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ChiGoose

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Posts posted by ChiGoose

  1. Maybe the internet was a bad idea...

     

    Online Conspiracies About the Baltimore Bridge Collapse Are Out of Control

     

    Conspiracy theorists are calling the Baltimore bridge collapse a “black swan event” and are blaming everything from Israel to DEI to Covid vaccines.

     

    A non-exhaustive list of things that are getting blamed for the bridge collapse on Telegram and X include President Biden, Hamas, ISIS, P. Diddy, Nickelodeon, India, former president Barack Obama, Islam, aliens, Sri Lanka, the World Economic Forum, the United Nations, Wokeness, Ukraine, foreign aid, the CIA, Jewish people, Israel, Russia, China, Iran, Covid vaccines, DEI, immigrants, Black people, and lockdowns.

     

    The Francis Scott Key truss bridge collapsed when the MV Dali cargo ship collided with one of the bridge supports. Six construction workers, who were filling potholes on the bridge’s roadway at the time, are presumed dead. The ship is owned by Singapore-based Grace Ocean Private Ltd., and the 22-person crew were all Indian. The ship was en route to Colombo, Sri Lanka, at the time of the accident.

     

    This did not stop people from “asking questions” about the incident, a frequent conspiracist response to major events. And though conspiracy theorists are having a hard time pinpointing exactly what conspiracy caused the collapse, the one thing they do agree on is that this incident is a “black swan event.”

     

    The term black swan event has been around for decades and is used to describe a major global event (typically in the financial markets) that can cause significant damage to a country’s economy. But in recent years, the term has been co-opted by the conspiracy-minded to explain an event triggered by the so-called deep state that would signal an imminent revolution, a third world war, or some other apocalyptic catastrophe.

     

    One of the first people to call the bridge collapse a black swan event was disgraced former US national security adviser Michael Flynn. “This is a BLACK SWAN event,” he wrote on X. “Black swans normally come out of the world of finance (not military) … There are harbor masters for every single one of these transit points in America that are in charge of assuring the safety of navigation … start there.” Flynn’s post has been viewed 7.2 million times.

     

    Misogynist influencer Andrew Tate, who has been charged in Romania with rape and human trafficking, also posted on X early on Tuesday morning, writing: “Nothing is safe. Black Swan Event imminent.” The post has been viewed almost 19 million times.

     

    The term black swan quickly began trending on X, and soon conspiracists, extremists, and right-wing lawmakers began coming up with explanations for what or who triggered this “black swan event.”

     

    One post claiming a link between the bridge collapse and the film Leave the World Behind has been viewed more than 1.2 million times. The post claimed that because the ship was headed to Sri Lanka, which has a lion on its flag, then the situation was linked to the ship that runs aground at the beginning of the film which was called White Lion. The post also points out that the film was produced by Obama.

     

    A post from Anthony Sabatini, a former Florida state congressman, declared, without evidence, that “DEI did this”—and its been viewed over 2.2 million times.

     

    Some politicians have boosted the conspiracy as well. “Is this an intentional attack or an accident?” Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, an influential and conspiracy-minded member of the GOP, posted on X above a video shared by a prominent QAnon conspiracist.

     

    Under previous iterations of X, formerly Twitter, such speculation would typically have gained little traction, as the algorithm would have prioritized trusted news sources and primary evidence. But under Elon Musk’s reign, anyone willing to pay for a blue check can have their posts artificially boosted by the algorithm. This means that conspiracies like this are ending up in the news feeds of millions of people.

     

    On Telegram, one prominent election denier claimed the incident was linked to the fact that the bridge was named after Francis Scott Key, who wrote the words for the Star Spangled Banner, and was thus an attempt to undermine America.

     

    “Don't let them erase our history,” the conspiracist wrote.

     

    Investigators are looking into the cause of the tragic incident, but William DelBagno, the FBI special agent in charge, said on Tuesday that there are no indications of terrorism.

     

  2. ‘Morally dubious’: 4 House Republicans protest Biden's IVF expansion for veterans

     

    "WASHINGTON — A group of four House Republicans sent a letter to the Biden administration Wednesday protesting a policy to expand access to in vitro fertilization, or IVF, for veterans.

     

    The letter, addressed to Denis McDonough, the secretary of veterans affairs, was signed by Reps. Matt Rosendale of Montana, Mary Miller of Illinois, Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma and Bob Good of Virginia, who said they had "a plethora of ethical concerns and questions" about the policy.

     

    "IVF is morally dubious and should not be subsidized by the American taxpayer. It is well known that IVF treatments result in a surplus of embryos after the best ones are tested and selected. These embryos are then frozen — at significant cost to the parents — abandoned, or cruelly discarded," the lawmakers wrote."

     

    Fun facts about Illinois' own Mary Miller:

    • She employed someone who had previously been convicted of attempting to solicit sex from a minor
    • She quoted Hitler positively in a speech two days into her first term
    • She voted against giving medals to the police officers who defended the Capitol on Jan 6
    • Her husband is an Illinois state rep who was at January 6th and has a 3%er decal on his car.

     

  3. 1 hour ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

    Then fork over the $455 million he defrauded?

     

    Why is he begging for money. The lawsuit must been adjudicated properly:

     

    And he is committing more fraud. $455 million is a drop in bucket with $6 billion:

     

    Why is he stressed for begging for cash. Use the $6 billion...

     

     

    Oh yeah... Paper kitty...


    That tweet is unfair. Trump isn’t a fascist.
     

    Fascism requires believing in an ideology, something that Trump is completely incapable of doing due to his crippling NPD. 

  4. On 3/26/2024 at 10:11 AM, The Frankish Reich said:

    Sen Josh Hawley's wife is arguing for the Mifepristone ban - I wasn't aware of that until now.

    She's doing ok with a really difficult argument, but overall pretty unpersuasive.

     

    I wasn't able to follow it too closely, but from what I can tell, the argument for standing is extremely weak. Do you think they even reach the merits in the final decision or will it be dismissed for lack of proper standing?

  5. 4 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said:

    Thanks. That is impressive. I imagine the Alabama reproductive rights/IVF thing really juiced DEM turnout, so there is that anomaly.

    But from the other side: it's not like that issue is magically going away by November ...

     

    My takeaway is that the IVF/abortion issue is a very good issue for the Dems and it is likely to still be a very live issue in November, but they cannot just rely on that winning it for them. They still need to do the work.

     

    There were only 5,951 votes in this election compared to 14,696 in 2022 and 20,948 in 2018. I don't think it's wise to extrapolate *too* much from such an unusually low turnout election.

  6. 11 hours ago, The Frankish Reich said:

    Huntsville, so really the only non-university town in Alabama with a decent percentage of college grads.

    Still - this is a very good sign for Democrats. 

     

    The district lines changed a bit in 2022, but for context here are the most recent elections:

    • 2024: D+25
    • 2022: R+7
    • 2018: R+13
    • 2014: R won uncontested
    • 2010: R won uncontested

    I don't know enough about Alabama to know how much of the (seemingly minor) district change would impact the demographics but it still seems like a huge swing to the Dems.

  7. If anyone is looking for a comprehensive overview of the case from a legal perspective, Just Security has put together a very detailed guide.

     

    They are more bullish on this case than I am, but something I've noticed is that the more familiar people are with NYS law and the regular practice of the Manhattan DA's office, the stronger they believe this case is.

     

    In regards to proving the elements of the case, they note:

    "Despite early and ongoing skepticism of DANY’s case, we view it as strong because prosecutors will likely establish with relative ease three of the four corners of the alleged crimes: the “catch and kill” scheme, the payment to Daniels to bury the story of the affair, and the paper trail of reimbursements and records that mischaracterized and concealed the nature of the hush payment. As one commentator wrote, “the spine of the case is the paper trail of the money, [and] Bragg will be bringing the receipts to trial.”

     

    The fourth corner of the scheme is Trump’s intent to commit or conceal another crime, as the law requires to be elevated to the felony first-degree falsification of business records. DANY will have to prove that Trump intended to commit or conceal campaign finance violations (state or federal) or tax violations. Proving this intent will be more difficult than proving the objective facts (as it almost always is), but as discussed in more detail below, DANY appears to have the upper hand." (emphasis mine)

     

    As for how these types of charges have been used in the past, they provide some examples:

    "When Bragg first charged Trump in April 2023, he stated that in his 14 months in office he had already prosecuted 117 felony counts of falsifying business records against 29 individuals and companies. During the ten years from March 2013 to March 2023, the office prosecuted 437 such cases. Moreover, DAs across the state of New York frequently charge defendants with felony falsification of business records. Reports in April 2023 stated, “Data shows 9,794 cases involving state penal law 175.10, or falsifying business records in the first degree, have been arraigned in both local and superior New York state courts since 2015.”" (emphasis mine)

     

    They also note that these charges have been used in the context of campaign finance violations in the past:

    • Former NYS Assemblyman Clarence Norman was convicted in 2005 of falsifying business records in connection with campaign finance violations
    • Richard Brega pleaded guilty to one count of felony falsifying business records for misrepresenting the source of funds he funneled into a county executive campaign
    • Richard Luthmann was arraigned for multiple felony charges including falsifying business records and election law violations and subsequently pleaded guilty.
    • Thank you (+1) 1
  8. 2 minutes ago, LeviF said:


    And again, a civil judgment in excess of one billion dollars for being mean is essentially a star chamber decision. 
     

    You asked what I would want in the above scenario. I answered. I would also accept public caning or the stocks. Hell, we could form up a good old fashioned mob and do the caning ourselves and save the taxpayers some money. What I wouldn’t want is an arbitrary decision that, in the end, amounts to a moral victory where everyone can clap and feel good about themselves for not being Alex Jones except for me, because there still isn’t any justice and my kid is still dead. At least with prison time, caning, etc. I get some justice. 


    Well, if Jones didn’t want such a big judgment against him, maybe he should have actually participated in discovery. 

  9. 6 minutes ago, LeviF said:


    I guess more close to my meaning would be something like “you’re never going to convince me that being mean is worth one billion dollars.”


    If your child was murdered at school and then you had to endure harassment and threats because a moron who was popular with other morons was making bank by saying that you made the whole thing up and your kid either never existed or wasn’t actually killed, what kind of damages do you think would be reasonable to get the idiot to stop ruining your life?

  10. 25 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said:

    What a disgusting individual. Watch it (HBO/MAX) and see if you recognize some of the behavior and the mode of argument that always goes back to "what about Iraq" or "what about Benghazi." As if that justifies slandering parents of victims of a horrific school shooting.

    Alex Jones conspiratorial followers actually visit the graves of these kids and piss on them (saying they're empty anyway) or try to dig them up to "prove" that Sandy Hook was fake.

     

     

    Thanks for sharing. Didn’t realize this was a thing. I’ll have to watch it as soon as I have time. 
     

    Alex Jones is a garbage human and anyone who believes him is also garbage. 

  11. 4 minutes ago, TheBrownBear said:

    I'm all for viable third party candidates, but I don't understand how anyone ever took RFK Jr. seriously.  The guy has been a loon for years.

     

    Regarding the VP pick - she's a cutie. I'll give her that.


    We have to fix the electoral system to eliminate the Spoiler Effect for third parties to become viable. 
     

    Anyone running as a third party candidate in the current system is either a conman or ignorant. (I say this as someone who voted for Gary Johnson twice…)

    • Like (+1) 1
  12. 14 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said:

    Not a terrible plan.

    My go-to news sources: WSJ and NYT digital subscriber. There's your center-right and center-left. Memeorandum as the best news aggregator to quickly browse.

    No Twitter account. No Facebook. No Tik-Tok. I just don't like getting inundated with stuff they think I'd like. 

    Some blogs that point me to interesting stuff: marginalrevolution (right-libertarian leaning economists), themoneyillusion (Scott Sumner, economist, similar but also a good film critic on the side), astralcodexten ("Scott Alexander," very libertarian, just an interesting thinker about lots of things)

    TV: not an everday regular of any program, but I often check out CNBC (umm, waiting for Deirdre Bosa to appear while I get my financial news; I'm a fan of Rick Santelli too for very different reasons). I will watch the opening 10 minutes of a Morning Show (they all irritate me, but it's a quick news review); BBC America half hour evening news sometimes - much, much better international news coverage. Same with the CNN World coverage late at night if I'm up. MSNBC/Morning Joe last hour only sometimes (the hour aimed a DC newsmakers, not Joe's annoying rants with nodding head Mika). I also record Fareed Zakaria's GPS show. Pretty much avoid the other Sunday morning public affairs shows now.


    I also subscribe to NYT digital but can’t bring myself to spend money on a Murdoch property. I do get the print editions of The Economist which gives center-right perspective with an international focus I find very informative.

     

    Twitter tends to be what you make of it. I’ve mostly curated my news feed towards beat reporters instead of publications or outlets. Like following people on the Bills beat as opposed to ESPN or the official Bills accounts. 
     

    I don’t watch tv news with the exception of major events or occasionally watching WGN for local news here. Generally, CNN is only on for NYE because my wife likes to watch the hosts get drunk on air. 

    I’d much rather read an article or listen to a podcast than watch a show. Feels like a lot of the show format is to either evoke emotional reactions to keep you invested through the ad break or to fill time to meet their 30 or 60 minute air time. I’m not familiar with half the shows people talk about here. 

     

    I’ve only started getting into financial news in the last two years. My last job barred me from trading stocks due having access to MNPI. That’s not an issue anymore so I have a small brokerage account just for fun. Haven’t really gotten into too much though. 

  13. 1 hour ago, sherpa said:

    I'd rather make news than get news.

     

    In the OP, CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin is a tried and true NYC liberal.

    No issues with that, but I'm a Squawk Box watcher every day, from 6-7, then Today Show for ten minutes as the Mrs. joins me, then back to CNBC once Al Roker starts his weather histrionics or they do anything entertainment industry related, which I have zero interest in.

     

    First selection on the laptop every AM is google news, and I avoid known biased sites. No Fox. No MSNBC. No CNN.

    For accurate middle east and specifically day to day Navy operations, I watch Ward Carroll on Youtube.

    Extremely well informed, honest and not the usual knucklehead that you see on networks.

     

     

    I haven't used Google News but if I'm in a newsy mood, I usually keep Memeorandum open on a tab. It's a pretty solid aggregator and also lists multiple sources for the trending stories so you can pick if you want to see the takes from different outlets.

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