One concept that is relevant to today’s political climate is ‘Stochastic Terrorism.’

Stochastic terrorism is the use of mass communication (social media) to incite violence in random actors. It requires the public demonization of an individual or a group. It is one of Putin’s more powerful tools, secondary to propagating false conspiracy theories (Obama, Clinton, Soros.)

Random violent crimes make some people more fearful (and more easily influenced.)

Those insane, raging tweets you see are calculated.

Sen. Collins: saying that dark money has been spent to oppose Kavanaugh. She reviewed his 12 year record. She spoke with Kavanaugh twice to address concerns. She is addressing all arguments against Kavanaugh, defending him. ‘Kavanaugh has stated that no president is above the law.’

Watching the Kavanaugh hearing (especially his interaction with Sen. Klobuchar) it’s important to know what DARVO is.

‘DARVO refers to a reaction perpetrators of wrong doing, particularly sexual offenders, may display in response to being held accountable for their behavior.’ ‘DARVO stands for "Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender." The perpetrator or offender may Deny the behavior, Attack the individual doing the confronting, and Reverse the roles of Victim and Offender...’

Some really strange moments from the Kavanaugh hearing:

When asked about his yearbook: ‘Many of us went along in the yearbook, to the point of absurdity. This past week, my friends and I read about it and cringed.’ He starts crying at this point. The yearbook made 14 references to Renate, most are mocking, sexually demeaning and insinuating she is available for casual sex.

Kavanaugh then alleges the yearbook references to Renate were ‘related to AFFECTION, not sex.’

@realDonaldTrump I have been studying your followers for quite some time. There seems to be a common theme: uncontrolled ANGER. It seems you let them justify their rage. They tweet hate in a steady stream. It’s exhausting AND childish. Adults take control of their emotions and rein them in. @realDonaldTrump Emotions are supposed to make us wiser. Added quick information about the environment to help us make quick decisions (and enjoy life.) Staying in a perpetual state of anger is harmful and pointless. It prevents you from taking in new information.

A little explanation about the tug-of war we see going on with the timing of Ford’s testimony vs Kavanaugh. Timing is key. McConnell is trying to get Kavanaugh confirmed by Wed., Oct. 1, so that he can sit on the Fall session of the Supreme Court. If not, there are 8 Justices. I pulled up the two Supreme Court calenders to see what might be imperative to have Kavanaugh vote on.

Even a cursory glance showed one case that is concerning.

supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments…

supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments…

On the power of Twitter:

For those speaking up, I am thankful every day for your comments, insights and inspirations. I try to read and acknowledge as many as I can.

I need you all to develop your voice. Learn the political issues. Read other’s comments. Join in. We all need to speak truth to power. I appreciate this is difficult for many, however Twitter is an excellent platform to hone those skills. Don’t be a bystander. Engage with others. Challenge those that spread false propaganda. Take a chance and speak up. We need every voice. 😊

Reddit has a sub Reddit called The_Donald. It has 650k subscribers and is pro-Trump. It looks like a researcher has proof that the INTERNET RESEARCH AGENCY continues to propagate misinformation there. Hopefully, it will finally be taken down, as it condones violence. 1/2 Link to the post and discussion.

H/T
U/DivestTrump

reddit.com/r/AgainstHateS…

‘Pence breaks with Trump on Sessions, praises the attorney general’

Pence wouldn’t do this without knowing he has substantial @GOP support. 🤔

nbcnews.com/politics/polit… ‘I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration’

Trump just called this op-ed a disgrace. Another move by Pence?

nytimes.com/2018/09/05/opi…

‘Mueller Makes Major Connection, Tying Secret Ukrainian Money to Trump Inauguration’

D.C. prosecutors are saying that Patten has admitted that ‘straw donors’ who were Americans, were used to funnel non-American money into Trump’s campaign.

1/2 There is a faction in Ukraine working for Russia, which is likely where this will lead back to.

And Patten was working for Russia and Ukraine from 2014-2017. So Ukraine is likely the proxy. 2/2

lawandcrime.com/high-profile/m…

Bob Mercer rarely speaks, has few photos taken of him and is promoting a Libertarian agenda intent on making billionaires totally unaccountable for their actions, while ensuring safety nets are destroyed.

He hates being in the spotlight. So... Bob Mercer recieving top honors in a national mathematics contest in New Mexico.

If I was Russian and wanted to travel *without a visa* to the US and EU... I would get a Maltese citizenship.

Henley and Partners would assist me. They also seem to have a working relationship with Cambridge Analytica (SCL.) Daphne Galizia, the reporter investigating them, died in a car bombing last October.

‘Who Ordered The Car Bomb That Killed Maltese Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia?’

npr.org/2018/07/22/630…

‘IS TRUMP THE UNNAMED “POLITICAL CANDIDATE” WHO MET AN ALLEGED RUSSIAN SPY?’

vanityfair.com/news/2018/07/i… Here is Butina asking Trump if he will lift sanctions. He says he will.

@Michael124xplum Sorting out disinformation is complex at times. This news story suggests Nat Simons of Renaissance Technologies has ties to Russia, but it might actually be a misdirect (accusing others of doing what you are doing,) a common ploy of the extreme right/Russians 1/2 @Michael124xplum ‘Russian-funded environmental group gave millions to anti-fracking groups’

2/2

washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/russia…

Interesting CIA report from March saying that Russian social media bots helped drive main stream media coverage of false stories *and*’influenced American stock prices. 🤨

‘To Resist Disinformation Learn to Think like an Intelligence Analyst.’ cia.gov/library/center… The article references this report by Clint Watts:

The Russians engage in ‘financial propaganda created to weaken confidence in financial markets, capitalist economies and Western companies.’

intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/…

The GRU officers knowingly and intentionally conspired.. with persons known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to hack into the computers of US persons (Clinton campaign)

https://twitter.com/velvetblade/status/1017805092542611457

I am assuming this is Roger Stone emailing back and forth with Guccifer 2.0 (from today’s indictment):

Let’s play a sleuthing game. First, let’s look at which American website gets consistently retweeted the most by our Russian bot friends, shall we?

Compliments of the bi-partisan site
dashboard.securingdemocracy.org I find it a little odd that a site that touts itself as doing financial data and services, as well as news, is retweeted by Russia. And of course, my Mercer radar might have gone off a little.

WSJ just identified a private Israeli firm as pushing Conservative garbage, as well as Hillary for Prison and pro-Trump stuff via the worldpoliticus.com.

(PSY Group, that teamed with Cambridge Analytica)

An archive of the horrible stories posted: archive.is/fl479 ‘Israeli Intelligence Firm’s Election-Meddling Analysis Comes Under Mueller’s Scrutiny’

wsj.com/articles/israe…

If we want to better understand how Cambrixge Analytica works, we need to look at what happened in Malaysia.

SCL documents have been released that include leaked emails and documents and they are quite eye-opening. The SCL strategy goes beyond simply using bots or Facebook.

SCL strategy involves ‘social contagion of political ideas as equivalent to disease.’

As such, there are ‘infectious individuals’ to ‘help messaging better penetrate social networks.’

‘Trump is a man who says things that are absolutely contrary to the teachings of the New Testament. He also denigrates Christians. Yet you see all of these ministers endorsing him’ ‘I don't see any evidence that he has changed and he certainly hasn't repented, which is a fundamental Christian obligation.
He is a racist through and through. He has been found in formal judicial proceedings to discriminate against nonwhites in rentals and employment.’

On the special powers of introverts:

Introverts are everywhere on social media, but they rarely speak up. They listen. They put out likes. They process large amounts of information, relative to how much they say and they think deeply before they speak. And when they speak, it is from passion. They speak because it is the right thing to do. And this is in spite of a deep reluctance.

Introverts are often filled with dread and self-doubt afterwards, because it’s so important to them to express their ideas in a constructive way.