More Cyber Crimes, Attributed To Russia, Are Shown To Have Come From Elsewhere
Earlier today police in Europe took down the Emotet bot-network:
First discovered as a fairly run-of-the-mill banking trojan back in 2014, Emotet evolved over the years into one of the most professional and resilient cyber crime services in the world, and became a “go-to” solution for cyber criminals.Its infrastructure acted as a mechanism to gain access to target systems, which was done via an automated spam email process that delivered Emotet malware to its victims via malicious attachments, often shipping notices, invoices and, since last spring, Covid-19 information or offers. If opened, victims would be promoted to enable macros that allowed malicious code to run and instal Emotet.
This done, Emotet’s operators then sold access on to other cyber criminal groups as a means to infiltrate their victims, steal data, and drop malware and ransomware. The operators of TrickBot and Ryuk were among the many users of Emotet.
Up to a quarter of all recent run of the mill cyber-crime was done through the Emotet network. Closing it down is a great success.
Wikipedia falsely claimed that Emotet was based in Russia:
Emotet is a malware strain and a cybercrime operation based in Russia.[1] The malware, also known as Geodo and Mealybug, was first detected in 2014[2] and remains active, deemed one of the most prevalent threats of 2019.[3]
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However the Hindu report linked as source to the Russia claim under [1] only says:
The malware is said to be operated from Russia, and its operator is nicknamed Ivan by cyber security researchers.
"Is said to be operated from Russia" is quite a weak formulation and should not be used as source for attribution claims. It is also definitely false.
The operating center of Emotet was found in the Ukraine. Today the Ukrainian national police took control of it during a raid (video). The police found dozens of computers, some hundred hard drives, about 50 kilogram of gold bars (current price ~$60,000/kg) and large amounts of money in multiple currencies.
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Since the 2016 publishing of internal emails of the DNC and the Clinton campaign attribution of computer intrusions to Russia has become a standard propaganda feature. But in no case was there shown evidence which proved that Russia was responsible for a hack.
The recently discovered deep intrusion into U.S. companies and government networks used a manipulated version of the SolarWinds Orion network management software. The Washington borg immediately attributed the hack to Russia. Then President Trump attributed it to China. But none of those claims were backed up by facts or known evidence.
The hack was extremely complex, well managed and resourced, and likely required insider knowledge. To this IT professional it 'felt' neither Russian nor Chinese. It is far more likely, as Whitney Webb finds, that Israel was behind it:
The implanted code used to execute the hack was directly injected into the source code of SolarWinds Orion. Then, the modified and bugged version of the software was “compiled, signed and delivered through the existing software patch release management system,” per reports. This has led US investigators and observers to conclude that the perpetrators had direct access to SolarWinds code as they had “a high degree of familiarity with the software.” While the way the attackers gained access to Orion’s code base has yet to be determined, one possibility being pursued by investigators is that the attackers were working with employee(s) of a SolarWinds contractor or subsidiary.
...
Though some contractors and subsidiaries of SolarWinds are now being investigated, one that has yet to be investigated, but should be, is Samanage. Samanage, acquired by SolarWinds in 2019, not only gained automatic access to Orion just as the malicious code was first inserted, but it has deep ties to Israeli intelligence and a web of venture-capital firms associated with numerous Israeli espionage scandals that have targeted the US government.
...
Samanage offers what it describes as “an IT Service Desk solution.” It was acquired by SolarWinds so Samanage’s products could be added to SolarWinds’ IT Operations Management portfolio. Though US reporting and SolarWinds press releases state that Samanage is based in Cary, North Carolina, implying that it is an American company, Samanage is actually an Israeli firm. It was founded in 2007 by Doron Gordon, who previously worked for several years at MAMRAM, the Israeli military’s central computing unit.
...
Several months after the acquisition was announced, in November 2019, Samanage, renamed SolarWinds Service Desk, became listed as a standard feature of SolarWinds Orion software, whereas the integration of Samanage and Orion had previously been optional since the acquisition’s announcement in April of that year. This means that complete integration was likely made standard in either October or November. It has since been reported that the perpetrators of the recent hack gained access to the networks of US federal agencies and major corporations at around the same time. Samanage’s automatic integration into Orion was a major modification made to the now-compromised software during that period.
The U.S. National Security Agency has ways and means to find out who was behind the SolarWinds hack. But if Israel is the real culprit no one will be allowed to say so publicly. Some high ranging U.-S. general or official will fly to Israel and read his counterpart the riot act. Israel will ignore it just as it has done every time when it was caught spying on the U.S. government.
With more then half of Washington's politicians in its pockets it has no reason to fear any consequences.
Posted by b on January 27, 2021 at 15:32 UTC | Permalink
next page »pat lang weighs in (also in the comments): Solar Winds was an Israeli penetration? Not Russia?
!!
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jan 27 2021 15:55 utc | 2
Ukraine is become a Wild West for spies and mercenaries .Perhaps that was whole intent of coup
Posted by: oldhippie | Jan 27 2021 16:04 utc | 3
I have been dumbfounded for some time by supporters of the Izzies apparent lack of concern about the eventual consequences of this sort of behavior. But I suppose, as with Uncle Sugar, the notion of ones own exceptional nature prevents a sensible assessment.
Posted by: Bemildred | Jan 27 2021 16:07 utc | 4
can someone explain why they had all that gold there? do people pay ransom in gold bars now?
this seems very odd to me.
Posted by: dan of steele | Jan 27 2021 16:11 utc | 5
I have no direct knowledge of SolarWinds specifically, but if Boeing hired HCL (formerly Hindu Computer Limited) to develop software for its 737 max, I'll make a wild guess and assume that SolarWinds too probably hired a bunch of Indian kids worth $10/hour each, who come and go every few months.
And if that's indeed the case, then anything's possible.
Posted by: Mao Cheng Ji | Jan 27 2021 16:14 utc | 6
Israeli intel spinoffs/cutouts, US FBI/CIA and the NSA surveillance/blackmail collection agencies and their agents; they are facets of the same worldwide "NWO" criminal Blob-Mob, imo.
It should be obvious by now they have the power to set up one US President, and depose him through a ham-handed domestic election fraud coup, and install an eaaily controlled neurodegenerating corrupt puppet, and completely control and pervert the US Judicial system, so as to essentially get away and continue with their criminal culture and crimes against humanity unchecked.
With such a history, of course they have the means to frame Russia, as well as to destroy any others who stand in their way to more power and autocratic control of the planet.
Posted by: gm | Jan 27 2021 16:17 utc | 7
...
With more than half of Washington's politicians in its pockets ("Israel") has no reason to fear any consequences.
Posted by b on January 27, 2021 at 15:32 UTC | Permalink
Precisely. And it's almost as bad in Oz, and even worse in the UK. Money is the only logical explanation for the "Israel" Worship indulged in by corrupt, amoral Western political 'leaders'.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jan 27 2021 16:26 utc | 8
"The Washington borg immediately attributed the hack to Russia. Then President Trump attributed it to China."
Was there a better way for Trump to telegraph (or tweet, whatever) to the public that the establishment had no idea who was behind the hack?
If Trump said that he didn't believe Russia did it that would just give the establishment mass media ammunition to say he was Putin's puppet. After dozens of mass media products echo the narrative off each other to amplify a weak and vague suggestion and build it into something that the public perceives as truth, Trump crushed it all by just accusing someone else. Rather than laboriously dismantling the accusation aimed at Russia he just cut it off at the knees.
Unfortunately that is something only a President can do, and the current figurehead in that position absolutely will not be doing anything that might undermine the establishment narrative du jour. I miss Trump already for that alone.
Posted by: William Gruff | Jan 27 2021 16:27 utc | 9
b posted, "Is said to be operated from Russia" is quite a weak formulation
However, don't give the average reader of newsignorance
much credit. Even well above average readers can have a readiness for
confirmation bias.
side rant:
Human intelligence is just a tool. High intelligence does not guarantee
a dedication to a search for truth. High intelligence can give one
a developed skill at
rationalizing whatever beliefs one already holds.
-----
Privacy!
I just learned about this!
Check this out (always remember, though, "trust but verify")
And an alternative service that can rightly be trusted today
is not necessarily trustworthy tomorrow.
https://restoreprivacy.com/
lists alternative services for everything from Google Docs, iCloud, secure messengers, and search engines.
Posted by: librul | Jan 27 2021 16:28 utc | 10
Never trust your local FBI plant:
Exclusive: Proud Boys leader was ‘prolific’ informer for law enforcement
Posted by: Bemildred | Jan 27 2021 16:35 utc | 11
@Posted by: librul | Jan 27 2021 16:28 utc | 10
In my excitement I didn't realize that
restoreprivacy
does not appear to give video platforms.
Here are some suggested by a ZH article:
"video platforms like LBRY.tv (Odysee.com), Bitchute, Rumble, or Brighteon– places I’ll be posting all my videos from now on."
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2021-01-27/protecting-my-extremist-content-censorship
Posted by: librul | Jan 27 2021 16:38 utc | 12
some of the hack was semi-sophisticated ("semi" since it could have been an inside job) but some was just a typical PICNIC.
i've also been in various IT roles and it's funny how people ghettoize themselves...web design/"full stack" guys were always the worst but i had a lot of server/NAS guys who had ZERO clue about security and would use idiot passwords like that (and torrent episodes of "the wire" and watch sports on youtube and etc etc).
as for the israelis, the cellebrite guys and probably these jackasses are good examples of what happens when you get to sit around on stolen land and live off free money from the US. which is funny because a lot of skilled "1337hax0rz" also come from poor-ass areas of russia and the other former soviet areas.
Posted by: the pair | Jan 27 2021 16:45 utc | 13
@Posted by: Bemildred | Jan 27 2021 16:35 utc | 11
I saw that headline too.
I didn't (bother) to read it, but wondered why the MSM
would do everyone a favor and warn about this guy.
His usefulness had ended? So eke out that last drop of value from him
by sowing distrust within Proud Boys and other alternate organizations.
Or (heaven's forbid!) that guy is being set up for assassination
by the Deep State as a false-flag. (Outrageous, simply outrageous,
but imagine if they did a Navalny/Skripal on him - whoa!)
Posted by: librul | Jan 27 2021 16:46 utc | 14
Posted by: librul | Jan 27 2021 16:46 utc | 14
We do seem to have some disagreements among our ruling "elites" these days, and I think that may have something to do with it, but I really don't know and that is a good question. "Why are they telling me this" is always a good question.
Nevertheless, I think it is a good idea to warn the young these days, so I thought I'd post it.
Posted by: Bemildred | Jan 27 2021 16:53 utc | 15
@Posted by: Bemildred | Jan 27 2021 16:53 utc | 15
For sure, that is the rub.
When to self-censor, when to post.
Better to post and then discuss
then simply censor.
Posted by: librul | Jan 27 2021 17:00 utc | 16
@Bemildred | Jan 27 2021 16:35 utc | 11
Yep. FBI is following the time-tested "proactive" standard playbook of synthetic terror/crime creation to support the Borg's agenda.
Some congressman a few years back got a hold of, and publically released official docs showing that FBI was budgeting a yearly payroll for nsome >15,000 paid confidential informants/agent provacatuers circa 2014(?).
This FBI practice goes all the way back to the 1960's and probably much earlier.
In the last 60+ years, there have been oo many FBI-created/supported domestic 'crime/terror' groups/leaderships to list in one post here.
Likely the leadership of both BLM and US antifa is also controlled by FBI (Euro antifa=>likely CIA). [CIA Operation Ajax/Kermit Roosevelt)was running paid *rent-a-mobs* all the way back in the 1953 overthrowal of Iran's Mossadegh govt].
Posted by: gm | Jan 27 2021 17:00 utc | 17
Thanks b. for sharing the link to Whitney Webb and her website unlimitedhangout.com. I have been following her work for about a year now and am impressed with the depth of her knowledge on many issues that are discussed here at MoA. It's interesting that some of the most intelligent deep dives re US Empire come from those living outside the US (Bernhard, Caitlin Johnstone, Pepe Escobar, Whitney Webb...).
Webb also works with Ryan Cristian who posts almost daily podcasts at his website (they are often deleted from youtube). Check out this recent interview he did with Whitney about the SolarWinds/Samanage issue.
https://www.thelastamericanvagabond.com/the-solarwinds-hack-the-takeover-of-the-us-the-final-stage-of-the-war-on-you/
Posted by: Kabobyak | Jan 27 2021 17:18 utc | 18
Wikipedia falsely claimed ...
Recently I've been unable to find anything on Wikipedia that has not been corrupted to some degree or other by lies.What a disappointment of a once grand ideal.
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Jan 27 2021 17:21 utc | 19
I know it is OT, but, I was wondering what is happening with the Huawei Princess in Canada since the regime change in the USA?
Posted by: Young | Jan 27 2021 17:52 utc | 20
Good report. The Wikileaks Vault 7 release clearly shows the USA has tools to create false flag cyber warfare. To say one knows where a hack originates says more about the accuser than the accused. Ms. Webb's reporting on the Epstein case was profound, and her follow-up reporting on various threads has been stellar. There is no reason to doubt her reporting here. It is no accident that most of Webb's threads lead back to Israel. When one considers the USA's blind fealty to Israel, often alone in its support, one must consider that mass blackmailing of political leaders going back decades is a real possibility to explain the USA's Israel-centric foreign and domestic policy.
Posted by: gottlieb | Jan 27 2021 17:52 utc | 21
More on Proud Boys FBI Snitch Enrique Tarrio's long informant history with the FBI:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/proud-boys-leader-was-prolific-fbi-snitch-court-docs
While US officials claim that 'far-right extremism' is one of the largest threats facing America, the leader of the group most commonly singled out as an example - the Proud Boys - was a 'prolific' informant for federal and local law enforcement, according to Reuters, citing a 2014 federal court proceeding.Enrique Tarrio repeatedly worked undercover for investigators following a 2012 arrest, court documents reveal.
Curiously, Tarrio was ordered to stay away from Washington D.C. one day before the January 6 Capitol riot after he was arrested on vandalism and weapons charges - upon a request by government prosecutors that he be prohibited from attending. At least five Proud Boys members were charged as part of the riot.
In the 2014 hearing, a federal prosecutor, an FBI agent and Tarrio's attorney describe his undercover work - noting that the Proud Boys leader helped authorities prosecute over a dozen people in various cases involving drugs, gambling and human smuggling, accoding to Reuters.
In a Tuesday interview with Reuters, Tarrio denied working undercover or cooperating in cases.
"I don't know any of this," he said, adding "I don't recall any of this."
[...]
During Tarrio's 2014 hearing, both the prosecutor and Tarrio's defense attorney asked for a reduced prison sentence after pleading guilty in a fraud case related to the relabeling and sale of stolen diabetes test kits. In requesting leniency for Tarrio and two co-defendants, the prosecutor noted that Tarrio's information had resulted in the prosecution of 13 people on federal charges in two separate cases, and helped local authorities investigate a gambling ring.
Posted by: gm | Jan 27 2021 17:58 utc | 22
@dan of steel:gold is compact -- 1 kg gold fits in the back pocket of your jeans. Impossible with any currency bills worth $ 60K AFAIK
Posted by: Someone | Jan 27 2021 18:37 utc | 23
good work b and whitney webb! i like how you and her connect the dots.... and as you note - 'nothing will change' when they find who is behind this..
wikipedia has been a write off for some time...
Posted by: james | Jan 27 2021 18:40 utc | 24
Someone | Jan 27 2021 18:37 utc | 22
that is all true, but can you buy a cup of coffee or a sandwich with it? or a car? a credit card is a lot smaller and easier to use.
it just seems odd that someone would have all that gold in what looks like a workshop...a kind of messy one at that.
Posted by: dan of steele | Jan 27 2021 18:46 utc | 25
Every so often, one of the other parasites gets headline treatment but is never eliminated returns to its underground lair and prepares to strike again. How many times now since 2000? At least once per year within the Outlaw US Empire, but several times yearly globally. Funny how Putin and Xi both beg the West to come to the table so efforts can be combined to combat Cybercrime, but their offers are mostly ignored and they're instead made out to be the bandits. That ought to provide a bit of logic to solving the issue which I believe the Eurasian Bloc is currently pursuing and can simply be described as a firewall against Western internet linkage.
I recently linked to an article about a Chinese quantum computing network that enabled quantum cryptography for the entire system that spanned most of China. I expect that capability to be expanded and by 2025 the NSA will suffer complete defeat as it's walled off from the core members of the Eurasian Bloc at first then the entire group. Putin and Xi can then say: We offered to combine forces again and again but we were ignored, so now you'll have to live with the consequences.
Dan of Steele @ 5 asks a very good question about how the Emotet bot network operators obtained gold bars and large amounts of money in several currencies. This surely indicates that the operators are in cahoots with some serious players in Ukraine, perhaps foreign as well as local. The operators themselves may even be significant players in Ukraine's Deep State itself. We may be talking about the SBU and its close connections with Western intel agencies.
Those gold bars will have serial numbers and those serial numbers may tell investigators something of their histories of whose hands they passed through. The same goes for the currency that was found. What were the Emotet people going to do with the gold and the money?
Posted by: Jen | Jan 27 2021 19:17 utc | 27
gm @ 21
The tell, the dead giveaway, is that the Proud Boys get promoted. They get headlines, column inches, airtime. Product placement. No homegrown anything gets that attention. They are a product being sold to us in the media. Apply same standard to BLM, AntiFa, Weathermen, apply as much as you like and you will seldom be in error.
There’s that line is the Costa Gavras film Z, where someone gets chided about being too quick to blame CIA, and the instant comeback is always blame the CIA, even if you are wrong you will likely end up right. And of course the Greek colonels were CIA, even if some were not 100% sure until later. Same standard applies here. Any bogeyman the media stands up and points to and says be very afraid of this bad bogey, this bogey here, you can be sure it is fake from the start.
Posted by: oldhippie | Jan 27 2021 19:19 utc | 28
@oldhippie #3
It didn't become - it has been for a long time.
The first carder dark web forum: Shadowcrew had 4 operators.
2 are dead, 1 is now a consultant on cyber security whom I have met personally (Brett Johnson) and the 4th disappeared into Ukraine.
This person later surfaced as the backer behind the Ukrainian party pushing Darth Vader for a political position. To say that (some) Ukrainians are into cyber crime is like saying cats like meat. Ditto the Romanians.
Posted by: c1ue | Jan 27 2021 19:21 utc | 29
Posted by: gm | Jan 27 2021 17:00 utc | 17
Yes, this whole policing business is just a lot easier if you cultivate and run your own criminal gangs, and in fact that approach to it has been very popular almost everywhere. No need to deal with any really dangerous people that way too, a big plus, and seasoned crooks can be handy for dealing with your enemies, encouraging reluctant counter-parties, etc.
Posted by: Bemildred | Jan 27 2021 19:33 utc | 30
Posted by: librul | Jan 27 2021 16:28 utc | 10 - side rant:
"Human intelligence is just a tool. High intelligence does not guarantee
a dedication to a search for truth. High intelligence can give one a developed skill at rationalizing whatever beliefs one already holds."
I never heard another human agree with that before.
"The Psychologist's Introspection Paradox"
It should have a better name than I can coin.
Posted by: David G Horsman | Jan 27 2021 19:41 utc | 31
Moon, where were you on the pandemic, mask wearing sermonising and the US elections? You are a complete disappointment. Andre
Posted by: Andre | Jan 27 2021 19:51 utc | 32
They have pledged alliegiance
to the land across the sea
making sure
that they have healthcare
paid by you and me
and they don't have to pay
for University... it's free
the gifts keep marching on.
Glory glory halejuha
glory glory halejuha
glory glory halejuha
the gifts geep marching on
they own our politicians
banks and media too
there is nothing we say
or hasbara's on you
You cannot run for office
unless you represent the Jews
this shit keeps going on
they can sink our ships
and shoot our sailors as they swim
we pretend it didn't happen
cuz we know that it was them
but there's nothing we can do
because they own us through and through
this shit keeps rolling on
now they kill their neighbours
and lock them up inside
of an open air gulag
commiting genocide
anyone who mentions it
commits political suicide
and the whole world looks away
we must fight their battles
till the end of time
killing who they say
inventing silly crimes
even though americans
stand in a bread line
we must defend the Jews.
gory gory halejuha
gory gory halejuha
gory gory halejuha
this shit keeps going on
Posted by: ld | Jan 27 2021 20:24 utc | 33
dan of steele | Jan 27 2021 18:46 utc | 24
Two problems with gold, transport and selling it. The smaller the bar the easier it is to find some way of hiding it.
I used to have a very, very small gold bar for "emergencies". It was hidden in an oil paint tube. These were made of lead. All you have to do is unroll the tube end. Squeeze a bit of paint out, put the bar inside, and roll the tube end up again. Can't be seen, or xrayed. Squeeze the tube and paint comes out normally.
The problem comes when you want to sell it. We were in Ethiopia and wanted a bit of spare cash - so we went to a local jeweller, (Italian) but he didn't want to know (we didn't tell him where it was hidden either). My wife took the tube and put it with her makeup. Daft really as I was the one who had the watercolour paints. However, on leaving the customs stopped us and my wife was searched (Not me) but even being tipped off they did not find it. (Value was about $1,000 when we did finally sell it.)
Second part. I knew an Indian architect who had solid gold bracelets made for his wife. Normally these were made hollow, but he took gold bars into the Souk (SA) and watched them as they were made up. As (at the time) Indian Ladies were allowed Jewellery, she was not stopped at customs. He did this several times, each holiday. He sold the solid gold bracelets in India to people he knew. However, as he explained, if I had decided to do that it would be simpler for them, and more profitable, to simply cut my throat. You must have a buyer to go to. (I forget the figures but the "cost" of the Gold was about three times cheaper than in India and the money went five time further.)
So the Gold bars in Ukraine were probably for transport to a dealer or connection somewhere else. Those were not being melted down so there would be some "traceability", and may have been destined to go through a country that still allows gold to be held legally. Emirates etc.
Posted by: Stonebird | Jan 27 2021 20:32 utc | 35
I didn't think, did anyone to check them to see if they had tungsten interiors?
Posted by: Stonebird | Jan 27 2021 20:37 utc | 36
We can fall into the trap of blaming our social organization problems on an ethnicity or we can admit that the problem is historically structural.
Once folks in the West stop and admit that their form of social organization is not working for the masses, they can identify the key element (GLOBAL PRIVATE FINANCE) and look around for alternatives....Cuba, China, Venezuela, etc.
When one lives under barbarism the concept of cyber crime is normalized as the way it has always been.....if one changes the base moral incentive away from PROFIT then one has the opportunity to put species survival higher than it was under the old way.
But keep blaming the Jews because that will insure humanity will never evolve out of the Enlightenment period to a logic and reason based society.
And the shit show continues....
Posted by: psychohistorian | Jan 27 2021 20:40 utc | 37
@the pair #13:
as for the israelis, the cellebrite guys and probably these jackasses are good examples of what happens when you get to sit around on stolen land and live off free money from the US. which is funny because a lot of skilled "1337hax0rz" also come from poor-ass areas of russia and the other former soviet areas.
I struggle to understand the logical connection between the first sentence and the second one. Can you please elaborate?
Posted by: S | Jan 27 2021 20:48 utc | 38
I composed my poem in haste.
Please forgive my errors.
I shall be more careful in the future
ld
Posted by: ld | Jan 27 2021 21:06 utc | 39
@Someone #22:
gold is compact -- 1 kg gold fits in the back pocket of your jeans. Impossible with any currency bills worth $ 60K AFAIK
Doable with Swiss 1,000-franc notes ($60K is approximately 53 Swiss 1,000-franc notes—more compact and much lighter than a 1 kg gold bar). Also, unlike 1 kg gold bars, Swiss francs are easily exchanged into local currency in any large city in the world.
Posted by: S | Jan 27 2021 21:10 utc | 40
"I composed my poem in haste...."
-ld | Jan 27 2021 21:06 utc | 38
Right on target,too. Keep them coming, as far as I'm concerned...
Posted by: gm | Jan 27 2021 21:10 utc | 41
Any surprise witnesses to come forward during
Trump's impeachment trial?
There is the leader of the Proud Boys
that Reuters claims has been a paid FBI informant.
( see: Posted by: Bemildred | Jan 27 2021 16:35 utc | 11 )
I just read the Reuters article about him. He sounds unsavory,
but in Washington DC unsavory is the norm.
Posted by: librul | Jan 27 2021 22:10 utc | 42
We can safely assume that when the US accuses Russia/China of doing something, it (or its homeland Israel) is guilty of it.
Posted by: Smith | Jan 27 2021 22:24 utc | 43
@S #39:thx did not realize there exists such a high currency note;Europe abolished their €500 note because it was too attractive for criminals (although some people claim that the reason for its existence was to replace the role of the $100 bill as the crime reserve currency)
I wonder what the volume is of 53 1000 Swiss franc notes...
Posted by: Someone | Jan 27 2021 22:35 utc | 44
Someone @ 43:
On the Bing search engine I just used, 53,000 Swiss francs converts to US$59,572; 43,571 pound sterling; 49,216 euros; and nearly 1,676,000 Ukrainian hryvnia.
Here's a link to a report of the police raid on Emotet with a video showing investigators counting the gold bars and the money found. US currency is definitely present and a 500-whatever note can be seen too.
Posted by: Jen | Jan 28 2021 0:07 utc | 45
I think Whitney Webb is misguided. SolarWinds was never hacked. Instead insiders in the company were working for some intelligence service to create and deploy a backdoor. Whitney Webb quotes this analysis in Hacker News:
New Evidence Suggests SolarWinds' Codebase Was Hacked to Inject BackdoorThe idea, according to Pericin, was to compromise the build system, quietly inject their own code in the source code of the software, wait for the company to compile, sign packages and at last, verify if their modifications show up in the newly released updates as expected.
I do not believe any of this. It is not possible for someone in Russia or in Israel for that matter to insert a new design into into the source code of a foreign piece of software. Software is written, maintained and audited by humans. I still believe what I wrote in the open thread two weeks ago. Whitney Webb may be however be right that the intelligence service is not domestic but Israeli.
SolarWinds spyware attack - NSA and CIA did it?All last year we were hearing how Huawei is a threat to US national security. Chinese state operatives would insert spyware into Huawei networking equipment. The software that runs on Huawei equipment is open source and open to inspections. It is unlikely to contain hidden threats. But similar backdoors and spy gates are sure to exist on Western equipment.
The real threat to US "security" comes from the US not being able to install their spyware on European networks.
It seems that a massive US spy operation has just been exposed. The US presidential elections have overshadowed this from the news, but at the end of December this was the top story in the US. Allegedly "Russian hackers" had infiltrated US government organizations. According to Lou Dobbs on Fox News this was a new Pearl Harbor.
The story broke out in mid December when the cyber security company FireEye noticed that their servers had been attacked and the code for their Red Team assessment tools had been stolen. They soon discovered that the attack had utilized a backdoor in SolarWind’s Orion IT monitoring and management software. FireEye called it a supply-chain attack.
There are several layers of misinformation in the way the Western media reported this.
- Supposedly 18,000 organizations were attacked. This is the number of users of the SolarWinds network management software. No evidence has been presented that any of these organizations were actually attacked.
- The attackers were supposedly Russian. Cyber attribution is usually impossible. It could as well have been the NSA or CIA acting as "Russians". Actually no technical analysis has ever been presented that points the attack to Russia. The whole Russia story was invented by the media or by their masters in the US Intelligence Community.
- The real story not in how US government organizations were possibly attacked, but in how the spyware found its way into the SolarWinds source code in the first place.
The spyware was part of the source code for the "BusinessLayer.dll" shared library. I find it impossible that the spyware code was somehow inserted from Russia. It is likewise far fetched to assume that some Russian mole was working for SolarWinds and secretly inserting spyware into the source code. No such mole has been arrested. It is more likely that the malware was inserted by US actors.
This "sophisticated supply chain attack" would have been impossible without US insiders in the company. Most likely the whole software team was compromised. The attack vector must have been part of the specification of the software. Proof of this comes from the fact that it has taken several weeks and SolarWinds still has not fixed the problem. The spyware must be so embedded and intertwined with the rest of the software that they would not know what to remove. Instead, they said their "investigations are early and ongoing". They have the source code, yet they have not published any part of it.
I have collected some links and sources on my wiki.
Posted by: Petri Krohn | Jan 28 2021 0:39 utc | 46
The fact is, everybody loves gold. If you're a criminal and you're offered this material as money, are you going to say no? Or are you going to get out your calculator and the latest FX charts?
Even if you're not a criminal, you might just be okay with it too.
Maybe you live in a failed state whose currency value is more dubious every day.
Or maybe you deal with people who will only accept gold for the tasks you ask them to do.
~~
Gold is a currency, as well as a commodity. It trades as a currency each day in foreign exchange markets, I am told, and always has. Central banks love the stuff.
Everyone loves gold.
Your noble metal - it's just more special than your filthy lucre ;)
Posted by: Grieved | Jan 28 2021 0:59 utc | 47
re Bemildred # 11
That article on proud boys leader Tarrio is somewhat ironic, though I suspect unintentionally so eg:
"The records uncovered by Reuters are startling because they show that a leader of a far-right group now under intense scrutiny by law enforcement was previously an active collaborator with criminal investigators."
I cannot imagine anything more nazi like than being a give up, in fact my somewhat limited (intentionally) knowledge of types who hang around coppers, seeking to please with 'hot tips' has caused me to believe that having extreme right views is a prerequisite for a dobber. Support for authoritarianism, uniform fetish etc.
Either that or just being a flea, I suppose that Tarrio could be the sort of human who after getting caught for a badly planned scam, decides to get out from under by topping on all his friends and acquaintances.
Posted by: Debsisdead | Jan 28 2021 1:34 utc | 48
re Bemildred # 11
That article on proud boys leader Tarrio is somewhat ironic, though I suspect unintentionally so eg:
"The records uncovered by Reuters are startling because they show that a leader of a far-right group now under intense scrutiny by law enforcement was previously an active collaborator with criminal investigators."
I cannot imagine anything more nazi like than being a give up, in fact my somewhat limited (intentionally) knowledge of types who hang around coppers, seeking to please with 'hot tips' has caused me to believe that having extreme right views is a prerequisite for a dobber. Support for authoritarianism, uniform fetish etc.
Either that or just being a flea, I suppose that Tarrio could be the sort of human who after getting caught for a badly planned scam, decides to get out from under by topping on all his friends and acquaintances.
Posted by: Debsisdead | Jan 28 2021 1:37 utc | 49
Somehow not surprised by the Proud Boy's revelation, this smells awfully like George Lincoln Rockwell back then.
Everything in America, left or right, is fake.
Posted by: Smith | Jan 28 2021 1:43 utc | 50
Ukraine used to closer than Canada to the US; after CIA/State manipulation it became a Mexico or El Salvador.
IF Ukrainian criminals are going to be labeled Russian than label Salvadorian criminals as Americans.
Posted by: Antonym | Jan 28 2021 2:37 utc | 51
Debsisdead | Jan 28 2021 1:37 utc | 46
A reminder on the subject of how a turncoat is created, beyond the purely voluntary type:
During WW2, German spies caught in England were given choice of being shot or agree to be under Brit control and continue as German spy but under Brit control. I.e., they were deliberately used to plant false data, etc to their German handlers. Those who refused were indeed shot. Few refused.
In present time and for unknown ages, infiltration of spies into target groups is primarily by "turning" an existing member, using threat/blackmail, favors, ...any possible method, to get the desired result. It is not rocket science. It works. Just the quite common offer to avoid a jail sentence fills nearly any quota of needed for informers. It works and "volunteers" abound.
Even family members are set-up on some false charges to pressure cooperation
Using the authority of the State to entice cooperation is horribly effective.
Posted by: chu teh | Jan 28 2021 3:42 utc | 53
Another classic case of Projection, used by our latest empire, and their lackeys..
https://psychologydictionary.org/projection/
Posted by: vetinLA | Jan 28 2021 3:45 utc | 54
Israel is country living under siege, trying to look normal. But it is psychologically disturbed and obsessed by the image of its approaching doom. It lives in paranoia.
Therefore anything is allowed even to spy on its protectors and allies. Everybody is suspicious. The notion of trust has totally disappeared in their mind. It is a country that lives under an illusion and deep inside,the Israelis know it.
Posted by: Virgile | Jan 28 2021 5:12 utc | 55
The gold bars will go the way of Viktor Yanukovych's 'Golden Loaf' .
Posted by: Keith McClary | Jan 28 2021 5:52 utc | 56
ld @ 32/38
I'm nobody but a constant lurker and reader of viewpoints I would scarcely encounter elsewhere, but that was fantastic. A nearly perfect fit to the tune, and sounds good sung aloud. Sure put a rueful grin on my face, especially biting stuff considering the original tune.
And thanks to everyone else, too.
Posted by: Sandy | Jan 28 2021 6:40 utc | 57
re chu teh # 50
I understand what you're saying, especially so if you're unlucky enough to live somewhere that judges have been persuaded to increase the sentence after an accused has had the sheer gall to ask for the trial that is their right by law, but even so I've always lived by the old saw "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime".
That is something which Tarrio did not adhere to, he was caught flogging off cheap ineffective diabetes test kits which had been stolen from some warehouse. The kits were relabeled as a premium brand - who knows if these faulty test kits cost some diabetic his/her life.
One thing is for sure this human tried to make a dollar by burning some of the most disadvantaged fellow citizens.
Check out this list of insulin doses by brand & nation e.g. Lantin costs $0.22 cents per dose here in Aotearoa, in amerika one dose is $13.75!
Flogging off a few thousand pairs of counterfeit adidas is one thing (take a trip through asia and if you look hard enough, even now you will find markets full of imitation name brand clothing exactly the same as the original), as the only thing damaged is some consumerist's self esteem.
But what Tarrio did id completely different.
In other words this creep was seeking to exploit already impoverished people by burning them by selling them tests which didn't work.
When he got caught he gave up a lot of different people for a range of crimes, not outta any sense of duty, or because he wanted to protect his family but because he had been caught committing a particularly egregious crime and was too gutless to face the consequences of his actions.
Posted by: Debsisdead | Jan 28 2021 6:47 utc | 58
The gold bars are for the 'big man' as Hunter Biden coined the term.
Gold bars buy lots of sam misiles, lots of ammunition, lots of politicians in Ukraine.
Gold bars pay comedians well to.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 28 2021 6:59 utc | 59
1. Just recently the former US intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard, who spied for Israel in the 1970's and 80's, received a hero's welcome in Israel.
2. From Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning we know how much information even mid- to low level intelligence analysts have today.
3. From Ostrowsky's books we know the modus operandi of the Mossad. It's not the classical spy work of identifying possible informers, carefully building up spy-networks over years and decades etc. Instead a Mossad operative just approaches a non-Israeli Jew and asks for help. The person thus approached usually complies voluntarily.
Combine the three information and you know how much the Israelis really know, but also where the limits are.
They have everything the NSA has, since this organization is infiltrated by default through it's American Jewish members. The NSA does, however, not spy on US-authorities, so here there is something if a gap.
Posted by: m | Jan 28 2021 7:29 utc | 60
Debsisdead | Jan 28 2021 6:47 utc | 55
Yes, indeed. Not meant to make excuse for this particular case. Thanks your clarification.
Posted by: chu teh | Jan 28 2021 8:28 utc | 62
It is late at night...may I shift topic?...
60 years ago I was introduced to the principle that it should be illegal to "short" any stock if you do not own the stock, based on the argument that you can not sell what you do not own or legally control. The result of violating such a sensible principle portended unknown risks beyond the already known risks. I.e., there could be disasters beyond the financial experts' ability to specifically elucidate, so why allow it?
Well, they have allowed it and 60 years later there are now rumbles of a fix to bail-out the elites again...many of them. Might this one develop into a Taleb Blak Swan?
Reminds me of: In the 1990s Brooksley Born was chair of Commodities Futures Trading Commission and warned [and attempted] of need to regulate derivatives trading. Rubin-Summers-Levitt hounded out of government. Then 2008 happened.
Posted by: chu teh | Jan 28 2021 8:32 utc | 63
If the trillion printed money haven't proved it already, this GameStop thing is beating the dead horse.
Fiat money is fake, there's no value to it. It's literally just number.
I feel sad I didn't jump on this and crypto when I was younger.
Posted by: Smith | Jan 28 2021 8:49 utc | 65
Here is an entertaining 13 min YT round-up of Weds news.
-Touches upon the Millenial populist moves against Gamestop-shorting Wall Street hedge funds, and the Borg's backlash.
-Putin's dire warnings given at the WEF in Davos of risk of intl conflagration.
-China instituting anal swab sampling for Covid...US/EU soon to follow?
Posted by: gm | Jan 28 2021 9:46 utc | 66
@Someone #43:
I wonder what the volume is of 53 1000 Swiss franc notes...
The dimensions of a 1,000-franc note are 70×158 mm. My estimate of the thickness of a 100-note pack is 10.4 mm. So the volume of 53 1,000-franc notes ($59,559) is 61.0 cm³. The density of gold is 19.3 g/cm³, so the volume of a 1 kg gold bar ($59,022) is 51.8 cm³. So I was wrong to claim that 1,000-franc notes are more compact than gold. However, 53 1,000-franc notes weigh only about 67 g (15× lighter than 1 kg), can be used separately, and, again, are easily convertible into local currency in any large city in the world.
Posted by: S | Jan 28 2021 10:57 utc | 67
re Smith # 62
You're correct this GameStop thing is insane, a chain of old school games retailers who sell their product analog style, that is video games by some discs in a plastic case has had its stock jump by 18,000%! And I thought the Elon Musk rort where Tesla stock rose by 8,000% in a year was bad enough. At least tesla will be an eventual winner - in about twenty years that is.
These types are 'talking' about getting into digital sales allegedly to compete with amazon, seemingly unaware of the Steam wrap around digital gaming sales service which has a vast slice of the gaming market because it provides intra game communication, blogs, reviews, faults & a debugging service for gamers - as well as a really fast digital delivery & update service.
For PC games, Epic Games has been trying to compete with Steam by offering game publishers a larger slice but gamers have shown they prefer to stay with Steam. Console games sales & digital distribution are already pretty stitched up by Sony, Microsoft & Nintendo.
As you can see here there are already many alternative services (GOG with no DRM being my favourite), I cannot see how GameStop can hope to take on the established digital sales & distribution competition. Humble Bundle etc have the remaindering business stitched and zero day sales are the forte of Steam, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo even Blizzard.
It must be remembered that the bulk of those who have made a killing out of GameStop asset appreciation have made the money for themselves, most of the profits are going to shareholders eg the BlackRock scum who acquired 9.2 million shares last year which are now valued at $3bn.
Ordinary normal amerikans are struggling to feed themselves because creepy Joe has tossed all talk of a $2000 payment out the window, "maybe $1200 sometime if yer luckey" but the trillions given to the 0.0001% who play at the Wall St casino copped trillions which they are now gambling away, as 'free money' practically demands.
The only quick way to set up a scalable digital distribution service would be to use amazon cloud services, does anyone really imagine that amazon will favour a direct competitor?
No investment in much needed infrastructure or even retooling for another crack at manufacturing. "No bugger that", say the Wall St high rollers, "we're having too much fun pissing all the free dosh away".
Posted by: Debsisdead | Jan 28 2021 10:57 utc | 68
chu teh | Jan 28 2021 8:32 utc | 60
"Naked short selling" is still supposed to be illegal. this was the system that brought down Bear Sterns and Lehman and precipitated a financial crisis.
ie Deliberate short sales - which came "due" on two consecutive days - in the thousands of claims. - It enabled Barclays to "save" Bear Sterns by buying up it's real assets for pennies on the dollar. Lehmans was probably NOT supposed to go down. B-S was a major Bank, but not in the "clique" that controlled Banking itself. According to a report at the time, the six major Banks and the Fed set up BS.
Posted by: Stonebird | Jan 28 2021 11:22 utc | 69
Good Tom Luongo article on CIA-construct Navalny's intended roles inside Russia, and in US domestic propaganda.
https://tomluongo.me/2021/01/25/proving-putin-prescient-operation-navalny-pathetic/
Posted by: gm | Jan 28 2021 11:26 utc | 70
LOL yeah, it seems Biden really forgets the $2000, I mean the $1400 stimulus he promised, no harm done tho, at least Harriet Tubman is on the paper now, that's progress, baby.
Posted by: Smith | Jan 28 2021 11:38 utc | 71
Re; Xi and Davos;
Trump only made one mistake, and that was to assume that the President of the US was elected to help the Americans. When, of course, he is put there as an enabler of Corporate power.
Trump pulled the US out of the TPP (Pacific area) trade deal on the assumption that this would help the US as a NATION. The TPP had several rather nasty additions that would have meant that real legal power would have transited to Corporations. ISDN "tribunals" would have supplanted both National Governments and legal systems. An ISDN tribunal (3 anonymous people) would have deliberated in secret, and given "rulings" that could not be appealed by either National courts or anyone else. (National courts would be no longer "necessary"!) Added spice; IF a Government was obliged to take into account public pressure (GMO foods, etc. etc) effectively overuling the ISDN, then the Government would have to compensate financially for the loss of the EXPECTED profit. Financial speculation was also to become "Free". There was a massive amount of resistance to the TPP in Europe as well.
So Trump pulled out.
Xi moved in.
Xi has now completed a Pacific area Trade deal that comprises 40% of the World's Trade. He has done something similar towards the Atlantic. (Incl S America etc. TTIP) So the total is now well over half of all trading Nations. The US is excluded. He also sequestered Jack Ma, (Billionaire) for a certain period away from prying eyes, put his company Ant back on the "right" track...
Xi went to Davos in a position of power. He has reminded the Corporates that in spite of Corporations being immortal, supra-national globalists, and considered as legal "persons" but with less responsibilities (Taxes anyone? How do you put a Corporation in Prison?), the Billionaires and CEO's ARE mortal (Ma, he's making eyes at me). He also reminded them that if they now want to trade they have to ask politely.
What will The Davos crowd now try to do?
PS: thinking through this, it is clear that the EU "commission(ers)" are also unelected (by the "cattle) and are there to enable Corporate supremacy. The Parliament is for show only. So the population of the EU are no better off than the physical (Nationalist?) Americans.
Posted by: Stonebird | Jan 28 2021 12:06 utc | 72
psychohistorian comment 36
The situation with Israel is no doubt (in my mind) symptomatic of a form of social organisation, however, the details of symptoms are worth thinking about.
Looking at your LGB stuff makes me think that you should investigate the Alexander Technique.
Posted by: Johny Conspiranoid | Jan 28 2021 12:23 utc | 73
@ Posted by: Stonebird | Jan 28 2021 12:06 utc | 69
I know it must a be difficult idea for you to grasp, but here's a little secret fact: the world doesn't revolve around the Western working classes.
Sometimes, a pipe is just a pipe.
Posted by: Smith | Jan 28 2021 11:38 utc | 68
"at least Harriet Tubman is on the paper now"
When will Americans ever get tired of symbolical nonsense?
Posted by: J W | Jan 28 2021 12:39 utc | 75
vk | Jan 28 2021 12:37 utc | 71
You got it wrong - as I agree with you.
What I was pointing out is that the Corporate-Billionaire caste are the ones with the power, and at Davos which is their own festive reunion, they invited Xi. He then told them what to expect. ie Corporations will be "admitted" if they behave correctly. It may not be what they wanted to hear.
Trump is just a side show who didn't further his masters wishes. (Which is why he was replaced by Biden)
Note that Billionaires who are not part of the ruling Clique in the US are being taken to court and offered, in exchange for them transferring assets to the US sphere of influence, remission. ie. By "swearing vassalage" they can be let off.
Posted by: Stonebird | Jan 28 2021 13:15 utc | 76
Posted by: james | Jan 27 2021 18:40 utc | 23
Whitney Webb is the one who has done all the work.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/205226/3517696-217-covid-19-the-security-state-w-whitney-webb
Those reports didn't make it to MOA. German security services did not approve.
Posted by: PointedDragon | Jan 28 2021 13:21 utc | 77
@ Posted by: Stonebird | Jan 28 2021 13:15 utc | 73
They invited Xi because China is inevitable these days.
If we adopted the same logic, then we could call the UN a communists-globalist conspiracy against the Western working classes because the USSR was a member.
@S #64
Even assuming you can avoid detection in passing through security - high value notes are tracked by their serial numbers. I.e. the notes are tracked going to you and from you by the banks and money changers.
Perhaps you know lots of black market traders in Swiss francs - but few normal people do in which case they have to produce a passport to exchange currency.
Posted by: c1ue | Jan 28 2021 13:29 utc | 79
chu-teh @50
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cecil_Masterman
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-Cross_System
Posted by: yota | Jan 28 2021 13:32 utc | 80
All the discussion of gold above - where I live, Chicago, you can take gold to any coin store, any pawn shop, any jeweler and walk out with cash no questions no paperwork. Then there would be thousands of small businesses operated by immigrants or members of different ethnic groups where payment in gold will be happily accepted. It is not a convenient medium for every transaction. It is widely used and accepted.
Posted by: oldhippie | Jan 28 2021 13:48 utc | 81
vk | Jan 28 2021 13:26 utc | 75
I think you don't realise just how "inevitable" China has become.
I have just been learning about the arrangements that they have discretely been making with Iran. ie Contract-only and payment in "soft currencies" for oil. One example only of what is probably collusion between China and Russia (Russia now controls OPEC prices not Saudi Arabia, since their attempt to overproduce and force the others to comply - failed.)
The BRI lies behind most of China's manipulations and agreements. The old usage of the terms "communism" or "capitalism" as controlled by Governments, are in the process of being replaced by "High-caste" (Corporations and billionaires) against "collectivities". The "working class Cattle" as the Indians call them, are typically unaware of what is going on.
(I must admit I also need a better word than "collectivities" to describe what is going on)
Posted by: Stonebird | Jan 28 2021 13:56 utc | 82
The main reason Russo-phobia has escalated in the 'Christian' (cough, cough) West in recent years, led by NATO's Fake Democracies, is Putin's Russian military intervention in Syria in 2015 (and Libya). Since NATO's curs, sleazebags & liars are NEVER going to start a hot war with Russia, the "Israelis" have had to watch their Yinon Daydream slowly, and inexorably, going up in smoke. To say the "Israelis" are unhappy with Russia would be the understatement of Millennia. But if Putin seems not to care about their anger, then neither should anyone else.
The Palestinians are legally entitled to be armed to protect themselves from an illegal, violent, racist Military Occupation. So the "Israelis" should be careful about thwarting Putin because if they cross his Red Line, Russia could make Palestine's favourite Dream and "Israel's" worst Nightmare, come true.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jan 28 2021 14:05 utc | 83
@ Posted by: Stonebird | Jan 28 2021 13:56 utc | 79
I understand that, from the point of view of a Westerner, the Western elites look like a pantheon of gods, omnipotent, omniscient and an insurmountable obstacle.
But trust me, they're not. They are humans like us, and they are definitely not in full control of all the events in the world. Not everything is careful calculated, part of an obscure evil plan. There is no God.
Posted by: oldhippie | Jan 28 2021 13:48 utc | 78
Now try that with bitcoin
Posted by: Triden | Jan 28 2021 14:30 utc | 85
If the trillion printed money haven't proved it already, this GameStop thing is beating the dead horse.
Fiat money is fake, there's no value to it. It's literally just number.
I feel sad I didn't jump on this and crypto when I was younger.
Posted by: Smith | Jan 28 2021 8:49 utc | 62
-----
Fiat/GME = Apples/Oranges
Posted by: Triden | Jan 28 2021 14:39 utc | 86
Posted by: Johny Conspiranoid | Jan 28 2021 12:23 utc | 70
"Looking at your LGB stuff makes me think that you should investigate the Alexander Technique."
Is this what you mean? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU3ewm7HQD8 (1st page result from LGB googlesearch) I wonder if b has one - he could have been amusing himself with it the other "too cold to post" day. Is LGB working on a 1B1R, 一带一路, version?
Posted by: tucenz | Jan 28 2021 14:56 utc | 87
@Posted by: gm | Jan 27 2021 17:58 utc | 21
Ok, so "Proud Boys FBI Snitch Enrique Tarrio's long informant history with the FBI"
A snitch for years **except** for the 1/6/21 Capitol encroachment.
Reuters reported that he always informed the FBI of the Proud Boys plans
but Reuters would have us believe that that ended conveniently just before
the Capitol encroachment.
If his pattern of telling the FBI of Proud Boys plans did include 1/6
then the FBI knew well ahead of time about the 1/6/21 Capitol encroachment.
And people, thus, have good reason to suspect the encroachment was a set-up.
Now that Reuters (who gave the tip to Reuters?) has outed Enrique Tarrio
as a drug snitch to the FBI
his silencing (about what the FBI knew about 1/6/21) by whomever
can be credited to drug dealers.
Posted by: librul | Jan 28 2021 15:27 utc | 88
re: Gamestop
I read this morning somewhere that Robinhood
may have sealed it's fate.
"Live by the sword
die by the sword"
Millenials (?), and small retail buyers,
using Robinhood have been fk-d over by Robinhood
in the last few hours and their once loyal patrons
are *furious* at them.
Posted by: librul | Jan 28 2021 15:41 utc | 89
@Horsewisperer
Actually it was another event in 2014, namely the intervention in Ukraine - parts of which were re-baptized into "New Russia" - and the annexion of Crimea. The designation of "New Russia" for parts of Ukraine stems from the 18th century. In other words: Any country that had been part of czarist Russia and/or the Soviet Union in the last 250 years might face the same fate.
Posted by: m | Jan 28 2021 15:42 utc | 90
Just like they did to the Hunt Brothers--
""Robinhood Removes GameStop, AMC; Puts Notice On Pages Saying 'You Can Close Out Your Position On This Stock, But You Can Not Purchase Additional Shares'," Benzinga reported at about 0830 EST. "
Crackdown Arrives: Interactive Brokers Joins Robinhood, Blocks Buying Of Gamestop, AMC, Others
Posted by: arby | Jan 28 2021 15:46 utc | 91
librul @ 85
Well yes, of course. You are right about all that.
There are and were a hundred other ways to know that 1/6 was completely scripted. When selling BS through the media none of that matters. 9/11 was a very shoddy script and full of holes. The desired effect was achieved. Gulf of Tonkin was a shoddy script and full of holes. The desired effect was achieved. The teams who run these operations don’t have to be good. As long as the media chorus supports the narrative they get what the want every time.
Posted by: oldhippie | Jan 28 2021 16:14 utc | 92
karlof1 @25 - thanks for that further news about China's advances in quantum technology. I had seen in an earlier Nova program a reference to that technology being employed, I think then just between Beijing and Shanghai. The explanation given was that the system was so sensitive that any interference with it would simply be immediately seen as just that, so it could be dealt with preventively.
You no doubt have seen this in DeToqueville's introduction to "Democracy in America" but it chanced to fall my way from notes this morning:
"...The whole book which is here offered to the public has been written under the impression of a kind of religious dread produced in the author's mind by the contemplation of so irresistable a revolution which has advanced for centuries in spite of such amazing obstacles, and which is still proceeding in the midst of the ruins it has made..."
The whole introduction is worth contemplating as an account of the forward thrust of history by one who is still in the midst of its most recent unfolding, and the paragraph above can be read to encompass the advances China and Russia are making, whilst our US path is seemingly still in the swamps of fear of the masses rather than extending them a helping hand and so pressing forward to join the other two. Imagine what could happen if we did. The larger revolution is seemingly right out there, just tantalizingly beyond our reach...
Posted by: juliania | Jan 28 2021 16:43 utc | 93
David G Horsman @30:
[Posted by: librul | Jan 27 2021 16:28 utc | 10 - side rant:
"Human intelligence is just a tool. High intelligence does not guarantee
a dedication to a search for truth. High intelligence can give one a developed skill at rationalizing whatever beliefs one already holds."]
"...I never heard another human agree with that before.
"The Psychologist's Introspection Paradox"
It should have a better name than I can coin."
Actually, somewhere in the middle of "The Republic" Plato makes the same observation - either you become the philosopher who returns to the cave to help his former companions, or you use what you have learned for your own aggrandizement. (e.g. Alcibiades)
Posted by: juliania | Jan 28 2021 16:53 utc | 94
Posted by: m | Jan 28 2021 15:42 utc | 87
(Ukraine - parts of which were re-baptized into "New Russia" - and the annexion of Crimea.)
I was careful to start my rant @ #80 with "The main reason..." because there's often, if not usually, more than one reason tempting a nation to step outside its (military) comfort zone.
So whilst the Ukraine coup, and the earlier Georgia/South Ossetia clusterfuck, probably tempted Putin to give NATO a taste of its own medicine, I'm quite confident that the factor which tipped the scales in favour of a Russian intervention in Syria was the blizzard of mawkish NATO 'Christian' bullshit, libel and slander about President Assad.
Judging by the dearth of reporting by the Jew-controlled International Western MSM on Syria and Libya, its beginning to look as though both "Israel" and NATO feel compelled to "proceed with (ridiculously feeble) caution" in Syria and Libya.
I know I shouldn't but I'm thoroughly enjoying the spectacular and crass stupidity of Mad Dogs & Englishmen playing Russian Roulette with the President Of Russia!!
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jan 28 2021 17:04 utc | 95
arby @88
So basically the public has been blocked from preventing the economic lynching of a corporate person? The public will not be allowed to interfere with the capitalist cannibalistic feast planned for some corporate entities?
That is not unexpected. Capitalism has never been democratic, after all.
Posted by: William Gruff | Jan 28 2021 17:11 utc | 96
psychohistorian @ 38,
I followed what you were saying until this:
"...But keep blaming the Jews because that will insure humanity will never evolve out of the Enlightenment period to a logic and reason based society..."
I thought the Enlightenment was all about logic and reason - and to me, if that is what one follows, one is equally enabled into Alexander the Great activities. Which might seem the way forward, and certainly there are positive aspects to what was accomplished. But also, a huge amount of Shock and Awe for mankind in general.
I've got as far as finishing Book 2 of "The Republic". It seems to me that Book 1 is all about Plato's 'adventure' in Syracuse, where he had been involved in attempting to educate the leaders there in virtuous leadership, but failed. Thrasymachus in that first little argument is from Syracuse, and his violent attempt to sway the argument his way is that of a tyrant in the making. That argument has begun decorously with an arms merchant who is very self satisfied -- except constantly paying attention to his personal sacrifices to questionable gods (as we'll see in Book 2) The conversation comes to a halt as Thrasymachus's violent spirit is shamed by Socrates' logic. He blushes, but he is not won over.
Logic and reason are not enough.
Posted by: juliania | Jan 28 2021 17:14 utc | 97
William Gruff
The public will not be allowed to interfere with the capitalist cannibalistic feast planned for some corporate entities
It's a tribal thing.
Posted by: john | Jan 28 2021 18:03 utc | 98
The squad standing up for the little guy
Squad members Tlaib and AOC call for congressional hearing over Robinhood ‘market manipulation
Posted by: arby | Jan 28 2021 18:32 utc | 99
The Enemy Within
Asked what she meant when referring to the “enemy within,” Pelosi said: “It means we have members of Congress who want to bring guns on the floor and who have threatened violence against other members of Congress.”
Posted by: librul | Jan 28 2021 19:05 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
Whitney Webb's entire article is a must-read.
!!
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jan 27 2021 15:51 utc | 1