of data collection.

Last month, such fires released 59 million metric tons of planet-warming carbon dioxide, scientists said on Tuesday. That’s more carbon than oil-producing Norway emits in a year. The Arctic is warming at least two and a half times faster than the global average rate. Smoke from the Siberian fires seems to be reaching as far as the Pacific Northwest in the U.S., scientists said.

What it means: Studies show that persistent Arctic warming may influence extreme weather events and thaw permafrost, which releases still more greenhouse gases.

If you have 5 minutes, this is worth it

Out-of-work Britons try berry picking

In this pandemic year, some Britons who trained as chefs, personal trainers or salespeople are working in fields instead, picking berries. And while the labor is not glamorous, many are enjoying it.

They are filling in on farms where fruit is traditionally picked by seasonal workers from Eastern Europe. “It’s not something I would always do,” one out-of-work chef said, but “it kept me busy, and it’s educating me.”

Here’s what else is happening

Deutsche Bank: The German lender agreed to a $150 million settlement with New York financial regulators after it repeatedly overlooked suspicious transactions by Jeffrey Epstein, the wealthy sex offender who killed himself last year.

President Trump: In a tell-all memoir, Mary Trump, the president’s niece, claims that Mr. Trump embraces “cheating as a way of life” and sees people in “monetary terms.”

Russia espionage: Russia’s secret police have arrested Ivan Safronov, a respected former reporter who recently worked as an adviser to the head of the country’s space agency. He has been accused of committing treason by passing secrets to an unidentified NATO country.

Arms sales: A day after imposing sanctions on 20 Saudis for human rights abuses, Britain on Tuesday resumed arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The sales had been suspended out of concern that the weapons would be used to violate international humanitarian law in Yemen.

London: An European gold medalist and her partner, a fellow sprinter, have accused police officers of racial profiling after the athletes were handcuffed and their car searched in an elegant London neighborhood. The police said there was “no concern around the officer’s conduct.”

Snapshot: A fleet of high-altitude balloons the size of tennis courts, like the one shown above in Nevada, began delivering internet service to Kenya on Tuesday, giving online access to tens of thousands of people. It’s the first-ever commercial deployment of the technology.

Travel: Hostels around Europe, built on the idea of community, have sat empty the past few months. Can they keep their sociability in a time of social distancing?

What we’re reading: This Star Tribune profile of the Minnesota radio host Garrett McQueen. Melissa Eddy, our Berlin correspondent, calls it a “great profile of his mission to expand our idea of how we define classical music.”

Now, a break from the news

Cook: This asparagus, goat cheese and tarragon tart is effortlessly chic. Make it with a store-bought puff pastry.

Read: “Lake Life,” David James Poissant’s first novel, is a tale of a family getaway gone very wrong. It’s less concerned with the origins of dysfunction than with how it plays out, our reviewer writes.

Do: Strength training is more physiologically intricate than you might have imagined. A new study shows that before our muscles become stronger, our nervous system changes.

Staying safe at home is easier when you have plenty of things to read, cook, watch and do. At Home has our full collection of ideas.

And now for the Back Story on …

Hard choices for tech in Hong Kong

After China imposed a new security law on Hong Kong, Facebook, Google, Facebook-owned WhatsApp, Twitter and some other digital companies said they would temporarily stop complying with the Hong Kong authorities’ requests for user data. Here’s what Shira Ovide, from our On Tech newsletter, has to say about their decision.

Going up against the new law could force those companies to shut down service in Hong Kong. It would also be a public defiance of China’s government that we rarely see from global companies. No one knows what happens next.

U.S. internet companies face hard calls as they decide how and whether to comply with the divergent laws and norms of each country they operate in without violating their own missions.

When it comes to China, those complications are multiplied by a thousand. The government and some of its supportive citizens are willing to punish global companies and organizations like the National Basketball Association that don’t go along with the government’s views of itself or the world.

Companies with business in China have twisted themselves in knots, for example, trying not to offend the government by appearing to side with Hong Kong’s demonstrators pressing for autonomy.

This Hong Kong law, however, presents the U.S. internet powers with one of those hard choices multiplied by a thousand. If they go along with China’s new law, they are likely to face backlash from American politicians and their own employees.

If they don’t comply, China might make it impossible for the American internet companies to continue to operate in Hong Kong. It might seize the tech companies’ offices in the city or even arrest their employees. You can imagine how the U.S. government would respond to that.

Even while they’re banned in China, the internet companies might not be able to avoid trouble with China.

That’s it for this briefing. By the way, we’re streaming this year’s Paris Fashion Week live. See you next time.

— Isabella

Thank you Melissa Clark provided the recipe, and Theodore Kim and Jahaan Singh provided the break from the news. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S. • We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is about what Trump’s divisive speech at Mount Rushmore reveals about his re-election campaign. • Here’s today’s Mini Crossword puzzle, and a clue: 16 tablespoons (three letters). You can find all our puzzles here. • Our tech reporter Taylor Lorenz spoke to ABC’s Good Morning America about her reporting on high school students who use Instagram to expose racism they face at school.

Source link

قالب وردپرس

from World Wide News https://ift.tt/2Z6Ijo8

[jeffwhorton]

Could Cyberwarfare or Cyber-Terrorists Potentially Force a Nuclear Power Plant to Meltdown?

Technology Discussion: Could Cyberwarfare or Cyber-Terrorists Potentially Force a Nuclear Power Plant to Meltdown?      

From the NPR Website:

Russia Hacked U.S. Power Grid — So What Will The Trump Administration Do About It?

March 23, 20185:00 AM ET

Brian Naylor in 2018.

BRIAN NAYLOR

The U.S. government says Russian government hackers have targeted and gained access to U.S energy computer networks.

Rich Pedroncelli/AP

When President Trump phoned Russian President Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on his re-election Wednesday, Trump made no mention of one of the latest irritants between Russia and the West — his administration's announcement that Russia successfully hacked the U.S. power grid.

The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI issued a joint alert last week: "Russian government cyber actors" have been targeting U.S. critical infrastructure sectors, including energy, nuclear and commercial facilities, since at least March 2016.

The announcement came the same day that the U.S. imposed sanctions against 19 Russian individuals and five entities for interfering in the 2016 election and for other cyber-intrusions.

NATIONAL SECURITY

U.S. Security Officials Uncertain Of How To Address Infrastructure Vulnerabilities

James Lewis, a cybersecurity expert and vice president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the news that Russia penetrated the energy grid does not exactly come as a surprise.

"The Russians have been doing this for years," Lewis said. "The change is that the U.S. government came out and said the Russians hacked the utilities."

The government informed electric companies last summer that Russia undertook what DHS calls a "multistage intrusion campaign" against the utilities, using common hacking techniques such as malware and spear-phishing. The hackers were able to to gain access to at least one power plant's control system.

The Department of Homeland Security was able to reconstruct screenshot fragments of a human machine interface that was accessed.

US-CERT/Department of Homeland Security

"They were not simply looking around that system and reconnoitering it," Joel Brenner, head of counterintelligence under the Director of National Intelligence in the Obama administration, told NPR. "They were placing the tools that they would have to place in order to turn off the power. That's a serious vulnerability for us, and we're not anywhere near ready to deal with it."

The Russians have targeted other countries' electrical grids, most notably Ukraine in 2015, disrupting power for more than 200,000 people.

Scott Aaronson, vice president of security and preparedness at the Edison Electric Institute, which represents the nation's electric companies, said U.S. power companies have tried to learn from that attack.

Can Americans feel confident the U.S. grid is protected?

For more information visit click here:  Russia Hacked U.S. Power Grid

In 2011 an earthquake off the coast of Japan triggered a Tsunami some 45-feet in height, which damaged the cooling system at the plant, triggering a meltdown.

Following a major earthquake, a 15-metre tsunami disabled the power supply and cooling of three Fukushima Daiichi reactors, causing a nuclear accident on 11 March 2011. All three cores largely melted in the first three days.

Fukushima Accident - World Nuclear Association

www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and...of.../fukushima-accident.aspx

The Japanese evacuated some 100,000 people from the area, which prevented deaths or reports of major illnesses (yet). So, I probably should have done a lot more research, right? Well, that probably is true. But in my defense, in Cybersp@ce we’re talking about New York. Indian Point Energy Center (IPEC), the power plant on which Indian Lake was based, is a three-unit nuclear power plant station located in Buchanan, New York, just south of Peekskill. It sits on the east bank of the Hudson River, about 36 miles (58 km) north of Midtown Manhattan. Imagine trying to evacuate 8.5 million people! Again, if you live in the greater New York area you can relax, a little. The Indian Point plant is scheduled to shut down in 2022, largely in part to concerns over a “natural disaster” devastating New York. Reading between the lines I have to imagine that means man-caused disaster…oh, how impolitic of me, we don’t use Obama double-speak anymore. Please allow me to restate; I have to imagine they are worried about terrorism attacks on the plant more than they are natural disasters, since earthquakes in New York are well, not something we see every day.

So, we’ve established that loss of secondary systems, like the programmable logic controllers (PLCs), which control the pumps that keep the reactors cool could, in fact, possibly lead to a meltdown. So back to the original question, Could Cyberwarfare or Cyber-Terrorists Potentially Force a Nuclear Power Plant to Meltdown?  I’ll have to leave a definitive answer to that question to the experts. It certainly would appear to be possible, given the amount of concern by so many knowledgeable people. I spent decades in the IT field and I can say, with some confidence, that sometimes it’s not only a good idea to unplug from the Internet, it can be the difference between life and death.

“—and the local sheriff’s office informed us only moments ago that they have done all that they can do to evacuate the area, given the extremely congested roadways which are already virtually nothing but parking lots. The National Guard is also being deployed, although few believe they will be able to evacuate so many in such a brief period of time. If you’ve just joined us, we have some very important, late-breaking news. New York City, along with the Department of Homeland Defense, held a joint press conference just fifteen minutes ago, announcing that a serious problem was detected at the Indian Lake nuclear power plant only two hours ago. The problem, which has been closely monitored since, is reported to be a problem with the coolant system at the plant, a problem which could very well lead to a meltdown. While not yet calling such a meltdown imminent, the government has issued an evacuation for anyone living or working within thirty miles of the Indian Lake nuclear power plant, warning of a deadly threat from radiation fallout facing anyone within the evacuation zone. We’ve invited Dr. Marcella Blanco to join us; she is an expert with the CDC. Welcome, Dr. Blanco, thank you for joining us.”

“Thank you for having me.”

“Dr. Blanco, if both reactors do somehow melt down, how bad will it be? Will it result in many deaths?”

“Absolutely. Early estimates from a decade ago suggested that at least one hundred thousand people would receive a fatal dose of radiation. That area has seen a significant amount of growth over the past decade, however, so the number has climbed to perhaps as high as one hundred twenty-five thousand people.”

The anchor sat silently, looking stunned for a moment. It was one of those rare moments of silence on live television when no one speaks. One of the producers must have yelled at her through her earpiece because she suddenly jolted out of it.

“Excuse me, Dr. Blanco, but you’re saying over one hundred twenty-five thousand people are going to die tonight?”

Her face was still pale, white as a sheet.

“Well, if both reactors melt down, as many as one hundred twenty-five thousand people would likely be exposed to a fatal dose of radiation, yes. Depending on their level of exposure, death could take days, weeks, possibly even months to occur.”

“If someone cannot get away in time, is there anything they can do?”

“Anyone who is within ten to twenty miles of the plant and is unable to leave should get inside and as far underground as possible. But let me please reiterate that this is a very serious danger to everyone in the area. If at all possible, everyone within a thirty-mile radius should evacuate immediately. Please don’t wait until it’s too late.”

“Thank you, Dr. Blanco.”

“You’re very welcome.”

The news anchor turned to face the camera.

“Next up, we have Jason Michaels, a former consultant to the Department of Homeland Security. Welcome Mr. Michaels, it’s great to have you with us today.”

“Thank you, Michelle; it’s great to be here, though I wish it were under better circumstances of course.”

“Of course,” she repeated. “So, Jason, do you have any idea what happened at the plant; was it some kind of equipment failure?”

“From what I’m told, Michelle, at approximately 2:05 p.m. today, the systems at the plant that control the water used for cooling the control rods in both reactors suddenly shut down, but only after sending instructions to the programmable logic controllers to close all valves in the cooling system. At this time the PLCs continue to be unresponsive and all valves remain closed. Once the super-heated water evaporates, the rods will be exposed, and the reactors will melt down. I’ll tell you something else, too…the most disturbing aspect of this disaster is that the shutdown appears to have been done intentionally by someone, remotely.”

“So, the system was shut down remotely. Why would someone with the power company have done that intentionally, while the plants are still in operation; isn’t that dangerous?”

“Very. Apparently, the systems were not shut down by anyone at the plant though. Based on all the information I’ve been able to gather, everyone associated with the Indian Lake plant denies having anything to do with what’s happened. My contacts told me that the system wasn’t designed like that anyway. That’s why this was, in my opinion, an act of terrorism.”

“Wow, that is really frightening!” exclaimed the anchor, staring in disbelief. “How could an unauthorized person access the water control system remotely? Why would that even be possible?”

“I asked that same question. It seems that the company installed the remote access capability, so they would be able to activate the water control pumps remotely in the event of some kind of accident, in case there was no one able to do it at the plant itself. Unfortunately, with so many systems connected to the Internet these days, it’s possible—let me stress possible—that someone hacked in, circumvented the considerable security, and shut them down remotely.”

“But wouldn’t it require substantial resources to be able to pull something like that off without being caught?”

“Yes, it would. Typically, only nation states have the kind of access to the resources needed to pull something like this off, not to mention the skills. It might be possible that an individual could do this I suppose, but I don’t see how.”

“Does the DHS have any idea where the attack originated?”

“Well, as you noted earlier, I no longer work at the DHS. A source of mine does still work there, however, and they called me thirty minutes after they learned the systems had been shut down.”

“What did they tell you?”

“They told me that they had traced the IP address of the intruder.”

“To where?” asked the anchor.

“China.”

Excerpt from Cybersp@ce, Cybsesp@ce Series Book One

In my 2013 novel, Cybersp@ce, the Indian Lake nuclear power plant in New York is attacked. Fictional programmable logic controllers that supposedly control the reactor coolant system are hacked and disabled, eventually resulting in a reactor meltdown, and the subsequent release of radiation that results in the deaths of 100,000 people. Relax; it’s fiction, or is it?

In 2011 an earthquake off the coast of Japan triggered a Tsunami some 45-feet in height, which damaged the cooling system at the plant, triggering a meltdown.

Following a major earthquake, a 15-metre tsunami disabled the power supply and cooling of three Fukushima Daiichi reactors, causing a nuclear accident on 11 March 2011. All three cores largely melted in the first three days.

Fukushima Accident - World Nuclear Association

www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and...of.../fukushima-accident.aspx

The Japanese evacuated some 100,000 people from the area, which prevented deaths or reports of major illnesses (yet). So, I probably should have done a lot more research, right? Well, that probably is true. But in my defense, in Cybersp@ce we’re talking about New York. Indian Point Energy Center (IPEC), the power plant on which Indian Lake was based, is a three-unit nuclear power plant station located in Buchanan, New York, just south of Peekskill. It sits on the east bank of the Hudson River, about 36 miles (58 km) north of Midtown Manhattan. Imagine trying to evacuate 8.5 million people! Again, if you live in the greater New York area you can relax, a little. The Indian Point plant is scheduled to shut down in 2022, largely in part to concerns over a “natural disaster” devastating New York. Reading between the lines I have to imagine that means man-caused disaster…oh, how impolitic of me, we don’t use Obama double-speak anymore. Please allow me to restate; I have to imagine they are worried about terrorism attacks on the plant more than they are natural disasters, since earthquakes in New York are well, not something we see every day.

So, we’ve established that loss of secondary systems, like the programmable logic controllers (PLCs), which control the pumps that keep the reactors cool could, in fact, possibly lead to a meltdown. So back to the original question, Could Cyberwarfare or Cyber-Terrorists Potentially Force a Nuclear Power Plant to Meltdown?  I’ll have to leave a definitive answer to that question to the experts. It certainly would appear to be possible, given the amount of concern by so many knowledgeable people. I spent decades in the IT field and I can say, with some confidence, that sometimes it’s not only a good idea to unplug from the Internet, it can be the difference between life and death.

Follow this link for more information.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/nuclear-power-plants-vulnerable-hacking-attack-cyber-nightmare-united-nations-a7479546.html

Follow my blog by following this link and entering your contact information: http://www.hortonlibrary.com/?page_id=148

Visit my website: at www.hortonlibrary.com

[From Blog Post #1028, July 25, 2018] 

Read more posts by Author Jeff W. Horton by clicking on the link below...

https://www.hortonlibrary.com/home/blog-the-horton-post

[batenchantingcollectorsong]

The South Carolina debate was the final one before Super Tuesday. So who emerged as the victor? ‘Warren dominated the mic and Sanders held his ground’Oh yeah, man. Let’s get into it. Let’s dive into the issues that other debate moderators have not yet dared to approach so far. Let’s ask questions such as: “Would you, as president, support a ban on trans fats and large sodas?”Did everyone else get this push notification from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warning that there was going to be a “disruption to everyday life” with the looming coronavirus pandemic? I don’t know if that was just Russia meddling in the election or whatever, but I am wondering why it took 90 minutes for the moderators to bring the virus up, and why their question was framed around whether the United States should completely freak out and shut down all the borders. Not, should we do something about the fact that the uninsured will often avoid doctors when they are ill because they are afraid of unpredictable medical bills, or how our rural hospitals are shutting down, or how we have sanctions on medical supplies against Iran, where a coronavirus outbreak is worsening. Look, I know Mercury is retrograde, but there is absolutely no excuse for this shameful performance.As for the candidates, for someone who doesn’t support the use of filibuster, Elizabeth Warren sure did dominate the microphone on Tuesday night. Pete Buttigieg tried to make everything about him by talking over everyone, Michael Bloomberg was absolutely adorable trying to explain the history of hostilities in the Middle East, and Tom Steyer somehow felt emboldened to talk about economic justice despite building part of his wealth on private prisons and mines. Amy Klobuchar was also there.The mood was chaotic, the audience paid a lot of money to behave like they were attending a Jerry Springer show, most of the candidates’ hair was weirdly terrible, and the only person to hold their ground was Bernie Sanders. He stayed on message, he refused to take easy bait, and he didn’t do what I would have done, which is when asked about his “controversial” remarks about thinking it was good that Cuba taught people how to read he did not yell “would all of you people grow up” and storm off the stage. This is the last time we’ll see probably about half of these candidates, after Super Tuesday annihilates their campaigns. Too bad. Sure gonna miss Pete and Amy fighting over who is the most midwestern candidate. * Jessa Crispin is the host of the Public Intellectual podcast. She is a Guardian US columnist ‘Donald Trump was the winner yet again’On Tuesday night, the Democrats held a prime-time steel cage match. Seven presidential aspirants repeatedly traded verbal blows. After two-plus hours, Donald Trump emerged victorious – and he wasn’t even in the ring.Even worse, many of the combatants appeared removed from reality. Coronavirus, a reeling stock market, and low unemployment now shape our landscape. Yet the potential pandemic drew no mention until Michael Bloomberg, New York City’s former mayor, raised the threat the virus poses.Medicare-for-All continued to receive outsized attention despite the fact that most Americans take a dim view of government being the be-all and end-all of individual healthcare. By the numbers, US adults reject socialism by better than two-to-one. Jeremy Corbyn’s fate is a cautionary tale.As the 2018 midterms remind us, control of the US House of Representatives and US Senate hinges on wooing and winning persuadable voters. Yet, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren posture as if they can impose their will upon a blank slate.As for the rest of the field, Pete Buttigieg delivered a crisp performance. Meanwhile, Joe Biden looked and sounded engaged. His sense of humor may yet get him to the finish line first in South Carolina’s upcoming Saturday primary. * Lloyd Green was opposition research counsel to George HW Bush’s 1988 campaign and served in the Department of Justice from 1990 to 1992 ‘The well-heeled audience booed Sanders and Warren and loved Bloomberg’Judging purely by the reaction of the crowd watching the Democratic primary debate live in South Carolina, you would think Bloomberg had a magnificent comeback – almost as if he had miraculously developed a personality that Americans could connect with.Elizabeth Warren quickly found herself on the receiving end of an angry crowd as she excoriated Bloomberg for his and his company’s past that is littered with sexual harassment accusations. It’s extraordinary that Warren’s attempt to champion the women who have been silenced by his non-disclosure agreements was met with furious booing.Bernie Sanders found himself on the receiving end of raucous booing, too, when he challenged Mayor Bloomberg throughout the night, including when he was criticizing Bloomberg’s relationship with China.It didn’t take long before rumors about Bloomberg purchasing the audience started spreading around. So much so that one of Bloomberg’s top staffers had to inform Josh Lederman of NBC news that the Bloomberg campaign “did not pay people to attend the debate and cheer for Bloomberg”.Perhaps not. Still, a few Google searches later we quickly discovered that the price of tickets to the South Carolina debate ranged between $1,750 and $3,200. And while this does not mean these individuals were paid by Bloomberg to cheer for him, it does mean that the audience members were most likely in a financial position to oppose candidates like Warren and Sanders, who would likely raise their taxes.So it may be the case that Bloomberg had no need to purchase support in the South Carolina debate when the system established by the Democratic party created the conditions under which only the wealthiest people in South Carolina could attend and, subsequently, cheer on the oligarch who would ensure their taxes would not go up. * Benjamin Dixon is the host of the Benjamin Dixon Show ‘Attempts to woo black voters sounded like virtue signalling’It’s hard to identify anything but losers of this debate. As expected, Bernie Sanders – who has won the popular vote in each of the primaries and caucuses thus far – was attacked at the onset with red scare-level fear mongering about basic social policies from both the moderators and most of the candidates.Virtually all the other candidates, except perhaps Elizabeth Warren, who exuded an air of calm, acted as if their chances would be blasted into oblivion unless they threw the kitchen sink at every answer.Ahead of the first primary that tests the candidates’ appeal to a significant black electorate in South Carolina, this came across as virtue signaling instead of meaningful engagement with the issues at hand. Candidates used Bloomberg’s stop-and-frisk policy, for instance, to discuss virtually every racial inequality under the sun and plug various race-centric plans they are running on. Will black voters buy it? We’ll soon find out. * Malaika Jabali is a public policy attorney, writer and activist ‘Sanders won an awful debate’What a wretched debate, two hours of shouting and interrupting and pandering from which it was hard to discern much sense. All that noise worked for Bernie Sanders. He remains the frontrunner because nobody else made a point. The others had their chance to bash him as a Fidel Castro sympathizer, but didn’t manage to pull it off.None took him down over healthcare, since it appears to be the issue that has driven him to the front. Elizabeth Warren would have ground Michael Bloomberg into dust over sexism (and failure to release his tax returns) if the moderators had allowed her. But the moderators had no control over candidates desperate to make a mark just before South Carolina and Super Tuesday. So none of them really made a mark.Biden did himself no harm but did not deliver the sort of performance that could propel him into Super Tuesday and stunt Sanders’s rise. Bloomberg looked bad enough that it should give African Americans serious doubts about whether to abandon Biden for him. Sanders won by not making any big mistakes and by offering a reasonable defense of his comments about Latin America, and Biden held his own on friendly ground in South Carolina. * Art Cullen is editor of The Storm Lake Times in northwest Iowa, where he won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. He is a Guardian US columnist and author of the book Storm Lake: Change, Resilience, and Hope in America’s Heartland, just out in paperback

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3caOmwE

[newsnigeria]

Check out New Post published on Ọmọ Oòduà

New Post has been published on http://ooduarere.com/news-from-nigeria/world-news/iran-prevails-over-the-usa/

Iran prevails over the USA, twice, but this is far from over

[this analysis was written for the Unz Review]

An Iranian official has announced that the UK-flagged tanker Stena Impero was free to leave.  Remember the Stena Impero?  This is the tanker the IRGC arrested after the Empire committed an act of piracy on the high seas and seized the Iranian tanker Grace 1.  Col Cassad posted a good summary of this info-battle, blow by blow (corrected machine translation):

Britain, at the instigation of the US, seizes the Iranian tanker Grace 1 and demands from Iran guarantees that it in any case does not go to Syria.

Iran, in response, captures the British tanker Stena Impero and says it will not retreat until the British releases Grace 1.  British ships that guarded merchant ships in the Strait of Hormuz were warned that they would be destroyed if they interfered with the IRGC’s actions.

After 2 months, Britain officially releases Grace 1, which is renamed Adrian Darya 1. It raised the Iranian flag and changed the crew.

The British government says the tanker is released under Iran’s obligations not to unload the tanker at the Syrian port of Banias or anywhere else in Syria. Iran denies this.

The US officially requires Britain and Gibraltar to arrest Adrian Darya 1 and not let him into Syria, as it violates the sanctions regime. Britain and Gibraltar refuse the US.

Adrian Darya 1 reaches the coast of Syria and after a few days on the beam of Banias, unloads its cargo in Syria. The Iranian government says it has not made any commitments to anyone.

After Adrian Darya 1 left Syria, Iran announced that it was ready to release the British tanker. The goal has been achieved.

This is truly an amazing series of steps, really!

The USA is the undisputed maritime hyper-power, not only because of its huge fleet, but because of its network of bases all over the planet (700-1000 depending on how you count) and, possibly even more importantly, a network of so-called “allies”, “friends”, “partners” and “willing coalition members” (aka de facto US colonies) worldwide.  In comparison, Iran is a tiny dwarf, at least in maritime terms.  But, as the US expression goes, “it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog” which decides the outcome.

And then there is the (provisional) outcome of the Houthi strike on the Saudi oil installations.  The Saudis appeared to be pushing for war against Iran, as did Pompeo, but Trump apparently decided otherwise:

Some have focused on the fact that Trump said that it was “easy” to attack Iran.  Others have ridiculed Trump for his silly bragging about how US military gear would operate in spite of the dismal failure of both US cruise missile attacks (on Syria) and the Patriot SAMs (in the KSA).  But all that bragging is simply obligatory verbal flag-waving; this is what the current political culture in the USA demands from all politicians.  But I think that the key part of his comments is when he says that to simply attack would be “easy” (at least for him it would) but that this would not show strength.  I also notice that Trump referred to those who predicted that he would start a war and said that they were wrong about him.  Trump also acknowledged that a lot of people are happy that he does not strike (while others deplored that, of course, beginning with the entire US pseudo-liberal & pseudo-Left media and politicians).  The one exception has been, again, Tulsi Gabbard who posted this after Trump declared that the US was “locked and loaded”:

Whatever may be the case, this time again, Trump seemed to have taken a last minute decision to scrap the attack the Neocons have been dreaming about for decades.

I think that I made my opinion about Trump pretty clear, yet I also have to repeat that all these “climbdowns” by Trump are, just by themselves, a good enough reason to justify a vote for Trump.  Simply put; since Trump came to power we saw a lot of hubris, nonsense, ignorance and stupidity.  But we did NOT see a war, especially not a major one.  I will never be able to prove that, but I strongly believe that if Hillary had won, the Middle-East would have already exploded (most likely after a US attempt at imposing a no-fly zone over Syria).

We are also very lucky that, at least in this case, the rapid every four year Presidential election in the USA contributes to keep Trump (and his Neocon masters) in check: Trump probably figured out that a blockade of Venezuela or, even more so, a strike on Iran would severely compromise his chances of being re-elected, especially since neither theater offers the US any exit strategy.

Still, following these immensely embarrassing defeats, Trump and his advisors had to come up with something “manly” (which they confuse with “macho”) and make some loud statements about sending more forces to the Persian Gulf and beefing up the Saudi air defenses.  This will change nothing.  Iran is already the most over-sanctioned country on the planet and we have seen what US air defense can, and cannot do.  Truth be told, this is all about face-saving and I don’t mind any face-saving inanities as long as they make it possible to avoid a real shooting war.

Still, the closer we get to the next US election, the more Trump should not only carefully filter what he says, he would be well advised to give some clear and strict instructions to his entire Administration about what they can say and what they cannot say.  Of course, in the case of a rabid megalomaniac like Pompeo, no such “talking points” will be enough: Trump needs to fire this psychopath ASAP and appoint a real diplomat as Secretary of State.  After all, Pompeo belongs in the same padded room as Bolton.

Now if we look at the situation from the Iranian point of view, it is most interesting.  First, for context, I recommend the recent articles posted by Iranian analysts on the blog, especially the following ones:

“War Gaming the Persian Gulf Conflict” by Black Archer Williams

“Karbala, The Path of Most Resistance” by Mansoureh Tadjik

“Resistance report: Syrian Army takes the initiative in Idlib while Washington blames its failures on Iran again” by Aram Mirzaei

I also recommend my recent interview with Professor Marandi.

I recommend all these Iranian voices because they are so totally absent from the political discussions on the Middle-East, at least in western media.  Williams, Tadjik, Mirzaei and Marandi are very different people, they also have different point of views and focuses of interest, but when you read them you realize how confident and determined Iranians are.  I am in contact with Iranians abroad and in Iran and all of them, with no exception, share that calm determination.  It seems that, just like Russians, Iranians most certainly don’t want war, but they are ready for it.

The Iranian preferred strategy is also clear: just the way Hezbollah keeps Israel in check so will the Houthis with the KSA.  The Houthis, who are now in a very strong negotiation position, have offered to stop striking the KSA if the Saudis do likewise.  Now, the Saudis, just like the Israelis, are too weak to accept any such offer, that is paradoxical but true: if the Saudis officially took the deal, that would “seal” their defeat in the eyes of their own public opinion.  Having said that, I can’t believe that the Saudis believe their own propaganda about war against Iran.  No matter how delusional and arrogant the Saudi leaders are, surely they must realize what a war against Iran would mean for the House of Saud (although when I read this I wonder)!  It is one thing to murder defenseless Shias in the KSA, Bahrain or Yemen and quite another to take on “the country which trained Hezbollah”.

Speaking of delusional behavior, the Europeans finally did fall in line behind their AngloZionist overlords and agreed to blame Iran for the attack under what I call the “Skripal rules of evidence” aka “highly likely“.  The more things change, the more they remain the same I suppose…

It is pretty clear that all the members of the Axis of Kindness (USA, KSA, Israel) are in deep trouble on the internal front: Trump is busy with the “Zelensky vs Biden” scandal, especially now since the Dems are opening impeachment procedures, the latest elections failed to deliver the result Bibi wanted, as for the Saudis, after pushing for war they now have to settle for more sanctions and radars, hardly a winning combination.

The Saudis are too weak, clueless and obese (physically and mentally) to get anything done by themselves.  But the USA and Israel are now in a dire need to show some kind of “victory” over, well, somebody.  Anybody will do.  Thus the US have just denied visas 10 members of the Russian delegation to the United Nations (thereby violating yet another US obligation under international law, but nobody in the US cares about such minor trivialities as international law); and just to show how amazingly powerful the Empire is, the Iranian delegation to the UN received the same “punished bad boys” treatment: truly, a triumph worthy of a superpower!  Last minute update: the US is now revoking Iranian student visas and denying entry to Venezuelan diplomats.

This “war of visas” is the US equivalent of the “war on statues” the Ukrainians, Balts and the Poles have been waging to try to distract their population from the comprador policies of their governments.

As for the Israelis, I now expect the Israelis to strike some empty building in Syria (or even in Gaza!).

Conclusion: facts don’t really matter anymore, and neither does logic

Ten years ago Chris Hedges wrote a book called “Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle ” and, a full decade later, this title is still an extremely accurate diagnostic.  What Hedges politely called the “end of literacy” can be observed in all its facets, listening to US political and military leaders. While most of them are, indeed, morally bankrupt and even psychopaths, it is their level of ignorance and incompetence which is the most amazing.  First, the Russians spoke of “non-agreement-capable” “partners” but eventually Putin quipped that it was hard to work with “people who confuse Austria and Australia“.  This all, by the way, applies as much to the Obama Administration as it does to the Trump Administration: their common motto could have been “illusions über alles” or something similar.  Once a political culture fully enters into the realm of illusions and delusions the end is near because no real-world problem ever gets tackled: it only gets obfuscated, denied and drowned into an ocean of triumphalist back-slapping and other forms of self-worship.

Post scriptum: the US goes crazy but Trump just might survive after all

So the Dems decided to try to impeach Trump.  While I always expected the Neocons to treat Trump as the “disposable President” which they would try to use to do all the stuff they don’t want to be blamed for directly, and then toss him away once they squeezed him for everything he could give them, I am still appalled by the nerve, the arrogance and the total dishonesty of the Dems (see my rant here).

My gut feeling is that Trump just might beat this one for the very same reason he won the first time around: because the other side is even worse (except Tulsi Gabbard, of course).

Of course, an attack on Iran would be a welcome distraction à la “wag the dog” and Trump might be tempted.  Hopefully, the Dems will self-destruct fast enough for Trump not to have to consider this.

The Saker

[bountyofbeads]

The Dangers of Trump’s Approach to Iran (He DOESN'T HAVE AN APPROACH OR A PLAN!! HE'S DANGEROUSLY SHOOTING FROM THE HIP!! REMEMBER, HE KNOWS😂🤣 MORE THAN ANYBODY. 🥵🤬🤬) #NoMoreWars #VoteBlue2020 #ANYBODYBUTTRUMP2020

By Isaac Chotiner | Published June 19, 2019 5:00 AM PM | New Yorker | Posted June 19, 2019 |

Last May, President Trump withdrew from the nuclear agreement that President Obama struck with Iran. Now, many fear that the Trump Administration may be on the verge of a military strike on the country. Tensions with Iran began escalating rapidly in April, when Trump announced that he was designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization and imposed more sanctions. Last Thursday, two tankers, one Japanese, the other Norwegian, exploded in the Gulf of Oman. The Trump Administration quickly blamed Iran for the attacks, and for attacks on four other tankers in the same area on May 12th. Then, on Monday, Iran announced that it was likely to breach the nuclear deal by keeping more uranium stockpiled than is allowed by the agreement, as the U.S. prepared to send a thousand more troops to the region.

To talk about the state of U.S.-Iranian relations, I spoke by phone with Wendy R. Sherman, the lead American negotiator on the nuclear agreement, and a former State Department ambassador. She is currently the director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School, and the author of “Not for the Faint of Heart: Lessons in Courage, Power, and Persistence.” During our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we discussed the risks of escalating tensions, why Trump has taken such distinct approaches to Iran and North Korea, and the difference between hard-liners and hard-hard-liners in both the U.S. and Iran.

Do you have a view other than agnosticism on who was behind these tanker attacks?

I have not seen the intelligence myself, so it is very hard to definitely say what occurred here. Nonetheless, the fact that the chair of the House Intelligence Committee [Adam Schiff] has publicly said that he believes the intelligence is conclusive is certainly an important data point. I think the real issue here is not only what happened but why did it happen, what will be the response to it happening, and is this part of an escalatory cycle that was begun by the Trump Administration when the President withdrew from the J.C.P.O.A. [the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the Iran deal is officially known]?

What is your sense of American policy toward Iran right now? Do you see any rhyme or reason, or anything that could even be called strategic belligerence?

I do not think there is a coherent policy or strategy regarding Iran. I think President Trump made a commitment during the campaign to withdraw from the deal. His then [team] all believed he should not. When they all departed, his new team supported his withdrawing from the deal. Within that new team, I would say we have the never-saw-a-war-he-didn’t-want-to wage national-security adviser, John Bolton. We have a chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, who pretty much endorses everything the President says. We have an acting Secretary of Defense [Patrick Shanahan, who withdrew from the confirmation process on Tuesday] who clearly doesn’t have a voice in this Administration, it appears. And we have a Secretary of State [Mike Pompeo] who may think he is trying to bring nuance to this policy, but seems to be pursuing a path which, either intentionally or by accident, may take us to war.

Maybe I am picking up on something that is not there, but I thought you sort of described Pompeo as thinking of himself as a voice of moderation or compromise. Is that based on something you have heard?

I think “moderation” is too strong a word. I think Secretary Pompeo may believe that he is talking with all of the allies and partners, and trying to make sure everyone is aware of the intelligence. But there is no question that he has become what I call a hard-hard-liner, and not a hard-liner. We are all at some level hard-liners when it comes to Iran. Nobody wants Iran to have a nuclear weapon. And nobody wants Iran to continue malign or nefarious behavior in the region or in the world, or human-rights abuses, or its state sponsorship of terrorism. But the hard-hard-liners are on the ascent in the Trump Administration, and hard-hard-liners are certainly on the ascent in Iran. And that has created a virtual symbiosis where the hard-hard-liners in each of these spheres have ramped up an escalatory and very dangerous cycle.

One concern among opponents of the Trump Administration was that by ramping up sanctions and being more aggressive, the United States would only embolden Iranian hard-liners. What have you seen that suggests that has already occurred?

Think of it this way: it is actually rather extraordinary that, even in the face of the Trump Administration withdrawing from the deal, and the reimposition of sanctions, and the ramping up of pressure, Iran has stayed compliant with the deal. But the Supreme Leader of Iran has always understood that for his survival, he needs to balance the forces in his country. And there are hard-line forces—I would probably call President [Hassan] Rouhani a hard-liner—and there are hard-hard-liners—the I.R.G.C. and the Quds Force. And clearly the hard-hard-liners are in the ascendancy, because they have said, “Enough already. Being part of this deal has gotten us more sanctions, more pressure. We have gotten nothing out of this. We told you all along that the deal was a bad deal.” The I.R.G.C. never wanted this deal. They owned the black market. They owned the Iranian economy. They would like to go back to those good old days. They want freedom of action in the Middle East. Apparently, they have it. On the day the Prime Minister of Japan was in Tehran, if the intelligence is accurate—and, as I said, I haven’t read it, so I don’t know—they attacked a Japanese tanker.

You are saying that even people like yourself in the Obama Administration who wanted a nuclear deal and people like Rouhani, who, in the American press, is generally called a moderate, are hard-liners. Everyone is a hard-liner. Is that accurate?

I don’t think that President Rouhani is moderate in American terms. He is a very conservative cleric. He believes in the theocracy of Iran; he is a product of it. And he is a hard-liner. People would call me a moderate in U.S. terms, because I was willing to negotiate with Iran under the direction of President Obama and Secretary [John] Kerry, but I am in my own way a hard-liner, because I believe Iran should not have a nuclear weapon. It should stop locking up Americans in Evin Prison. It should stop its state sponsorship of terrorism. And it should stop its human-rights abuses of its own people.

Right, I just meant that it’s interesting that we are at a place where there are really no doves—

I am more of a dove when it comes to finding the strategy and the tactics that can address these issues peacefully, as opposed to war. That is not to say I am a pacifist. I am not. There are times when war is the last and only result. But what we are experiencing right now is an escalatory cycle between the hard-hard-liners in each of our countries. They are spinning each other up on a path that could lead us to a war that is unnecessary, in my view, and will be horribly destructive.

What is the specific meaning to Iran keeping more of its uranium? How important a component was that of the deal?

It’s a very important component. The restrictions that were put in place include that, for fifteen years, Iran cannot enrich above 3.67 per cent, nor have a stockpile of 3.67-per-cent- enriched uranium of more than three hundred kilograms. One cannot make a nuclear bomb with those restrictions. There are restrictions that go on for twenty and twenty-five years and forever that also will make it very difficult for Iran to get a nuclear weapon. But, for those first fifteen years, those two requirements are quite profound.

So if Iran begins to enrich above 3.67 per cent, it has violated the agreement. It means that Iran, in its own way, is withdrawing from the agreement. It will then put pressure on the Europeans to both fully enforce sanctions and impose new ones. It will probably create a crisis at the U.N. Security Council. It will probably create a circumstance where the U.S. feels it needs to take additional action. And even before that, in some quarters, my understanding is that there is discussion of taking a strike in retaliation for the tankers, to act as a deterrent to insure that the Strait of Hormuz is open. I think there are many ways to deal with that, and I would hope that the Administration would be extremely careful about any military action.

What specifically have you heard about this?

I think I’d rather not say.

What did you learn about Iran’s government from the nuclear negotiations that you were surprised by, or that is helpful when thinking through this current crisis?

I’m not sure “surprised” is the right word. I probably came to understand more. Iran is a culture of resistance. They will resist coming to the negotiating table unless and until President Trump puts something on the table for them. You may recall that in the case of North Korea the President put on the table stopping exercises in South Korea. The Iranians will not capitulate in any way, shape, or form. They lived with the Iran-Iraq War, with chemical attacks on their own people. It took a long time to find a way through that.

Second, they are a country with politics. Most Americans hear “Supreme Leader” and they think he tells everyone what to do and that’s it. But that is not true. The Supreme Leader balances a number of political forces, including the hard-liners and the hard-hard-liners. And so you constantly see this back-and-forth of trying to manage the politics and the various forces in his country. Yes, he has a lot of control. Yes, people don’t get to run for President in Iran unless a slate is agreed to by the Supreme Leader and the Guardian Council. But, that said, there are still politics in Iran.

And Iran is all of the things people say. I have no trust in Iran, and Iran has no trust in me. We may have gained some mutual respect and understanding through the negotiations, but there is no trust. And Iran does a lot of bad things in the world. But, for the life of me, if the current President of the United States does not want Iran to have a nuclear weapon, I do not understand why he withdrew from a deal that was keeping them from getting nuclear weapons.

How has Iran’s behavior in the region changed or not changed over the past year—specifically in the time since Trump announced he was pulling out of the nuclear deal?

I see them doing more, not less in the region. Sometimes that is through proxies—in Yemen, in Syria, even in Afghanistan—but Iran is very active in the region. And more so than at the time that the deal was agreed. That’s my perception certainly.

Given that we have a President who insists on doing things his own way, and that way often has to do with flattery and meeting people face-to-face, do you see any hope of high-level meetings, or something like North Korea, where some sort of negotiation can keep the lid on things after a lot of belligerence, even if we don’t see any sign of a long-term solution?

There is a possibility, but President Trump would have to put something on the table, as he did in the North Korean situation. There is a sense of no respect by the President of the United States for Iran. It is a very different situation than North Korea. I think I will not be the first person to remind you that one of the reasons that President Trump took on North Korea was that Barack Obama had not. We took it on, but not in a way that got to a solution. And he wanted to withdraw from the Iran deal because Obama had done it. I am always open to unconventional ways to negotiate, but they have to come with a strategy, a plan, a team, and a way to execute that plan, and a way to consult with others in the world to insure the durability of what you are trying to do. And I don’t see that here.

[theconservativebrief]

It’s been 13 days since prominent Saudi journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi mysteriously disappeared inside Riyadh’s Consulate in Istanbul. But the impact of his disappearance and possible murder — which was allegedly ordered by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince — is still being felt across the Middle East and the US.

First, President Donald Trump and the Saudi regime are currently locked in a war of words. Khashoggi was a US resident at the time of his disappearance, and Trump on Saturday vowed to impose a “severe punishment” on the regime if it was involved in the journalist’s alleged murder.

Riyadh responded the next day that it wouldn’t cave to “threats.” But on Monday, after a conversation with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, it seemed that Trump had changed his mind — he speculated that “rogue killers” murdered the writer.

Still, the president decided to send Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Riyadh to meet personally with King Salman, the father of Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Second, the economic fallout for Saudi Arabia continues. Riyadh planned a big investment conference for next week featuring many top names in government, business, and media. But several media sponsors and speakers pulled out last week, and major Wall Street companies, like JP Morgan Chase, decided over the weekend that they wouldn’t attend either.

The growing pressure may have led Saudi Arabia to agree on Monday to let Turkey search its Istanbul Consulate — the one where Khashoggi disappeared on October 2.

If you missed any of this because you wanted to enjoy a weekend free of global intrigue, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered.

What a difference 48 hours make.

On Saturday, CBS’s 60 Minutes released an excerpt of its interview with Trump in which he vowed to push back strongly on Riyadh if it had anything to do with Khashoggi’s possible murder.

“There’s a lot at stake. And maybe especially so because this man was a reporter,” Trump told Lesley Stahl. “There’s something really terrible and disgusting about that, if that were the case. So we’re gonna have to see. We’re going to get to the bottom of it and there will be severe punishment.”

However, in the interview, which fully aired on Sunday, Trump reiterated a point he made last week: that he doesn’t want to hurt Riyadh so much that it won’t spend $110 billion on American weaponry.

[embedded content]

Regardless, the Saudis didn’t take kindly to Trump’s words. An anonymous official put out a strong statement through a government media outlet on Sunday seeming to rebuke the US president.

“The kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it, whether by threatening to impose economic sanctions, using political pressures, or repeating false accusations that will not undermine the Kingdom and its staunch positions,” the report from the Saudi Press Agency read.

In no part of the statement did the official provide any evidence that would exculpate the Saudi government for Khashoggi’s disappearance. Meanwhile, Riyadh has threatened to raise oil prices if the US or others impose sanctions on it.

Trump then called King Salman on Monday to discuss the issue. The president notably didn’t speak with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known by the nickname MBS, who US intelligence believes authorized a plan to lure Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia, though Pompeo, National Security Adviser John Bolton, and White House adviser Jared Kushner have previously spoken with MBS about the incident.

After the call, Trump tweeted that he would send Pompeo to Saudi Arabia to speak with King Salman — not MBS. Trump also made sure to mention that the king “denies any knowledge of whatever may have happened.”

Just spoke to the King of Saudi Arabia who denies any knowledge of whatever may have happened “to our Saudi Arabian citizen.” He said that they are working closely with Turkey to find answer. I am immediately sending our Secretary of State to meet with King!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 15, 2018

Hours later, Trump speculated that perhaps Riyadh had nothing to do with Khashoggi’s disappearance.

“He didn’t really know,” Trump told reporters outside the White House about his conversation with the top Saudi monarch. “[I]t sounded to me like maybe it could have been rogue killers, who knows? We’re going to try getting to the bottom of it very soon. But his was a flat denial.”

Pres. Trump says King Salman “firmly denies any knowledge” of “what took place” with regards to journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“It sounded to me like maybe these could have been rogue killers. Who knows? We’re going to try getting to the bottom of it.” https://t.co/ycHTGetpwh pic.twitter.com/NmJFzPbhzK

— ABC News (@ABC) October 15, 2018

And there you have it: In just two days, Trump went from promising Saudi Arabia would face consequences and to somewhat letting it off the hook. It’s quite a walk back for the president, and it could signal that he doesn’t actually want to punish Saudi Arabia at all.

Riyadh plans to host a three-day conference starting on October 23 called the Future Investment Initiative that’s been nicknamed a “Davos in the Desert.” One reason Saudi Arabia put the meeting together was to attract foreign money and strengthen its economy.

That goal seems further away than ever in the aftermath of Khashoggi’s disappearance and possible murder.

The chiefs of Wall Street giants JP Morgan Chase, Blackstone Group, and BlackRock all pulled out of the conference over the weekend. JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon had originally planned to give a keynote address at the conference, so this leaves Saudi Arabia just over a week to find another prominent speaker for its showpiece.

JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon speaks at a conference on September 12, 2018. He won’t be doing the same thing in Saudi Arabia later this month. Win McNamee/Getty Images

One major financial player has yet to back out, though: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. He still plans to go because the conference will hold sessions on how to curb terrorist financing, an issue that is important to the Trump administration.

But based on the recent Wall Street news, it’s possible Mnuchin will reverse course as well. “Mnuchin will make up his mind as the week progresses and as new information surfaces,” Trump’s top economic adviser Larry Kudlow told ABC’s This Week on Sunday.

Meanwhile, my colleague Alexia Underwood curated a list of all the major companies, organizations, and people that have withdrawn from the investment conference. Here are just a few:

CNN

The New York Times

Ariana Huffington, the founder of the Huffington Post

The Economist’s editor-in-chief, Zanny Minton Beddoes

Virgin Group Founder Richard Branson

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim

Riyadh’s consulate in Istanbul is the scene of the potential crime. For days, Turkey has led an investigation into what may have happened to Khashoggi when he walked into the mission on the afternoon of October 2.

On Monday, Riyadh allowed a joint Saudi-Turkish team to look inside the Consulate to gather evidence about what happened. The decision comes amid mounting global pressure from US lawmakers and European leaders to figure out what led to Khashoggi’s disappearance.

Turkish police provide security around Saudi Arabia’s Consulate in Istanbul on October 12, 2018. Stringer/Getty Images

It’s a big deal: The Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, just like its embassy in Ankara, is technically Saudi sovereign territory. This latest development means the kingdom has allowed foreigners, in this case Turkish authorities, to conduct an investigation on its soil.

At this point it’s unclear if investigators will find anything. After all, the possible crime happened nearly two weeks ago, allegedly at the hands of a well-trained, 15-man Saudi security team.

But what it shows is that Riyadh has realized it can’t sweep this situation under the rug, just as it has in the many other instances where it has disappeared dissidents around the world. International pressure, at least for now, may be working.

The question is if Trump will join in on the pressure campaign — or if he’ll stick to it even if he commits.

Original Source -> The weekend in the US-Saudi fight over Jamal Khashoggi, explained

via The Conservative Brief

[thebrushedbalcony]

Sunday Night 8/5

   I suppose I wasn't in the right headspace earlier in the day. I had gone to bed late the night before, I had had one or two small screw-ups that I could write off as not my fault. I had a full 9 hours of sleep before Saturday - and that was after a few short nights. My birthday had been the Thursday before, and I was generally in a good mood during/after. Steven smoked me out at 10, I went to Old Chicago after, and then Tessa and Hoppe came and hung out for just an hour. I suppose at this point, I had been smoking about 6 nights a week for 2 weeks (started right after I lifted my self-imposed ban on not smoking after I closed). 

I guess if im going that far back I might as well take an even broader picture of whats been happening in my life recently. Its been 8 months since I moved out into this house. Eight months since I began easily removing any mental boundaries I had set in stone for myself. Drugs, Sex, language (still gonna hold onto that last one for awhile). Something I haven't nearly done enough soul-searching about is God! I'm worried I have so easily dropped an entire life that had been pointing me towards a life of bible-reading, church-attending, and being the perfect role model. Like Amanda moving in! A year ago I would have been proud to flaunt that I didn't smoke or drink or have even the slightest thought about dirty sex outside of a sanctioned marriage. Now look at me, I'm everything past Ethan liked to believe he was better than everyone else about. I guess thats a long-winded way of saying I'm a big ol' hypocrite! These are the big things I have held onto my whole life - my way of always thinking in the back of my head that I'm "better" than everyone else just a bit. And now its all gone awaaay.

I don't mourn the loss of my "innocence" or whatever tho. These were all my decisions, I thought these all out. Sure half of it was probably my hamster going into overload, but just maybe it wasn't! Some of these christian laws and rules that everyone has to follow don't seem very rooted in solid logic. But wow, maybe thats my hamster again. Spinning in overdrive to make up logical reasons for my stupid decisions. Either way, I've got no regrets! This last night is really pushing that though. Sex was fun, and I'm going to continue to have fun with it during my life. Marijuana is fun! I presume I'll still be getting high for years to come. Maybe. Last night was actual, existential pain like I've never felt before. I was able to fully slide into the victim mentality - first time in my life. But I'll get to that later. I'm not sure who these last two paragraphs are for, but I think that is a pretty good look into my head going into last night. Oh yeah - that’s what the point of all that was! Alright. Back to the story. 

5 grams of weed. That’s how much I helped Josh distill. 30 bucks, if I went to a cheaper dealer. Josh was on TOP of the math, apparently the cup he just poured was one-hundred-freaking-milligrams. Josh and I didn't take that number seriously. Maybe Josh did more, in the back of his mind, but we both knew steven took like, 80mg of the stuff and didn't feel anything! And the "30mg" cookie I took a week or two ago wasn't really that bad anyway. No way this is 100mg. "These edibles ain't shit!" as I drank actually 100mg and sealed my incredibly unforunate fate. Drank it at 8:30, and I could actually feel it really fast. Like within minutes, just a small sense that something was off. In a good way of course, like cool! Getting high already.

First hour was fun. I was already kinda in a daze, having only got 6 hours of sleep the night before. Having fun, music was great and I even pulled out my phone and recorded whatever strange conversation we were having at the time. The other three were pretty hyped about a firepit, I still think its very funny Josh had lived there so many years and had no idea if there was one around still. I was inside, stuck to a chair when I recorded a bit of what was going on in my head. This must have been about 10:15:

"the house is all screwey. Its like every thing I see is instantly as distant as a sharp memory, srrange focal points and strangw perspectives. Im dreaming? Weird nostslgia molding together, in a not normal way. like an old distant life. im lazq ‰) %/"#÷ame. wow, hah This is lucid, but stuck. Its self aware lucid and is all."

It had been a bit over an hour and a half and I was practically in a dream state. Whats strange is all my other experiences with edibles is I don't notice myself getting much higher after 1.5/2 hours. I guess there was just so much weed it kept on being absorbed. Anyway, Amanda came and grabbed me as Josh and Drew were trying to get the fire started. I was having a grand old time, stumbling around and in complete awe as to how I couldn't file anything I was seeing into a clear and defined memory. It still plays out like an extremely vivid dream in my head. None of the wacky dream stuff was happening, like people I didn't know or new settings, but everything had that strange sheen and warped perspective of not really being there. 

I believe it was 10:30/45 when I had to stumble away from the campfire because I had a sudden and very specific feeling that I was going to throw up. I got to my car and realized there was actually a whole lot that was going wrong. I held onto the driver's side of my car for dear life as my reality slowly splintered into anguish. I would have said pain right there, but that wouldn't be right. It wasn't really a sharp bad physical pain, I get a nice dose of that whenever a migraine hits. No this was like, being unplugged from the matrix but the only other option was death. To continue the analogy, I would try and plug myself back in but realized in horror the only thing that defined my existence was a few vague memories from my past when nothing really special happened. That’s all I was, a big ol poser in life with only a false personality given to me by my parents and my church with a few unrelated memories that I pretended tied it all together. It was like my personality and my own being was being broken down to it's pure biology - the entire person I had spent my whole life building up just being ripped away. The worst part is I was locked out of anything that had happened in my brain for the past 10 years. All the dreary foggy terrible memories were from random times when I was growing up, and none of them even had bad emotions attached to them! The horror was them being displayed to me as the only thing that made me a person. It was lifeless, cruel, something was telling me that I've never had any real life, and it was going to rip away every single lie I have told myself since I was born. And all that would be left is a broken and defeated nothing of a living being.

Now, I don't presume to get all spiritual here. That "something" was me, I mean right? I took too much drug, and it went to TOWN and the only thing they had to work with was this brain up here. I'm.... not sure where it came up with all that though. A current working thesis is that... it uncovered something? If marijuana truly only had my brain to work with, it pulled that ugly monster out of SOME deep dark corner. Now I'm sure it completely amplified and morphed this small insecurity into the terrible monster that it became, but nevertheless it was a monster of my own creation. And thats what makes it so terrifying, I was in agony and defeated by MYSELF. Well, plus a buttload of drugs. Hmm, maybe that was it. But Josh and Drew had the same amount! It could be explained away by different tolerances or different mental makeup. Either way, I crossed my boundaries like, WAY far.

Maybe I am overthinking this. I have slowly learned to deal with migraines for the past 10 years - and thats been a huge struggle to fight my body with my mind! Once it hits I can't do anything to stop it. But I've learned to accept it, I ride it out and deal with it - acknowledge that it'll get better eventually. I suppose that is the line of thinking from last night that kept me sane. I knew weed couldn't kill or maim you. You better believe I held onto that thought - that idea like it was my lifeline. 

Anyway I told Amanda where the spare was, I got in my car and laid down eventually. I was glad Josh was there in the car with me for some of the time, as I mentioned earlier I knew I had no qualms putting myself in the "very bad victim" category. Normally I would feel bad Josh had to sit in the car with me for 30+ minutes, but I didn't! I was in so much bad having his slight uncomfort was almost expected. That sounds super selfish and I'm very grateful but thats how it was hah. He grabs me some water, dips inside towards the end so he didn't have to stay out there forever. Eventually I get inside, and onto the couch (around 12:10) and I somehow zoned out until 3. I remember some small conversation, someone passed me some sherbert and I think Amanda made pizza later. I knew I didn't want to sleep on the couch so I went downstairs and stole the bed in the middle of the room. Got about 6 hours, and still felt high when I woke up. And theeen I lazed around all day, took a nap and left and came here at 8. 

So in conclusion. I think I might have got a bit too fanatic about the whole "hidden mental closet" thing, but maybe not. I definitely had a LOT of weed, and it definitly hit me wrong. The next few days will tell if there is anything different in how I...live? mentally? I think even now 48 hours the shock is wearing off. Even typing this it seems like a really vivid dream. I might not have even typed this if Josh hadn't mentioned that I maybe should, that these experiences can fade away. I guess i'm not surprised, my sober mind is probably busy chucking that memory into a trash bag and dragging it down to the landfill!

I guess, with my first few paragraphs being hindsight, I do have a lot of scary thoughts that I don't think about. Who am I really, what are my real boundaries, if I can throw out these big boundaries so easily, who's to say I chuck the baby out with the bathwater and give up on my personality as I've started with! Haha naa, I like what I am. There I said it, I am haappy with who I am. Maybe a bit more sex would help with the self esteem, and a bit more money would be quite welcome as well - but I'm doing alright. I've got my own house, a freaking perfect mini-studio in here, a tired but nice job, and a really awesome friend in Josh. In his parent's freaking fairy-tale house. 2/10 would bad trip again fo sho

[nancydhooper]

Randazza: Stormy v. Trump: Anti-SLAPP thru DÉPEÇAGE MOTHERFUCKER!!!

Roger Goodell is involved in this somehow, I am sure.

First Stormy Daniels tried to blame Tom Brady for threatening her. And now this…

Today, Stephanie Clifford, aka Stormy Daniels, sued Donald Trump in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. See Clifford v. Trump, Case No. 1:18-cv-03842 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 30, 2018). The complaint is short (which is surprising given how stupid it is) and centers on a tweet Trump wrote after Stormy published a sketch she commissioned of the unidentified man she claims threatened her to keep quiet about her alleged sexual affair with Trump.

Specifically, Trump called the sketch and Stormy's related allegations a “con job,” which Stormy alleges is defamatory. Ken has written enough about the merits, so I will just refer you to Ken’s post. If you don’t want to read it, just suffice to say the Complaint is weaker than that pink drink you bought for the stripper last time you got dragged to a champagne room, you fucking rube.

So since Ken wrote about the fun shit, I’ll just give you a primer on why Trump most likely can invoke the Texas Anti-SLAPP statute, even though the case was filed in the Southern District of New York. This is good shit for anyone who finds that a censorious asshat from a state with a good Anti-SLAPP statute decides to file in an alternate forum, presumably to avoid the Anti-SLAPP consequences.

New York does not have a strong Anti-SLAPP statute. This is most unfortunate, as the defendants in l’affair du Rakofsky will tell you. It is sorta funny that New York doesn’t have one, what with all the so-called media companies based there. You would think they would be able to hire some decent lobbyists one of these decades.

But I digress…

Stormy lives in Texas, which has a strong Anti-SLAPP statute. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. §§ 27.001-27.011, aka the Texas Citizens Participation Act (“TCPA”). Similar to the California and Nevada Anti-SLAPP statutes, the TCPA allows a defendant to bring a special motion to dismiss any claim that “is based on, relates to, or is in response to the party’s exercise of . . . the right to free speech.” TCPA, § 27.003(a). If the motion is granted, the court is required to grant the defendant’s costs and attorneys’ fees, as well as impose sanctions against the plaintiff. Id. at § 27.009(a).

Stormy's claim is based on Trump’s exercise of his free speech rights. Trump was writing on a public forum about a highly publicized dispute. The dispute would have been a matter of public concern anyhow, but Clifford and her attorney have fluffed the public relations value of this case like nobody has fluffed anything since the invention of Viagra (which made the fluffery sciences as a porn career go the way of the buggy whip)

The Southern District of New York has subject matter jurisdiction over Clifford’s claims because the parties are citizens of different states and she is alleging damages of over $75,000; this basis for subject-matter jurisdiction is called “diversity jurisdiction.” In diversity cases where there is a conflict between the laws of the states of the parties, the federal court has to determine which state’s laws to apply. New York federal courts will use a multi-factor test to determine which state has the “most significant relationship” to the legal dispute, and will use that state’s laws.

To make things even more complicated, choice of law is determined on an issue-by-issue basis, meaning that the court could decide that Texas law should apply for some issues, while New York law should apply for others. Now drop your foie gras and grab your baguettes, because you're gonna learn some French today, whether you like it or not.

This issue-by-issue determination is known as dépeçage. When you say dépeçage, you should yell it out really loud followed by “motherfucker!”

Do it for me: DÉPEÇAGE MOTHERFUCKER!

For the purposes of Stormy's case, Trump is a citizen of New York. Courts presume that the state where the plaintiff’s injuries occurred is the state with the most significant relationship to the suit. That means there is a strong argument for Texas law to be applied. Stormy may prefer this when establishing the merits of her claim, since the New York Constitution is more protective of free speech than the U.S. or Texas Constitutions. This would be a double-edged sword for her, though, since it would open the door to Trump using the TCPA. Nevertheless, she may not be able to avoid the TCPA even if she insists on applying New York law. And, dépeçage motherfucker! The court may apply both laws – just New York law to some parts of the claim and Texas law to other parts of the claim.

The Southern District of Florida dealt with a similar issue in Tobinick v. Novella, 108 F. Supp. 3d 1299 (S.D.F.L. 2015). There were multiple plaintiffs (a doctor and his two medical clinics), two in Florida and one in California, who filed suit against a Connecticut doctor for defamation. Florida did not have an Anti-SLAPP statute. The California plaintiff argued that Florida law should be applied. The court found that because the California plaintiff could only have felt harm from the allegedly defamatory statements in California, where it was located and where it treated patients, California had the most significant relationship with its claims. Id. at 1304. Beyond that, it also found that California had an “interest in limiting frivolous litigation filed by its residents [that] outweighs any interest Florida has in the dispute . . . .” (Id.) Dépeçage motherfucker! The case was affirmed at the 11th Circuit in Tobinick v. Novella, 848 F.3d 935 (11th Cir. 2017) (Disclaimer/brag, I handled that case at trial and at the 11th Circuit).

Novella dealt with a scenario where no one was trying to apply the law of the defendant’s state, however. Another case, and one in this very jurisdiction, is Adelson v. Harris, 973 F. Supp. 2d 467 (S.D.N.Y. 2013). There, Nevada real estate magnate Sheldon Adelson filed a defamation suit in New York federal court against a D.C. citizen. Sound familiar?

The defendant tried to apply D.C. law (because D.C. had a good Anti-SLAPP law at the time), but the court found that Nevada, as the plaintiff’s home state, had a greater interest in protecting its citizens from tortious conduct. See id. at 477. The court applied Nevada’s Anti-SLAPP statute, allowing the defendant to dismiss Adelson’s claims and win an award of attorneys’ fees. The Second Circuit affirmed that decision. See Adelson v. Harris, 876 F.3d 413, 415 (2d Cir. 2017).

In Stormy's case, Texas has two primary interests: (1) protecting its citizens from tortious conduct, and (2) preventing its citizens from filing meritless lawsuits aimed at expressions of free speech. New York, on the other hand, has an interest in protecting the free speech rights of its citizens. Using dépeçage (motherfucker!), it is most likely that the federal court will use New York law to determine whether Trump’s statements constitute defamation (since New York’s Constitution is especially protective of free speech), but allow Trump to use the TCPA. After all, applying the TCPA would actually further New York’s interests, rather than contravene them, and there is not much of an argument for a Texas plaintiff trying to run away from her home state’s Anti-SLAPP law.

Update: Of course, Alex Kozinski once wrote in a dissenting opinion that Anti-SLAPP laws should not apply in Federal Court, despite applying in Federal Court for a generation. In Makaeff v. Trump Univ., LLC, 715 F.3d 254 (9th Cir. 2013), reh’g denied 736 F.3d 1180 (2013), the en banc Ninth Circuit rejected the Koz's request to reconsider that view, but it gave life to the idea nonetheless.

Such an argument would fail here. In diversity cases, Federal courts properly apply state substantive law which does not conflict with a valid federal statute or rule. See Horowitch v. Diamond Aircraft Industries, Inc., 645 F.3d 1254, 1259 (11th Cir. 2011). The Texas anti-SLAPP statute is substantive and conflicts with no federal statute or rule. The Fifth Circuit has found that Texas’ Anti-SLAPP statute is a substantive statute that does not conflict with the Federal Rules. See NCDR, 745 F.3d at 753; see also Haynes v. Crenshaw, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60122, *5-7 (E.D. Tex. Feb. 11, 2016).

It is possible that Stormy may find a way to defeat an Anti-SLAPP motion if Trump files one, but I find this improbable. The more likely outcome is that Trump will prevail on the motion and get an early win, depriving Stormy of the ability to conduct much meaningful discovery and putting her on the hook for fees incurred by (presumably) high-priced defense attorneys.

RUSHIE, MOTHERFUCKERS!

All in all, this case is dumber than the stripper who tries to convince you that she's really in medical school, all while her friend is knocking back $40 fruit punches you keep buying her in the champagne room. If Trump can manage to hire minimally competent defense counsel, and he listens to them this case should be like Jordan Rushie … nasty, brutish, and short.

Copyright 2017 by the named Popehat author. from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8247012 https://www.popehat.com/2018/04/30/randazza-stormy-v-trump-anti-slapp-thru-depecage-motherfucker/ via http://www.rssmix.com/