Canadian Politics Today

Everyone is increasingly riled up. If Russia or any other foreign actor is behind what's been going on, the reality is they don't care about electing Trump. No serious person cares about Trump, he's an incompetent inconsequential buffoon. The goal is obviously to destabilize the US and other Western countries. Same technique as the US has of course used against other countries for decades, too. Except now social media allows it to be done on a much smaller budget.

I disagree, I think they clearly had an interest in getting Trump elected. They've got dirt on him, and they're using it to try to advance Russian interests. Getting sanctions lifted or fighting additional sanctions, particularly.

 -k

I disagree, I think they clearly had an interest in getting Trump elected. They've got dirt on him, and they're using it to try to advance Russian interests. Getting sanctions lifted or fighting additional sanctions, particularly.

 -k

I dunno, I think they're playing a longer game than that. Sanctions come and sanctions go. All Russia would have to do if it cared particularly about US sanctions would be to negotiate some stuff about Syria, which Russia doesn't really care about except as a lever against the US anyway. And maybe you're right, there could be some gain by electing Trump.

But I think the main point is the general destabilization of Western societies and delegitimization of US-style democracy as a form of government that appeals to other peoples around the world. Furthermore, as Western countries turn more insular, focusing on their own internal discord caused by fragmented society, it will give Russia and other countries a freer hand to do what they want in what they see as their own spheres of influence.

Putin is trying to keep power in Russia by appeasing the Russian oligarchs who keep him there.

Yes they are called the Russian mob. He's been allowed his position and role precisely because he now uses the government to protect their black market economic activities and act as their enforcer in and outside Russia.

The mob's attitude has always been keep a puppet as head and use the centralized state apperati to control your masses in Russia.

Fine. He does that. Its not a secret how he rose to power. He was a hitman. He's a classic psycho or sociopath. He's another Stalin only a much more intelligent one who unlike Stalin controls his impulses when he needs to. What makes Putin deadly is his superior intellect. He's not just a shark in the sense of a well adapted predator but he thinks. He plays the game of hegemony as good as anyone.

He's got dirt on Trump and Melania is nothing but  a high priced escort who keeps an eye on him for Putin. He can't fart without her knowing so all this posing as the big boss man is a joke. She has him by his petunias and she can squeeze when she wants. Its why she does not leave.

Trump is a figure head creating chaos and being used as a distraction for an agenda none of us are clear on. Its how it works these days. Politicians and their games are used to misdirect us from the real agenda.

The media invents as they go along and no one really knows a damn thing.

What I do know is that many of the conspiracy theories are wishful thinking and projections by people who in the vacuum of no information seek to make sense out of chaos and create cause and effect and order in what otherwise would seem incomprehensible. Conspiracies are religious beliefs used to address our fear of the unknown and unexplainable.

I doubt many of the conspiracies if for no other reason they give too much credit to humans imagining them to be able to keep a secret let alone create elaborate networks that never get exposed or break down.

I don't doubt how much disinformation there actually is and that disinformation has a bit of truth mixed in with a whole lot of bullshit-just enough truth to get people to buy into the bullshit.

Humans are primates. Primates are pack animals. Pack animals live in packs with Alpha males. When they get too big, they split into new packs. It aint rocket science. Its as simple as understanding each pack can only have one alpha male. It aint any more complex then that. We like to think we are complex and elaborate. Bullshit. We scatch our butts, pick and eat our fleas and get thrilled over bananas. Whoopity doo da. Its just another day in the zoo where we are on display for whatever audience it may be.

This is fantastic.  I couldn't put a .gif on here though, so move your cursor down after you click 'play'

https://i.imgur.com/WdCbAxF.mp4

missing context: being portrayed as 'whippersnapper Zuck' mocking 84-year-oldFart Utah senator Orin Hatch:

Sen. Hatch: "If [a version of Facebook will always be free], how do you sustain a business model in which users don't pay for your service?"
Mark Zuckerberg: "Senator, we run ads."


but you want fantastic? This is... fantastical!

Does anyone know what the point of this fiasco is with the Z boy? Ok he said sorry. So phacking what. All of these services not just Facebook have taken confidential info from people. Surely we all know that. Sort of like a more elaborate version of when our names were sold by charities once we gave them a donation or  how people used to sell their customer lists.

I mean anything on internet is fair game. Anything. Nothing is secure. Does anyone really believe they are secure in anything they write or say on a public forum? Why? As for facebook I had my email flooded with friend requests from some youngw oman's facebook site which was connected to my yahoo mail address and I still have access to some guy and I wrote him and said I had no idea who he was but I keep getting his facebook crap. I tried to contact facebook, its impossible. You can't reach them. There is no phone no. or anywhere to write them. Its a joke. I use Linked In but its basically a more mature version for people advertising themselves for work I guess.

I am not so sure anything will be done other than politicians engaging in a photo shoot making it look like they have done something. These televised inquiries are just ego shoots.

Its kind of nuts. There is Zuckerboy doing his mea kulpa and Trump on  Twitter threatening to blow up Syria. Its the world we live in.

Does anyone know what the point of this fiasco is with the Z boy? Ok he said sorry. So phacking what. All of these services not just Facebook have taken confidential info from people. Surely we all know that. Sort of like a more elaborate version of when our names were sold by charities once we gave them a donation or  how people used to sell their customer lists.

What happened is the data was used by "unapproved" politicians. When Bernie Sanders or Obama use directed social media campaigns they called innovators. When someone supporting the Buffoon in Chief does it then witches need to burn...

What happened is the data was used by "unapproved" politicians. When Bernie Sanders or Obama use directed social media campaigns they called innovators. When someone supporting the Buffoon in Chief does it then witches need to burn...

Yes, and Soviet election manipulation is all well and good when Republicans do it too...