#MakeAmericaSmartAgain Hexaflexagons

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In my opinion: Trump's ties to Russia (and why he's not our president)

There's an old proverb attributed to Confucious that says "may you live in interesting times/"  I would say surely, that we are.

The intelligence community has been unequivocal in their assertion that there was some attempt to influence the election. They detailed some in the report that was provided.  But there were still whispers that there was more that they had.

Yesterday, the 35 page document shed some light on some of the other stuff.  Now its fair to say that intelligence doesn't deal with hypotheses, or vague concepts.  When they produce a report of some kind - especially one that is delivered to a superior (like say the director, or the president), you don't put nonsense in it.

So while the independent facts are still being sorted out, it seems quite clear that there was more than just hacking some DNC emails that went on to help Trump win the election.  We don't know what those things are, specifically, but we do know that the Russians (and who "they" are is still a little unclear - oligarchs?  mafia types? government officials?  some wannabe hacker types who want to be famous?) have some type of information on the donald that they want to use to blackmail him.  And get what they want.

There is also evidence pointing to Putin wanting to be sure the donald won - whatever it took to do that. There is one specific passage that suggests that he wasn't satisfied with disinformation getting this done.

And now we have to wait and see what actually comes of this.  But there are other parts to this story.  Comey, who I had assumed was corrupt, then later thought maybe he was played, turns out to not want this info to get out there and is doing his best to keep it away from everyone.  Which smells like treason to me. 

And then there are various politicians who have been briefed on this and who have chosen to do nothing because, it would seem, they could also blackmail the donald to get their way. Which is also treasonous behavior.

There should not be a swearing in until this matter is resolved. If Paul Ryan needs to be the acting president until this matter is settled so be it. I don't much like Ryan, but at least .... something.  He's not beholden to the Russians?  That's all I got.

Which brings us back to the election.  I think its obvious that IF there was an actual hack into the election mechanism (the machines themselves, corrupting people counting them, manipulating results, etc) then its clear he wasn't elected in a free and fair election.

But lets assume for a moment that there was nothing of that sort.  That the donald took the election simply because of ignorance and disinformation being presented.  And specifically one traitorous act by Comey in trying to help sway the election "nothing to see here, but please don't vote for Clinton"...shouldn't that in and of itself be enough to invalidate the whole thing, and send him (Comery that is) to prison?

If his aim was specifically to disrupt the process - and he succeeded - then how can it stand?

The very sad reality here is that it didn't matter what you and I thought about the election.  Doesn't matter who we voted for.  Either the election itself was hacked and the outcome was made favorable to one candidate - or the influence of one man's stupid comment swayed it. And in either case, democracy lost.

Now as for the knuckleheads that are our elected officials who want to simply turn a blind eye to Russian interference, and let the influence run its course, aren't they acting in a way that is not in the best interests of the United States?  Aren't they subverting their job to protect us from our enemies to get something they want?

They should be accountable too. Treason be thy course as well.

In short, it is my belief that this was not a free and fair election.  If we let it stand, we are basically saying American exceptionalism is dead. Democracy is dead.  We will be a neutered nation. that will never be great again.

So join me in saying this should never stand.

Lincoln once said something along the lines of "all the armies of europe and asia combined could not take a drink from the mississippi.  If destruction be our lot, it must rise up from within." 

And surely that's where we are now.

Come on intelligence. Come on actual news agencies.  Get us the rest of the story.  Don't let us come to our end this way.

And because of the election being tainted and needing an asterisk, I am saying he is not our president.  Not now.  Not ever.

To be clear about all of this: I don't like the man, but this is NOT about that - this is about democracy, and the greater good. 

And one last comment: it sure is a good thing we avoided that email scandal Clinton had.  We dodged a bullet there.  Whew.

The ACA - congrats you were conned

The republican "leadership" is hell bent on doing away with the ACA (Obamacare), but this will be fraught with logistical problems, legal challenges, and other difficulties.

And according to a non partisan group, a repeal will ultimately cost 100s of billions of dollars because the tax structure changed.

Plus of course 10s of millions of Americans will be uninsured, or uninsurable. People will literally die because of this pettiness. And don't look to public hospitals for help, as people did pre-ACA. All of that money was funneled away into this program. There will be no additional funds for routine care, as people had 8 years ago. You either pony up and pay full retail, or go without. There is no in between. Surely some people will choose crushing (and predatory) debt to stay alive. But why should they have to?

So congrats to those of you who thought this was just talk. We're all screwed.

What most people miss

The Donald's insistence that the intelligence community is political motivated, or outright lying, serves a deeper purpose than most people realize.

Sure, on the surface it appears that he is trying to promote a point of view that some feel is less than savvy. The problem is that it is fairly savvy. In fact he is doing this to specifically undercut the nature of intelligence and spying in the US. This serves the purpose of having no real counter to Russia's well established spy network and intelligence community.

And it allows Putin to have no major adversary in the west. Perhaps some portions of Europe can still challenge him, but undoubtedly he'll work to undermine them as well.

Fuck You Donald Trump (Chris Kluwe)

Can't find anything wrong with this piece

https://medium.com/@ChrisWarcraft/fuck-you-donald-trump-c644ae3dd94c#.1stze9mto

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Trump's solution to cyberattacks: Send info via courier | TheHill

Courier? Really?

Why not telex?

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/312334-trumps-solution-to-cyberattacks-write-it-down-and-send-it-by

What I have learned

2016 had many twists and turns. I saw many people go back to their base, to their core beliefs. I cut some people out of my life and added some new folks, and reconnected with a few old friends.

But the one thing I learned was this: it takes more than blood to make family. My adopted daughter is equally as important to me as my biological children. My favorite cousin was adopted into the family. Many of my blood relatives spouses are wonderful and I like having them around.

So it's important to release the negativity and not bother with folks just because they share a bloodline - and focus on people that matter to us.