There’s lots more serious stuff to blog about today (and everyday!), but this is too good not to use to chum the Balloon Juice lagoon:
Numerous members of the British parliament have complained that they have received multiple emails from the Trump campaign asking for a donation.
“Members of Parliament are being bombarded by electronic communications from Team Trump on behalf of somebody called Donald Trump,” Sir Roger Gale said on Tuesday, according to Politics Home. “Mr Speaker, I’m all in favour of free speech but I don’t see why colleagues on either side of the House should be subjected to intemperate spam.”
Sir Roger seemed to have trouble even deleting the Trump emails.
“Efforts to try to have these deleted have failed. I wonder if you’d be kind enough to intercede with the Digital Services Department to see if they may be blocked,” he lamented.
“Somebody called Donald Trump…”
Perfect.
Image: Peter de Hooch, Man Handing a Letter to a Woman in the Entrance Hall of a House, 1670.
scav
Hey, he could just be president of all the countries! May Britain Yuuuge Again!
jon
Adding someone to Trump’s email list sounds like a violation of the Geneva Convention. Not sure if England had a re-vote on that issue, but I’m certain such depravity wouldn’t have great popularity.
Immanentize
Illegal to boot. Campaign finance laws generally prohibit donations from auslanders. And before you ask — they have no first amendment right to Mao ey-speech.
Keith G
The above reproduction of a Peter de Hooch painting inspired me to look the artist up. The images found on Google Images under his name are very worth the time spent considering them. Many of them are variations on the above theme.
Moving to another topic: I have a question involving technology. Has anyone divorced themselves from the use of iTunes as a music storage and playing software. I would like to do this and I’m cognizant of the fact that there will be problems since I have several years worth of iTunes music purchases from the (years before I stopped purchasing music from that company) which are protected. I would appreciate any suggestions or insights.
CarolDuhart2
Good lord, the ineptitude, it stings. Couldn’t someone have just looked at those emails and noticed that they must have a.co.uk extension? But they are probably down to Trump U graduates right now.
Brent
I read this story over at TPM. Laughed out loud for a solid 5 minutes. The best is the letter from MP Natalie McGarry who seems genuinely puzzled as to why this “repugnant” anti-foreign campaign would even think it appropriate to beg from Foreign Nationals. Its a great letter.
J R in WV
Isn’t it illegal for a political campaign in the USA to solicit donations from political leaders abroad?
I know the Clinton Foundation can legally accept donations from anyone, it isn’t a political organization in any way (except its name perhaps), but “Team Trump” is most definitely a political organization. I suppose The Donald may have gotten a list of MPs while over in Scotland, handed the list to someone, and said, “Here, put these guys on the email list for me.”
It may be that simple, and just that easy to commit campaign fraud by soliciting foreign contributions to his presidential campaign.
“Scarlet Scumbag with Hair Attached, 2016”
catclub
Upper class twit of the year contestant does not know how to work a computer. Also, dog bites man. Downton Abbey showed how useless so many of the British upper class are/were.
Bonny Prince Donny
Or perhaps your lordships could lend me your ermine robes for my Kleveland Klown Koronation.
Elizabelle
Thinking its a joke because everyone knows foreign nationals can’t donate through the Trump website.
They have to launder their contributions through Sheldon Adelson’s casinos, like everybody else. Citizens United, bitchez.
The Other Chuck
@Keith G: Unless you have really obscure tracks from over 10 years ago that are no longer in the iTunes catalog, none of them should be copy-protected anymore. Just download them and move them out of the iTunes folders into your new player.
I’m still looking for something decent to replace iTunes with, but I’ve been too lazy to make the switch. iTunes actually has good functionality, it’s just the interface that’s a disaster, and I’m mostly used to it (it’s the iOS player that I truly detest). Vox is so far the best competitor, but there’s no Android version, and I’d like that flexibility going forward.
Elizabelle
Whoops. Used the g a m b l in g word. Rescue me, Tom.
ETA: in moderation. Help! Gracias.
Immanentize
@Immanentize: “money- speech,” not “Mao ey-speech.” But I assume folks from elsewhere have no right to that either.
Chris
@catclub:
Glad I’m not the only one who took that away from the show…
CarolDuhart2
@Keith G: I did a little googling for you. Wikihow Article.
If you have the patience to do so, you can use Audacity to record the playing audio, which then can be turned into mp3,
Also, look on YouTube for versions that can be converted into mp3 as well (not quite ethical, but if you are desperate)
NotMax
Repeating from downstairs.
From the FEC web site:
catclub
@J R in WV:
Yes. Other have posted about that faster than I could. Maybe in the other thread.
Actually, I do not know about the ‘solicit’ part. I was thinking more of the donation from foreign sources part.
Never mind that all those 501C4 ‘public education’ PAC’s can keep their donations secret [Thanks Anthony Kennedy!]. Luckily none of them would ever break the law by accepting foreign cash and then influencing a political campaign.
John Revolta
“Intemperate Spam”= great band name
sukabi
Soliciting foreigners for campaign money smells like desperation wrapped up in a bit of Nigerian Prince phishing.
raven
@Keith G: Burn the albums to cd’s?
CarolDuhart2
I still have ITunes, but only use it for some podcasts now.
AIMP
VLC (uses video, but can play audio too)
Winamp
Windows Media Player (still exists)
Keith G
@The Other Chuck:
Exactly. I would like to use the same software on my desktop and on both of my Android devices. MediaMonkey makes claims that it can do just that. In my investigation of it, I went to their tech support community pages and saw that some users were having issues with older music purchased from iTunes. That’s one of the reasons I was asking this question.
rikyrah
Grifters know their own kind.
rikyrah
@J R in WV:
that’s what I thought.
Keith G
@raven: Yes, that is a workaround that I’m going to keep in my back pocket.
Poopyman
Tell me about it! I learned in the thread down below that The Donald gave a speech from inside a trash compactor. How big a crowd can you get inside one of those anyhow?
Gene108
Looked up Team Trump. They are some outside group that wants to elect Trump. In this illegal act, Trump may have actual plausible deniability.
boatboy_srq
“Intemperate Spam” – the latest title for Hair Furor. Love it.
Keith G
@CarolDuhart2: Thanks for that link.
dmsilev
@Poopyman: Depends on how powerful the compactor motors are.
Marjowil
@Keith G: I lost hundreds of iTunes songs when I changed computers and could not find a way to move or restore them. I start from an anti-Applie bias anyway, but that killed it for me. Meanwhile, when I went to Amazon after a protracted period of alienation, I logged on and found every digital song I had ever purchased there waiting for me in the cloud. That was enough for me.
hovercraft
@Elizabelle:
This is the Drump campaign we’re talking about, I think this is just the sort of incompetence you’d expect.
boatboy_srq
@Poopyman: There’s room for at least three humans, one Wookiee and one tentacled swimming thing.
The Ancient Randonneur
Yes they do. It seems the pro-EU crowd hasn’t lost its wit but they certainly aren’t happy either.
Gindy51
@Keith G: Make CD copies of the albums or singles or playlists. That’s what my husband does since he does not use his ipod in the car.
Major Major Major Major
Blast and gunfire at Istanbul airport, “multiple injuries” http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36658187
Emma
@Gene108: If you look at the story in TPM, one Scottish MP’s letter, which she shared on Twitter seems to come from Donald Jr. She fired back the grandmother of all NOs, also on Twitter.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@Immanentize: I’m surprised no one has covered this angle. TPM has a headline about the Brits complaining about these solicitations but nothing about the fact that soliciting funds directly from foreign nationals is a violation of campaign finance law. It would be one thing if they went to his web page and donated of their own volition (that may not be deemed the campaign’s fault), but actually sending them emails asking for money is a violation.
Major Major Major Major
@Immanentize: it’s Ausländer
Elizabelle
Do you think it’s a set-up? Or are they that clueless?
boatboy_srq
@Keith G: There are a handful of apps that “manage” Apple’s DRM. Apple discontinued DRM for most of their content several years ago, so the impact should be less than you fear. Most MP3 and AAC encoded content should migrate to new player hardware and software without much trouble.
Winamp does a decent job of managing content and talks to most non-Apple players. It’s not as easy to find as it used to be but you can still download it from a number of places.
p.a.
Maybe Donnie thinks MP means Millionaire Person.
Emma
Uh-Oh.. I wonder if the Brits use “family reasons” like American pols do.
Poopyman
@Elizabelle: Why not both?
Tom Levenson
@Emma: Gutless coward. As you’d expect.
Mary G
@Brent: @Emma: Nobody can throw shade like a Brit, and that letter from Nicole McGarry is a prime example. I wish I could copy and paste some of it. She tells Donald Jr. that the thought of his father having a seat at the world table is both surreal and terrifying.
I’m wondering if the fundraising emails were even sent from the Trump organization. It almost seems like something a hacker would do.
CarolDuhart2
@Emma: Given his performance earlier at the European Parliament, he’s no doubt been given a little talk about how he’s botching any hope of getting decent terms during #Brexit. Not to mention a lot of people who are unhappy about the way things are already turning out being more than usually pissed at him.
Elie
Bernie got quite a few foreign donations which were part of report from FEC. Also from donors who were over their max.
Roger Moore
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?:
The campaign is required to screen out donors who aren’t US persons. All of them that I’ve donated to require you to certify that you’re legally allowed to donate, and I assume the sophisticated ones have stuff on the back-end to try to filter out people who are transparently lying. And if the campaign is caught accepting suspicious donations, they can be required to refund them. ISTR that there were complaints about Bernie accepting foreign donations that he had to refund.
Elizabelle
@Poopyman: two mints in one.
Emma
@Mary G: My absolute favorite is this:
It’s one of the best examples of poisoned politeness I’ve ever seen.
Emma
@Tom Levenson: @CarolDuhart2: They all seem to be trying to become anonymous all of a sudden, aren’t they?
cleek
@Keith G:
first you need to make sure you don’t have any Apple-encrypted music left in your collection. if you do, there are several ways to convert them to unencrypted versions.
here’s what i did…
(https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7387027?start=0&tstart=0)
sign up for Apple’s iMatch cloud music thingy, then let it scan your music. then back up all your music files. then delete the encrypted songs from within iTunes (you can identify them by sorting them by the ‘Kind’ column, IIRC). after that, you can tell iTunes to download the songs you just deleted and it will download unencrypted versions of (most of) your songs. some old songs might not get converted.
the ones that it doesn’t download unencrypted versions of, convert with ye olde Burn-to-CD-then-Import trick.
cleek
please rescue me from moderation
@Keith G:
Google “ChrisOregon drm”
cleek
oh ffs. your spam filters suck.
Immanentize
@Major Major Major Major: I know, but I’m here in Texas making huge typing mistakes on my phone. I really need a new phone and apropos of the above discussion, I’m getting an Android
And, MP3 is a very thin format for music…. Flac is the way to go. We just got a SONOS and you can stream FLAC from your computer. I am in the process of converting right now — bought a separate drive to put all my cd’s on. Moving to my vinyl next. FLAC is much higher quality and you can always re-copy down to MP3 (to play on an iPhone) but you can never upgrade music sound once copied.
The Czar of All the Stupids
HA!
And I for one look forward to them complaining when they start receiving emails asking for donations to help retire the Donald’s campaign debts after he gets beaten like a tin drum this fall…
sherparick
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: Perhaps the Donald has his friend’s Vladmir Putin’s FSA doing his solicitations for hm. This is funny, but:
1. If Donald is elected, he will be strong decide what laws are convenient to obey and what are not. The Republicans will go along as long as he passes their tax cuts.
2. Imagine the Donald with the NSA and CIA at his disposal. Imagine the Donald with the pardon power and the ability to hire contract with Constellis group for detentions, detention/work centers, and deportations plus other “anti-terror work with something like the Constellis group. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constellis_Group
3. Imagine Donald as President knowing that if he left the office, he and/or children friends might face prosecution. i doubt he would ever leave.
Trollhattan
@Emma:
Shades of Churchill versus Lady Astor.
Let us savor.
Mnemosyne
@Emma:
As in, his wife said, I will fucking leave you if you don’t keep your goddamned mouth shut?
Emma
@Mnemosyne: I was imagining the British version of a horse’s head on the bed… a brace of freshly shot grouse? But yours works much better
Trollhattan
Good news everybody (except Clevelanders).
This aggression will not stand, man.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@Keith G: I did this. I ate the loss, but mine wasn’t that big to start with. But still, you shouldn’t have to.
I don’t know what the fuck they are thinking. It’s a horrible piece of software even on the Mac and on Windows it’s now completely unusable.
Mnemosyne
@Trollhattan:
I think they have their own brand of asshole anarchists in the Midwest, don’t they? I remember hearing they were showing up in Ferguson and making things worse.
raven
@Mnemosyne: Hell yes, old school Trots from Chicago and Detroit.
AnotherBruce
@Bonny Prince Donny: Ok, that comment made me laugh, especially in association with your name.
D58826
Terror attack at Istanbul airport in Turkey
MattF
@Elizabelle: I’d guess the Trumpies bought their mailing lists from some scammer who preys on right-wing organizations. It’s a cruel world.
sm*t cl*de
@Emma:
British media have an entertaining variety of ways to describe Farage’s habitual drunkenness.
Mnemosyne
@raven:
Now you’re making me hope the anarchists show up dressed like this. They probably don’t have enough of a sense of humor, though.
raven
@Mnemosyne: Google “Days of Rage” and Richard Elrod, not Jake and Elrod.
eta The Weather People did not have much of a sense of humor IIRC.
Emma
@sm*t cl*de: Ah. I wonder if things like this sent him back to the bottle. He is the most loose cannon of all loose cannons, isn’t he?
Calouste
@Emma: I think this might be the first documented case where success is an orphan, but failure has many parents.
Calouste
@Emma: The article is from last week, from before the vote.
danielx
@Emma:
As in when a pol has stepped in shit of one sort or another but doesn’t want to flat out say so?
Mnemosyne
@Emma:
Once again, I stand in awe of the British skill at invective.
Steeplejack (phone)
@cleek:
FYWP is currently choking on naked hyperlinks. That was your problem.
Mnemosyne
@Calouste:
??? The article is dated today. The actual outburst the writer references was last week.
Mnemosyne
@D58826:
Details are scanty — they don’t even have anyone claiming responsibility yet. ISIS is likely, but they can’t rule out Kurdish separatists.
raven
@Mnemosyne: Twarnt Mormons!
D58826
@Mnemosyne:Yep. they all seem to hate each other. Kinda hard to come up with allies against Daesh when the ‘allies’ hate each other more than than hate DAesh. (sighj) But ‘old little hands’ will get a huge deal. (sigh)
Mnemosyne
@raven:
Not this time, anyway.
raven
@Mnemosyne: Must watch
You wouldn’t have an extra hat on ya?
Calouste
@Mnemosyne:
Today is only still Tuesday, even in the UK.
Poopyman
@Trollhattan: I suggest we call in Westboro Baptist and tell them Godless anarchists will be there.
raven
@Calouste: It gets late early around here.
clone12
The only way this can be funnier is if EU has a law against political fundraising spam from another country but not UK.
Elizabelle
Bernie Sanders has an op Ed in the NY Times.
Democrats need to wake up is title
Sorry I don’t know how to link on iPad.
Mnemosyne
@Calouste:
I think we’re talking about different links — the one I’m looking at is this editorial by Marina Hyde.
Chip Daniels
@sukabi:
“Dear Honorable Mr. Member of Her Majesty’s Parliament:
I am a corrupt American Businessman, attempting to swindle thousands of college students and gullible elderly white people…”
Suzanne
@Emma: The Brits are so MEAN. This is why Britain is my spirit country: grey, rainy, cold, bleak, dryly humorous, and sarcastic as hell. Love it.
Trollhattan
@Poopyman:
I may have buried the lede in my clip selections, but it’s skinheads who have announced they’re headed to Cleveland to “protect Trump voters.” That other lot, of course, will show themselves, too.
Frankly, parsing Sunday’s photos it’s not easy to tell them apart, at least based on tattoo acreage.
chopper
@John Revolta:
intemperate spam from an incompressible jizztrumpet.
Immanentize
@Elizabelle: who?
MCA1
And yet we’re constantly told Hillary Clinton’s the one with the e-mail problem, not Der Fuchspeltfuhrer.
Shana
@Chip Daniels: Brilliant. You win the thread Sir.
SRW1
This is what happens, Sir Roger, if you give your email address to a Nigerian prince.
ETA:
If you come to any thread on this blog late, all jokes are always already taken.
JaneE
Is it wrong to hope that the people responsible for sending those emails get charged with the violations? They didn’t even have enough common sense to solicit from foreigners that might support them. Criminal stupidity. I would love it even more if some of them share the Trump surname.
RedDirtGirl
@dmsilev:
Ouch!!!!
D58826
@Elizabelle:
link – http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/29/opinion/campaign-stops/bernie-sanders-democrats-need-to-wake-up.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&_r=0
Scott Alloway
@Marjowil: I have this bad habit of backing up all music, video and images on another drive where I then replicate the folders on another drive on anther computer. Helps to have legacy computers needing the work We’re talking about back to the early 90s for this stuff. The music, videos and images still pop up. Old Mac addict here.
Paul in KY
@Poopyman: Too bad it didn’t have a ‘malfunction’. In fact, if I was The Donald, I would stay away from being in places where things could happen…
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