As Iran Nuclear Deal Flounders, France Turns To Saudi For Oil

[BenFranklin'sSpectacles + 762]

13 minutes ago, wrs said:

I can't tell yet.  The shouting from the media against anything he says or does is so loud it's hard to tell if progress is being made.  I think if Durham indicts some people for real crimes we are making progress but it looks like Wray at the FBI is covering up still.  As long as there are people in the top echelons that are part of the deep state, it will be very difficult for one administration to fight them.  They have permanent tenure and not much fear of any administration due to the fact they can spy on anyone, anywhere, anytime all paid for by our tax dollars.  That is a very powerful weapon to have.  

If he is reelected in 2020 and has at least one legislative body under republican control then there is still hope but we won't know the answer to that until 18 months from now.  The Mueller investigation was crafted to keep him from getting much done while he had both houses and it succeeded.

Fair enough.  Fortunately, things are looking pretty good for the 2020 election, and leftists are running into a fairly serious demographic problem: they're not having kids, and the immigrants they import tend to come from conservative, Catholic countries.  Should be interesting to see how that plays out. 

As for making progress, an older, wiser friend of mine suggested that the best way to know what's happening in Washington is to listen for the screams of victims.  There's been a lot of screaming as of late; I take that as a positive sign.  There have also been subtle-but-effective moves towards decentralizing the government, which is a positive sign.  I suppose the real question is, "How much Deep State is there, and how much of it has been dismantled?"

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

On 6/15/2019 at 11:13 AM, BenFranklin'sSpectacles said:

Do you think he's helping bring us back?

If so, do you think there's any hope he'll succeed? 

No.  And No.

Trump does not have the firmness of purpose to push back the Deep State.  To do that, he would have to fire the Secretary and the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, install someone new, and that person would have to go to the building out in Maryland where they have all those surveillance computer servers and bring in a battalion of men with sledgehammers to but up into oblivion every single server, on the grounds that even leaving one scrap of surveillance data over is far too dangerous to freedom and liberty.  And he would have to do the same thing with "Real ID" and all the other government crap that has accumulated, especially since 9/11.  I don't think that The Donald has the intellectual foresight to go do it.  So, you will remain in a surveillance State for the foreseeable future.

Now, there are ways, on the individual level, to fight back.  One of the more promising is to wear an eyepatch over one eye when out in urban areas where they have those surveillance cameras  (and always in places such as airports!).  Those facial recognition cameras are programmed to take data points from where your eyes are located relative to the rest of your face, i.e. nose, ears, and if you cover the eye with a patch then the software in that scan technology cannot fix a reference point, and then they cannot compare your face to the data bank. So you remain unidentified.  Now couple that with a Texas Stetson to block out street cameras, and you start to make progress.  Don't pay anything by credit card, register your EZPass to an assumed name and a postal box, and stay below the radar on everything you do. If you keep underground then you can still maintain some semblance of privacy and anonymity.  Tough, but you can chip away at the Deep State. 

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

On 6/15/2019 at 11:34 AM, BenFranklin'sSpectacles said:

I suppose the real question is, "How much Deep State is there, and how much of it has been dismantled?"

The Deep State is pervasive, except out in the rural areas, and none of it has been dismantled.

The worst part is that computers are coded to develop higher levels of intelligence through learning algorithms, and thus the surveillance State gets larger and deeper, all by itself. 

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

On 6/15/2019 at 11:34 PM, BenFranklin'sSpectacles said:

Fair enough.  Fortunately, things are looking pretty good for the 2020 election, and leftists are running into a fairly serious demographic problem: they're not having kids, and the immigrants they import tend to come from conservative, Catholic countries.  Should be interesting to see how that plays out. 

Um ...

Microsoft and the Pentagon Are Quietly Hijacking U.S. Elections

Good news, folks! We have found the answer to the American election system!

Why do we need an answer? Well, our election system is … how do you say … a festering rancid corrupt needlessly complex rigged rotten infected putrid pus-covered diseased dog pile of stinking, dying cockroach-filled rat sh*t smelling like Mitch McConnell under a vat of pig farts. And that’s a quote from The Lancet medical journal (I think).

But have no fear: The most trustworthy of corporations recently announced it is going to selflessly and patriotically secure our elections. It’s a small company run by vegans and powered by love. It goes by the name “Microsoft.” (You’re forgiven for never having heard of it.)

The recent headlines were grandiose and thrilling:

“Microsoft offers software tools to secure elections.”

“Microsoft aims to modernize and secure voting with ElectionGuard.”

Could anything be safer than software christened “ElectionGuard™”?! It has “guard” right there in the name. It’s as strong and trustworthy as the little-known Crotch Guard™—an actual oil meant to be sprayed on one’s junk. I’m unclear as to why one sprays it on one’s junk, but perhaps it’s to secure your erections? (Because they’ve been micro-soft?)

Anyway, Microsoft is foisting its ElectionGuard™ software on us, but worry not that we Americans will be tied down by laborious public debate as to the effectiveness, efficiency and accountability of said software. According to MintPress, “The election technology is already set to be adopted by half of voting machine manufacturers and some state governments for the 2020 general election.” Hardly any public discussion will plague our media or tax our community discourse.  ...

 

... Plus the fact that Microsoft wants to introduce this software to us for free should set off an alarm bell the size of Lake Michigan. Microsoft doesn’t do anything for free. Microsoft execs don’t say hello to their grandmas for free. Microsoft is one of the most powerful companies in America because of its predatory practices. If the Mafia offered you something for free, would you just say “Thanks!” and wander off? Or would you start appreciating your final days with knees that bend?  ...

[BenFranklin'sSpectacles + 762]

43 minutes ago, Tom Kirkman said:

Um ...

Microsoft and the Pentagon Are Quietly Hijacking U.S. Elections

Good news, folks! We have found the answer to the American election system!

Why do we need an answer? Well, our election system is … how do you say … a festering rancid corrupt needlessly complex rigged rotten infected putrid pus-covered diseased dog pile of stinking, dying cockroach-filled rat sh*t smelling like Mitch McConnell under a vat of pig farts. And that’s a quote from The Lancet medical journal (I think).

But have no fear: The most trustworthy of corporations recently announced it is going to selflessly and patriotically secure our elections. It’s a small company run by vegans and powered by love. It goes by the name “Microsoft.” (You’re forgiven for never having heard of it.)

The recent headlines were grandiose and thrilling:

“Microsoft offers software tools to secure elections.”

“Microsoft aims to modernize and secure voting with ElectionGuard.”

Could anything be safer than software christened “ElectionGuard™”?! It has “guard” right there in the name. It’s as strong and trustworthy as the little-known Crotch Guard™—an actual oil meant to be sprayed on one’s junk. I’m unclear as to why one sprays it on one’s junk, but perhaps it’s to secure your erections? (Because they’ve been micro-soft?)

Anyway, Microsoft is foisting its ElectionGuard™ software on us, but worry not that we Americans will be tied down by laborious public debate as to the effectiveness, efficiency and accountability of said software. According to MintPress, “The election technology is already set to be adopted by half of voting machine manufacturers and some state governments for the 2020 general election.” Hardly any public discussion will plague our media or tax our community discourse.  ...

 

... Plus the fact that Microsoft wants to introduce this software to us for free should set off an alarm bell the size of Lake Michigan. Microsoft doesn’t do anything for free. Microsoft execs don’t say hello to their grandmas for free. Microsoft is one of the most powerful companies in America because of its predatory practices. If the Mafia offered you something for free, would you just say “Thanks!” and wander off? Or would you start appreciating your final days with knees that bend?  ...

Point taken, but what I meant was that Trump is maintaining his support, media outrage notwithstanding. 

Microsoft could try to skew elections, but there's such a thing as software reverse engineering.  I don't imagine they'd get away with it for long, and any attempt to do so could result in a civil war.