Epstein "Belonged To Intelligence"?

Vicky Ward, who has been pursuing the Epstein story since 2002, provides an intriguing detail about why Epstein may have gotten a sweetheart deal from the Feds:

A couple of years ago, I was interviewing a former senior White House official when the name Jeffrey Epstein came up. 

Unaware of my personal history with Epstein, this person assured me that the New York financier was no serious harm to anyone. He was a good guy. A charming guy. Useful, too. He knew a lot of rich Arabs, including the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, and, further, he had clever ideas about creating bond issues for them. “OK, so he has a girl problem,” this person threw on, almost as an afterthought.

...

“Is the Epstein case going to cause a problem [for confirmation hearings]?” Acosta had been asked. Acosta had explained, breezily, apparently, that back in the day he’d had just one meeting on the Epstein case. He’d cut the non-prosecution deal with one of Epstein’s attorneys because he had “been told” to back off, that Epstein was above his pay grade. “I was told Epstein ‘belonged to intelligence’ and to leave it alone,” he told his interviewers in the Trump transition, who evidently thought that was a sufficient answer and went ahead and hired Acosta. (The Labor Department had no comment when asked about this.)

Well now. First, this may be garbled third hand story-telling which Acosta won't confirm (he apparently made no mention of an intelligence issue in his news conference today.)

Second, Acosta may have been told that as a little white lie by senior officials protecting Epstein.

But third... a guy with friends among the Arab sheiks may have had useful contacts during the early 2000's when the US was looking for both bin Laden and intel on Saddam's WMDs.

If Epstein was involved in that sort of thing the odds are we will never find out. But IF (I say IF!) we learn that Epstein was protected in 2008 because he was part of the WMD bellyflop in 2002, well - Washington will need a bigger fan to process the shit that will hit it.

Comments

[Pinandpuller]

Bad Boys, Bad Boys, what you gonna do

Move to Vermont if you know what's good for you

[Pinandpuller]

Boy, I haven't been first for a while.

https://governor.vermont.gov/press-release/governor-phil-scott-appoints-xusana-davis-vermont%E2%80%99s-first-racial-equity-executive

[GUS]

Oh Xusana, don't you cry for me, cause off to VERMONT, with a banjo on my knee.

This crap is sickening.

[Narciso79]

Well felix sater operated in another end of the street, his hearing went virtually unnoticed yesterday, it is thought he was Michael cohenz contact to the Russians

[Pinandpuller]

You may not want to read this so I'm going to give you a chance to SOB...
.
.
.
.
.
Apparently someone had preserved Draft Stallion Testicles put in her silicone breast implants.

Burn it with fire.

[jim nj]

willowed

MT,

That was the first article I've seen that delved into Epstein's finances. I'd like to see some people do a much deeper dive.

Some people are very good at talking themselves into money. Hustlers and semi-conmen that come up with interesting ideas that others are willing to back.

He doesn't seem to be very financially astute considering some of the losses he took.

There should be a record at the SEC that would clarify why he left Bear Stearns.

Correction: The notice would have gone to the SIA, which is now called FINRA:

http://www.finra.org/industry/terminate-individuals-registration

[Narciso79]

And it only took 17 years to write it, there curiosity is vast insnt it.

[jim nj]

OTOH,

We should poll all the governors to see where they stand on reparations. That could be a lot of fun when their next election is held.

[jim nj]

Narciso,

LOL. Time to get in front of the story so as to blame it on Trump.

See DB did business with Epstein and Trump, there's a connection in there somewhere.

[Narciso79]

That's about the size of it, they got James Stewart out of mothballs for this.

[jim nj]

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2019/07/10/repurposing_warships_114574.html

Talks of the history of repurposing US ships and some suggestions about the LCS class of ships, turning them into missile boats.

[Narciso79]

Wouldn't they require more armaments and more armor, but it's a start with the vessel of the navy.

[jim nj]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/09/uk-and-france-to-send-further-forces-to-syria-in-aid-of-us-withdrawal

We already know Germany declined.

[Narciso79]

Well do they send the wooden rifles or the 1/3 military complement

[jim nj]

Narcoso,

The Prussians would be appalled at how low the German military has fallen.

On the LCS ships. They were supposed to be multi-role ships with those modules that could be swapped in and out. Since that doesn't seem to be working they need to be re-configured for specific missions I think.

If the Navy can't figure out what to do with 35 otherwise useless ships we should ask the Coast Guard chime in. Maybe they can figure out what to do with them.

When first proposed I liked the LCS concept. No more.

[Narciso79]

It's the most powerful economy in the region, but it's a pitiful giant

[Pinandpuller]

Says here a SAW can shoot 700 looters per minute...

[jim nj]

https://www.hughhewitt.com/admiral-james-stavridis-usn-ret-on-the-upheaval-within-the-navy-and-the-growing-tension-with-iran/

Very interesting interview.

[jim nj]

If I were an Eastern European country I would have absolutely no confidence of the Germans coming to my defense.

Probably why the Polish want to create Camp Trump.

[Pinandpuller]

She's less Natural Born American than Ted Cruz?

[jim nj]

via Insty,

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/07/progressive-colleges-can-house-illegal-immigrants-dorms/

VDH

[Pinandpuller]

The actual name for Epstein's Caribbean getaway is Little St James Island, or as I like to call it, US Marshal's Island.

[Pinandpuller]

There's a temple at each cardinal point of the island.

[Pinandpuller]

None can say how many people entered the United States during that period. By 1952 Senator Pat McCarran, chairman of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee, estimated that, apart from legal immigration, five million aliens had illegally entered the country, including large numbers of "militant Communists, Sicilian bandits and other criminals". The chief investigating officer of the Immigration Service declined even to estimate the number of illegal entrants but said that at that time (when some measure of control had been re-established) "over half a million a year" were being intercepted and sent back at the Mexican border alone. The Social Security authorities, who supplied the cards necessary to obtain employment, were forbidden to give any information about applicants to the immigration or police authorities.

This mass of immigrants went to swell the size of the "fluctuating vote" on which Mr. Roosevelt's party (still following Mr. House's strategy) concentrated its electoral effort and its cry of "no discrimination". Under the president's restrictions on loyalty-interrogations, the way into the civil service and armed forces was opened to American-born or legally-domiciled alien Communists. The results to which this led were shown in part by the many exposures of the post-war period, the literature of which would fill an encyclopaedia of many volumes.

The entire West was also involved (as the Canadian, British and Australian exposures in time showed) and the significant thing is that, with the Canadian exception, no governmental investigation ever led to these partial revelations, which were always the work of persistent private remonstrants; nor was genuine remedial action ever taken, so that the state of affairs brought about during the 1930's and 1940's today continues not much changed, a source of grave weakness to the West in any new war.-Douglas Reed

[jim nj]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/ny-blasts-cruel-hud-proposal-to-evict-immigrants-from-public-housing/ar-AAE8EXY

OMG, we're going to push out families harboring illegal aliens and making those section 8 apartments available to US citizens. The horror.

We're trading an illegal Obama interpretation of the law for a Trump legal take. The horror.

[jim nj]

PIN,

You read some awfully weird shit.

[jim nj]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/07/10/new-orleans-already-flooded-hurricane-on-way/1699836001/

Parts of New Orleans flooded by rain.

I remember the commentary after the last hurricane. It was racist that blacks were unable to return to their communities. Seemed more like common sense to me. Your home was below sea level and got flooded, What sane person would rebuild on that property?

On the NJ shore, after the last storm, you can't get flood insurance unless you build above the the expected flood level with stilts. If your car is at ground level, kiss it goodbye when the rain starts.

[jim nj]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/10/politics/ken-cuccinelli-ice-raids/index.html

Top immigration official says ICE raids 'absolutely' going to happen

And why not? This people have removal orders. If others get caught up in it blame the sanctuary states and cities for not helping out in the targeting.

[jim nj]

https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-earthquakesa-earthquake-45-quake-hits-near-olancha-calif-mxjt-20190710-story.html

Yesterday 5:14 PM.

[JimNorCal]

Reparations (from last thread): "any white folks who descend from people who arrived here later never owned slaves"

Isn't it the case that pro reparations people have various models (using math) which claim that the unpaid contributions of slaves (and perhaps the underpaid contributions of freed blacks) provided well being to society at large such that everyone living in the US is "responsible" for slavery regardless of their family history?

[jim nj]

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-administration-launches-probe-into-french-tax-prompting-fears-of-trade-war

A tax on primarily American internet companies. The EU has already lodged many penalties against American internet companies. At some point it becomes unfair.

Unfair that the US isn't earning that money with our own penalties.

[jim nj]

Jim,

They might, but it's probably a flawed analysis. Why wouldn't the slave owners capture all the benefits?

You might be able to generate a very convoluted analysis of how owners and employees of New England cloth mills profited off the cotton trade. They paid market value for the cotton. Who else was offering raw cotton in that market?

More useful for AA's to understand just how exploited white Americans, mostly immigrants, were abused living in factory towns where the scrip they were paid in was only good for paying rent on company owned housing or in the company store.

Lose your arm or leg to the factory machinery and see how they treated you.

[jim nj]

Call me cynical, but there is a counter-argument to every part of the reparations scheme.

Give me an analysis and I'll shred it.

[jim nj]

nytol

[MissMarple2]

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/aoc-pelosi-busy-work-out-of-way

More on the feud.

[Buckeye]

I would really like to know who is pulling AOC's strings.

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump Verified Account @realDonaldTrump

The White House will be hosting a very big and very important Social Media Summit today. Would I have become President without Social Media? Yes (probably)! At its conclusion, we will all go to the beautiful Rose Garden for a News Conference on the Census and Citizenship.

[MissMarple2]

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/452533-democratic-senators-want-candidates-to-take-swalwells-hint-and-drop-out

[MissMarple2]

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/452531-democrats-warn-push-for-border-crossing-decriminalization-will-prove-costly

[MissMarple2]

@sethjlevy @k_ovfefe @actual_chaos @Joestradamus91 @oldmanluvsmineo @BrandonHathaw12 Nunes Says next the step is for John Durham to get everyone involved in SpyGate Coup under Oath at a Grand Jury 👀🍿pic.twitter.com/chuML8xuCf

— ZT (@zattack2016) July 11, 2019

2-minute video of Devin Nunes at the link.

[Buckeye]

Sounds like the senior Democrats are letting the punks know that they have had enough of this shit.

Nothing like the smell of infighting in the morning:)

[rich]

>>>just how exploited white Americans, mostly immigrants, were abused living in factory towns where the scrip they were paid in was only good for paying rent on company owned housing or in the company store<<<

this right here. my aunt told me of stories of the kkk marching through their company housing and burning a cross in her yard.

[rich]

whoa it's early.

[MissMarple2]

This is by the guy who used to be Imperator Rex on Twitter, and is now just writing under "Rex". He details why the British ambassador sounds so panicky and what skullduggery British intelligence has probably been up to. Very good read!

https://quodverum.com/2019/07/191/trump-s-revenge-panic-on-the-streets-of-london-.html

[MissMarple2]

https://thehill.com/latino/452555-deportation-raids-to-begin-sunday-report

[rich]

i need a playbill to keep track of the entire cast ...

[MissMarple2]

A sad statistic seen on Twitter, and a partial explanation of a lot of our culture's problems:

"As of 1980, about 75% of white working-class adults were married, a figure very close to the 79% of high-income adults. By 2017, however, the working-class number had fallen to only 52%."

[MissMarple2]

https://amgreatness.com/2019/07/10/democrats-2020-trillions-and-trillions-and-trillions-more/

The author has added up all of the freebies the democrats are promising. It's an eye-popper!

[MissMarple2]

This is a continuation of the tweet I posted at 6:43. Alas, President Trump didn't use the dots at the end of that one, so I didn't know there was more.

Donald J. Trump Verified Account @realDonaldTrump

....The Fake News is not as important, or as powerful, as Social Media. They have lost tremendous credibility since that day in November, 2016, that I came down the escalator with the person who was to become your future First Lady. When I ultimately leave office in six...…

....years, or maybe 10 or 14 (just kidding), they will quickly go out of business for lack of credibility, or approval, from the public. That’s why they will all be Endorsing me at some point, one way or the other. Could you imagine having Sleepy Joe Biden, or @AlfredENeuman99,..

...or a very nervous and skinny version of Pocahontas (1000/24th), as your President, rather than what you have now, so great looking and smart, a true Stable Genius! Sorry to say that even Social Media would be driven out of business along with, and finally, the Fake News Media!

[Buckeye]

By 2017, however, the working-class number had fallen to only 52%

And much, much worse for blacks.

When we abandoned real discipline in the schools the culture went to the dogs.

The progs created this mess, but at the rate they are going, it will take another half century for them to even develop enough self awareness to figure that out.

And fix it?

Number one takeaway....

Not enough hours left in our lifetimes.

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump Verified Account @realDonaldTrump

The Pledge of Allegiance to our great Country, in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, is under siege. That is why I am going to win the Great State of Minnesota in the 2020 Election. People are sick and tired of this stupidity and disloyalty to our wonderful USA!

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump Verified Account @realDonaldTrump

“Nearly one million more blacks and two million more Hispanics are employed than when Barrack Obama left office, and minorities account for more than half of all new jobs created during the Trump Presidency. Unemployment among black women has hovered near 5% for the last six.....

....months, the lowest since 1972.” The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board, A Tale of Two Economies. @IngrahamAngle

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump Verified Account @realDonaldTrump

Robert Johnson, B.E.T. “I give the President a lot of credit for moving the Economy in a positive direction that’s benefiting a large number of Americans. I think the Tax Cuts clearly helped stimulate the Economy. Overall, if you look at the U.S. Economy, and you look at.....

....the number of people who are no longer looking for jobs but who are now seeing the opportunity for job growth, you’ve got to give the President an A Plus for that.” Thank you Robert, one of our great business leaders!

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump Verified Account @realDonaldTrump

The Fake News Media loves the narrative that I didn’t use many banks because the banks didn’t like me. No, I didn’t use many banks because I didn’t (don’t) need their money (old fashioned, isn’t it?). If I did, it would have been very easy for me to get.

....And remember, a bank that I did use years ago, the now badly written about and maligned Deutsche Bank, was then one of the largest and most prestigious banks in the world! They wanted my business, and so did many others!

[Another Bob]

Spent a few minutes poking at some pretty pathetic Brits on twitter who are simply outraged that Trump forced Darroch out.

Boy, are they deep into the TDS...

[MissMarple2]

Buckeye,

It's hard to imagine how things have changed since I was in high school. It's frightening, really.

And it's all due to the media, academia, and entertainment normalizing aberrant behavior. Look at the women's soccer team.

Not only are they normalizing being gay, they are normalizing rudeness, lack of respect for the White Hose, and a lack of patriotism. And instead of minimizing their coverage, we have them shoved in our faces and as much as told that we should approve!

[Another Bob]

Combination of divide-and-conquer and bread-and-circuses MM.

[MissMarple2]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-11/trump-to-hold-news-conference-on-census-today-after-court-loss?cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=business

This should be good, since his tweets indicate a zero f's given this morning.

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump Verified Account @realDonaldTrump

Democrats had to quickly take down a tweet called “Kids In Cages, Inhumane Treatment at the Border,” because the horrible picture used was from the Obama years. Very embarrassing! @foxandfriends

[Extraneus]

GAB Hello everyone,

After three years of work and after being banned multiple times by both App Stores, Gab finally has dozens of mobile apps for our users to choose from. Recently we moved to an open source and decentralized version of Gab that makes your Gab account compatible with a variety of different apps.

You can search both app stores for "Mastodon" "ActivityPub" and "Fediverse." The majority of those apps will work with your Gab account, although some of them have unfortunately already blocked our domain. To sign into your Gab account with these third-party apps simply enter "gab.com" as the instance/server and then login with your Gab credentials.

Thankfully we have an official Gab app for Android on the Google Play Store here.

Unfortunately Apple recently banned our Apple Developer account without cause, but thankfully there are several third-party clients that will allow you to login with your Gab account. Our favorite right now is Roma and you can get it here.

Gab Social is now unstoppable.

[MissMarple2]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/mueller-prosecutor-zainab-ahmad-leaves-justice-dept-for-private-practice/2019/07/10/c8f6e190-a33f-11e9-b732-41a79c2551bf_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.6b7f1d26e87f

Michael Flynn prosecutor. Susan Hennessy of the Washington Post says that while there is always turnover between government and private practice, this is "starting to feel like an exodus."

I say GOOD.

[James D.]

Call me cynical, but there is a counter-argument to every part of the reparations scheme.

You're being incredibly generous to imply that what the reparations people are putting forth can be called "arguments" in the first place.

[James D.]

The progs created this mess, but at the rate they are going, it will take another half century for them to even develop enough self awareness to figure that out.

What self-awareness? They created this mess ON PURPOSE. They WANT broken homes, single-parent families, lack of male role models in the home, generational poverty, all of it.

IT'S ALL ON PURPOSE. All of it. They have to destroy all the basic building blocks of a functioning society that creates self-sufficient, resilient adults, because self-sufficient, resilient adults do not need (or want!) progs to run their lives for them.

[MissMarple2]

https://www.bizpacreview.com/2019/07/10/pecker-probe-could-bring-down-bill-clinton-773565?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=BPR%20Email&utm_campaign=DMS

That's David Pecker of the National Enquirer, not the other way the word is used. The url sure got my attention, though! HA!

[Narciso79]

Darroch is a eurocrat, Iran deal proponent who was also a security advisor, hes full cabal

[henry]

Shades of “Porky’s” Miss M.

[Extraneus]

When an ISIS terrorist who married her own brother tries to deflect Tucker Carlson’s valid points. ☕️

(Who knew childish name-calling could work both ways?!) https://t.co/xMYvciCZ0l

— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) July 11, 2019

Responding to...

When a white nationalist TV host tries to question my love for my country.☕️ pic.twitter.com/Al1bxjRqKW

— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) July 10, 2019

(Click to open.)

[MissMarple2]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4730092/Snopes-brink-founder-accused-fraud-lying.html

Well, well, well.

[Extraneus]

McConnell Challenger Says She’d Have Confirmed Kavanaugh, Flips Within Hours After Backlash

[lurkersusie]

Thank goodness for the video

(3) Boomieleaks on Twitter: "This staffer said Trump grabbed her by the shoulders and forcibly kissed her at a campaign event. She is now suing Trump for "violating norms of decency." Someone else captured this video, just released tonight.
The instance seems to have been greatly mischaracterized.

https://twitter.com/notwokieleaks/status/1149156938955071488

[MissMarple2]

lurkersusie,

Isn't that something? She is a LIAR and I too, am grateful for the video!

[Rocco]

Good morning, my niece stopped in and placed an order to go at this fast food joint. The order came to roughly $25 but the server told her the total was $35. She asked why it was so much when her order only totaled $25, and she asked for a receipt. Another server joined the discourse and agreed that she owed $35. She was adamant about seeing a receipt so they gave her one. The receipt showed she asked for an extra $10 back so she told them she didn't ask for any extra cash back when paying the bill. I think they resolved it but i'm not sure how. She should have called the cops imo.

[henry]

LOL. Chris Wallace proves he is an intellectual giant of microscopic proportions:

https://twitter.com/acosta/status/1149281802768568320?s=21

[henry]

@pzf

BREAKING NEWS: Dow Jones Industrial Average hits 27,000 for the first time ever.

[Jane]

How weird Rocco.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--Isn't it the case that pro reparations people have various models (using math) which claim that the unpaid contributions of slaves (and perhaps the underpaid contributions of freed blacks) provided well being to society at large such that everyone living in the US is "responsible" for slavery regardless of their family history?--

Let's construct a model that deducts from that total the cost to society of the freed descendants of those slaves murdering, robbing and pillaging at a rate far in excess of their population ratio for the last 160 years. I suspect who owes who might suffer a significant reversal.
I know progs and race hustlers [but I repeat myself] claim those crimes are also a result of cracker oppression but out here in the real world, that hair-brained excuse has about as much traction as reparations themselves.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--But IF (I say IF!) we learn that Epstein was protected in 2008 because he was part of the WMD bellyflop in 2002...--

That's the kind of farfetched speculation that gets some people so riled up with TomR.
Maybe worse.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--I would really like to know who is pulling AOC's strings.--

The Rothschilds via George Soros.
Rats! There goes my White House invitation. :)

[henry]

Sure is a lot of butthurt concerning Trump’s “Social Media Summit.” O’Keefe will be there!!!!! Can’t have that voice heard!!!

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/07/10/tech/white-house-social-media-summit/index.html

[henry]

@WSJ

Trump is expected to sign an executive order to attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census

[MissMarple2]

I have spent the last 45 minutes on the phone with the local power company.

When that ransomware mess hit me the other day, I lost all of my passwords and screennames. Now even though she gave me the correct screenname and sent me a temporary password through my gmail, I cannot log o. We have tries 4 passwords including one she read to me over the phone.

I had to go to the bank yesterday to get a new password. Honest to God, this is the biggest pain in the neck. I haven't even done the gas company yet!

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump Verified Account @realDonaldTrump

Now the Democrats have asked to see 12 more people who have already spent hours with Robert Mueller, and spent a fortune on lawyers in so doing. How many bites at the apple do they get before working on Border Loopholes and Asylum. They also want to interview the highly...…

....conflicted and compromised Mueller again. He said he was “done” after his last 9 minute speech, and that he had nothing more to say outside of the No Collusion, No Obstruction, Report. Enough already, go back to work! I won, unanimously, the big Emoluments case yesterday!

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump Verified Account @realDonaldTrump

Will be a big and exciting day at the White House for Social Media!

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump Verified Account @realDonaldTrump

Mexico is doing great at the Border, but China is letting us down in that they have not been buying the agricultural products from our great Farmers that they said they would. Hopefully they will start soon!

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump Verified Account @realDonaldTrump

“It seems that the Brits and the French and the Germans are coming around to the idea that the Iranians are up to no good!” @BillHemmer @FoxNews

[MissMarple2]

https://theintercept.com/2019/07/10/george-norcross-cory-booker-anti-immigration/

New Jersey influential democrat warns about alienating working class folks by pushing immigration.

I bet AOC has no use for this guy.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--or maybe 10 or 14 (just kidding)--

How could anyone NOT enjoy this presidency?

[henry]

@vickimckenna:

REPORT: Remember How Kavanaugh Accuser Christine Blasey Ford Had No Social Media Footprint? Now We Know Why.

https://twitter.com/vickimckenna/status/1149325530698866689?s=21

[Tom R]

That's the kind of farfetched speculation that gets some people so riled up with TomR.

What exactly is farfetched about it? If it is a true statement that Acosta was ordered to lay off Epstein by someone in the Intel business (I assume CIA), then that does indeed make this scandal even bigger than just a pedophile ring. It would also mean some dots could be plausibly connected that previously would be too farfetched to connect.

There has been numerous posters here speculating on how corrupt the CIA is. That discussion goes all the way back to the Plamegate days when I first starting reading this blog. Is it farfetched to believe there is a pro-Communist faction within the CIA that has existed going back decades? If that is a reasonable assumption then what kind of corrupt, nefarious activities could they have done over the decades to consolidate their power? This article is from last year.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/researcher-reports-soviets-created-child-trafficking-rings-in-the-west-for-blackmail_2420059.html

[fdcol63 🇺🇸]

I wish Trump would tweet that he's building a detention facility just for "Fake News journalists" .... with "special showers".

Lawd, imagine the hysterical violations of Godwin's Law that would generate!

[sbwaters]

[Long. Feel free to SOB.]

[About the first lines from "Waiting for Godot" I tweeted]

Joan: I've thought a few of your comments (while not cynical) were not your usual optimistic take on a few things.

Joan, thanks for noticing. I am pressed locally at almost every turn. Events nationally and internationally, although not my focus, mirror what I see.

I previously thought Godot represented inertia.
No more. English seems to have no word for the fog in "Godot" — the lack of consciousness that masks as consciousness itself.

The characters’ attitude would be malevolent except malevolence requires intent. If you don’t see something — or below your consciousness don’t choose to see something — it’s stupid, inappropriate, dangerous, uncivil, subversive, but not malevolent.

I see it among some relatives, newspaper employees, school employees, community organization members, and — courtesy of the news I am obliged to edit every day — in what is reported about the state, the nation, and the world.

I may be particularly sensitive to it now because our news business is engaged in an transition — like flying a plane through a narrow opportunity window to move from mostly print to mostly online — when the plane is running on fumes because retail chains see little value in encouraging local community and confuse information with news.

It’s all masked with Product — toothpaste, car, or candidate — that assaults us with flouncing next-gen models sporting pasted-on smiling teeth, quick-cut from scene to scene.

Add that the ignorant 20-somethings, abused by selfish politicos abetted by false-smile sycophant media, has been corralled into such lack of skills and debt that the dearth of new families with children jeopardizes economic success.
• A 30-year-old in the basement needs counseling but resists seeing it.
• Employees can’t cope with the new environment, won’t learn to work better, won’t retire yet are protected by government.
• Our wire service suffers systemic problems that mirror a global problem with schooling.
• Local schools are “run” by boards that have no authority or funds to run them.
• A doctor in a hospital sees only seven patients a day because of old contract language but won’t change in ways that economically benefit the hospital and the patient.
• Elderly need to be cared for, whether they can see the need or not.
• A nano-company backed out of adding 500-1,000 jobs next door because the New York’s tech czar demanded illegal kick-backs and got sent to jail for it.
• The governor and his uniparty legislature has gone all Prog in the false hope he’ll be his party’s Sir Lochinvar.
• National political candidates get away saying anything with media only entertainment. For them, Tomorrow is so far away.

There is so little I can do that doesn’t depend on others captured by their own ennui.

If I were to act, with no guarantee of success, the sensible thing for me to do is to retire now so my son, the entrepreneur, can apply my salary to pursue our flight through the window of opportunity. Who knows where the business will be on the other side of the window, where the community will be, where the country will be.

Or where I will be. Even in retirement uncertainty reigns. The deferred compensation agreement requires I take an annuity rather than a lump sum I could invest. That may not be the best long term for my spouse.

I do have 100 percent ownership of the newspaper. After 45 years I did not expect the sensible thing for me to do for the community was to retire. I don’t know what will be left in five years to sell or pass on.

There is no ledge. There is no veranda. But I enjoy the banter about them.

There is, however, the need to persevere.

A lot hangs on draining the swamp even if the world will go on whether Godot arrives or not.

[lyle]

Is there no spousal benefit on the annuity, sbw?

[MissMarple2]

sbwaters,

Prayers for your navigating through such stormy waters.

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump Verified Account @realDonaldTrump

Dow just hit 27,000 for first time EVER!

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump Verified Account @realDonaldTrump

So happy that I was able to keep Sikorsky Helicopter in the Great State of Pennsylvania. KEEP AMERICA GREAT!

[henry]

sbw, I hear you. Similar issues converting from on premises to cloud. With a massive overhang of regulation pending. The “deregulation “ so far simply moves ownership of compliance from unaccountable career civil service to actively toxic NGOs and law firms. Yet the compliance becomes more onerous. TSA security theater level panopticon surveillance of my employees for GDPR, an EU law even though we operate in the US. I can say no, and do. Costs a lot of business to say no these days, but not all business. So keep going? Sure. But for how long?

[fdcol63 🇺🇸]

So true:

[MissMarple2]

https://www.theepochtimes.com/jeffrey-epsteins-ties-to-clinton-and-his-questionable-source-of-wealth_2997016.html

[MissMarple2]

So, more bad news. I tried to file a dispute but the bank rules do not allow it because I voluntarily gave these weasels my debit card info. AND I got dinged for international fees since they are overseas, AND I am going to have to change ALL my passwords.

AND I have to get a new debit card.

This is the biggest pain in the neck!

[henry]

fdcol63, very true. It’s just time sharing from the 70s. However, buyer expectations and vendor responsibilities change when that “cloud” word applies. Some of it is good, much utter nonsense. Normal enterprise software marketing cf. until privacy laws. And data integrity laws. And sales tax applicability. And a whole basket of liability shifting in contracting and insurance. Plus you code a bit differently (normal innovation, if you have the time). Then the licensing terms... no upfront cash to pay cost of sales (Which is massively inflated by “integrators” and legal bs over licenses). No surprise that things like customer satisfaction and ROO get lost in the shuffle.