Thursday, December 22, 2016

Checking the Checker


Snopes is one of the more famous Internet fact-checker sites which has been chosen by Facebook to aid in its designations of "fake news" stories. However, it's objectivity has come under question recently as it always seems to pooh-pooh stories critical of liberals. However, recent revelations cast a long shadow on the moral turpitude of the operators and checkers on this "arbiter of truth" ... see: Daily Caller Revelations. Knowing that many of you readers don't follow hyperlinks, I have reproduced some of the juicier passages below:
The founder of mythbusting website Snopes, which was recently tapped by Facebook as one of four “fact-check” organizations patrolling the site for “fake news,” embezzled $98,000 in company funds before spending it on “himself and the prostitutes he hired,” according to legal documents filed by his ex-wife reviewed by the Daily Mail. 
After divorcing from his first wife, Barbara Mikkelson, David Mikkelson married Elyssa Young, a former porn star and current escort who now works for Snopes as an administrator, according to the Daily Mail. 
The Daily Mail also revealed that top Snopes “fact-checker” Kim LaCapria claimed on her personal blog that she has “posted to Snopes” after smoking marijuana. As TheDC previously revealed, LaCapria describes herself as “openly left-leaning” and once claimed that Republicans fear “female agency.” 
As originally reported by TheDC, Snopes almost exclusively employs leftists as fact-checkers, many of whom have exhibited a clear distaste for Republican voters. TheDC could not identify a single Snopes fact-checker who comes from a conservative background.
Also, I thought it might be fair and interesting to see what Snopes has to say about these disclosures. Unfortunately, as of this publication time, I can find no comment. But you can check for yourself ... see: Snopes.

Headlines


These headlines are real ... they have all been discovered on Internet news sites.

ISIS lists American churches to attack during the holidays ...

PENTAGON: Iran seeking new missiles, war equipment ...

Lead investigator in 'AMERICAN SNIPER' murder case found dead in home

Obama unleashes another $6 billion in 'midnight regulations' ...

Obama admin scraps entry-exit tracking system for migrants from Muslim countries

Blunders allowed Berlin killer to attack ...

EPA destroyed millions of official documents

Anthony Bourdain pledges to boycott Trump's Washington, DC restaurant

Crazed Hillary voter lashes out at Ivanka on JetBlue ...

STAR WARS composer John Williams: 'I never watch the films' ...

Poll: 62% of Democrats and Independents don't want Clinton to run again

Playbook: Dems plan Miami inaugural bash to compete with Trump ...


Discrimination


Discrimination has become a dirty word. Once, if one had discriminating tastes, it was a good thing. Now, no more. If one favors something over another ... no matter what ... one is ironically discriminated against. Our founding fathers recognized religion and creed as discrimination no-nos. (Add race, color and gender later by Constitutional amendment.) Now, these taboo categories are inflated and virtually endless. If I paid attention to all these strictures, I could not shun convicted felons, lewd-lyric rappers, new Black Panthers, Scientologists, pedophiles, radical Islamists, Communists, those with "fluid genders," satanists, and Lena Dunham (whatever she is).

Hellery Clinton recently twisted things with a short list of those whom I am now allowed to hate ... the deplorables ... sexists, racists, homophobes, xenophobes and Islamophobes. And all of the myriad of the discriminated-against groups I was required not just to tolerate, but to embrace.

But now that Hellery is relegated to walking the woods, can I go back to not discriminating against just race, color, religion, gender and creed? No?

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Payback for Playback


The Trump Inauguration Committee is asking for donations to pay for the festivities surrounding this January 20th event ... and has come under intense liberal criticism for these solicitations ... see: MSNBC Video ... claiming that this is "pay for play." This is to try to equate them to what the Clinton crime family did for many years with the Clinton Foundation. Therein they obviously gave considerable quid pro quo for generous donations to this "charity" that spent over 93% of its funds on non-charitable benefits to the Clintons and their hanger-ons.

What these liberal critics also neglect to mention is that every president for a long time (I can't get Google to give me a definite answer) has had these inauguration celebrations (parties, balls, entertainment, etc.) paid for with corporate and individual donations. I, however did find some references ... for a little history see: Bush 41 Inauguration Donations, Other Presidents Inaugural Donations, and Obummer Inaugurations Donation Form.

This phony Democrat analogy and acerbic accusation by the "bitter slingers" that are on their way out of power in Washington ... tells me that they have learned nothing from their defeat. May they stay so oblivious for a long, long time.

Headlines


These headlines are real ... they have all been discovered on Internet news sites.

Berlin manhunt as killer escapes, Europe on Xmas alert

[Obama] Uses executive authority for 'permanent' bans on off-shore drilling

Refugee resettlements accelerate in Obama's final months ...

India overtakes Britain as world's 6th largest economy ...

Naples mega volcano 'reawakening' ...

Poll: Democrat women most likely to block, unfriend over politics

Report: Boccelli out of Trump inauguration after boycott threats

Stock market adds $1,600,000,000,000 since election ...

CEOs who supposedly love Trump are dumping stock in post-election rally

Uber admits it has a problem with driverless cars cutting off cyclists

California secession organizers say they've opened an embassy in Moscow ...

Illinois loses more residents than any other state ...

Quote of the Day



The road to hell is paved with open borders. -- Anon.

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Headlines


These headlines are real ... they have all been discovered on Internet news sites.

Another: Russian diplomat 'found dead from gunshot hours after ambassador's death'

Trump adviser: Don't take Trump literally, take him symbolically

Fed's spy from 400 fake cell towers ...

Trump dines with [Carlos] Slim ...

The latest: Netanyahu offers to treat Aleppo victims

Islamic State claims responsibilities for deadly attack at Jordan tourist spot

Judge orders unsealing of search warrant in Clinton e-mail probe

AFD hits out at Merkel after Christmas market attack: 'These are your dead'

Snow in Sahara ...

Trump wants to know how much money the State Dept gives to environmental groups

Politifact fails to disclose conflict of interest in 'mostly false' story

Planes grounded as smog chokes China for fifth day

Methbot


Back in early July, I noticed an unusual number of hits to this blog coming out of the small island of Mauritius ... then later in the month this activity shifted to Russia. At the time I attributed this surge to political intelligence gathering by the Ruskies ... see: From Russia with Love. Next my Verizon e-mail account was tagged for issuing spam ... all very suspicious! In a few weeks this spurt of Russian activity disappeared and I assumed I had been tasted by the bear and spit out.

Not so fast oh naive one ... for the Russian surge has returned in the last few weeks and today I think I found out why. It seems that there is a grifting group in Russia (and Mauritius too?) that are using a robotic Internet agent called "Methbot" that runs around the Internet referencing sites to artificially run up advertising revenue for some mysterious third party ... see: Fortune Magazine Story. I'm not sure that this is the bot jazzing up the impressions on this site but I am reasonably sure it is a bot because of the syncopation and magnitude of the references. And I also am seeing more originating in the United States of late. And all this for this blog that does't carry ads!!

The site of this blog is run by Google (in a rather haphazard and unprofessional manner). I would like to believe that the software and network talent at Google would be able to thwart such scammers. But maybe the technical talent there does not match their reputations or compensation? Or maybe all this phony bot ad revenue also benefits Google too? (We're talking about as much as two billion dollars of fake annual ad revenue from this one bot.) Just maybe the disincentive just isn't there ...

And just maybe Methbot was used to throw the presidential election? (Tongue in cheek.)

One Picture ...

Angela Merkel of Germany

... is worth a thousand words ...

Oppression Olympics


The Students of Color Conference recently held at UCLA has been tagged by a cynic (not me) as the "Oppression Olympics" where all minorities can gather to lament their put-upon fate. Of course this suggestion prompts what some of the events might be that are held there. Here are some of the possible oppressed groups' Olympic contests:

Race Relay Race

Shiite Slalom

Hezbollah High Dive

Islamic Ice Hockey

Giant Gender Slalom

Marijuana Marathon

Cross-dresser Cross Country

Gun Shot Putdown

Transgender Taekwondo

Caitlyn Jenner Memorial Decathlon

Jewish Javelin

Bisexual Biathlon

LSD High Hurdles

Sunni Ski Jump

Allahu Akbar Alpine Combined

LGBT Long Jump

Polish Pole Vault

Dashiki Dash


You are welcome to add your own suggestions ...

Headlines


These headlines are real ... they have all been discovered on Internet news sites.

Russian Ambassador assassinated in Turkey ... 'We die in Aleppo, you die here' ...

Terror truck slams into Berlin Christmas market ... At least 9 dead, dozens wounded ...

Obama golfs after learning about German, Turkish [terror] attacks

Electoral College makes [Trump's] election official ...

IMF's Lagarde found guilty in French tycoon's payout trial ... leaves country before verdict

Hillary Clinton loses a THIRD of Washington [State] electoral votes

Fitness gadgets allow corporations to spy on users

Customers 'offered drugs by [Uber] drivers' ...

Whoopi Goldberg says she is more qualified to be president than Donald Trump

Seven test positive for latent TB at Nebraska high school

... [Obama] warns Trump not to overuse executive orders ...

President Obama grants 153 commutations, 78 pardons to individuals deserving of a second chance

Monday, December 19, 2016

Reflections


As this tumultuous year 2016 winds down, I gather my loose synapses into some form of strained logic to reflect on who has been boiling our porridge over our last orbit 'round the sun.

First, the Religion of Peace has only killed a few hundred thousand of us this year ... mostly their kindred souls tragically but, for the rest of us, fortunately. However, their belief that martyrdom rewards them lavishly and lasciviously propels them into the most uncivilized brutality that man can invent. This twisted form of moral immorality is both the reason for this tribe's remarkable successes and, unless corrected, its eventual doom. The primary reason for its rise is that it offers discipline and order in an undisciplined and unordered world. It has become the flickering flame to which many meek seekers are moth-driven. They are clearly charting their, and possibly even our, end.

Second, after an eight year escape from our senses, the American middle has, at least temporarily, recaptured its mojo. We have chosen an unlikely leader who knows how to get things done and is doing things ... most of which seem intent on righting our ship of state after a long meandering voyage with open scuppers. Trump's words and actions are often crude and rude, but he is all we got, so we have given him the helm with our fingers crossed. His choices for his crew who would carry out his mandate are a mite questionable but, I for one, am willing to wait and see ... mostly because he has obviously had more life successes than failures. Yes, there will be some duds appointed. But I suspect he will not be shy with the term, "You're fired!"

Third, the Democrat party has been pulled so far into the outback of loony liberalism that they are going to need a modern-day Moses to lead them back to civilized thought and action. Their travel agents for this sad sojourn, Obummer, Schumer, Hellery, Pelosi, Biden and the like still have the party's ideological credit card and are spending them into policy penury. Unless liberals can find new and more moderate leadership, they will continue to enjoy ballot box failure. Will the Republicans get vindictive toward the left after they assume full power on January 20th? I surely hope so. And, if Trump can fulfill even half of his economic promises, he will likely change the traditional political alliances for a generation.

Fourth, for the first time in my dotage I have some hope for some Mideast pacification. Trump's pledge to put Iran back in the box, his moving our embassy to Jerusalem, his recognition of Egypt's el-Sisi as a Muslim mitigating force, and his (hopefully) persuading Russia to help stop the slaughter in Syria ... all have me optimistic, not for full peace, but at least for detente. My expectation is that his policy in this region will be to reward moderation and punish radicalism ... exactly the opposite of what the current administration has been doing. Why Obummer has pursued this insanity is between him and his Mullah ...

More to come later ...

Headlines


These headlines are real ... they have all been discovered on Internet news sites.

Germany's 'rent a Jew' project means to fight anti-Semitism ...

[Polluted] Beijing chokes: factories ordered shut ...

Coldest Chicago NFL game in history ...

Peter King: CIA's Brennan should be investigated for 'hit job' on Trump

Podesta suggests Trump associates may have colluded with Russian hackers

Apple, Facebook, Google and Uber say they won't help Trump develop a registry of Muslims

The Donald tweets to China 'Keep the drone'

'Impartial' BBC calls Trump election an 'American tragedy'

Americans bought 17,850 tons of imported ammo in last 12 months

Senior Taliban member tries for asylum in Germany under fake identity

ACLU backs Zukerberg's censorship of new media on Facebook

Wall Street economists doubtful Fed will deliver on [3] rate hikes

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Headlines


These headlines are real ... they have all been discovered on Internet news sites.

Gun manufacturers: Why pay for advertisements when Hollywood pushes our guns for free?

Tanker slides off icy bridge on I-95, explodes ...

Boston breaks 133 year-old [cold] record ...

Black feminist Sanders supporter: 'I need a job more than I need a woman in the White House'

Report: 820,000 criminal illegals in US ...

China agrees to return US drone illegally seized in South China Sea

Obama on alleged Russian hacking: 'We need to take action -- and we will'

Hillary holiday party 'like a wake' ...

FBI [now] backs CIA's findings that Russia tried to help Trump get elected

Snopes, Facebook's new fact checker, employ leftists almost totally

L.A. County considers $1 million taxpayer funds to help illegals fight deportation

Women make up majority of law students for first time ...

More "Fake News" News


Here are some news snippets and/or my insights which have recently struck my fancy. Deem them fake news if you wish ... I consider them to be genuine ...

- If the Russians really swung our election with their hacking ... and Putin was personally involved ... wouldn't these revelations by our intelligence agencies compromise their "sources and methods" to the Ruskies? If the Obummer administration is willing to pay this high a price for dubious political gain, then they are really a bunch of doofuses. If not, then it must be just more liberal fake news.

- Hillary, at a recent holiday gathering, seems to have aged 20 years following the election of Trump. But her appearance for the debates was masterful. I wonder who did her makeup then? A mortician?

- During the recent Jill Stein recounts, 37% of Detroit voting machines did not have meter counts equivalent to actual ballots cast. One such machine had an indicated tally of 306 votes ... but when the machine was opened, it only contained 50 actual ballots. (Obviously the same ballots were run through multiple times.) These voter-fraud revelations caused the Michigan Democrat party to call off the recount with beet red faces.

- Is there such a thing as a right-wing Internet fact-checking site? The four major supposedly "no-partisan" fact checkers: Snopes, Factcheck.org, Politifact and Washington Post's Fact Checker ... all are so loaded with liberals that one can easily predict their responses regarding conservative revelations ... must be "fake news." Now, Facebook is stepping into this one-sided game with its own set of moonbats to negate the views from the other side. Who, in the end is going to check the fact checkers?

- The US employment rate's denominator is based upon not all working-age people but only upon those "looking for work." This statistic was "adjusted" late in Bill Clinton's presidential term ... which obviously artificially inflated this key statistic ... and thus deflated the unemployment rate.  If calculated the old way, the unemployment rate today would be over 9% not the 4.6% as currently reported. Is the unemployment rate an example of fake news? As governments control the reported statistics, they then control the news.

- The New York Times is vacating 8 floors of its headquarters on Times Square. Perhaps the NYT has another 5-10 years? I understand the Clinton Foundation was looking to rent this space ... until the recent election that is (just joking ...).

- If hate crimes are reported only on social media, but not by calling 911 ... then the chances of them being hoaxes is quite a bit larger ... because reporting a hoax on 911 can result in criminal consequences whereas using social media is generally without repercussions. Tip of the hat to
Howie Carr for this idea.

Afterthought: Much of the incentive for genuine fake news is the ad revenue received therefrom. Sites that don't contain ads or that don't pay for premium placement in searches (like this one) have much less reason to create or pass on so-called fake news or hyper-biased opinion.

reddit Gallery CCCXCVI -- Cars

Another excursion into the world of reddit Pictures. See: reddit Pics for sources.  Do yourself a favor and click on pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!

Old vs New Bugatti

First Saab

Mercedes-Maybach 6

1948 Custom Cadillac Sedan
TRON Lambo

Headlines

A

These headlines are real ... they have all been discovered on Internet news sites.

It begins: NYT to vacate 8 floors of its HQ ...

Montana: Record breaking snowfall ...

Syracuse shatters 99 year [cold] record ...

Michelle Obama: We're feeling like what not having hope feels like

Chinese warship seizes U.S. Navy underwater drone

Newsweek: NYC hate hoax 'highlights pressure' on Muslims

Valerie Jarrett: My grandfather died because he had a gun for self defense

Obama: Trump's victory threatens America's core

Obama suggests Electora College is outdated

George W. Bush called [Senator] Corker to lobby for Tillerson

[Hillary Campaign manager] Podesta blames loss on 'broken' FBI

Report: Obama ignored Russian hacking because he thought Hillary was going to win

Friday, December 16, 2016

Another Presidential Comparison


Trump:  Proactive (often surprisingly so)

Obama: Reactive (often reluctantly so)

Headlines


These headlines are real ... they have all been discovered on Internet news sites.

'Rediciously heavy': Huge winter storm makes way for already hurting Midwest

Self-driving UBER car caught running red lights ...

250 Disney IT workers forced to train their replacements from India ...

San Fran homeowners fight to keep nun run soup kitchen out ...

The [stock] market may be getting frothy as market signal hits 20 year high

Cheese festival descends into chaos as vegans attack attendees ...

Loretta Lynch: Obama can't give mass pardon to dreamers

Venezuela parents giving away children due to economic crisis

Facebook using unreliable liberal fact checker to fight fake news

Japan overtakes China as largest holder of US securities ...

[Britain's] Farage is in New York for third meeting with Trump

Bolton: Obama Admin's 'politicizing intelligence' does grave harm

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Sources and Methods


There is something very strange about the recent revelation by the US "intelligence community" that Vladamir Putin positively and personally directed the Russian hackers in trying to get Trump elected president. And that strangeness is -- Why would a US intelligence agency jeopardize giving up important sources and methods of its intelligence gathering for such a clear political end? Is the potential nullifying of Trump's voter mandate so important that some unnamed intelligence agency would be willing to pay such a steep price?

Besides, the British press is now saying that the Russians had nothing to do with these hacks ... it was a disillusioned employee of the Democrat National Committee who surreptitiously passed on these e-mails to a Julian Assange intermediary in a Washington, DC park ... see: UK Express Story and Daily Mail Article.

One last question ... Is not the threatening of the lives of Republican electors, unless they change their Electoral College vote on Monday from Trump, an extremely serious affront to national law and order and to our Constitution ... and why has not Obummer and the Justice Department decried these death threats and taken any actions to find and prosecute the offenders? Must be that they are OK with such anarchy?