lewrockwell--2020-01-27--Google — A Dictator Unlike Anything the World Has Ever Known

Robert Epstein , who received his Ph.D. in psychology from Harvard in 1981 and served as the former editor in chief at Psychology Today , is now a senior research psychologist for the American Institute of Behavioral Research and Technology , where for the last decade he has helped expose Google ’ s manipulative and deceptive practices .
He explains what got him interested in investigating the internet search monopoly in the first place : What Epstein discovered through his subsequent research , which began in 2013 , is that yes , biased search results can indeed be used to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
What ’ s more , the strength of that influence was shocking .
He also eventually discovered how Google is able to block website access on browsers other than their own .
His findings were published in 2016 in U.S. News & World Report.1 1.They ’ re a surveillance agency with significant yet hidden surveillance powers .
As noted by Epstein : 2.They ’ re a censoring agency with the ability to restrict or block access to websites across the internet , thus deciding what people can and can not see .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ access to entire countries and the internet as a whole .
The most crushing problem with this kind of internet censorship is that you don ’ t know what you don ’ t know .
If a certain type of information is removed from search , and you don ’ t know it should exist somewhere , you ’ ll never go looking for it .
And , when searching for information online , how would you know that certain websites or pages have been removed from the search results in the first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ don ’ t .
For example , Google has been investing in DNA repositories for quite a long time , and are adding DNA information to our profiles .
According to Epstein , Google has taken over the national DNA repository , but articles about that — which he has cited in his own writings — have all vanished .
3.They have the power to manipulate public opinion through search rankings and other means .
While surveillance is Google ’ s primary business , their revenue — which exceeds $ 130 billion a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
All that personal information you ’ ve provided them through their various products is sold to advertisers looking for a specific target audience .
How Google Can Shift Your Perception Without Your Knowledge Epstein ’ s controlled , randomized , double-blind and counterbalanced experiments have revealed a number of different ways in which Google can shift public perception .
The first effect he discovered is called SEME , which stands for search engine manipulation effect .
For a full description of the basic experiment used to identify this effect , please listen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the aim of his experiment was to see whether search results biased toward a particular political candidate would be capable of shifting users ’ political opinion and leanings .
Another thing Epstein noticed was that very few seemed to realize they were seeing biased search results .
In other words , the manipulation went virtually undetected .
In a second experiment , they were able to achieve a 63 % shift in voter preference , and by masking the bias — simply by inserting a pro-opponent result here and there — they were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ everyone .
What this large-scale investigation revealed is that the few who actually notice the bias are not protected from its effects .
Curiously , they actually shift even further toward the bias , rather than away from it .
As evidenced by other studies , the pattern of clicks is a key factor that makes search bias so powerful : 50 % of all search selections go to the top two items and 95 % of all clicks go to the first page of search results .
Subsequent experiments revealed that this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Most of the things people search for are simple matters such as local weather or the capital of a country .
The most appropriate and correct answer is always at the very top .
This conditions them to assume that the best and truest answer is always the most high-ranked listing .
Google May Have Shifted Millions of Votes in 2016 Elections The ramifications of the search engine manipulation effect can be immense .
Of course , having power to shift public opinion is one thing ; actually using that power is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ next target was to determine whether Google is using its power of influence or not .
On the high end , Google ’ s biased search results may have shifted as many as 10.4 million undecided voters toward Clinton , which is no small feat — all without anyone realizing they ’ d been influenced , and without leaving a trace for the authorities to follow .
According to Epstein ’ s calculations , tech companies , Google being the main one , can shift 15 million votes leading up to the 2020 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ potential to select the next president of United States .
Google Has the Power to Determine 25 % of Global Elections Many who look at Epstein ’ s work end up focusing on Google ’ s ability to influence U.S. politics , but the problem is much bigger than that .
A Dictator Unlike Anything the World Has Ever Known Another , and even more frightening possibility , is that Google could allow its biased algorithm to favor one candidate over another without caring about which candidate is being favored .
While this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s not , because there are no laws or regulations that restrict or dictate how Google must rank its search results .
Courts have actually concluded that Google is simply exercising its right to free speech , even if that means destroying the businesses they demote in their search listings or black listings .
Cypherpunks : Freedom a ... Julian Assange Best Price : $ 3.45 Buy New $ 8.99 The only way to protect ourselves from this kind of hidden influence is by setting up monitoring programs such as Epstein @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ As a species , it ’ s the only way we can protect ourselves from new types of online technologies that can be used to influence us , ” he says .
“ No dictator anywhere has ever had even a tiny fraction of the power that this company has.
” Epstein is also pushing for government to make the Google search index a public commons , which would allow other companies to create competing search platforms using Google ’ s database .
While Google ’ s search engine can not be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thwarted by forcing it to hand over its index to other search platform developers .
In 2016 , Epstein also discovered the remarkable influence of search suggestions — the suggested searches shown in a drop-down menu when you begin to type a search term .
This effect is now known as the search suggestion effect or SSE .
Epstein explains : YouTube , which is owned by Google , also has enormous influence on public opinion .
According to Epstein , 70 % of the videos people view on YouTube are suggested by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ algorithm , which recommends videos for you to view whenever you ’ re watching a video .
Just like the search suggestions , this is a phenomenally effective ephemeral manipulation tool .
There ’ s no record of the videos recommended by the algorithm , yet it can take you down the proverbial rabbit hole by feeding you one video after another .
Most people now have Amazon Prime .
If you are one of those who do , you can watch the following documentary for free on Prime .
It is well @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Epstein and many other experts provide a very compelling overview of the dangers that we discuss in our interview .
In my view , this is a must-watch and one to recommend to your friends and family .
A question Epstein raises is , “ Who gave this private company , which is not accountable to any of us , the ability to determine what billions of people around the world will see or will not see ?
” That is perhaps one of the biggest issues .
Epstein and others attempt to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ The Creepy Line , ” which is a direct quote from Google ’ s executive chairman Eric Schmidt .
In his article2 “ Seven Simple Steps Toward Online Privacy , ” Epstein outlines his recommendations for protecting your privacy while surfing the web , most of which don ’ t cost anything .
You can access the article at : MySevenSimpleSteps.com This is one of the reasons I strongly recommend that you use a VPN on your cellphone and computer , as this will prevent virtually anyone from tracking and targeting you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I am using the one Epstein recommends , Nord VPN , which is only about $ 3 per month and you can use it on up to six devices .
In my view , this is a must if you seek to preserve your privacy .
How Google Tracks You Even When You ’ re Offline You can learn a lot about a person by tracking their movements and whereabouts .
Most of us are very naïve about these things .
As explained by Epstein , location tracking technology has become incredibly sophisticated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ example , which are a Google-owned operating system , can track you even when you ’ re not connected to the internet , whether you have geo tracking enabled or not .
As soon as you reconnect to the internet , all that information stored in your phone is sent to Google .
So , even though you may think you ’ ve just spent the day incognito , the moment you reconnect , every step you ’ ve made is shared ( provided you had your phone with you ) .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s also important to realize that Google is tracking your movements online even if you ’ re not using their products , because most websites use Google Analytics , which tracks everything you do on that website .
And , you have no way of knowing whether a website uses Google Analytics or not .
To protect your privacy , Epstein recommends taking the following steps , seven of which are outlined in “ Seven Simple Steps Toward Online Privacy.
” The last one , Fitbit , is a more recent concern .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) such as Nord , which is only about $ 3 per month and can be used on up to six devices .
In my view , this is a must if you seek to preserve your privacy .
Epstein explains : Nord , when used on your cellphone , will also mask your identity when using apps like Google Maps .
Do not use Gmail , as every email you write is permanently stored .
It becomes part of your profile and is used to build digital models of you , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ line of thinking and every want and desire .
Many other older email systems such as AOL and Yahoo are also being used as surveillance platforms in the same way as Gmail .
ProtonMail.com , which uses end-to-end encryption , is a great alternative and the basic account is free .
Don ’ t use Google ’ s Chrome browser , as everything you do on there is surveilled , including keystrokes and every web page you ’ ve ever visited .
Brave is a great alternative that takes privacy seriously .
Brave @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suppresses ads .
It ’ s based on Chromium , the same software infrastructure that Chrome is based on , so you can easily transfer your extensions , favorites and bookmarks .
Don ’ t use Google as your search engine , or any extension of Google , such as Bing or Yahoo , both of which draw search results from Google .
The same goes for the iPhone ’ s personal assistant Siri , which draws all of its answers from Google .
Alternative search engines suggested by Epstein include SwissCows and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as it was recently bought by an aggressive online marketing company , which , like Google , depends on surveillance .
How to Disappear : Eras ... Frank Ahearn , Eileen H ... Best Price : $ 2.80 Buy New $ 8.51 Don ’ t use an Android cellphone , for all the reasons discussed earlier .
Epstein uses a Blackberry , which is more secure than Android phones or the iPhone .
Blackberry ’ s upcoming model , the Key3 , will be one of the most secure cellphones in the world @ @ @ @ @ @ @ use Google Home devices in your house or apartment .
These devices record everything that occurs in your home , both speech and sounds such as brushing your teeth and boiling water , even when they appear to be inactive , and send that information back to Google .
Android phones are also always listening and recording , as are Google ’ s home thermostat Nest , and Amazon ’ s Alexa .
Clear your cache and cookies .
As Epstein explains in his article:3 Don ’ t use Fitbit , as it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ provide them with all your physiological information and activity levels , in addition to everything else that Google already has on you .
The Best of Joseph Mercola

Robert Epstein, who received his Ph.D. in psychology from Harvard in 1981 and served as the former editor in chief at Psychology Today, is now a senior research psychologist for the American Institute of Behavioral Research and Technology, where for the last decade he has helped expose Google’s manipulative and deceptive practices. He explains what got him interested in investigating the internet search monopoly in the first place:
“In 2012, January 1st, I received some emails from Google saying my website contained malware and that they were somehow blocking access. This means I had gotten onto one of Google’s blacklists.
My website did contain some malware. It was pretty easy to get rid of, but it turns out it’s hard to get off of a Google blacklist. That’s a big problem. I started looking at Google just a little bit differently.
I wondered, first of all, why they were notifying me about this rather than some government agency or some nonprofit organization? Why was a private company notifying me?
In other words, who made Google sheriff of the internet? Second, I learned they had no customer service department, which seemed very strange, so if you have a problem with Google, then you have a problem because they don’t help you solve the problem.
I learned also that although you can get onto a blacklist in a split second, it can take weeks to get off a blacklist. There have been businesses that have gotten onto their blacklists and have gone out of business while they’re trying to straighten out the problem.
The thing that really caught my eye — because I’ve been a programmer my whole life — was I couldn’t figure out how they were blocking access to my website, not just through their own products … Google.com, the search engine, or through Chrome, which is their browser, but through Safari, which is an Apple product, through Firefox, which is a browser run by Mozilla, a nonprofit organization.
How was Google blocking access through so many different means? The point is I just started to get more curious about the company, and later in 2012, I happened to be looking at a growing literature, which was about the power of search rankings to impact sales.
This was in the marketing field and it just was astonishing. In other words, if you could push yourself up one more notch in their search results, that could make the difference between success or failure for your company; it could mean a lot more income.
It turns out that this initial research was saying that people really trust those higher ranked search results. I simply asked a question. I wondered whether, if people trust those higher rank search results, I could use search results to influence people’s opinions, maybe even their votes.”
What Epstein discovered through his subsequent research, which began in 2013, is that yes, biased search results can indeed be used to influence public opinion and sway undecided voters. What’s more, the strength of that influence was shocking. When Google Met WikiLeaks Assange, Julian Buy New $8.69 (as of 11:50 UTC - Details)
He also eventually discovered how Google is able to block website access on browsers other than their own. His findings were published in 2016 in U.S. News & World Report.1
Google’s Powers Pose Serious Threats to Society
Google’s powers pose three specific threats to society:
1.They’re a surveillance agency with significant yet hidden surveillance powers. As noted by Epstein:
“The search engine … Google Wallet, Google Docs, Google Drive, YouTube, these are surveillance platforms. In other words, from their perspective, the value these tools have is they give them more information about you. Surveillance is what they do.”
2.They’re a censoring agency with the ability to restrict or block access to websites across the internet, thus deciding what people can and cannot see. They even have the ability to block access to entire countries and the internet as a whole.
The most crushing problem with this kind of internet censorship is that you don’t know what you don’t know. If a certain type of information is removed from search, and you don’t know it should exist somewhere, you’ll never go looking for it. And, when searching for information online, how would you know that certain websites or pages have been removed from the search results in the first place? The answer is, you don’t.
For example, Google has been investing in DNA repositories for quite a long time, and are adding DNA information to our profiles. According to Epstein, Google has taken over the national DNA repository, but articles about that — which he has cited in his own writings — have all vanished.
3.They have the power to manipulate public opinion through search rankings and other means.
“To me, that’s the scariest area,” Epstein says, “because Google is shaping the opinions, thinking, beliefs, attitudes, purchases and votes of billions of people around the world without anyone knowing that they’re doing so … and perhaps even more shocking, without leaving a paper trail for authorities to trace.
They’re using new techniques of manipulation that have never existed before in human history and they are for the most part, subliminal … but they don’t produce tiny shifts.
They produce enormous shifts in people’s thinking, very rapidly. Some of the techniques I’ve discovered are among the largest behavioral effects ever discovered in the behavioral sciences.”
While surveillance is Google’s primary business, their revenue — which exceeds $130 billion a year — comes almost exclusively from advertising. All that personal information you’ve provided them through their various products is sold to advertisers looking for a specific target audience.
How Google Can Shift Your Perception Without Your Knowledge
Epstein’s controlled, randomized, double-blind and counterbalanced experiments have revealed a number of different ways in which Google can shift public perception. The first effect he discovered is called SEME, which stands for search engine manipulation effect. For a full description of the basic experiment used to identify this effect, please listen to the interview.
In summary, the aim of his experiment was to see whether search results biased toward a particular political candidate would be capable of shifting users’ political opinion and leanings.
“I had predicted, when we first did this, that we would get a shift,” Epstein says, “because … people do trust higher ranked search results, and of course we had biased the search results so that, if in that first group, someone was clicking on a high-ranking search result, that would connect them to a webpage which made one candidate look much better than the other …
I predicted we could get a shift in voting preferences of 2% to 3%. I was way off. We got … a shift of 48%, which I thought must be an error because that’s crazy …
I should note that in almost all of our experiments, especially those early ones, we deliberately used undecided voters. That’s the key. You can’t easily push the opinions or voting preferences of people who are partisan, who are strongly committed to one party or another, but people who are undecided, those are the people who are very vulnerable. In our experiments, we always find a way to use undecided voters.
In these early experiments, the way we guaranteed that our voters were undecided was by using people from the U.S. as our participants, but the election we chose was the 2010 election for the prime minister of Australia.
They’re real candidates, a real election, real search results, real webpages, and of course, because our participants were from the U.S. they were not familiar with the candidates.
In fact, that’s why, before they do the search, we get this almost perfect 50/50 split regarding who they’re going to vote for, because they don’t know these candidates. The information they’re getting from the search, that, presumably, is why we get a shift.”
Simple Trick Effectively Masks Search Bias
Another thing Epstein noticed was that very few seemed to realize they were seeing biased search results. In other words, the manipulation went virtually undetected.
In a second experiment, they were able to achieve a 63% shift in voter preference, and by masking the bias — simply by inserting a pro-opponent result here and there — they were able to hide the bias from almost everyone.
“In other words, we could get enormous shifts in opinions and voting preferences with no one being able to detect the bias in the search results we were showing them,” Epstein says. “This is where, again, it starts to get scary. Scarier still is when we moved on to do a national study of more than 2,000 people in all 50 states.”
What this large-scale investigation revealed is that the few who actually notice the bias are not protected from its effects. Curiously, they actually shift even further toward the bias, rather than away from it.
As evidenced by other studies, the pattern of clicks is a key factor that makes search bias so powerful: 50% of all search selections go to the top two items and 95% of all clicks go to the first page of search results.
“In other words, people spend most of their time clicking on and reading content that comes from high-ranking search results. If those high-ranking search results favor one candidate, that’s pretty much all they see and that impacts their opinions and their voting preferences,” Epstein says.
Subsequent experiments revealed that this click pattern is the result of conditioning. Most of the things people search for are simple matters such as local weather or the capital of a country. The most appropriate and correct answer is always at the very top. This conditions them to assume that the best and truest answer is always the most high-ranked listing.
Google May Have Shifted Millions of Votes in 2016 Elections
The ramifications of the search engine manipulation effect can be immense. Of course, having power to shift public opinion is one thing; actually using that power is another. So, Epstein’s next target was to determine whether Google is using its power of influence or not.
“Early 2016, I set up the first-ever monitoring system, which allowed me to look over the shoulders of people as they were conducting election-related searches on Google, Bing and Yahoo in the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election. I had 95 field agents (as we call them), in 24 states.
We kept their identities secret, which took a lot of work. And this is exactly, by the way, what the Nielsen company does to generate ratings for television shows. They have several thousand families. Their identities are secret. They equip the families with special boxes, which allow Nielsen to tabulate what programs they’re watching …
Inspired by the Nielsen model, we recruited our field agents, we equipped them with custom passive software. In other words, no one could detect the fact that they have the software in their computers. But that software allowed us to look over their shoulders as they conducted election related searches …
We ended up preserving 13,207 election-related searches and the nearly 100,000 webpages to which the search results linked … After the election, we rated the webpages for bias, either pro-Clinton or pro-Trump … and then we did an analysis to see whether there was any bias in the search results people were seeing.
The results we got were crystal clear, highly significant statistically … at the 0.001 level. What that says is we can be confident the bias we were seeing was real, and it didn’t occur because of some random factors. We found a pro-Clinton bias in all 10 search positions on the first page of Google search results, but not on Bing or Yahoo.
That’s very important. So, there was a significant pro-Clinton bias on Google. Because of the experiments I had been doing since 2013, I was also able to calculate how many votes could have been shifted with that level of bias… At bare minimum, about 2.6 million [undecided] votes would have shifted to Hillary Clinton.”
On the high end, Google’s biased search results may have shifted as many as 10.4 million undecided voters toward Clinton, which is no small feat — all without anyone realizing they’d been influenced, and without leaving a trace for the authorities to follow.
According to Epstein’s calculations, tech companies, Google being the main one, can shift 15 million votes leading up to the 2020 election, which means they have the potential to select the next president of United States.
Google Has the Power to Determine 25% of Global Elections
Many who look at Epstein’s work end up focusing on Google’s ability to influence U.S. politics, but the problem is much bigger than that.
“As I explained when I testified before Congress, the reason why I’m speaking out about these issues is because, first of all, I … think it’s important that we preserve democracy and preserve the free and fair election. To me, it’s pretty straight forward.
But the problem is much bigger than elections or democracy or the United States. Because I calculated back in 2015 that … Google’s search engine — because more than 90% of searches worldwide are conducted on Google — was determining the outcomes of upwards of 25% of the national elections in the world.
How can that be? Well, it’s because a lot of elections are very close. And that’s the key to understanding this. In other words, we actually looked at the win margins in national elections around the world, which tend to be very close. In that 2010 Australian election, for example, the win margin was something like 0.2% …
If the results they’re getting on Google are biased toward one candidate, that shifts a lot of votes among undecided people. And it’s very, very simple for them to flip an election or … rig an election … It’s very, very simple for Google to do that.
They can do it deliberately, which is kind of scary. In other words, some top executives at Google could decide who they want to win an election in South Africa or the U.K. or anywhere. It could be just a rogue employee at Google who does it. You may think that’s impossible … [but] it’s incredibly simple …
[A] senior software engineer at Google, Shumeet Baluja, who’s been at Google almost since the very beginning, published a novel that no one’s ever heard of called ‘The Silicon Jungle’ … It’s fictional, but it’s about Google, and the power that individual employees at Google have to make or break any company or any individual.
It’s a fantastic novel. I asked Baluja how Google let him get away with publishing it and he said, ‘Well, they made me promise I would never promote it.’ That’s why no one’s ever heard of this book.”
A Dictator Unlike Anything the World Has Ever Known
Another, and even more frightening possibility, is that Google could allow its biased algorithm to favor one candidate over another without caring about which candidate is being favored.
“That’s the scariest possibility,” Epstein says, “because now you’ve got an algorithm, a computer program, which is an idiot … deciding who rules us. It’s crazy.”
While this sounds like it should be illegal, it’s not, because there are no laws or regulations that restrict or dictate how Google must rank its search results. Courts have actually concluded that Google is simply exercising its right to free speech, even if that means destroying the businesses they demote in their search listings or black listings. Cypherpunks: Freedom a... Julian Assange Best Price: $3.45 Buy New $8.99 (as of 08:30 UTC - Details)
The only way to protect ourselves from this kind of hidden influence is by setting up monitoring programs such as Epstein’s all over the world. “As a species, it’s the only way we can protect ourselves from new types of online technologies that can be used to influence us,” he says. “No dictator anywhere has ever had even a tiny fraction of the power that this company has.”
Epstein is also pushing for government to make the Google search index a public commons, which would allow other companies to create competing search platforms using Google’s database. While Google’s search engine cannot be broken up, its monopoly would be thwarted by forcing it to hand over its index to other search platform developers.
The Influence of Search Suggestions
In 2016, Epstein also discovered the remarkable influence of search suggestions — the suggested searches shown in a drop-down menu when you begin to type a search term. This effect is now known as the search suggestion effect or SSE. Epstein explains:
“Initially the idea was they were going to save you time. That’s the way they presented this new feature. They were going to anticipate, based on your history, or based on what other people are searching for, what it is you’re looking for so you don’t have to type the whole thing. Just click on one of the suggestions. But then it changed into something else. It changed into a tool for manipulation.
In June 2016, a small news organization … discovered that it was virtually impossible to get negative search suggestions related to Hillary Clinton, but easy to get them for other people including Donald Trump. They were very concerned about this because maybe that could influence people somehow.
So, I tried this myself, and I have a wonderful image that I preserved showing this. I typed in ‘Hillary Clinton is’ on Bing and on Yahoo, and I got those long lists, eight and 10 items, saying, ‘Hillary Clinton is the devil. Hillary Clinton is sick’ … all negative things that people were actually searching for.
How do I know that? Because we checked Google trends. Google trends shows you what people are actually searching for. Sure enough, people were actually searching for all these negative things related to Hillary Clinton. Those [were] the most popular search terms.
So, we tried it on Google and we got, ‘Hillary Clinton is winning, Hillary Clinton is awesome.’ Now you check those phrases on Google trends and you find no one is searching for ‘Hillary Clinton is awesome.’ Nobody. Not one. But that’s what they’re showing you in their search suggestions.
That again got my research gears running. I started doing experiments because I said, ‘Wait a minute, why would they do this? What is the point?’
Here’s what I found in a series of experiments: Just by manipulating search suggestions, I could turn a 50/50 split among undecided voters into a 90/10 split — with no one having the slightest idea that they’ve been manipulated.”
YouTube’s Up Next Algorithm
YouTube, which is owned by Google, also has enormous influence on public opinion. According to Epstein, 70% of the videos people view on YouTube are suggested by Google’s top secret Up Next algorithm, which recommends videos for you to view whenever you’re watching a video.
Just like the search suggestions, this is a phenomenally effective ephemeral manipulation tool. There’s no record of the videos recommended by the algorithm, yet it can take you down the proverbial rabbit hole by feeding you one video after another.
“There are documented cases now in which people have been converted to extreme Islam or to white supremacy, literally because they’d been pulled down a rabbit hole by a sequence of videos on YouTube,” Epstein says.
“Think of that power. Again, it’s not powerful for people who already have strong opinions. It’s powerful for the people who don’t, the people who are vulnerable, the people who are undecided or uncommitted. And that’s a lot of people.”
The Creepy Line
Most people now have Amazon Prime. If you are one of those who do, you can watch the following documentary for free on Prime. It is well worth your time to do so. Epstein and many other experts provide a very compelling overview of the dangers that we discuss in our interview. In my view, this is a must-watch and one to recommend to your friends and family.

A question Epstein raises is, “Who gave this private company, which is not accountable to any of us, the ability to determine what billions of people around the world will see or will not see?”
That is perhaps one of the biggest issues. Epstein and others attempt to answer this question in this documentary, “The Creepy Line,” which is a direct quote from Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt.
“Traditional media have very serious constraints placed on them, but Google, which is far more penetrating and far more effective at influencing people, has none of these constraints,” Epstein says.
“There are lots of good people in [‘The Creepy Line’], lots of good data, and it explains my research very clearly, which is wonderful. It explains my research better than I explain my research. ‘The Creepy Line’ is available on iTunes and on Amazon. I think it costs $3 or $4 to watch … If you’re an Amazon Prime Member it’s free. It’s an excellent film.”
Google Runs a Total Surveillance State
In his article2 “Seven Simple Steps Toward Online Privacy,” Epstein outlines his recommendations for protecting your privacy while surfing the web, most of which don’t cost anything. You can access the article at: MySevenSimpleSteps.com
“My first sentence is ‘I have not received a targeted ad on my computer or mobile phone since 2014.’ Most people are shocked by that because they’re bombarded with targeted ads constantly.
More and more people are telling me that they’re just having a conversation with someone, so they’re not even doing anything online per se, but their phone is nearby — or they’re having a conversation in their home and they have Amazon Alexa or Google Home, these personal assistants — and the next thing they know they start getting targeted ads related to what they were talking about.
This is the surveillance problem … The point is that there are ways to use the internet, tablets and mobile phones, to preserve or protect your privacy, but almost no one does that. So, the fact is that we’re now being surveilled 24/7, generally speaking, with no awareness that we’re even being surveilled.
Maybe some people are aware that when they do searches on Google the search history is preserved forever … But it goes so far beyond that because now we’re being surveilled through personal assistants, so that when we speak, we’re being [surveilled].
It goes even beyond that, because a few years ago Google bought the Nest company, which makes a smart thermostat. After they bought the company, they put microphones into the smart thermostats, and the latest versions of the smart thermostats have microphones and cameras.
Google has been issued patents in recent years, which give them, basically, ownership rights over ways of analyzing sounds that are picked up by microphones in people’s homes.
They can hook you up with dentists, they can hook you up with sex therapists, with mental health services, relationship coaches, et cetera. So, there’s that. Location tracking has also gotten completely out of hand. We’ve learned in recent months that even when you disable location tracking … on your mobile phone, you’re still being tracked.”
This is one of the reasons I strongly recommend that you use a VPN on your cellphone and computer, as this will prevent virtually anyone from tracking and targeting you. There are many out there but I am using the one Epstein recommends, Nord VPN, which is only about $3 per month and you can use it on up to six devices. In my view, this is a must if you seek to preserve your privacy.
How Google Tracks You Even When You’re Offline
You can learn a lot about a person by tracking their movements and whereabouts. Most of us are very naïve about these things. As explained by Epstein, location tracking technology has become incredibly sophisticated and aggressive.
Android cellphones, for example, which are a Google-owned operating system, can track you even when you’re not connected to the internet, whether you have geo tracking enabled or not.
“It just gets creepier and creepier,” Epstein says. “Let’s say you pull out your SIM card. Let’s say you disconnect from your mobile service provider, so you’re absolutely isolated. You’re not connected to the internet. Guess what? Your phone is still tracking everything you do on that phone and it’s still tracking your location.”
As soon as you reconnect to the internet, all that information stored in your phone is sent to Google. So, even though you may think you’ve just spent the day incognito, the moment you reconnect, every step you’ve made is shared (provided you had your phone with you).
In terms of online tracking, it’s also important to realize that Google is tracking your movements online even if you’re not using their products, because most websites use Google Analytics, which tracks everything you do on that website. And, you have no way of knowing whether a website uses Google Analytics or not.
Steps to Protect Your Online Privacy
To protect your privacy, Epstein recommends taking the following steps, seven of which are outlined in “Seven Simple Steps Toward Online Privacy.” The last one, Fitbit, is a more recent concern.
Use a virtual private network (VPN) such as Nord, which is only about $3 per month and can be used on up to six devices. In my view, this is a must if you seek to preserve your privacy. Epstein explains:
“When you use your mobile phone, laptop or desktop in the usual way, your identity is very easy for Google and other companies to see. They can see it via your IP address, but more and more, there are much more sophisticated ways now that they know it’s you. One is called browser fingerprinting.
This is something that is so disturbing. Basically, the kind of browser you have and the way you use your browser is like a fingerprint. You use your browser in a unique way, and just by the way you type, these companies now can instantly identify you.
Brave has some protection against a browser fingerprinting, but you really need to be using a VPN. What a VPN does is it routes whatever you’re doing through some other computer somewhere else. It can be anywhere in the world, and there are hundreds of companies offering VPN services. The one I like the best right now is called Nord VPN.
You download the software, install it, just like you install any software. It’s incredibly easy to use. You do not have to be a techie to use Nord, and it shows you a map of the world and you basically just click on a country.
The VPN basically makes it appear as though your computer is not your computer. It basically creates a kind of fake identity for you, and that’s a good thing. Now, very often I will go through Nord’s computers in the United States. Sometimes you have to do that, or you can’t get certain things done. PayPal doesn’t like you to be in a foreign country for example.”
Nord, when used on your cellphone, will also mask your identity when using apps like Google Maps.
Do not use Gmail, as every email you write is permanently stored. It becomes part of your profile and is used to build digital models of you, which allows them to make predictions about your line of thinking and every want and desire.
Many other older email systems such as AOL and Yahoo are also being used as surveillance platforms in the same way as Gmail. ProtonMail.com, which uses end-to-end encryption, is a great alternative and the basic account is free.
Don’t use Google’s Chrome browser, as everything you do on there is surveilled, including keystrokes and every web page you’ve ever visited. Brave is a great alternative that takes privacy seriously.
Brave is also faster than Chrome, and suppresses ads. It’s based on Chromium, the same software infrastructure that Chrome is based on, so you can easily transfer your extensions, favorites and bookmarks.
Don’t use Google as your search engine, or any extension of Google, such as Bing or Yahoo, both of which draw search results from Google. The same goes for the iPhone’s personal assistant Siri, which draws all of its answers from Google.
Alternative search engines suggested by Epstein include SwissCows and Qwant. He recommends avoiding StartPage, as it was recently bought by an aggressive online marketing company, which, like Google, depends on surveillance. How to Disappear: Eras... Frank Ahearn, Eileen H... Best Price: $2.80 Buy New $8.51 (as of 05:35 UTC - Details)
Don’t use an Android cellphone, for all the reasons discussed earlier. Epstein uses a Blackberry, which is more secure than Android phones or the iPhone. Blackberry’s upcoming model, the Key3, will be one of the most secure cellphones in the world, he says.
Don’t use Google Home devices in your house or apartment. These devices record everything that occurs in your home, both speech and sounds such as brushing your teeth and boiling water, even when they appear to be inactive, and send that information back to Google. Android phones are also always listening and recording, as are Google’s home thermostat Nest, and Amazon’s Alexa.
Clear your cache and cookies. As Epstein explains in his article:3
“Companies and hackers of all sorts are constantly installing invasive computer code on your computers and mobile devices, mainly to keep an eye on you but sometimes for more nefarious purposes.
On a mobile device, you can clear out most of this garbage by going to the settings menu of your browser, selecting the ‘privacy and security’ option and then clicking on the icon that clears your cache and cookies.
With most laptop and desktop browsers, holding down three keys simultaneously — CTRL, SHIFT and DEL — takes you directly to the relevant menu; I use this technique multiple times a day without even thinking about it. You can also configure the Brave and Firefox browsers to erase your cache and cookies automatically every time you close your browser.”
Don’t use Fitbit, as it was recently purchased by Google and will provide them with all your physiological information and activity levels, in addition to everything else that Google already has on you.
Sources and References
The Best of Dr. Joseph Mercola


lewrockwell--2020-01-28--A Million Iraqis Asked Us To Leave. We Should Listen

You wouldn ’ t know it from US mainstream media reporting , but on Friday an estimated million Iraqis took to the streets to protest the continued US military presence in their country .
What little mainstream media coverage the protest received all reported the number of protesters as far less than actually turned out .
The Beltway elites are determined that Americans not know or understand just how much our presence in Iraq is not wanted .
The protesters were largely supporters of nationalist Shi ’ ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr , who opposes both US and Iranian presence in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the US military leave Iraq and protest leaders warned of consequences unless the US listen to the Iraqi people .
After President Trump ’ s illegal and foolish assassination of Iranian general Soleimani on Iraqi soil early this month , the Iraqi parliament voted unanimously to cancel the agreement under which the US military remains in Iraq .
But when the Iraqi prime minister called up Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to request a timetable for a US withdrawal , Pompeo laughed in his face .
Swords Into Plowshares ... Ron Paul Best @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 9.27 The US government answered the Iraqi parliament ’ s vote with a statement that the US military is a “ force for good ” in the Middle East and that because of the continuing fight against ISIS US troops will remain , even where they are not wanted .
How many billions of dollars have we sent to Iraq to help them build their democracy ?
Yet as soon as a decision of Iraq ’ s elected parliament goes against Washington ’ s wishes , the US government is no longer so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Iraqis don ’ t notice this double-dealing ?
The pressure for the US to leave Iraq has been building within the country , but the US government and mainstream media is completely – and dangerously – ignoring this sentiment .
It ’ s one thing to push the neocon propaganda that Iraqis and Iranians would be celebrating in the streets after last month ’ s US assassination of Iranian general Soleimani , who was the chief strategist for the anti-ISIS operation over the past five years .
It ’ s a completely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ especially as more than a million Iranians mourned the popular military leader .
The Friday protesters demanded that all US bases in Iraq be closed , all security agreements with the US and with US security companies be ended , and a schedule for the exit of all US forces be announced .
Sadr announced that the resistance to the US troop presence in Iraq will halt temporarily if an orderly departure is announced and implemented .
Otherwise , he said , the resistance to US troops would be activated .
A million @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to occupation.
” The Iraqi parliament voted for us to leave .
The Iraqi prime minister asked us to leave .
Maj. Gen. Alex Grynkewich , the US deputy commander in Iraq and Syria , said last week that US troops in Iraq are more threatened by Shi ’ ite militias than ISIS .
So , before more US troops die for nothing in Iraq , why don ’ t we listen to the Iraqi people and just come home ?
Let the people of the Middle East solve their own problems and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ home .
The Best of Ron Paul

You wouldn’t know it from US mainstream media reporting, but on Friday an estimated million Iraqis took to the streets to protest the continued US military presence in their country. What little mainstream media coverage the protest received all reported the number of protesters as far less than actually turned out. The Beltway elites are determined that Americans not know or understand just how much our presence in Iraq is not wanted.
The protesters were largely supporters of nationalist Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who opposes both US and Iranian presence in Iraq. Protesters held signs demanding that the US military leave Iraq and protest leaders warned of consequences unless the US listen to the Iraqi people.
After President Trump’s illegal and foolish assassination of Iranian general Soleimani on Iraqi soil early this month, the Iraqi parliament voted unanimously to cancel the agreement under which the US military remains in Iraq. But when the Iraqi prime minister called up Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to request a timetable for a US withdrawal, Pompeo laughed in his face. Swords Into Plowshares... Paul, Ron Best Price: $4.00 Buy New $15.99 (as of 11:36 UTC - Details)
The US government answered the Iraqi parliament’s vote with a statement that the US military is a “force for good” in the Middle East and that because of the continuing fight against ISIS US troops will remain, even where they are not wanted.
How many billions of dollars have we sent to Iraq to help them build their democracy? Yet as soon as a decision of Iraq’s elected parliament goes against Washington’s wishes, the US government is no longer so interested in democracy. Do they think the Iraqis don’t notice this double-dealing?
The pressure for the US to leave Iraq has been building within the country, but the US government and mainstream media is completely – and dangerously – ignoring this sentiment. It’s one thing to push the neocon propaganda that Iraqis and Iranians would be celebrating in the streets after last month’s US assassination of Iranian general Soleimani, who was the chief strategist for the anti-ISIS operation over the past five years. It’s a completely different thing to believe the propaganda, especially as more than a million Iranians mourned the popular military leader.
The Friday protesters demanded that all US bases in Iraq be closed, all security agreements with the US and with US security companies be ended, and a schedule for the exit of all US forces be announced. Sadr announced that the resistance to the US troop presence in Iraq will halt temporarily if an orderly departure is announced and implemented. Otherwise, he said, the resistance to US troops would be activated.
A million Iraqi protesters chanted “no, no to occupation.” The Iraqi parliament voted for us to leave. The Iraqi prime minister asked us to leave. Maj. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, the US deputy commander in Iraq and Syria, said last week that US troops in Iraq are more threatened by Shi’ite militias than ISIS.
So, before more US troops die for nothing in Iraq, why don’t we listen to the Iraqi people and just come home? Let the people of the Middle East solve their own problems and let’s solve our problems at home.
The Best of Ron Paul, MD


Discrimination Insanity

I don ’ t watch or follow football , but it has nothing to do with Colin Kaepernick or the militarization of the NFL pre-game show .
I haven ’ t watched a football game since before Kaepernick was born .
I did watch football when I was much younger , and remember playing the game after school with my friends around the neighborhood when I was in junior high .
Although I don ’ t watch or follow football , and couldn ’ t tell you what teams played in the last Super Bowl or will play in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about football caught my attention because they concerned the supposed bias and discrimination against blacks being head coaches .
In “ Agent expects ‘ exodus ’ of black coaches from the NFL to college football , ” the writer laments that Kansas City Chiefs ’ Eric Bieniemy ( a black man ) was passed up for the head coach job at the New York Giants and that New England Patriots wide receivers coach Joe Judge ( a white man ) was hired instead .
He quotes a Washington Post columnist who projects “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ NFL to college ranks because ‘ they ’ re starting to feel like there ’ s no future for them in the NFL.
’ ” Gun Control and the Se ... Laurence M. Vance Buy New $ 5.95 In “ How the NFL continues to fail coaching candidates of color , ” the writer says that “ the current state of black head coaching candidates , and other candidates of color , should be a much bigger concern than it is.
” He quotes a recent study that concluded that “ black coaches @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opportunities their white colleagues receive , regardless of experience or success.
” This is discrimination insanity .
From what I remember about football , the desire of each team is to win .
Are we really to believe that in 2020 , NFL teams would deliberately pass over a more qualified black man for a head coaching position so they could hire a less qualified white man ?
The insanity is even worse .
According to Black Demographics , blacks make up about 13.4 percent of the population in the United States .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” or “ black in combination with another race ” make up about 14.6 percent of the population .
As recently as the 2018 football season , seven NFL teams out of the 32 teams in the league had black head coaches : This is 21.875 percent—well above the percentage of blacks who make up the population .
And just when you thought the insanity couldn ’ t get any worse , as acknowledged by the writer of “ How the NFL continues to fail coaching candidates of color ” in the first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ percent of the NFL ’ s players are black .
Even worse , you have to look long and hard to find a white running back or wide receiver .
In the interest of fairness , equity , and justice , are those who believe that blacks are being discriminated against when it comes to head coaching positions willing to also say that whites are being discriminated against when it comes to playing in the NFL ?
The Best of Laurence M. Vance

I don’t watch or follow football, but it has nothing to do with Colin Kaepernick or the militarization of the NFL pre-game show. I haven’t watched a football game since before Kaepernick was born. I did watch football when I was much younger, and remember playing the game after school with my friends around the neighborhood when I was in junior high.
Although I don’t watch or follow football, and couldn’t tell you what teams played in the last Super Bowl or will play in the upcoming Super Bowl, two recent articles about football caught my attention because they concerned the supposed bias and discrimination against blacks being head coaches.
In “Agent expects ‘exodus’ of black coaches from the NFL to college football,” the writer laments that Kansas City Chiefs’ Eric Bieniemy (a black man) was passed up for the head coach job at the New York Giants and that New England Patriots wide receivers coach Joe Judge (a white man) was hired instead. He quotes a Washington Post columnist who projects “a small exodus of black assistants from NFL to college ranks because ‘they’re starting to feel like there’s no future for them in the NFL.’” Gun Control and the Se... Laurence M. Vance Buy New $5.95 (as of 11:36 UTC - Details)
In “How the NFL continues to fail coaching candidates of color,” the writer says that “the current state of black head coaching candidates, and other candidates of color, should be a much bigger concern than it is.” He quotes a recent study that concluded that “black coaches have long struggled to find the same opportunities their white colleagues receive, regardless of experience or success.”
This is discrimination insanity. From what I remember about football, the desire of each team is to win. Are we really to believe that in 2020, NFL teams would deliberately pass over a more qualified black man for a head coaching position so they could hire a less qualified white man?
The insanity is even worse.
According to Black Demographics, blacks make up about 13.4 percent of the population in the United States. Those who identify as “black only” or “black in combination with another race” make up about 14.6 percent of the population.
As recently as the 2018 football season, seven NFL teams out of the 32 teams in the league had black head coaches:
Hue Jackson (Cleveland)
Marvin Lewis (Cincinnati)
Steve Wilks (Arizona) The Free Society Laurence M. Vance Best Price: $13.55 Buy New $17.54 (as of 04:55 UTC - Details )
Vance Joseph (Denver)
Todd Bowles (Jets)
Anthony Lynn (Chargers)
Mike Tomlin (Steelers)
This is 21.875 percent—well above the percentage of blacks who make up the population.
And just when you thought the insanity couldn’t get any worse, as acknowledged by the writer of “How the NFL continues to fail coaching candidates of color” in the first line of his article, about 70 percent of the NFL’s players are black. Even worse, you have to look long and hard to find a white running back or wide receiver.
In the interest of fairness, equity, and justice, are those who believe that blacks are being discriminated against when it comes to head coaching positions willing to also say that whites are being discriminated against when it comes to playing in the NFL?
I didn’t think so.
The Best of Laurence M. Vance


lewrockwell--2020-01-28--Youth Is Wasted on the Dumb

Youth Is Wasted on the Dumb

I write this from the once-upon-a-time small alpine village of Gstaad , Switzerland , now a mecca of the nouveaux riches and vulgar , snow and manners having gone with the wind .
Global warming is still a maybe , as far as I ’ m concerned , but the visual evidence right here in the Alps is undeniable .
The glacier I used to ski on almost year-round has disappeared , and man-made snow is pumped out daily in its place .
The reason I ’ m reluctant to believe the climate Cassandras is because their prophetic gifts have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ predicted the end of the world some time ago , but he ’ s still flying private around the globe twenty years on—and that Swedish teenager who accuses us of killing her future is a publicity freak of Meghan Markle proportions .
In my own little way I do what I can against global warming : I drive a tiny mini , use a sailboat rather than those polluting stinkers favored by Arabs , and occasionally charter only propeller planes when flying around Europe .
Never mind .
More depressing than the disappearing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people who warn us nonstop about global warming .
Never have I met a ruder kind : young , usually bearded where both sexes are concerned , and , like all annoying types , holier-than-thou .
Amazon.com Gift Card i ... Buy New $ 10.00 Mind you , some of us oldies think that the hot air emanating from the climate warriors , the LGBTQ crowd , and their allies who encourage them to protest at the drop of a hat is the real cause of the snow ’ s disappearance .
My @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to lean left , has finally seen the light and annoys the ritzy-glitzy youngsters he runs into these days by asking them what pronoun they go under .
What ’ s undeniable is that we have produced a generation of young people who pride themselves on being eternal pessimists .
Life will deliver less , is their message .
A wry smile is my reaction when I hear this stuff .
I grew up during the last world war—something these darlings see on TV and in the movies , and it traumatizes them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my age group , memory serves where the almost daily bombing during the war is concerned .
My family ’ s house north of Athens was near a small airport used by the Greek royal family that the occupying Germans had taken over to park their fighters .
Although my German nanny and my parents had forbidden it , our favorite game was running out during an air raid in order to catch the silver foil Allied bombardiers would dump in order to confuse the primitive radars of German antiaircraft guns .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Three years of bombings and not a single casualty .
Today ’ s youth have no such luck .
They ’ re being bombed daily with exaggeration , intolerance , untruths , and outright falsehoods by Twitter , Facebook , and WhatsApp , with millions of casualties .
No wonder they ’ re all so angry .
Had I lived my life in the grip of social media , I ’ d probably be an inmate in an insane asylum by now , or convicted of having raped that pachyderm Lena Dunham .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of having a relationship , today ’ s youth have rap stars as heroes , and that includes the ghastly Kardashians and Hiltons .
Social media is now the echo chamber where one hears nothing but one ’ s own prejudices fed back to them .
Their inner voice tells them that it ’ s all the fault of the oldies , people like myself who don ’ t care about the future .
Bad , bad Taki .
The Best of Taki Theodoracopulos

I write this from the once-upon-a-time small alpine village of Gstaad, Switzerland, now a mecca of the nouveaux riches and vulgar, snow and manners having gone with the wind. Global warming is still a maybe, as far as I’m concerned, but the visual evidence right here in the Alps is undeniable. The glacier I used to ski on almost year-round has disappeared, and man-made snow is pumped out daily in its place. The reason I’m reluctant to believe the climate Cassandras is because their prophetic gifts have been very wrong in the past—Prince Charles predicted the end of the world some time ago, but he’s still flying private around the globe twenty years on—and that Swedish teenager who accuses us of killing her future is a publicity freak of Meghan Markle proportions.
In my own little way I do what I can against global warming: I drive a tiny mini, use a sailboat rather than those polluting stinkers favored by Arabs, and occasionally charter only propeller planes when flying around Europe. Never mind. More depressing than the disappearing white stuff are the manners of the people who warn us nonstop about global warming. Never have I met a ruder kind: young, usually bearded where both sexes are concerned, and, like all annoying types, holier-than-thou.
Amazon.com Gift Card i... Buy New $10.00 (as of 08:25 UTC - Details) Mind you, some of us oldies think that the hot air emanating from the climate warriors, the LGBTQ crowd, and their allies who encourage them to protest at the drop of a hat is the real cause of the snow’s disappearance. My son, who as a teenager used to lean left, has finally seen the light and annoys the ritzy-glitzy youngsters he runs into these days by asking them what pronoun they go under. What’s undeniable is that we have produced a generation of young people who pride themselves on being eternal pessimists. Life will deliver less, is their message. A wry smile is my reaction when I hear this stuff. I grew up during the last world war—something these darlings see on TV and in the movies, and it traumatizes them at times.
Like many others of my age group, memory serves where the almost daily bombing during the war is concerned. My family’s house north of Athens was near a small airport used by the Greek royal family that the occupying Germans had taken over to park their fighters. Although my German nanny and my parents had forbidden it, our favorite game was running out during an air raid in order to catch the silver foil Allied bombardiers would dump in order to confuse the primitive radars of German antiaircraft guns. It sounds more dangerous than it was. Three years of bombings and not a single casualty. Today’s youth have no such luck. They’re being bombed daily with exaggeration, intolerance, untruths, and outright falsehoods by Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp, with millions of casualties.
No wonder they’re all so angry. Had I lived my life in the grip of social media, I’d probably be an inmate in an insane asylum by now, or convicted of having raped that pachyderm Lena Dunham. Abused, trolled, bullied, incapable of having a relationship, today’s youth have rap stars as heroes, and that includes the ghastly Kardashians and Hiltons. Social media is now the echo chamber where one hears nothing but one’s own prejudices fed back to them. Their inner voice tells them that it’s all the fault of the oldies, people like myself who don’t care about the future. Bad, bad Taki.
Read the Whole Article
The Best of Taki Theodoracopulos


lewrockwell--2020-01-28--Christopher Wray’s FBI Caught in Another Lie and Cover Up

Christopher Wray ’ s FBI lied again .
His FBI claimed that Seth Rich ’ s DNC computer and emails were investigated upon his death but then his FBI backtracked and claimed no related docs were available in a FOIA request .
Now we know it was just another Deep State lie !
that Texas businessman Ed Butowsky filed a lawsuit where he outed reporter Ellen Ratner as his source for information on Seth Rich .
The DNC operative [ Rich ] was murdered in the summer of 2016 in Washington DC .
His murder was never solved .
According @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rich provided WikiLeaks the DNC emails before the 2016 election , not Russia .
Against the Left : A Ro ... Llewellyn H Rockwell Jr Best Price : $ 13.57 Buy New $ 8.00 This totally destroys the FBI and Mueller ’ s claims that Russians hacked the DNC to obtain these emails .
On November 9 , 2016 Ellen Ratner admitted publicly that she met with Julian Assange for three hours the Saturday before the 2016 election .
According to Ratner , Julian Assange told her the leaks were not from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ source from the Hillary Campaign .
We later reported that Butowsky and his attorney , Ty Clevenger , requested and obtained documents from the FBI related to their case which we were able to analyze .
According to the duo , they obtained the transcript from former FBI Chief of Staff James Rybicki where he states that the Obama White House was the entity that was pushing the Russia conspiracy as early as October 2016 – Newly released documents from the FBI suggest that the Obama White House pushed intelligence agencies to publicly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Democratic National Committee to Wikileaks .
This afternoon I received an undated ( and heavily redacted ) transcript of an interview of James Rybicki , former chief of staff to former FBI Director James Comey , that includes this excerpt : “ So we understand that at some point in October of 2016 , there was , I guess , a desire by the White House to make some kind of statement about Russia ’ s… ” and then the next page is omitted .

Christopher Wray’s FBI lied again. His FBI claimed that Seth Rich’s DNC computer and emails were investigated upon his death but then his FBI backtracked and claimed no related docs were available in a FOIA request.
Now we know it was just another Deep State lie!
We reported on September 19th…
that Texas businessman Ed Butowsky filed a lawsuit where he outed reporter Ellen Ratner as his source for information on Seth Rich. The DNC operative [Rich] was murdered in the summer of 2016 in Washington DC. His murder was never solved. According to Butowsky’s lawsuit, Seth Rich provided WikiLeaks the DNC emails before the 2016 election, not Russia. Against the Left: A Ro... Rockwell Jr, Llewellyn H Best Price: $2.85 Buy New $8.00 (as of 07:59 UTC - Details)
This totally destroys the FBI and Mueller’s claims that Russians hacked the DNC to obtain these emails.
Butowsky claims in his lawsuit:
Ms. Rattner said Mr. Assange told her that Seth Rich and his brother, Aaron, were responsible for releasing the DNC emails to Wikileaks. Ms. Rattner said Mr. Assange wanted the information relayed to Seth’s parents, as it might explain the motive for Seth’s murder.
On November 9, 2016 Ellen Ratner admitted publicly that she met with Julian Assange for three hours the Saturday before the 2016 election. According to Ratner, Julian Assange told her the leaks were not from the Russians, they were from an internal source from the Hillary Campaign.

We later reported that Butowsky and his attorney, Ty Clevenger, requested and obtained documents from the FBI related to their case which we were able to analyze.
According to the duo, they obtained the transcript from former FBI Chief of Staff James Rybicki where he states that the Obama White House was the entity that was pushing the Russia conspiracy as early as October 2016 –
Rybicki was corrupt cop James Comey’s Chief of staff –
Clevenger stated in a post online that –
Newly released documents from the FBI suggest that the Obama White House pushed intelligence agencies to publicly blame the Russians for email leaks from the Democratic National Committee to Wikileaks. This afternoon I received an undated (and heavily redacted) transcript of an interview of James Rybicki, former chief of staff to former FBI Director James Comey, that includes this excerpt: “So we understand that at some point in October of 2016, there was, I guess, a desire by the White House to make some kind of statement about Russia’s…” and then the next page is omitted.
Read the Whole Article


lewrockwell--2020-01-28--The Air War in Afghanistan

The Air War in Afghanistan

Under the Trump administration U.S. air attacks in Afghanistan have sharply increased .
But it now seems that the Taliban have acquired some means to counter them .
Last year the U.S. dropped a record number of bombs on Afghanistan leading to ever increasing casualties among civilians : According to the Combined Forces Air Component Commander ( CFACC ) 2013-2019 Airpower Statistics released in late January , 7,423 missions flown in Afghanistan in 2019 resulted in weapons being released .
There were more weapon releases in most months of the year than in any corresponding months since records were first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the most for the year at 948.The previous annual record was 7,362 set in 2018 , and the last two years together have seen more weapon releases over Afghanistan than the combined number for 2012 through to 2017 .
Twenty bombing strikes per day is a quite astonishing number .
Many civilians get killed in this U.S. bombing campaign .
The U.S. often seems not to know who it is hitting .
This report from last week is typical : Cockpit Confidential : ... Patrick Smith Best Price : $ 5.34 Buy New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by U.S. forces earlier this month in western Afghanistan that apparently targeted a splinter Taliban group also killed at least 10 civilians , including three women and three children , an Afghan rights official and a council member said Wednesday .
… There was no immediate comment from the Afghan military or the U.S. forces .
But Wakil Ahmad Karokhi , a provincial council member in Herat , said the Jan. 8 strike also killed the commander of a Taliban splinter group , known as Mullah Nangyalia , along with 15 other militants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ day was held in the Herat provincial capital ’ s Guzargah neighborhood , and was attended by dozens of militants.Karokhi criticized the strike as “ huge mistake ” saying the commander had been a useful buffer against the Taliban in Shindand district , taking up arms with his fighters against the insurgents “ when no one else would do it ” and leaving the area ’ s civilians in peace .
The U.S. military and its allies and Afghan proxies are not the only ones fighting .
The Taliban can hit back at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the number of recent air incidents , they now have found effective means to do so .
Two days ago they destroyed another helicopter : Four helicopter losses in one month is quite significant .
Earlier today there were reports that a civilian Afghan airliner had come down .
Those turned out to be false .
But a plane had indeed crashed in Ghazni province south of Kabul .
It was a military one : There are video of the burning and burned out plane .
There appear to exist only four of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Global 6000 ultra long-range business jets .
They are only used in Afghanistan .
The loss is significant .
The ground troops depend on radio communication when they direct bombers to their targets .
Without the flying relay stations they have no chance to do so in Afghanistan ’ s mountainous terrain .
It is not known what new means the Taliban have to take down planes and helicopters .
In 2018 a few Stinger anti-air missiles were found during a raid on some Taliban .
But those seem to have been old @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Helicopters can be brought down with machine guns or even with anti-tank missiles ( RPGs ) .
But the E-11A usually fly at a significant altitude and the crashed plane was not near an airport .
The usual man-portable air-defense missiles ( MANPAD ) like the U.S. made Stinger reach a maximum altitude of only some 3.500 meters .
That opens the possibility that the Taliban have acquired new supplies of larger missiles .
One wonders where those would come from .
On January 5 Hizbullah leader Hassan Nazrallah announced how the ‘ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. murder of the Iranian General Soleimani and the Iraqi PMU leader Al-Muhandis .
Using effective means to take down even high flying U.S. planes would be one possible way to achieve that aim .
But Iran is not the only possible source of such missiles .
China and Russia also produce effective anti-air missiles and the military in Pakistan and in Tajikistan have bought those in significant numbers .
All these countries usually hold back from providing anti-air missiles to militants as they could also endanger their own ( civil ) airplanes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in one month in Afghanistan might well mean that this has changed .
Reprinted with permission from Moon of Alabama .

Under the Trump administration U.S. air attacks in Afghanistan have sharply increased. But it now seems that the Taliban have acquired some means to counter them.
Last year the U.S. dropped a record number of bombs on Afghanistan leading to ever increasing casualties among civilians:
According to the Combined Forces Air Component Commander (CFACC) 2013-2019 Airpower Statistics released in late January, 7,423 missions flown in Afghanistan in 2019 resulted in weapons being released. There were more weapon releases in most months of the year than in any corresponding months since records were first released in 2009, with September recording the most for the year at 948.The previous annual record was 7,362 set in 2018, and the last two years together have seen more weapon releases over Afghanistan than the combined number for 2012 through to 2017.
Twenty bombing strikes per day is a quite astonishing number. Many civilians get killed in this U.S. bombing campaign. The U.S. often seems not to know who it is hitting. This report from last week is typical: Cockpit Confidential: ... Smith, Patrick Best Price: $4.42 Buy New $10.00 (as of 08:40 UTC - Details)
A drone attack carried out by U.S. forces earlier this month in western Afghanistan that apparently targeted a splinter Taliban group also killed at least 10 civilians, including three women and three children, an Afghan rights official and a council member said Wednesday.
…
There was no immediate comment from the Afghan military or the U.S. forces. But Wakil Ahmad Karokhi, a provincial council member in Herat, said the Jan. 8 strike also killed the commander of a Taliban splinter group, known as Mullah Nangyalia, along with 15 other militants.
…
The commanders funeral the following day was held in the Herat provincial capital’s Guzargah neighborhood, and was attended by dozens of militants.Karokhi criticized the strike as “huge mistake” saying the commander had been a useful buffer against the Taliban in Shindand district, taking up arms with his fighters against the insurgents “when no one else would do it” and leaving the area’s civilians in peace.
The U.S. military and its allies and Afghan proxies are not the only ones fighting. The Taliban can hit back at helicopters and planes and, judging from the number of recent air incidents, they now have found effective means to do so. Two days ago they destroyed another helicopter:
Drexluddin Spiveyzai @RisboLensky – 9:44 UTC · Jan 25, 2020Helicopter hit by missile in Kajaki area of #Helmand 4 soldiers wounded via @TOLOnews #Afghanistan Its #Moldova flag. Helicopter got hit pretty bad. True miracle there are no deaths #Taliban took responsibility for shooting down of military helicopter in #Helmand #Afghanistan This is the 4th helicopter that went down in January Video from Kajaki
Four helicopter losses in one month is quite significant.
Earlier today there were reports that a civilian Afghan airliner had come down. Those turned out to be false. But a plane had indeed crashed in Ghazni province south of Kabul. It was a military one:
Harry Boone @towersight – 12:37 UTC · Jan 27, 2020Wreck of plane crashed today in Afghanistan looks like to be a USAF Bombardier Global 6000 / E-11A “BACN” (Battlefield Airborne Communications Node) Four U.S. E-11As are assigned to the 430th Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron and operate usually from Kandahar AB.
There are video of the burning and burned out plane.
Afghan sources say the Taliban claimed that they shot down the plane. Others deny that. What is sure though is that the plane crashed into Taliban held territory. At least two persons on board were killed.
Called “as essential to mission success as bullets,” the E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications Node flew its 10,000th sortie Feb. 24, 2017 at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, since arriving in Afghanistan eight years ago.The 430th Expeditionary Electronic Squadron operating out of Kandahar is the only unit in the U.S. Air Force that operates the E-11A with the BACN payload. It was created to fulfill what is called a joint urgent operational need, when it was identified that the terrain of Afghanistan posed serious communication challenges. Amazon.com Gift Card i... Buy New $10.00 (as of 08:25 UTC - Details)
The “ BACN ” flying radio relay stations have been in Afghanistan for a while. A military report from March 2017 said:
There appear to exist only four of these planes which are heavily modified Bombardier Global 6000 ultra long-range business jets. They are only used in Afghanistan.
The loss is significant. The ground troops depend on radio communication when they direct bombers to their targets. Without the flying relay stations they have no chance to do so in Afghanistan’s mountainous terrain.
It is not known what new means the Taliban have to take down planes and helicopters. In 2018 a few Stinger anti-air missiles were found during a raid on some Taliban. But those seem to have been old and were probably no longer functioning. Helicopters can be brought down with machine guns or even with anti-tank missiles (RPGs).
But the E-11A usually fly at a significant altitude and the crashed plane was not near an airport. The usual man-portable air-defense missiles (MANPAD) like the U.S. made Stinger reach a maximum altitude of only some 3.500 meters.
That opens the possibility that the Taliban have acquired new supplies of larger missiles. One wonders where those would come from.
On January 5 Hizbullah leader Hassan Nazrallah announced how the ‘resistance axis’ would respond to the U.S. murder of the Iranian General Soleimani and the Iraqi PMU leader Al-Muhandis.
The response to the blood of Soleimani and Al-Muhandis must be expulsion of all U.S. forces from the region.
Using effective means to take down even high flying U.S. planes would be one possible way to achieve that aim.
But Iran is not the only possible source of such missiles. China and Russia also produce effective anti-air missiles and the military in Pakistan and in Tajikistan have bought those in significant numbers. All these countries usually hold back from providing anti-air missiles to militants as they could also endanger their own (civil) airplanes.
But the loss of five aircraft in one month in Afghanistan might well mean that this has changed.
Reprinted with permission from Moon of Alabama.


lewrockwell--2020-01-28--Adam Schiff: the Perfect Scoundrel

Adam Schiff: the Perfect Scoundrel

What is the canary ’ s purpose in life ?
Why , to sing , of course — at least from the human ’ s point-of-view .
What is the canary trap ?
Why , to catch humans who are singing like canaries .
The latest occult dish served up by Democratic Party spirit cookers in the impeachment ritual is the release of “ bombshell ” news leaked to The New York Times late Sunday from a new book by Mr. Trump ’ s erstwhile National Security Advisor , John Bolton , purporting verbal evidence of a quid pro quo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hold the premature ejaculations on that one .
The canary trap is a venerable ploy of intelligence tradecraft for flushing out info-leakers .
You send slightly different versions of an info package to suspected leakers in a leaky agency , and when the info materializes somewhere like The New York Times , you can tell exactly which canary crooned the melody .
In this case , the agency was the White House National Security Council , the notorious nest of intriguers lately the haunt of impeachment stars Col. Alexander Vindman and alleged “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the CIA , and now back there ) .
Another bird in that nest is Alexander Vindman ’ s twin brother Col. Eugene ( Yevgeny ) Vindman , a military lawyer posted as chief ethics counsel for the NSC , of all things .
Living in the Long Eme ... James Howard Kunstler Buy New $ 24.95 The info-package in this case was the manuscript of John Bolton ’ s book , The Room Where It Happened , relating his brief and tumultuous misadventures in Trumpland , slated for release March 17 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of command ordered a security review of the manuscript by the NSC — a curious detail .
Why there , of all places , given the recent exploits of Ciaramella , Vindman & Vindman , Sean Misko , Abigail Grace , current or former NSC employees now in the service of Adam Schiff ’ s House Intel Committee , which kicked off the latest mega-distraction from the nation ’ s business ?
It was , apparently , Eugene Vindman ’ s job to vet the Bolton book .
Any conflict there ?
( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the “ whistleblower ’ s ” chief confederates . )
Why not give the manuscript to the Attorney General ’ s counsel , or some other referee to determine what in the book might qualify as privileged communication between a president and a top national security advisor ?
Well , before you go tripping off on a tear about the suspect loyalties of William Barr , consider that the chief byproduct of the entire three-year RussiaGate flimflam and all its subsequent offshoots by the Lawfare Resistance has been to completely undermine Americans ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ DOJ , the FBI , the CIA .
Perhaps what we ’ re seeing is the convergence of two perfect setups .
Surely Adam Schiff thinks that testimony from John Bolton was his ace-in-the-hole to corroborate the House ’ s impeachment case .
Maybe his staff ( of former NSC moles ) had a hand in orchestrating the leaks from the NSC to The New York Times at exactly the right moment — hours before Mr. Trump ’ s lawyers would begin to argue the main body of his defense in the Senate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But what if Mr. Trump ’ s lawyers and confidants were ahead of the scheme and knew exactly when and how Mr. Schiff would call the play ?
It ’ s actually inconceivable that Mr. Trump ’ s team did not know this play was coming .
Do you suppose they didn ’ t know that Mr. Bolton had written a book on contract for Simon & Schuster , and much more ?
After all , a president has access to information that even a sedulous bottom-feeder like Mr. Schiff just doesn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is only the prelude to a booby trap — and remember , boobies are much larger birds than canaries .
Maybe , despite prior protestations about not calling witnesses , the Bolton ploy will actually be an excuse for Mr. Trump ’ s defense team to run the switcheroo play and accede to the calling of witnesses .
The Geography of Nowhe ... James Howard Kunstler Best Price : $ 1.17 Buy New $ 11.88 Perhaps they are not afraid of what Mr. Bolton might have to say in the ‘ splainin ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say turns out to be , at least , the proverbial nothingburger with mayo and onion , or , at worst , a perfidious prevarication motivated by ill-will against the employer who sacked him ignominiously .
Perhaps Mr. Trump ’ s lawyers are longing for the chance to haul in some witnesses of their own , for instance the “ whistleblower.
” It is also inconceivable that the actual progenitor of this mighty hot mess would not be called to account in the very forum that his ploy was aimed to convoke .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” the spectacle would proceed straightaway to Adam Schiff himself in the witness chair .
That will be an elongated moment of personal self-disfigurement not seen in American history since William Jennings Bryan was left blubbering in the courtroom at Dayton , Tennessee , 1925 , after he spearheaded the malicious prosecution of John Scopes for teaching evolution in a high school biology class… or the moment of national wonder and nausea in June 1954 when Army Chief Counsel Joseph Welch rose from his chair and asked witch-hunting Senator Joseph McCarthy , “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no sense of decency ?
” In a deeply imperfect world , California ’ s 28th congressional district has produced a true marvel : the perfect scoundrel .
Adam Schiff has been hurling false accusations and retailing mendacious narratives for three years .
He deserves the most public disgrace that can possibly be arranged , on nationwide television , with all his many media enablers at CNN and MSNBC having to call the play-by-play .
Then the nation needs to expel him from the House of Representatives .
And then , maybe , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ business .
The Best of James Howard Kunstler

What is the canary’s purpose in life? Why, to sing, of course — at least from the human’s point-of-view. What is the canary trap? Why, to catch humans who are singing like canaries.
The latest occult dish served up by Democratic Party spirit cookers in the impeachment ritual is the release of “bombshell” news leaked to The New York Times late Sunday from a new book by Mr. Trump’s erstwhile National Security Advisor, John Bolton, purporting verbal evidence of a quid pro quo in the Ukraine aid-for-investigations allegation. Better hold the premature ejaculations on that one.
The canary trap is a venerable ploy of intelligence tradecraft for flushing out info-leakers. You send slightly different versions of an info package to suspected leakers in a leaky agency, and when the info materializes somewhere like The New York Times, you can tell exactly which canary crooned the melody. In this case, the agency was the White House National Security Council, the notorious nest of intriguers lately the haunt of impeachment stars Col. Alexander Vindman and alleged “whistleblower” Eric Ciaramella (on loan from the CIA, and now back there). Another bird in that nest is Alexander Vindman’s twin brother Col. Eugene (Yevgeny) Vindman, a military lawyer posted as chief ethics counsel for the NSC, of all things. Living in the Long Eme... James Howard Kunstler Buy New $24.95 (as of 10:56 UTC - Details)
The info-package in this case was the manuscript of John Bolton’s book, The Room Where It Happened, relating his brief and tumultuous misadventures in Trumpland, slated for release March 17. Someone in the White House chain of command ordered a security review of the manuscript by the NSC — a curious detail. Why there, of all places, given the recent exploits of Ciaramella, Vindman & Vindman, Sean Misko, Abigail Grace, current or former NSC employees now in the service of Adam Schiff’s House Intel Committee, which kicked off the latest mega-distraction from the nation’s business? It was, apparently, Eugene Vindman’s job to vet the Bolton book. Any conflict there? (Considering his twin brother was one of the “whistleblower’s” chief confederates.) Why not give the manuscript to the Attorney General’s counsel, or some other referee to determine what in the book might qualify as privileged communication between a president and a top national security advisor?
Well, before you go tripping off on a tear about the suspect loyalties of William Barr, consider that the chief byproduct of the entire three-year RussiaGate flimflam and all its subsequent offshoots by the Lawfare Resistance has been to completely undermine Americans’ faith in federal institutions, including the DOJ, the FBI, the CIA. Perhaps what we’re seeing is the convergence of two perfect setups.
Surely Adam Schiff thinks that testimony from John Bolton was his ace-in-the-hole to corroborate the House’s impeachment case. Maybe his staff (of former NSC moles) had a hand in orchestrating the leaks from the NSC to The New York Times at exactly the right moment — hours before Mr. Trump’s lawyers would begin to argue the main body of his defense in the Senate, to produce an orgasmic gotcha. But what if Mr. Trump’s lawyers and confidants were ahead of the scheme and knew exactly when and how Mr. Schiff would call the play?
It’s actually inconceivable that Mr. Trump’s team did not know this play was coming. Do you suppose they didn’t know that Mr. Bolton had written a book on contract for Simon & Schuster, and much more? After all, a president has access to information that even a sedulous bottom-feeder like Mr. Schiff just doesn’t command. Maybe the canary trap is only the prelude to a booby trap — and remember, boobies are much larger birds than canaries. Maybe, despite prior protestations about not calling witnesses, the Bolton ploy will actually be an excuse for Mr. Trump’s defense team to run the switcheroo play and accede to the calling of witnesses.
The Geography of Nowhe... James Howard Kunstler Best Price: $1.17 Buy New $11.88 (as of 10:41 UTC - Details) Perhaps they are not afraid of what Mr. Bolton might have to say in the ‘splainin’ seat. Perhaps what he has to say turns out to be, at least, the proverbial nothingburger with mayo and onion, or, at worst, a perfidious prevarication motivated by ill-will against the employer who sacked him ignominiously. Perhaps Mr. Trump’s lawyers are longing for the chance to haul in some witnesses of their own, for instance the “whistleblower.” It is also inconceivable that the actual progenitor of this mighty hot mess would not be called to account in the very forum that his ploy was aimed to convoke.
And from the unmasked “whistleblower,” the spectacle would proceed straightaway to Adam Schiff himself in the witness chair. That will be an elongated moment of personal self-disfigurement not seen in American history since William Jennings Bryan was left blubbering in the courtroom at Dayton, Tennessee, 1925, after he spearheaded the malicious prosecution of John Scopes for teaching evolution in a high school biology class… or the moment of national wonder and nausea in June 1954 when Army Chief Counsel Joseph Welch rose from his chair and asked witch-hunting Senator Joseph McCarthy, “At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”
In a deeply imperfect world, California’s 28th congressional district has produced a true marvel: the perfect scoundrel. Adam Schiff has been hurling false accusations and retailing mendacious narratives for three years. He deserves the most public disgrace that can possibly be arranged, on nationwide television, with all his many media enablers at CNN and MSNBC having to call the play-by-play. Then the nation needs to expel him from the House of Representatives. And then, maybe, the USA can get on with other business.
Reprinted with permission from Kunstler.com.
The Best of James Howard Kunstler