Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
October 8, 2021
Good morning
Welcome to today's top news.
Leading the News . . .
Poll: Americans think US politicians, social media spread misinformation more than foreign governments . . . The majority of Americans believe U.S. politicians and social media companies spread misinformation online more than China, Russia, or other foreign governments, a poll released Friday found. According to a poll carried out by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs and the University of Chicago’s Pearson Institute,
around three-quarters of respondents believe that politicians, social media companies, and social media users are responsible for spreading misinformation. By comparison, only 48 percent of respondents saw the U.S. government as responsible for spreading misinformation, and just over half saw the Russian and Chinese governments as culpable for this issue. The Hill
Funny, if it weren't so terrifying. Soviet Playbook is coming. We didn't believe anything or anyone back in the USSR. Because lies and lies were everywhere. This is why culturally, the Russians don't trust anyone. My Dad would always tell me, growing up, "Don't trust your own parent. Verify everything yourself and then make the decision." This is where the notion about cultural Russian paranoia comes from. Scary thought, isn't it?
Democratic anxiety rises as Trump bid appears more likely . . . Democrats are worried about another White House bid by former President Donald Trump, something that is appearing increasingly likely on the eve of an Iowa rally by the leading potential GOP candidate. Democrats say Trump can’t be taken for granted. While some are confident a new Trump candidacy would bring out a wave of Democratic voters to defeat him, others are worried he
could return to power. And that’s enough to bring shudders to most in the party. “There's not a strategist or insider that I'm hanging out with who would like to see Donald Trump running again,” said Rachel Bitecofer, the Democratic pollster. “Nobody should think he would be a weak nominee.” The
Hill
Putin and Xi are shaking in their boots now.
Hochul demanded White House appointment to be replaced as Cuomo’s No. 2: sources . . . Gov. Kathy Hochul demanded a plum job as a US ambassador or undersecretary of commerce in exchange for being replaced as Andrew Cuomo’s 2022 running mate — before he was forced to resign as governor over sexual harassment allegations, sources told The Post on Thursday. Top Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa reached out to the White House in January to try score
then-Lt. Gov. Hochul a diplomatic posting to her ancestral homeland of Ireland or to Canada. The US Embassy to Canada is located in Ottawa, which is less than a six-hour drive from Hochul’s hometown of Buffalo. The White House made a counter-offer of “an undersecretary role” for Hochul and she agreed to work in the Commerce Department, the source said. New York Post
Biden suggests he pressured a hospital to expedite a friend’s treatment . . . Well, it’s good to be the king. Or to be friends with the king. Thursday, while Biden was giving a speech in Illinois on vaccine mandates, he said those words his staff dreads: “If I can digress for just a second.” And then he said this:
Last night, I was on the television — on television — I was on the telephone with a person at an emergency hospital ward in Pennsylvania, because a good friend had called and he had rushed his significant other to the emergency room because this woman was having trouble breathing, had a high fever, and could not really catch her breath. And they got her into the hospital, but the waiting room was so crowded, things were so backed up, they couldn’t even get her to be seen initially. White House Dossier
Biden ‘painted into a corner’ as get-tough policy on Russia falls flat . . . A bipartisan push on Capitol Hill to force the White House to expel hundreds of Russian diplomats has backed President Biden into a corner, fueling doubts about his promise to get tough on the Kremlin and raising questions about whether the U.S. has squandered leverage to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Lawmakers are pressing Mr. Biden to retaliate diplomatically
after Russia virtually banned the U.S. Embassy in Moscow from hiring Russian and third-country employees, forcing the American outpost to let go of more than 180 staffers. The unusually aggressive step underscored how far relations between the Cold War adversaries have fallen. The administration’s lack of a strong response has given fresh fuel to critics who say Mr. Biden hasn’t kept his campaign promise to crack down on Mr. Putin and dissuade Moscow from needling the U.S. whenever and
wherever possible. Washington Times
But Joe called Putin a "killer"!! Doesn't that count?!
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Microsoft: Russia behind 58% of detected state-backed hacks . . . Russia accounted for most state-sponsored hacking detected by Microsoft over the past year, with a 58% share, mostly targeting government agencies and think tanks in the United States, followed by Ukraine, Britain and European NATO members, the company said. The devastating effectiveness of the long-undetected SolarWinds hack — it mainly breached
information technology businesses, including Microsoft — also boosted Russian state-backed hackers’ success rate to 32% in the year ending June 30, compared with 21% in the preceding 12 months. Fox Business
Hackers of SolarWinds stole data on U.S. sanctions policy, intelligence probes . . . The suspected Russian hackers who used SolarWinds and Microsoft software to burrow into U.S. federal agencies emerged with information about counter-intelligence investigations, policy on sanctioning Russian individuals and the country’s response to COVID-19, people involved in the investigation told Reuters.
Russian-speaking group ‘FIN12’ blamed for ransomware attacks on hospitals . . . Ransomware attacks on hospitals during the height of the coronavirus pandemic last year were launched by “FIN12,” a group of suspected Russian-speaking criminals, cybersecurity company Mandiant said Thursday.
Kimberly Goody, Mandiant director of financial crime analysis, told reporters that FIN12 hits hospitals and moves faster than other ransomware gangs that hold computer systems and data hostage until victims pay up. While some cybercriminals placed hospitals off-limits, FIN12 considered them lucrative targets — its victims have an average annual revenue of $6 billion, according to Mandiant‘s analysis. Washington Times
Uncover why Russia keeps hacking US government agencies, businesses, think tanks, and many other targets. I explain in Chapter 5 of my new book, Putin's Playbook, "Cyber Weapons: Waging War on US Networks and American Minds."
If you've read the book, please post a rating/review on Amazon. If you haven't gotten it yet, please order your copy today. Spread the word. We need to make it a bestseller, gang! Many thanks! Rebekah
Why Did US Declassify Size of Its Nuclear Stockpile? . . . The State Department declassified the total number of nuclear warheads in the U.S. stockpile on Tuesday, the first time since 2017. According to the announcement, the U.S. has 3,750 total nuclear weapons—a decrease of 72 from 2017. The U.S. does not deploy all 3,750 warheads on its delivery systems launched from air, sea, and land. The New START arms control agreement with
Russia constrains the U.S. to deploying under 2,000 strategic nuclear warheads. The rest of the 3,750 include warheads in reserve and a couple hundred nonstrategic warheads (those not constrained by New START). After keeping this number classified for the last several years, many are scratching their heads wondering: Why release this number now? Why declassify at all? It’s not like our adversaries share this type of information with us. While Russia reports its numbers of deployed
warheads limited by New START, it does not provide information on its stockpile of nonstrategic warheads. Daily Signal
Why-why?? For the same reason the government geniuses installed Kaspersky "anti-virus" software, owned by "former" KGB officer Eugene Kaspersky - STUPIDITY, as DJT would say.
Kaspersky software was running for years on gov. systems till Trump ordered it to be kicked off the networks. Some agencies are likely still running it. And it's extremely hard, to really get wipe out that stuff. It's like cancer. May want to call HRC and get some of that bleach she used on her server. ;-))
NSA Renews Focus On Securing Military Weapons Systems Against ‘Capable’ Rivals . . . The head of the National Security Agency’s Cybersecurity Directorate said that one of his agency’s top priorities has become protecting US weapons systems from cyber threats, representing a shift in focus brought about by the rise of an increasingly multipolar world with highly capable cyber adversaries. NSA’s Rob Joyce told the annual Billington
Cybersecurity Summit on Wednesday that “near-peer adversaries have the capabilities to exploit us when we do things incorrectly,” referring to China and Russia. Joyce also said Iran and North Korea remain a concern as increasingly capable cyber adversaries. “In terms of weapons systems, we have computers on wings, at sea, and on land. We don’t think of [weapons systems] that way, but none of them work without computers,” Joyce observed. Breaking Defense
Oh, that's nice. Finally they got around to it. It's been a few years now since the GAO report came out that concluded that most US weapons systems are vulnerable to cyber attacks. "Let's roll and deliver a Two year plan in Five Years!" we used to say in the USSR.
CIA launches new China-focused unit . . . The Central Intelligence Agency announced the formation of a new China Mission Center on Thursday, underscoring the Biden administration’s focus on Beijing as a top foreign policy priority and a formidable global competitor to the United States. In a statement that referred to the Chinese government as a “key rival,” the CIA said the mission center was the result of a series of strategic reviews
launched by Director William Burns in the spring that concentrated on “China, technology, people, and partnerships,” among other areas. Politico
Government apparatchiks always try to avoid doing actual work by creating centers, more rules, etc. Brennan created a bunch of new center at CIA, during my time there. Didn't help with Putin, Xi, or anything else.
Dear govies - just do your job: hire competent people (who understand China, Russia, Iran, Cyber, Space, Nukes), pay them enough money, and then let them do the mission. Do not harass them with stupid stuff. That is all.
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Journalists who took on Putin and Duterte win 2021 Nobel Peace Prize . . . Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov, journalists whose work has angered the rulers of the Philippines and Russia, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, an award the committee said was an endorsement of free speech rights under threat worldwide. The two were awarded "for their courageous fight for freedom of expression" in their countries, Chairwoman Berit
Reiss-Andersen of the Norwegian Nobel Committee told a news conference. Reuters
American "journalist" Jim Acosta (is that his name?), the CNN guy, should go, live and report from one of these authoritarian "sh .. holes" (sorry, channeling DJT today - I just love it how he was brutally honest and not afraid. of anything, really).
U.S. Troops Have Been Deployed in Taiwan for at Least a Year . . . A U.S. special-operations unit and a contingent of Marines have been secretly operating in Taiwan to train military forces there, U.S. officials said, part of efforts to shore up the island’s defenses as concern regarding potential Chinese aggression mounts. About two dozen members of U.S. special-operations and support troops are conducting training for small units of
Taiwan’s ground forces, the officials said. The U.S. Marines are working with local maritime forces on small-boat training. The American forces have been operating in Taiwan for at least a year, the officials said. The U.S. special-operations deployment is a sign of concern within the Pentagon over Taiwan’s tactical capabilities in light of Beijing’s yearslong military buildup and recent threatening moves against the island. Wall Street Journal
Poland Kicks Off Homegrown SHORAD System: Narew . . . During the 29th International Defense Industry Exhibition (MSPO) the Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ) consortium signed what may be the most important contract in the history of the Polish defense industry — a framework agreement for the acquisition of a short-range air defense missile system under the code-name “Narew.” Underlining the significance of the signing was the presence of
Polish president Andrzej Duda and Minister of National Defense Mariusz Błaszczak, who blessed the new agreement. Breaking Defense
Well, what is Poland supposed to do when US presidents like Obama promise Putin some flexibility on missile defense deployments in Europe?
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Pfizer scientists tout natural immunity in Project Veritas sting: ‘Antibodies are probably better’ . . . Project Veritas jumped into the debate over vaccine mandates with an undercover video that shows two Pfizer scientists agreeing that naturally acquired immunity offers more protection than vaccination from the novel coronavirus.The 10-minute video released late Monday featured three men identified as scientists at Pfizer, maker of the
widely used two-dose Pfizer vaccine approved by FDA. A man identified as Pfizer biochemist Nick Karl was shown explaining that after recovering from COVID-19, “your antibodies are probably better at that point than the vaccination.” Washington Times
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Bidens stages event at company whose CEO is a major donor . . . President Joe Biden delivered remarks Thursday about vaccine mandates for businesses at an Illinois construction site run by a company whose CEO has donated millions to Democratic campaigns. Biden spoke in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, at a site affiliated with Clayco, whose CEO Robert Clark gave $1.6 million to Democratic campaigns in 2020, according to Federal Election
Commission records. At least $116,000 of those donations were to Biden’s presidential campaign. The Biden campaign listed Clark as someone who “raised at least $100,000 for our campaign and affiliated joint fundraising committees.” Clayco affiliates donated $387,037 to Democratic campaigns in 2020. White House
Dossier
No, this isn’t payback. It’s just a coincidence. Of course.
Twitter testing feature to warn users of the 'vibe' of 'intense' conversations . . . Twitter announced this week it is testing out a new feature that will warn users if it determines a conversation might become "intense." "Ever want to know the vibe of a conversation before you join in?" Twitter Support tweeted on Wednesday. "We’re testing prompts on Android and iOS that give you a heads up if the convo you’re about to enter could get
heated or intense. This is a work in progress as we learn how to better support healthy conversation." Fox Business
Then they will ship some Xanax for users who can't handle a "intense" debate. This is getting too much. The tech billionaires are trying to squeeze out profits out of human emotions. Then they scream how bad capitalism, which enables them to do it is. Imagine what they will do to you under socialism when they have total control? They want to give the masses a minimum wage, so the masses can shut up and be under control.
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‘Transgender’ Experts Silenced by Rainbow Mafia . . . The New York Times refused an op-ed from experts who don’t toe the line on gender dysphoric children. The New York Times'selective and activist journalism now includes having recently chosen to reject an op-ed written by two “transgender” experts, both doctors, who warned against the growing reckless use of puberty blockers on children. Will anyone stand against this
growing fad of child abuse? Not the intrepid “journalists” at the Times. The two doctors contended that “transgender” activism has essentially silenced any genuine examination of often-promoted claims that it is completely safe for children to go on puberty blockers in part because doing so is “fully reversible” should they decided against “transitioning.” Thou shalt not question The Narrative™. Patriot Post
Soviet Playbook
Political science convention deplatforms conservative group for featuring Trump's lawyer . . . The nation's largest gathering of social scientists deplatformed a conservative group because a lawyer for former President Donald Trump was participating in its events. The American Political Science Association forced the Claremont Institute to make its "related group" discussions virtual at the annual convention in Seattle, a day after
hundreds of APSA members demanded the association eject both Claremont and John Eastman. Back in July, organizers had only demanded the two panels with Eastman be made virtual in the interest of "safety," Claremont president Ryan Williams wrote in an opinion essay. The group decided to cancel all 10 panels and its reception in protest of APSA's new across-the-board demand. Just the News
Soviet Playbook again.
Florida mom Quisha King called for a "mass exodus" from the public school system . . . King argues that school officials left parents with no other choice for fighting left-wing ideas. Her comments came during the Family Research Council's annual Pray Vote Stand Summit during a Thursday panel on "Fighting Indoctrination on a National Scale." "I really think at this point the only thing to do is have a mass exodus from the public
school system – that's it," King said. In response, she received prolonged applause, and many in the audience rose to their feet at the Leesburg, Virginia, event. King previously drew national attention in June for her speech opposing critical race theory (CRT). She works with the group Moms for Liberty, which is one of many battling CRT and other ideas across the nation. Fox News
Moms, let's join the fight!
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Alaska's Katmai National Park names winner of Fat Bear Week 2021 . . . A national park in Alaska announced that a corpulent brown bear dubbed 480 Otis has claimed his fourth title as the winner of Fat Bear Week. Fat Bear Week, an annual event organized by Katmai National Park & Preserve, calls on members of the public to vote on their favorites of the park's brown bears as the pack on the pounds for their winter hibernation. Park
officials said 480 Otis, who claimed the crown in 2014, 2016 and 2017, was named this year's winner, defeating runner-up 151 Walker.
The champion bear's weight was estimated at about 1,000 pounds in 2020, and officials said he appears to be even larger this year. The park dubbed 480 Otis "the portly patriarch of paunch." UPI
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Rebekah Koffler
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