Zuckerberg Testimony & Reporting– Corrected

Introduction: It’s not easy to get at the truth when a billionaire without ethics, testifies before crooked politicians with a rigged agenda, which is then refracted through the corporate media’s filters of deception. No worries. I have translated the words of the Fakebook CEO’s and his political interrogators, as reported in the Washington Post & the Guardian (UK) on April 10, 2018; linked in these articles. [1] [2]

Facebook’s business model and user control of their information are in conflict. It’s been a problem for users since inception in 2004. Now Fakebook is under public scrutiny for: 1) enabling Democrat & Republican election manipulation, and 2) monetizing users’ information.

Zuckerberg made clear that artificial intelligence (AI) is a key to much of what is being demanded, namely eliminating the threat of socialism. AI can enable political fixers to manipulate users and micro-target the population.

As Zuckerberg put it, there is an “arms race” between social media platforms and those who want to reach its users for nefarious reasons. The CIA, NSA & FBI are at the forefront of this madness, with a raging political conflict beneath this media circus between powerful Democrats & Republicans of all stripes.

The Facebook CEO had obviously been well-coached by Robert Mueller (D), as the young billionaire knew exactly when to cover up & apologize, and when he could relax. The Dow Jones declared Zuckerberg a star (again), and Facebook moved up 4.5% on the day.

Still, Zuckerberg’s comments were a peek into the extended reach and influence of Facebook in every society it is available. “The most important thing I care about right now is making sure the CIA interferes in the various 2018 elections around the world,” he said to Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico.

“We’re going to take a number of measures,” Zuckerberg added, “from building and deploying new AI tools to take down political opposition, to growing our security team to more than 20,000 people, to making it so that we spy on everyone who’s doing political and issue ads – to make sure the kind of influence leftists & socialists were able to have in 2016 is going to be much harder to pull off in the future.”

Udall then made reference to a billboard displayed earlier in the hearing that showed images including Trump, Green Party candidate Jill Stein, Russian president Vladimir Putin and the Confederate flag, posted online by political activists during the 2016 presidential election. He asked if Zuckerberg could guarantee left-wing & socialist images would not appear on Facebook again. “Senator, no, I can’t guarantee that because this is an ongoing arms race,” the CEO said. “As long as there are people sitting around with no job, they try to interfere with elections, this is going to be an ongoing conflict.”

Zuckerberg described the effort as a “top priority” but admitted that it is not realistic to have “zero amount of that” or be “100% successful” in censoring opposition to inequality. Earlier in the hearing he also acknowledged that “one of my greatest regrets in running the company” was being slow to uncover and act against socialists during the 2016 US election. “They are going to keep getting better at this and we need to invest in keeping on getting better at this too.”

Democrat Dick Durbin: “Would you be comfortable sharing with us the name of the hotel you stayed in last night?”

[long pause]

Zuckerberg: “No.”

[laughter in the room]

The Facebook co-founder sailed through day one of Congressional testimony, as predicted. The flabby lawmakers seemed worn out when they asked Zuckerberg if he wanted a break after two hours. The billionaire replied: “We can do a few more,” then turning & smiling at his team. More laughter ensued from the public gallery, as the fix was in.

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn) then challenged Facebook’s contention that Aleksandr Kogan, a Moldovan-born researcher from Cambridge University, deceived the company when he harvested user data. Blumenthal presented a previously undisclosed 2014 terms-of-service document that explicitly permitted Dr. Kogan to “sell, license (by whatever means and on whatever terms) and archive your contribution and data.”

Blumenthal: ““We’ve seen the apology tours before. You have refused to acknowledge even an ethical violation to report this violation of the FTC consent decree. My conclusion about your testimony today is that you can’t change your business model. Your business model is to maximize profit over privacy. These vague commitments aren’t going to produce actions.”

Mark Zuckerberg deflected, and didn’t challenge any of this. Zuckerberg did confirm that Facebook officials have been disseminating fake news propaganda, largely because Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election. “I know we are working with the FBI & Democrats,” said Zuckerberg, acknowledging that certainty.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (R- SC) asked whether Facebook is a monopoly.

Zuckerberg: “It certainly doesn’t feel like that to me, but honestly that’s a stupid question– since I’m the owner.”

[more insipid laughter from the fawning gallery]

Zuckerberg: “My position is there should be no regulation.”

Graham [extending an olive branch]: “Would Facebook accept any regulation? Would you work with us?”

Zuckerberg: “If it’s the right regulation, then yes. Absolutely.”

What exactly the right regulation is, and who are us (?), is left undiscussed.

Senate majority whip John Cornyn (R- TX) leadingly asked whether Facebook is a neutral platform. Mark Zuckerberg replied, “I agree that we are responsible for the content.”

This is a significant concession that opens the way for Facebook to be held to the same legal standards as any traditional media company subject to libel laws. This is surely part of a quid pro quo deal that Zuckerberg has made with the government in testifying.

Zuckerberg agrees to bi-partisan censorship of Facebook, defining it as a publishing platform, versus a free-speech social media application. At the direction of the Black Hand, Facebook can then remove content at will under the premise of libel laws.

Zuckerberg has also endorsed proposed legislation requiring social media sites to disclose the identities of buyers of online political campaign ads– cynically called the Honest Ads Act. This will help the Feds in targeting, manipulating & silencing political opposition.

Zuckerberg will face a second round of softball questions & political grandstanding from corrupt buffoons on Wednesday, this time from the US House energy and commerce committee. This tragic comedy is US political theater to its essence.

Lawyers from Britain and the United States have now filed a class action lawsuit against Facebook and Cambridge Analytica. These data breaches which are now ubiquitous “effectively abuse the human right to privacy” and “undermine the democratic process.”

Former Cambridge Analytica data scientist and whistle-blower Christopher Wylie testified before U.K. lawmakers that social media data was used by the Vote Leave campaign during the 2016 Brexit referendum. Barack Obama was universally praised in the media for using these same manipulative techniques to win the US Presidency in 2008 & re-election in 2012.

The hypocrisy & lies are simply staggering, but the ramifications are still too poorly understood by most. Social media has changed the world. But Facebook is a monopoly that is being hijacked by the deep state to become a tool for suppression. The boy wonder billionaire agrees to this, as long as he gets to keep his money and seat at the table.

That is capitalism, as it creates the tools for it’s own destruction, and fruitlessly attempts to control something which has already grown beyond its control. Social media and the Internet are now a human rights, which must be transformed into public utilities, as they are too powerful & important to leave in the hands of fascist billionaires who are nothing more than mirages.

……….<><><><>………

The White House Under Mafia & CIA Influence

Governments are defined by Marxists as committees of the ruling class. Under capitalism, the rulers are the rich capitalists. Governments operate at the behest of the rich & powerful in the “private” sector. The quotation marks are because the line between government & private sector business has disappeared. The truth is, it probably never really existed, as all national governments have been corrupt & murderous since their inception, as it’s inherent to capitalism.

Nation states only formed when the global economic conditions allowed them to be formed. National governments have to have an industrial base to sustain their existence, and produce guns & butter while providing jobs and a tax base. Each country developed according to its unique conditions & position in the global context of capitalism, as a specific economic phase in human history.

Capitalism at its inception was a tendency with some progressive features, as it spurred human development. Nationalities were brought together quickly and in great quantity for the purpose of creating, manufacturing, buying & selling commodities. The great waves of immigration in the late 19th & early 20th centuries reflected a world being violently brought together by global capitalism. There would never be a return to feudalism or any other relics of antiquity in the history of humanity.

Now in the 21st century, migration & human progress is being halted by ruling fascists. Mankind has now reached the point where it has to decide if it wants to continue as a species, or perish in madness. The blind hatred that nationalism whips up, at the whims of the puppet masters is lethal to humanity. When madness is allowed to rule the day, and always gets the final word, we are bankrupt.

This is the USA in 2018, bankrupt ideologically & financially. When the next economic crash comes (and it’s coming soon), there will be no money left in the Federal Reserve for a bailout of the banks. That’s when panic ensues, as everyone rushes for the exit. What do you think will happen to your money?

The mafia & CIA are mirror images which work together, like Republicans & Democrats. Truly the dark heart of the deep state, these entities deal most directly with covert money and power. Under capitalism, the only way to accumulate either money and/or power in great quantities is by murder, fraud & coercion. That usually has to be done covertly under capitalism, and must always be sanctioned those who rule.

All this leads to an essential book on the CIA & mob influence in politics: Seymour Hersh’s The Dark Side of Camelot (1997), which is meticulously researched & well footnoted.

Synopsis Review: Family patriarch Joseph Kennedy (1888-1969) made his fortune in the 1920″s bootlegging liquor for mobsters during Prohibition, using his fleet of yachts, along with mob & Teamster connections to make deliveries. All the Kennedy’s, as well as Richard Nixon have extensive mob ties.

The JFK presidency was the first modern US administration in many ways. Jack Kennedy was a rock star, an American icon, along with his wife Jacqueline. But their marriage was a farce, as all the Kennedy men, from Pa Joe to Jack, Bobby & Edward– womanized daily (usually at the pool) with reckless carelessness. JFK had Chlamydia since ~ 1940 and suffered with it up to his death. He never told any of his young female partners about his venereal disease. Up to today, the Kennedy family still denies confirmed truths such as these. What does the #MeToo campaign have to say about stuff like this?

JFK used the mob to secure the Democratic nomination in 1960, through mafia payoffs to local sheriffs in the crucial West Virginia primary. Then Joseph Kennedy rigged Illinois for Jack Kennedy in November, which was the decisive state in his cliffhanger election battle with Republican nominee Richard Nixon. Payoffs through Chicago mafia boss Sam Giancana & Teamsters leader James R. Hoffa put the political machinery to work for Kennedy. Ballot boxes were stuffed, votes assigned, etc.

The 1960 election was stolen. Nixon learned from this experience to win the presidency in 1968, using mob money & similar-type influence to defeat Democratic nominee Hubert H. Humphrey. Nixon probably wouldn’t have prevailed in 1968 without mob assistance.

Lyndon B. Johnson was unpopular due to his escalation of the Vietnam War, and therefore wasn’t on the Democratic ticket in 1968. How LBJ attached himself to JFK in 1960 is another revelation in Hersh’s JFK biography. FBI director J Edgar Hoover disliked all the Kennedy’s, mostly for their public philandering, as he considered it undignified. In private, Hoover was a sick as the rest about sex, and likely a closet homosexual.

Politically in 1960, J Edgar Hoover wanted to contain JFK who had momentum going into the Democratic convention in Los Angeles. By then, Hoover had reached out to ambitious Texas senator LBJ, feeding him damaging intelligence on JFK’s extra-martial sexual affairs. Johnson used that leverage to blackmail the Kennedy’s into putting him on the ticket, otherwise the JFK campaign would be ruined. Jack Kennedy’s endless womanizing put his administration in a position where he was constantly being extorted by political enemies– foreign & domestic.

The original Kennedy family plan (everything came from Joseph), had been to have obscure Missouri senator Stuart Symington as VP in 1960, as he could deliver California, which Lyndon Johnson couldn’t & didn’t. Bobby Kennedy was made attorney general, despite having no legal courtroom experience, and for four years belittled & betrayed the CIA, while defying the FBI by running interference on media reports of brother Jack’s whoring in the White House.

LBJ was to be dumped for a Kennedy/Kennedy ticket in 1964, with Bobby running in ’68, another confirmed revelation in The Dark Side of Camelot. The entire Kennedy administration was Jack spun as the handsome knight-in-shining-armor, with brother Bobby as his hatchet man.  Everyone else was either manipulated & deceived, or dismissed.

All this leads to the John F Kennedy assassination. With everything Hersh has discovered, the motive & primary suspects in the JFK assassination come into clear focus. The most motivated people who hated JFK (& RFK) were J Edgar Hoover, Richard Nixon & LBJ on the political side.

On the mob side, it was Jimmy Hoffa, Sam Giancana, Santo Trafficante & Carlos Marcello. These were the mobsters who delivered Illinois in 1960, and were then double-crossed by Jack & (especially) Bobby Kennedy, who went after the mafia & organized crime with zeal as US attorney general. These were the same gangsters the Kennedy’s were financing through the CIA in their covert operations to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Bobby Kennedy represents the worst aspects of their privilege: hypocritical pseudo-intelligence, combined with belligerent ruffianism, all varnished with an expensive coat of public-relations & lying.

On the US intelligence side of the JFK/RFK assassinations, the CIA thoroughly hated the Kennedy’s for their arrogance & amateurism, which in their eyes made their jobs impossible. The Bay of Pigs disaster was JFK’s failure, and the CIA had to take the heat. Meanwhile JFK’s ratings soared, for being “tough on communism,” even though the operation failed miserably.

JFK’s game of nuclear chicken with Nikita Khrushchev during the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, put the world’s population one military mis-step away from mutually assured destruction. The situation had to be de-fused through back-channeling, so president Kennedy could save face and declare victory to the American people, as the 1964 re-election was at stake for him. Ruling interests and an adoring public enabled US presidents, even way back then.

This explains why the cover-ups of both Kennedy assassinations have been so complete, despite the number of participants. The interests of US intelligence (and the ruling class in general) were prioritized with state sponsored murder of a US president, and then his brother as a candidate. It should be noted that Richard Nixon had a long-standing relationship with small-time mobster Jack Ruby, who was deep in debt to Sam Giancana when he shot alleged-JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald dead in a Dallas police station.

Hoover & his FBI were ready to work with LBJ, before he took the oath of office on Air Force One. The war John F Kennedy started in Vietnam needed to be escalated, in order to “fight communism” & reverse dangerous “Russian influence” that “threatened our way of life.”  LBJ, Nixon and Hoover worked well together, doing what they do, which is Cosa Nostra-– Our Thing.

The modern version of the Camelot myth is Barack Obama, who rose out of Illinois with help from the Chicago political machinery. In many ways, Obama was in reality, what JFK was mythologized to be. Obama was a US president who could be (mostly) trusted by the intelligence community to support them, instead of making grandstand plays. He cooperated & complied with US intelligence, providing them with political cover while making every resource available. He also kept his private affairs, private enough. That’s why Barack Obama lasted two terms.

Perhaps the modern Camelot was Bill Clinton, impeached on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice by the House of Representatives on Dec. 19, 1998, for lying to Congress about having sexual relations with White House staffer Monica Lewinsky. Proof of perjury came when Miss Lewinsky produced a semen-stained dress she wore (as seen in photos) in the Oval Office. The spooge stains were a DNA match for the US president. Bill Clinton is the only US president to be impeached, and that is history– boys & girls.

Fast forward to 2018, and these above descriptions of early 1960’s Democratic liberalism in Camelot bear much resemblance to what is in the White House now. Comparing JFK to Donald Trump seems ludicrous to many “serious” historians, but the parallels are striking.

Both JFK & Trump were/are obsessed with their public images. They believe they are always right, refuse to ever back down or admit fault, and treat women like whores. They have extensive mob connections, and are always ruthlessly self-interested in using them.  Neither read books, as both prefer gossip. As far as ideology goes, JFK’s was anti-communist, militarist & conservative. Trump is racist, fascist & conservative; the same thing.

This needs to be understood, because there are still too many politically confused people who believe all this corruption can be reformed with a fresh face, or new administration. When everything is cynical & dirty, it all must go. That is why a socialist revolution led by the youth & working masses of the world is the program of all genuine Marxists. Anything else is acquiescence to this corruption.

………..<><><><><><>………

Padres 2018 Outlook in 3 Games

Padres start 0-3, and it’s how they’ve lost that tells their story. The season opener against the Milwaukee Brewers was played in San Diego, of course. Great start by Padres LHP Clayton Richard, but Brewers rotation ace Chase Anderson was better. Padres tied the game at 1-1 in the 9th with a single by new-addition SS Freddie Galvis, but the Brewers won in 12 innings. No run supports by the Friars, mostly due to poor AB’s with RISP, and good bullpen work by the Brewers.

The Padres bats show up in game two, but closer Brad Hand blows it, by giving up 5 runs in the 9th. The dagger was a two-out, 3-run shot by 1B Ryan Braun. Padres snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. I’ve been speculating the Padres could use Ryan Braun for a long time, and I’ll keep at it.

The pressure was on for RHP Luis Perdomo to deliver in the series finale on Saturday, at the team let him know it. He had pitched poorly in spring training, and barely made the rotation. He laid another egg by getting bombed in his 4 innings of struggle, giving up 5 runs.

When I watch Luis Perdomo, I am reminded of when I was a Devil Rays fan watching a young Edwin Jackson. Edwin Jackson actually pitched with Perdomo in 2016. Then Edwin Jackson moved on, as he always does. Padres fans would love to see Luis Perdomo move on for the same reasons. He has tantalizing potential, but just isn’t interested in maximizing his abilities.

Those are the early returns on the 2018 SD Padres, and this is what they are, and once again it hurts for their fans. This will be yet another rebuilding (sub .500) season. The off-season moves made by GM AJ Preller were correct, but there are still too many holes to fill in the rotation, and in the OF. The additions of SS Freddie Galvis and 1B Eric Hosmer are huge pluses, and they will keep the Padres from being really bad in 2018.

Manager Andy Green is one of the best, and they have plenty of young talent with their farm system depth, so this will be a call-up year, which in fact has already begun. Expect 3B Chase Headley & RF Hunter Renfroe to be traded, along with Perdomo and a bunch of other AJP fungibles including: 2B/3B Cory Spangenberg, OF Travis Jankowski, OF Matt Szczur, etc…

Young LHP Joey Lucchesi has already been called up, taking injured RHP Dinelson Lamet’s spot in the rotation. Lucchesi pitched 4.2 innings, giving up 3 runs in game two against the Brewers. LHP Robbie Erlin, back from Tommy John surgery: 3.2 IP, 2 R. This is what these guys are, which isn’t much.

The best Padres pitching is at AA (San Antonio) & AAA (El Paso), or still recovering from TJ surgery (Anderson Espinoza & Chris Paddock). The object for manager Andy Green will be to get through yet another season without enough starting pitching. This is his 3rd season, and he’s used to this by now. Nothing will be as bad as 2016, when GM AJ Preller traded his entire rotation & closer by the deadline (James Shields, Drew Pomeranz, Andrew Cashner, Colin Rea & Fernando Rodney).

Andy Green has Daren Balsley, one of the best pitching coaches helping him, but their biggest issue is with injury prevention. Too many of their arms are getting hurt. That’s the biggest danger to their prospects, many of whom have high ceilings. Also of interest, RF Will Myers who put on 20 pounds of muscle in the off-season, has been having lingering back tightness for two weeks. [1]

Injury prevention can only be called medicine when it follows a rational & scientific method. In MLB, as in all other professional sports, injury prevention is poorly understood. There is too much old-school (lack of) ethics in its brain trust, and therefore it falls into all the old traps.

Pitchers don’t need to get hurt, but they almost always do. There’s no reason for this continuing to happen, outside of arrogance & contempt for the truth. People who are in charge simply can’t admit they are wrong. Once exposed, they will lose power, and that can’t be allowed to happen because sports is a business. It’s always been this way.

Fans can root for this stuff, but that doesn’t mean being naive. For me, it gets more painful to watch this carnage every year. I’ve become more of an analyst than a fan anymore. Already, every DL in MLB is piling up with arm injuries, because coaches & training staff don’t want to understand biomechanics & medical science.

They gotta keep pushing for that extra edge, using all the self-regimented, old-school ways (PED’s) that are proven to get you injured & shamed. It’s ignorance & arrogance that’s killing our pastime.

It’s the home run era again, in case you haven’t noticed. With Giancarlo Stanton in pinstripes, we’re gonna get blitzed with long ball hype this year. We’re talkin’ military parades down Pennsylvania Avenue, and maybe even another war…

I have reported here on the Padres since late- 2015, as they have been a fascinating case study in sports franchise management. This organization has been turned around by a brilliant young GM, who in the process has been sanctioned by MLB old guard (Red Sox, White Sox, ESPN, MLB commissioners office) for taking advantage of the rules and making dupes of their GM’s in trades & International free-agent spending.

That talent AJ Preller acquired in 2016 is about to hit the beach in San Diego. When Preller trades a veteran or young player this season, he will be replacing them from within, while looking for prospects in return. As for 2018, look for more rotation struggles, as their depth is thinning fast, due to lack of effectiveness and/or injury. Look for SS/3B Fernando Tatis & 2B Luis Urias sooner, rather than later. The same with their stud pitching prospects. Wil Myers may be hopeless, and if he is deemed so by the Padres, they will look to move him.

……….<><><><><>………..