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.
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.
lamh36
https://twitter.com/Amy_Siskind/status/893222591904788481
lamh36
NotMax
Paleo-Twitter.
Mike J
The Conet project has recordings of many numbers stations.
https://soundcloud.com/the-conet-project
West of the Rockies (been a while)
Reminds me a lot of numbers stations. Weird, mysterious stuff.
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!
West of the Rockies (been a while)
Where’s Art Bell when you need him? “Caller, west of the Rockies, hello….”
Yarrow
Cheryl posted this tweet in comments in the below thread:
Felonius Monk posted this from Steve M:
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.
NotMax
Hum from the past.
:)
Patricia Kayden
@Yarrow: Or Manchin can refuse the appointment.
lamh36
Keith P.
Gozer arrives?
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.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Yarrow:
Manchin wouldn’t be that fucking stupid would he? You can refuse appointments.
chris
Time to upgrade the tinfoil hat.
Yarrow
@Patricia Kayden: Depends what they have on him and if he’s more afraid of having it made public.
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.
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.
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.
Mike J
@NotMax: What a wankel.
NotMax
Klaatu barada dinghy.
Mnemosyne
@NotMax:
My favorite version of that joke.
randy khan
@Mike J: I see what you did there.
Mike J
efgoldman
@Mike J:
Isn’t that politician-speak for “christ, what an asshole”?
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.
Timurid
@Yarrow:
If he was that badly compromised, you’d think they could have already squeezed a yes vote on Trumpcare out of him.
Baud
@Mike J: Good.
? ?? 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
schrodingers_cat
@Cheryl Rofer: Wasn’t Anna Chapman in NYC? Any T connection, it would be irresponsible not to speculate.
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.
joel hanes
You can’t stop the signal, Mal.
randy khan
@efgoldman:
Yes.
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!
Roger Moore
@Timurid:
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.
? ?? 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.
Cheryl Rofer
@schrodingers_cat: I think she was, and the 2015 group was centered in New York City.
Felonius Monk
@efgoldman:
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.
Uncle Cosmo
@Yarrow:
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?
Mike J
@Cheryl Rofer: Nobody is setting up a spy ring in Keokuk.
Major Major Major Major
Re: this Manchin stuff, why would Russia care about Obamacare repeal?
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.
Major Major Major Major
@Mike J: speak for yourself.
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!
lamh36
there is NO WAY this Newsweek cover is real!
https://twitter.com/evanasmith/status/893274867319021568
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.
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.
? ?? 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.
efgoldman
@Felonius Monk:
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?
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.
sigaba
@lamh36: [George HW Bush Chuckles] “Heh heh, roasting the new guy.”
jl
@lamh36: They took off quite a few pounds in the phony pic. Trying to flatter the guy?
lamh36
Oh…shit…this Newsweek cover is REAL!!!
https://twitter.com/MatthewACherry/status/893278610336866304
ETA: The tweetstorm on this will be EPIC!
Mike J
@lamh36: http://www.newsweek.com/2017/08/11/issue.html
sigaba
@Central Planning:
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!
Cheryl Rofer
@Central Planning: Maybe we should check to see if any of the numbers stations broadcast 127.0.0.1.
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.
http://www.newsweek.com/
Cheryl Rofer
@lamh36: With the banner, “Will the solar eclipse be an unnatural disaster?” I tend to doubt it’s real. But maybe Newsweek is developing its own sort of clickbait.
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.
Another Scott
Speaking of numbers, I saw this on FTFNYT home page just now.
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.
Meg
@Yarrow: Then why can’t they just force him to vote with the Republicans instead of giving him a cabinet position?
lamh36
Welp…Zuckerberg is no longer an atheist …he done found religion or something…
Yep…he running for something!
https://twitter.com/GRYKING/status/893278372914229248
Steeplejack (phone)
@Mike J:
LOL. Well played.
dm
@Cheryl Rofer:
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: https://xkcd.com/1868/
smintheus
Speaking of Russian swamps, if you never read this back in 2015 it’s worth the time: The Agency.
Nethead Jay
@Central Planning: As a network admin, I approve of this :-D
Yarrow
@lamh36: The Cheetos really make it work!
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: I could easily be wrong on what I’m remembering, or what I read could also be wrong. Manchin might be totally aboveboard. If I can find it I’ll link it.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Mnemosyne:
The first little look over the shoulder at 0:50 always cracks me up.
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.
? Martin
That station is colloquially known as ‘the buzzer’. My son follows it. He loves weird russian shit.
Percysowner
Do not f*ck with Lisa Murkowski Trump can’t make recess appointments thanks to Alaska Republican he attacked
Mike J
@Nethead Jay: They also control 192.168.0.1, which looks a lot like my gateway server.
Baud
@Percysowner: Dems were going to filibuster recess if something wasn’t done.
eclare
@Frankensteinbeck: Yep, which just proves how craven Republicans are. They KNOW! And they still stick with Trump.
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.”
Major Major Major Major
@Yarrow: I don’t even know what it is zuckerberg is supposed to be good at.
Baud
@Yarrow: It’s hard to convince big shots that Trump can be president but they can’t.
Baud
@Major Major Major Major: Fake Facebook news
eclare
@Percysowner: Love, love, love it! Schedule (reclaim) the Senate time!
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.
Jeffro
@lamh36: @Mike J: Might have to get one just to frame the cover for my office.
Nah…I have better things to look at. Still, though…=)
geg6
@Mike J:
Oh my! LOL!
smintheus
@lamh36: Yep, Zuckerberg is running for president the summab!tch.
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.
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
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?”
raven
Mick and James Brown.
Jeffro
@Jeffro: (not that a little design help and direction wouldn’t hurt here, people – I’ll gladly share in the profits ;)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
this makes me very happy
Debbie Stabenow and
Devil’s in the details, etc, etc, but I think for all kinds of reasons, substance and politics, that’s a very smart move.
Gin & Tonic
@Major Major Major Major: Well, he knows everything about you, for starters.
efgoldman
@smintheus:
You don’t have to vote for him.
I expect he’ll do about as well as Snarly Fiorina or Snotty Walker.
lamh36
Gin & Tonic
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Wow, two for two here. Nobody else can say that.
Another Scott
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Good, and agreed.
Funny that our favorite white haired senator isn’t among them. Hmmm…
Cheers,
Scott.
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.
heckblazer
Three and a half decades does sound like the right timeframe for it to be part of Периметр.
lamh36
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?
Baud
@Another Scott: He’s threatening to drop a single payer bill.
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.
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?
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: In a normal environment, it wouldn’t be. We’ll see how it plays out.
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.
Major Major Major Major
@Baud that’s… a very weird threat?
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.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
uh oh.. GoT fans remember what happened when Margery tried to move in on Cersei’s territory..
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!
? ?? 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?
Baud
@Major Major Major Major: Why? Single payer is his thing.
Baud
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: Multiply by 1000.
Miss Bianca
@Omnes Omnibus: Word. Oh, and felicitations on your natal anniversary, and numerous jocund returns! I lift a Liberty Ale in your honor!
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Baud:
Derp. It’s metric, of course. I should know, they use metric a lot in nursing
schrodingers_cat
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: mhz is milli Hz or mega Hz?
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.
Gin & Tonic
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
Yes, you can.
schrodingers_cat
@Omnes Omnibus: Many Happy Returns of the Day, O^2.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus: Happy day!
Omnes Omnibus
@Miss Bianca: Thank you. I had crawfish etouffee for dinner, and I raise a brandy and ginger ale in return.
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.
Omnes Omnibus
@schrodingers_cat: @Baud: Thank you both.
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.
? ?? 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.
Major Major Major Major
@Baud: sure but how is that a threat?
Baud
@Major Major Major Major: Because I called it that. And because there’s a decent chance it will result in a big pie fight.
schrodingers_cat
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:To convert mega to kilo, divide by a 1000
1 mega Hz is a 1000 kilo Hz
mega= 10^6, kilo = 10^3
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.
https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/893135042096103424
Yarrow
@Omnes Omnibus: Happy birthday! Sounds like a nice dinner.
Mnemosyne
I’m getting guitar ads on the site now.
I blame Amir and his new girl.
Jeffro
@lamh36: That’s awesome! That must be quite a…blow…to her, and to Newt especially.
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
Mnemosyne
@Omnes Omnibus:
Happy birthday!
Baud
@jl:
2 days ago
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/08/01/sanders-preps-month-long-campaign-for-single-payer-health-care-with-legislation-to-follow/
germy
drumpf’s pal Bibi seems to be in a bit of trouble as well:
? ?? 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.
schrodingers_cat
@Omnes Omnibus: I love Cajun food, especially blackened fish.
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.
schrodingers_cat
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: yes
schrodingers_cat
@Mike in NC: I had a Parsi friend, whose name was Hormuz.
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.
The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion
@Omnes Omnibus: Natal Festivities Unto Thee!
sharl
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: That sounds right for radio. By the way, in metric systems, small case “m” is milli (on the scale of thousandths) and capital “M” is mega (on the scale of millions). Wikipedia has a pretty handy table.
lamh36
Hmmm…who’s this guy? Saw it on my TL as a retweet…
jl
@Baud: Thanks, but I don’t see anything there about any threats or promises to hinder or help the ‘Medicare at 55’ bill.
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.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus:
Ugh. What’s wrong with me. I should have said, Merry Christmas! #WeWonTheWar
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.
lamh36
eclare
@Omnes Omnibus: Happy Birthday!
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
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?!
eclare
@Keith P.: He is losing this convo, bigly. Send the Bat signal for Jake Tapper.
Miss Bianca
@Omnes Omnibus: Oh, that sounds delicious. Both the crawfish *and* the libation! Bon appetit!
smintheus
@efgoldman:
I didn’t know.
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.
Another Scott
@Baud: Newsweek (from March):
He wants to do the other things but only talk about the bolded stuff?
Weird…
Cheers,
Scott.
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.
sharl
Happy Birthday, Omnes Omnibus!
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?
Omnes Omnibus
@Felonius Monk: Thank you.
Another Scott
@eclare: Ditto!
Ernie Pyle, John T. Scopes, P.D. James, Martin Sheen, Martha Stewart, Tom Brady, also too.
Cheers,
Scott.
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!
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.
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…
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.
Omnes Omnibus
Thank you all for the good wishes.
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.
Gin & Tonic
@Raoul: Who among us hasn’t overlooked a half-million in income here and there?
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
jl
@Omnes Omnibus: happy birthday. Say hi from me to Ernie Pyle, John T. Scopes, P.D. James, Martin Sheen, Martha Stewart, and Tom Brady at the big party.
Another Scott
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: That’s crazy talk!!111ONE.
Cheers,
Scott.
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.).
A Ghost to Most
@Omnes Omnibus: I believe you share a birthday with Siobhan Duinne (sp?). I think she is 75 today
Omnes Omnibus
@A Ghost to Most: I will not comment on her age. We share a b-day.
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.
Another Scott
@Omnes Omnibus: Yet another illustrious commenter!
Happy birthday SD!
Cheers,
Scott.
smedley the uncertain
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: 4265 kHz is 4.265 mHz. Can’t remember exact freq. mentioned.
Cheers
dexwood
@jl:
I said hello to Ernie this morning at his place. Stopped in to pick up a book.
http://abqlibrary.org/erniepyle
Adria McDowell
@Omnes Omnibus: Feliz Cumpleanos!
lamh36
Off to bed, but first Happy Birthday to @Omnes Omnibus
I’ve already wished SD Happy Birthday on Fb
debbie
@Omnes Omnibus:
Happy birthday to you and to SD!
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.
lamh36
From Joy Reid…
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.
MomSense
Happy, happy birthday to OO and SD!
japa21
@Captain C: Obviously we didn’t beware enough because the cataclysm got elected President.
Captain C
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Hmm…seems like someone’s missing.
Captain C
@japa21: Ya know, that could be it.
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.)
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.
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.
Another Scott
@Zelma: Cheryl had a post about it in the last day or few.
Agreed, it’s a very good article.
Cheers,
Scott.
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus:
Happy birthday, old stick!
Uncle Cosmo
@jl:
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.
sukabi
This is going to leave a mark… The next Newsweek cover
Lazy Boy….hahaha??????
Uncle Cosmo
@lamh36: Hannity?!? Be still, my heart!
(So much winning…sick of all the winning…)
eclare
@Keith P.: He did recover, but it took a while. I watched for the whole hour, some people might not.
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.
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.
Uncle Cosmo
@Omnes Omnibus: As they say in Prague, Všechno nejlepší k narozeninám! – what’s left of it anyway. Likewise to Ms Duinne.
david spikes
@Another Scott: Because they wouldn’t put his name first and let him hold a solitary press conference.
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?
Cheryl Rofer
@Zelma: I posted about the Vanity Fair article on the DOE here.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@lamh36: It’s reall
http://www.newsweek.com/2017/08/11/issue.html
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: and what an article lol
Amir Khalid
@jl:
It’s more likely they couldn’t find a fat enough body model.
Amir Khalid
@Mnemosyne:
Sorry.
Amir Khalid
@Omnes Omnibus:
Please add felicitations from me to the pile.
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.
Mel
@Omnes Omnibus: Belated happy birthday!
Nexus6
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
4625 kHz = 4.625 MHz
Miss Bianca
@Major Major Major Major:you’re going to be in Denver this weekend?
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.
Marshall Eubanks
It’s supposed to be part of “Dead Hand” – Система «Периметр» – which, despite what you may read, is actually a stabilizing measure.