Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

Find someone who loves you the way trump and maga love traitors.

Books are my comfort food!

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you do not.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

That meeting sounds like a shotgun wedding between a shitshow and a clusterfuck.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Celebrate the fucking wins.

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

People are weird.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Jesus watching the most hateful people claiming to be his followers

They don’t have outfits that big. nor codpieces that small.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Mid-Evening Conspiracy Theory Open Thread

Mid-Evening Conspiracy Theory Open Thread

by | 213 Comments

This post is in: ,

This is one of those stories that surfaces regularly.

In the middle of a Russian swampland, not far from the city of St Petersburg, is a rectangular iron gate. Beyond its rusted bars is a collection of radio towers, abandoned buildings and power lines bordered by a dry-stone wall. This sinister location is the focus of a mystery which stretches back to the height of the Cold War.

It is thought to be the headquarters of a radio station, “MDZhB”, that no-one has ever claimed to run. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, for the last three-and-a-half decades, it’s been broadcasting a dull, monotonous tone. Every few seconds it’s joined by a second sound, like some ghostly ship sounding its foghorn. Then the drone continues.

Once or twice a week, a man or woman will read out some words in Russian, such as “dinghy” or “farming specialist”. And that’s it. Anyone, anywhere in the world can listen in, simply by tuning a radio to the frequency 4625 kHz.

There’s a story about Russian spies in Britain in the 1920s and the invention of one-time pads, and then the latest theory. Um, I thought I recalled something about it being the support for Russia’s Doomsday Machine, and if the signal stops, well,

But it’s not there now. You never know when screenshots will come in handy.

Open thread for your theories and otherwise.

 

Reader Interactions

213Comments

  1. 1.

    Frankensteinbeck

    Everyone at the Don Jr. meeting with the Russians has been subpoenaed for testimony.

    They’re fucked. Jr. is too stupid not to lie in a way he’ll be caught doing.

    EDIT – Let me rephrase. The Trumps are so stupid that Jr. will commit perjury, and it will be easily provable as perjury. They can’t help themselves.

  2. 2.

    lamh36

    @Amy_Siskind
    Given that Carter Page was under a FISA warrant since 2014 per @CNN, it is rather “strange” he found his way to Trump campaign.

    Almost as “strange” as picking Manafort as a campaign manager. Guess Gorkov, Kislyak, Leviev, Veselnitskaya and Agalarov weren’t available

    twitter.com/Amy_Siskind/status/893222591904788481

  3. 3.

    lamh36

    @AriMelber 20s20 seconds ago
    More
    Ari Melber Retweeted The Beat With Ari
    Fmr prosecutor says a DC grand jury enables scope to include possible “obstruction” by Trump officials (she served Holder & Sessions):

  6. 6.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    Reminds me a lot of numbers stations. Weird, mysterious stuff.

  7. 7.

    Yarrow

    And here I thought this thread would be about the WV Governor and his Russian ties that you put in comments below. It’s Russians all the way down!

  8. 8.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    Where’s Art Bell when you need him? “Caller, west of the Rockies, hello….”

  9. 9.

    Yarrow

    Cheryl posted this tweet in comments in the below thread:

    Fun fact: Jim Justice sold his coal mines to Russians for $600 million in 2012-recently bought them back for $5 mil. t.co/LxU7J8loqr— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) August 4, 2017

    Felonius Monk posted this from Steve M:

    Axios’s Mike Allen noted yesterday that Obamacare repeal failed in the Senate in part because Trump chose not to name any red-state Democratic senators to his cabinet.
    [One] possibility that was kicked around was Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) for a job like Secretary of Energy. West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is a Democrat but has a close relationship with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and might have played ball on a conservative replacement.
    But now we know that if Manchin needs to be replaced, Justice will replace him with a Republican. And we also know that there could be a vacancy at the Department of Energy if, as has been rumored, Trump moves Rick Perry from there to the Department of Homeland Security, to replace the new White House chief of staff, John Kelly.

    So the follow could really happen: Perry goes to Homeland Security. Manchin goes to Energy. Justice picks a Republican replacement senator. And we get to go through the Obamacare repeal-and-replace nightmare all over again, because Trump just can’t let it go.

    I just want to add that I remember reading that Manchin has some Russian ties as well. It could be that leverage (blackmail) could be used to force him to take the Energy job, thus opening up his Senate seat.

  14. 14.

    different-church-lady

    I’ve been reading about numbers stations since the 70s — inexplicably fascinating. Especially the “letters” stations, that simply repeat a morse code letter over and over again with no other information at all.

  15. 15.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    @Yarrow:
    Manchin wouldn’t be that fucking stupid would he? You can refuse appointments.

  18. 18.

    RobertDSC-iPhone 6

    Numbers stations were a key part of the plot in the video game Call Of Duty: Black Ops.

    It was a good game. Great multi-player.

  19. 19.

    Yarrow

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: As I just said, I read somewhere that Manchin has Russian ties of his own. If he is compromised, then he may not be able to refuse the appointment without risking whatever they have on him becoming public. That info could be wrong and he isn’t compromised, in which case I’d guess he would refuse the appointment. But if it’s right then who knows how bad it is and what he’s most afraid of.

  20. 20.

    encephalopath

    The scifi show Travelers, done by Brad Wright of the Stargate teevee series, uses the broadcasted tones and words as a plot device to set up the whole show.

    It’s fun.

  25. 25.

    Mike J

    Clare Foran‏ Verified account @ckmarie 1 hour ago
    Senator Joe Manchin in a statement says he is “disappointed” by Governor Jim Justice’s decision to switch parties.

  26. 26.

    efgoldman

    @Mike J:

    Senator Joe Manchin in a statement says he is “disappointed” by Governor Jim Justice’s decision to switch parties

    Isn’t that politician-speak for “christ, what an asshole”?

  27. 27.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @Yarrow: I cannot remember a group of people who have so many monetary ties to Russia since 2010 and that deep-cover spy ring in Washington that Anna Chapman was part of. And as I was looking for that link, Google offered up “Russian spy ring 2015”. Which I looked at, and it turned out to be some of Carter Page’s friends. One, anyway. And I think another fellow who had a bad accident in Russia, but I would have to do some more checking on that.

    Any real estate deal with the Russians in which one end of the deal seems wildly inflated looks like money laundering. Trump did one of those in Florida that made the news. Robert Mueller has specialists in money laundering on his staff. I report, you decide.

  28. 28.

    Timurid

    @Yarrow:

    If he was that badly compromised, you’d think they could have already squeezed a yes vote on Trumpcare out of him.

  30. 30.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    @RobertDSC-iPhone 6:
    Eh, I thought the campaign’s story sucked. I liked Reznov’s message about “the flags may be different but the methods are still the same” was very deep but the game had to ruin it with a rah rah America ending

  32. 32.

    eclare

    @efgoldman: Was late below, glad your daughter’s surgery went well, and I hope your supplies get there tomorrow and that you start feeling better, too.

  35. 35.

    lamh36

    oooh… Addams Family movie on FreeForm!!!

    YESSS!!!

    Sigh….loved Raul Julia as Gomez…and Anjelica Huston as Morticia….Christina Ricci as Wednesday…talk about perfect casting!

  36. 36.

    Roger Moore

    @Timurid:

    If he was that badly compromised, you’d think they could have already squeezed a yes vote on Trumpcare out of him.

    Excellent point. My reading of his surprisingly strong defense of Obamacare is that he intends to stay in the Senate as a Democrat for a while longer.

  37. 37.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    @Yarrow:
    I can see why Russia would want Deathcare passed. It would help further weaken us. And the Republicans have no problem obliging them. Fuckers.

  39. 39.

    Felonius Monk

    @efgoldman:

    Isn’t that politician-speak for “christ, what an asshole”?

    Well, if you have read anything about Mr. Justice that would seem to be an appropriate response.

    ETA: Was happy to hear that all went well with your daughter. Daughters are precious commodities.

  40. 40.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Yarrow:

    As I just said, I read somewhere that Manchin has Russian ties of his own.

    Srsly? I just went through 4 pages of Google hits & didn’t see a damn thing. Sure you’re not confusing him with Gov. Jim “In”Justice (WV-Turncoat) who sold coal mines to the Rooskies & just recently bought them back for a song, usually a solid indication of money laundering?

  43. 43.

    Yarrow

    @Cheryl Rofer: Apparently Trump has a building in Florida and the apartment sales were run by a Russian woman and made almost exclusively to Russians at inflated prices, so money-laundering. Some discussion about it being used as some Florida outpost of the FSB, but I’m a bit hazy on that.

    @Timurid: Maybe so. Or maybe they didn’t decide to use their leverage at that time.

  45. 45.

    jl

    @Major Major Major Major: Now that Putin sees Trump is a total and disastrous incompetent, he is getting more granular in managing things? Mucking up the US’ health care would certainly weaken the country.

    Look at what Russia accomplished for its population during its great reactionary crony capitalist leap forward in the 90s!

  47. 47.

    Yarrow

    @Uncle Cosmo: Nope. It was Manchin. I just can’t remember where I read it. I think it was a deep dive into something that turned up connections to Manchin. I’ll have to search around to see what I can find. It was months ago now, though, so not sure if I can find it.

  48. 48.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @Yarrow: Yeah. I like to be cautious in my evaluations, so I’ll stick with saying it looks like money laundering. I don’t know the details and motivations, but when that kind of luck keeps visiting particular people, you have to wonder.

  49. 49.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    @Major Major Major Major:
    More political instability and making the US sicker will make it weaker long-term. I would like to see the evidence for Manchin being compromised.

  50. 50.

    efgoldman

    @Felonius Monk:

    if you have read anything about Mr. Justice that would seem to be an appropriate response.

    First I heard of him was when he proposed slashing the shit out of WVa public TV funding, mostly kids’ programming. “That’s a Democrat?” I asked myself?

  51. 51.

    Central Planning

    I would like to start a conspiracy theory about the NSA planting devices in your home network to relay your information to them. Sometimes you can detect them on your network by typing “ping 127.0.0.1” in a command prompt/terminal window

    It’s a total network admin joke, but I think there are plenty of gullible people that would believe it.

  56. 56.

    sigaba

    @Central Planning:

    ping 127.0.0.1

    See 127.0.0.1 is the address the NSA always gives for their listening devices, you telnet its ports and it does everything your computer would do. It’s literally proxying everything you have open!

  58. 58.

    jl

    @lamh36:

    Why yes, yes it is. Maybe a PR stunt by Newsweek, they want some sweet Trump tweets headed their way?
    But the facts on the cover are real enough.

    Click and scroll down.
    newsweek.com/

  60. 60.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @lamh36:
    I just realized the first and so far only non-trivial legislation passed on his presidency was a veto-proof bill to stop Trump lifting sanctions on Russia. That is a new level of Fail.

  61. 61.

    Another Scott

    Speaking of numbers, I saw this on FTFNYT home page just now.

    Trump Praises Stock Market at 22,000. He Called It a Bubble at 18,000.

    Heh.

    Of course, it would be surprising if he hadn’t said the opposite to whatever he said today. He’s the living embodiment of Cleek’s Law.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  65. 65.

    dm

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    With the banner, “Will the solar eclipse be an unnatural disaster?”

    Hmm. I’ve heard some concern that the grid might have problems with lots of rooftop solar going off-line as the shadow moves across the country, but did not look deeply into the matter.

    Also, I suppose the article might just be disabusing the credulous. Or maybe it’s addressing this: xkcd.com/1868/

  66. 66.

    smintheus

    Speaking of Russian swamps, if you never read this back in 2015 it’s worth the time: The Agency.

    Who was behind all of this? When I stumbled on it last fall, I had an idea. I was already investigating a shadowy organization in St. Petersburg, Russia, that spreads false information on the Internet. It has gone by a few names, but I will refer to it by its best known: the Internet Research Agency. The agency had become known for employing hundreds of Russians to post pro-Kremlin propaganda online under fake identities, including on Twitter, in order to create the illusion of a massive army of supporters; it has often been called a “troll farm.”

  70. 70.

    Peale

    @lamh36: lol. The older I get the gayer I become. The first thing I noticed was the schlub shoes they put him in. how mean.

  71. 71.

    ? Martin

    That station is colloquially known as ‘the buzzer’. My son follows it. He loves weird russian shit.

  76. 76.

    Yarrow

    @lamh36: Zuckerberg can go fuck himself. What is it with these business types who think they can run for President without ever holding any political office?
    A positive outcome from the disastrous Trump presidency would be if people stopped worshiping CEOs as some kind of all-knowing, all-powerful gods who should easily be able to “run the country like a business.”

  81. 81.

    Yarrow

    @Major Major Major Major: Founding Facebook and building it into an amazing global company. That’s what he’ll sell. Oh, and he knows everything about everyone and everyone they know. So there’s that too. No way that would be used to influence an election. None at all.

  85. 85.

    jl

    @eclare: I think many Senate GOPers don’t want any recess appointments. If Murkowski didn’t take the initiative all by herself, nice (and a nice signal to Trumpsters) that she was delegated to do the honors. She was very classy and restrained in they way she told Trump to go fck himself after he attacked her.

  86. 86.

    Jeffro

    @eclare: “Reclaiming My Time” (with an outline of Maxine Waters in the background) and “Three Sticks Beats Two Scoops” (with three sticks, the last one whacking two frowning scoops of ice cream) are going on t-shirts TOMORROW, I don’t care if I have to max out the credit card. I’ll make a gazillion dollars

  87. 87.

    divF

    @lamh36: Around Chez divF, there are lines from both movies that are favorites:
    “Don’t torture yourself – that’s my job.”
    “How long has it been since we’ve waltzed ? Hours.”
    and
    “Are they made from real Girl Scouts?”

  89. 89.

    Jeffro

    @Jeffro: (not that a little design help and direction wouldn’t hurt here, people – I’ll gladly share in the profits ;)

  90. 90.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    this makes me very happy

    David Dayen‏ @ ddayen 2h2 hours ago
    8 Dem Senators introduce Medicare buy-in at 55

    Debbie Stabenow and

    U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Al Franken (D-MN) co-sponsored the legislation.

    Devil’s in the details, etc, etc, but I think for all kinds of reasons, substance and politics, that’s a very smart move.

  92. 92.

    efgoldman

    @smintheus:

    Zuckerberg is running for president the summab!tch.

    You don’t have to vote for him.
    I expect he’ll do about as well as Snarly Fiorina or Snotty Walker.

  96. 96.

    Miss Bianca

    @lamh36: yes, indeed. One of the few instances I can think of where a later movie did justice to, rather than detract from, the TV series it was derived from.

  97. 97.

    heckblazer

    Three and a half decades does sound like the right timeframe for it to be part of Периметр.

  98. 98.

    lamh36

    @ChadPergram
    Senate finishes slate of nominees before August recess. Does not confirm Callista Gingrich as Ambassador to the Vatican

    Ole Newtie gonna be pissed…I”m sure he was trying to get rid of the ole bag..isn’t it bout time for a new wife for ole Newt?

  100. 100.

    Nexus6

    I got out my shortwave, a fairly decent one, put up the antenna, tuned to 4625kHz, and I hear nothing but static. White noise. I don’t know if this article is bogus or if the NSA has finally finished building the Faraday cage around my house.

  101. 101.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: might not be a bad thing, perhaps, to have his and the Stabenow et al bills setting out the Dems’ side of the debate. I don’t know at what point the CBO evaluates a bill. Anybody?

  103. 103.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Yarrow: Manchin has been a pretty good egg since the election. I don’t agree with him on a lot of shit, but he has been a loyal Dem.

  105. 105.

    Mnemosyne

    @dm:

    I skimmed the article. It’s about local governments and businesses having a hard time getting ready for the number of visitors expected in the eclipse areas. Basically, our infrastructure is not prepared to have (supposedly) 1 million people hang out in Oregon for 2 days.

  106. 106.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    uh oh.. GoT fans remember what happened when Margery tried to move in on Cersei’s territory..

    Mark Knoller‏Verified account @ markknoller 3h3 hours ago
    At Trump Rally, daughter-in-law @ LaraLeaTrump decries “crazy story about Russia.” Says “it’s so crazy you have no idea.”

  107. 107.

    Miss Bianca

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: YES!! Happy dance!!

    *This* is the way the sausage gets made, people. One step at a time…inch the Medicare age eligibility downwards. And is my enthusiasm tempered by the fact that this would make me Medicare-eligible in two years? Oh, not at all, sir, not at all!

  108. 108.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    Speaking of that Russian numbers station, any body help me out? A lot of those numbers stations on shortwave are on kHz frequencies. My shortwave radio is in mHz. Can I convert mHz to kHz?

  112. 112.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    @Baud:
    Derp. It’s metric, of course. I should know, they use metric a lot in nursing

  114. 114.

    Mnemosyne

    @lamh36:

    Meh. It’s pretty common for new parents to decide they want to go back to church (though in Zuckerberg’s case, it may be temple). Hopefully he and his wife have discussed it, because many a marriage has gone on the rocks over whose religion in which the kids are going to be raised.

  119. 119.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Mnemosyne: OMG, the fight is even more intense if both follow different versions of the same religion. Our friends who just visited us two weeks ago are both Hindu and Brahmin at that but one hails from the south and one from west (of India) and their families in India can’t agree on the “right” way to do things for their only child. So they do nothing.
    ETA: I have locked horns with my MIL on the same, I don’t like religious bullying. You can’t tell me what to believe and I refuse to participate in rituals that make no sense to me.

  121. 121.

    Felonius Monk

    @Omnes Omnibus: Hey, Birthday Boy. Happy Day. In an earlier thread I told SD that I planned to beverage in her honor this evening and now that you are here I can commence also in your honor. Cheers.

  122. 122.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    @schrodingers_cat:
    I’m pretty sure it’s mega hertz. It has 2 SW bands. SW1 runs from 6.0 to 12.0 MHz. S2 is 12.0 to 18 MHz. It’s a cheap emergency type radio. Gets AM and FM too. A few years back I’d regularly get Spanish language transmissions and a few English ones (fundy ones) here in the States.

  126. 126.

    jl

    I went to ** who shall not be named’s Senatorial twitter to see what the deal was on the single payer bill. I didn’t see announcements.
    There was this kick ass clip of a kick ass Canadian business man talking sense on health care, though

    Why doesn’t a profit-driven health care system work? This Canadian businessman explains why.
    twitter.com/SenSanders/status/893135042096103424

  130. 130.

    Karen

    I just finished article that pointed out how important vacations are for a President, what with the stress of the job.
    Then read one that said that it was going to take all that time to get all the needed work done, repairs and such.
    Both articles pointed out how previous Presidents took off for a couple of weeks to counter the stress and help keep their health.
    Then there was another one that claimed that this would be a working vacation, that the staff would be going with him and he would still be doing the daily work of being president.
    Once again excuses are being made that don’t agree with facts

  133. 133.

    germy

    drumpf’s pal Bibi seems to be in a bit of trouble as well:

    Benjamin Netanyahu is suspected of having committed bribery, fraud and breach of trust, Israeli police have confirmed.

    The Israeli Prime Minister is accused of offering commercial favours to a newspaper owner in return for positive coverage and of accepting bribes from a Hollywood billionaire.

  134. 134.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    @schrodingers_cat:
    Thanks! IOW, 6.0 MHz is 6000 KHz?

    Unfortunately the radio doesn’t go low enough for the Buzzer. It’s at 4000 or so KHz.

  136. 136.

    Mike in NC

    Weird radio stations: anybody who’s ever been to the Persian Gulf must have experienced the infamous “Monkey Man” of the Strait of Hormuz.

  139. 139.

    Keith P.

    Chris Cuomo vs Kellyanne Conway seems to be CNN’s go-to for entertainment. Compared to the regular go-to of 10 different pundits yelling over each other, it’s infinitely more entertaining.

  142. 142.

    lamh36

    Hmmm…who’s this guy? Saw it on my TL as a retweet…

    John Schindler ‏Verified account
    @20committee
    Follow
    More
    #NSA friends tell me they have Hannity in OPERATIONAL calls with known RIS agents. Team Mueller has it all. He is going down. SAD!

  143. 143.

    jl

    @Baud: Thanks, but I don’t see anything there about any threats or promises to hinder or help the ‘Medicare at 55’ bill.

  144. 144.

    eclare

    @Jeffro: I’ll take one of each, size M. Actually, thankfully, my mom would like one of each too, size S. We were both glued to CNN today.

  146. 146.

    Baud

    @jl: I didn’t mean to imply that. He’s probably ignoring that for now while he’s working on his own broader bill.

  147. 147.

    lamh36

    @MattMurph24
    Cuomo embarrassing Kellyanne Conway in this CNN interview

    @Freeyourmindkid
    Kellyann Conway can’t fool me, I know a crackhead when I see one.

  149. 149.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @lamh36: I gather he’s an ex-intel agent, I don’t remember which agency. He’s the guy who said trump would die in prison. Some people say he’s the American Louise Mensch. I don’t know, but I take what he says with a grain of salt and wait for a second source, even though I sometimes look at his twitter for schadenfreude

  150. 150.

    Miss Bianca

    @Baud: Thanks to this yere community I am now familiar with the concept of “rooting for injuries” but…”rooting for pie fights”? What kind of monster ARE you?!

  154. 154.

    Keith P.

    @eclare: I’m just grateful that it’s two people arguing for a sustained amount of time. No “Ask one question, get a response, next question, repeat”…just two people going at it. It allows things like Cuomo to get back to *legal* immigration when Conway tried to divert to sanctuary cities.

  155. 155.

    Another Scott

    @Baud: Newsweek (from March):

    “Let us do, among other things, a public option. Let us give people in every state in this country a public option from which they can choose. Let’s talk about lowering the age of Medicare eligibility from 65 to 55. Let’s deal with the greed of the pharmaceutical industry,” he said on CNN.

    He wants to do the other things but only talk about the bolded stuff?

    Weird…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  156. 156.

    Raoul

    Update from AP on Gen. Flynn: His ties to Cambridge Analytics may make it easier for Mueller to pry into their business. But also note this Kushner-level ‘oops’: Apparently Flynn managed to locate another $500,000 of income that he should have disclosed on his WH report when hired.

    Flynn’s previous filing, submitted to the White House and Office of Government Ethics in March, listed at least $1.3 million in earnings, including between $50,000 and $100,000 from his consulting company, Flynn Intel Group Inc. The latest filing lists at least $1.8 million in income.

  158. 158.

    jl

    @Baud:

    ” I didn’t mean to imply that. He’s probably ignoring that for now while he’s working on his own broader bill. ”
    What kind of pie fight is that kind of talk going to start?

  160. 160.

    Another Scott

    @eclare: Ditto!

    Ernie Pyle, John T. Scopes, P.D. James, Martin Sheen, Martha Stewart, Tom Brady, also too.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  161. 161.

    debbie

    @Baud:

    Just as I’m reading your post, he pops up in an ad supporting a state issue which would control the price of drugs. What are the odds of that!

  162. 162.

    Gin & Tonic

    @lamh36: He’s a former NSA guy who still seems to be pretty well-connected. A lot of people think he’s an asshole, but he has good info. He despises Malcolm Nance, FYI.

  163. 163.

    Jeffro

    @Raoul: These amended filings will help him avoid tax fraud charges…or at least, will help the government avoid having to indict him on tax fraud charges when the time comes to settle up. He has clearly flipped, in my mind, or has given up enough that he knows he’s vulnerable from here on out…

  164. 164.

    Mnemosyne

    Much as I hate to disappoint people hoping for more late night cat poop posts, I’m probably going to have to call it an early night. The construction on the roof directly above my head at work managed to trigger a migraine, so I’m going to need to spend the rest of the evening laying down in a dim room. ?

    I hate when migraines get triggered by stuff that’s totally out of my control. Argh.

  166. 166.

    BruceFromOhio

    Feels like The Big Short. A couple of guys from the outside see that everything is bullshit, try to align it with reality as we know it, and come up woefully short because of how incredibly fuvcked up it all really is.

    Comey, Mueller, Sessions. I actually feel sorry for these guys.

  168. 168.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Another Scott:

    Yet another example of the demagoguery of the mediocre, petty piece of dandruffy shit from Vermont – this notion of talking of an industry as “greedy” is simplistic and stupid. Why not say something along the lines of

    “there is a need to regulate the pricing on pharmaceuticals, as there are neither current controls on pricing nor limitations on vanity projects. The industry does some great things, and is deserving of stability and an appropriate return on investment; however, given the fact that purchasers of these products generally have no choice as to whether or not to purchase them, it is appropriate to monitor and regulate pricing so as to ensure that Americans from all walks of life can avail themselves of these vital products in away that enriches us all.”

  171. 171.

    Raoul

    @Gin & Tonic: Who among us indeed. I want answers! Or at least an invitation to hang out at one of their luxurious vacation properties.

    (No timeshare offers, though. Please. We got the “AM/FM Home Entertainment System” and the “Power boat”, both hilarious come-ons for 80s property ‘deals’. Former was a cheap ass no-brand clock radio, second was a two person toy inflatable boat with a 4-Dcell eggbeater ‘motor’, batteries not included. My parents were into visiting these places outside Houston just to see if we could guess what the advertised ‘prize’ would really be.).

  174. 174.

    Another Scott

    @Raoul: It’s all connected. Everyone associated with Trump’s businesses and his political operation are all at risk of being tied up in a huge net and being dragged under…

    Here’s hoping Mueller is able to follow all the threads and will not leave a rump Putin camp behind. (Assuming, of course, that things are as bad as they seem.)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  181. 181.

    Major Major Major Major

    Well, I’m off to Denver for the weekend to visit the family and do the high school ‘reunion’ thing. It was a very small school, sort of experimental, administered by a university. Graduated about ten or fifteen classes of between five and fifty. Most of us lived, and some alums cobbled together a dinner and an exhibit from the university’s files on us. My one and only high school reunion.

  183. 183.

    Captain C

    @West of the Rockies (been a while): Art Bell had a very entertaining show. I remember one show on which he had various Time Travelers. One caller had been to the 23rd century and told us about the monument to the Matriarchy in Phoenix, AZ, which apparently looked like a giant tuning fork with sharp tips on the tines. The next caller had been to the 22nd century, and told us “beware the cataclysm!” Art asked if he could describe the cataclysm, and the guy giggled like Butt-Head from Beavis and Butt-Head and said, “I can’t say anything about it. But beware of it.” And giggled again.

  188. 188.

    Zelma

    Has anyone yet posted about Michael Lewis’s scary new article about Trump’s Department of Energy at Vanity Fair? Scary as hell. (I don’t know how to post the link.)

  189. 189.

    Captain C

    @lamh36: Or maybe he figured he could live the good life in Italy and cavort with the signorine while Callista performs her ambassadorial duties.

  190. 190.

    Captain C

    @Baud: If it’s anything like his Daily News interview, it’ll be about as detailed as the recent Republican repeal & replace jokes disguised as bills.

  191. 191.

    Another Scott

    @Zelma: Cheryl had a post about it in the last day or few.

    Agreed, it’s a very good article.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  193. 193.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @jl:

    Why doesn’t a profit-driven health care system work? This Canadian businessman explains why.

    Um, no, he doesn’t.

    He partially explains why a purely-for-profit health insurance system doesn’t work – because the aim of the insurer (to make as large a profit as possible for its owners) is most readily achieved by denying or contesting as many claims as possible & underpaying the rest.

    But many if not most first-world countries have mixed systems that work sort of like Medicare, where a predefined set of essential health benefits is covered by the government but private insurers are permitted to sell policies that supplement the basic coverage. IIRC that’s how the German system works; possibly the Swiss also.

  197. 197.

    BBA

    The grand jury announcement is a bit of a surprise. I figured Mueller would find a bunch of “sleazy but not illegal” activity and release his findings for Congress to ignore. Now I do think a bunch of Trumpkins are going to be indicted. Not the boss himself, though, since you need mens rea and he’s non compos mentis.

  198. 198.

    Anonymous patient

    I have a good friend, for 50 years now, a retired Lt. in law enforcement. He tells me that Joe Manchin is regarded by LEO to be mobbed up with Pittsburgh/Wheeling mafia. Has always been distrusted by LEOs on that account.

    My friend does not exaggerate or pass on stupid stories.

  201. 201.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Anonymous patient: Can anyone here vouch for this commenter – whose handle I cannot ever recall seeing before this – or is s/he just another troll trying to fuck with Democrats?

  204. 204.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: and what an article lol

    So he sits and stews, like Al Bundy, the shoe-selling protagonist of Married … With Children, the sitcom of roiling white discontent that predicted Trump better than any political scientist or pundit. Unsatisfying job, ungrateful children, all around him a nation in decline. Bundy dreams of the days when he was a high school football star; Trump, of his election-night romp through the Upper Midwest.

  208. 208.

    Steeplejack

    @dexwood:

    I have been to the monument on the site where Ernie Pyle was killed in 1945 on Iejima, a small island off the coast of Okinawa. He was 44. He won a Pulitzer Prize the previous year for his war reporting.

  212. 212.

    Daddio7

    @Frankensteinbeck: That is what you want. Someone convicted of the crime of saying one thing then forgetting and saying something different the second. Instant crime. This will be a fishing expedition using dynamite. What ever floats to the surface will make them happy.

  213. 213.

    Marshall Eubanks

    It’s supposed to be part of “Dead Hand” – Система «Периметр» – which, despite what you may read, is actually a stabilizing measure.

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