One Interpretation of Facebook's Loss of $150B in Two Hours

Facebook lost 150 Billion $US in two hours on Wall Street which, we are told, is the single largest loss of a company on Wall Street in history.  Whether or not that is true, it is natural to speculate what was going on in the minds of investors.  Obviously, they were responding in part to the loss of users, and other issues involving privacy which would result in lower revenues from advertising. But what does it really mean?

Well, one thought is that Wall Street had responded well in the past to Facebook's strategy of exploiting its users in the most crude and vulgar ways, working hand in hand with foreign powers to destroy democracy by emphasizing contradictions, spreading right wing propaganda, and assisting polarization.  When, unfortunately, Facebook was identified as a primary agent of Russian destabilization and had to start toning back its worst and most shallow exploitation in order to keep users and avoid regulation, Wall Street naturally and regretfully had to downgrade FB's value. It just wont be like the good old days, at least not for a while. Still Facebook will try to find more subtle ways to exploit the people who have, in the past, trusted them, so all is not lost and Facebook still retains tremendous value.

[Shel Kaplan reminds me that this apparent loss in value is actually just appearance, that FB's long term value has been monotonically increasing for years. So this apparent setback may be nothing more than a tempest in a teapot and a headline created by shallow analysis. So what else is new?]

Trump Supporters and Civil War

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The problem with Trump supporters is that they think that their lies are truth, and no amount of persuasion works because any fact or counterexample is dismissed as fake news. One of the many things I have problems with today is that no one I know or have read has a plan for convincing these people otherwise. IMHO all we can do is put them out of power and then repress them when they resort to violence (they would say the exact same thing about me, I think).

This is the reason I believe we are headed towards a civil war of sorts, or at least a great deal of violence if "civil war" is too grand a term for you.

The Russians and the Republicans

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It has been a puzzle for some time why the Republicans seem so anxious to protect Trump from the Russian investigation. Wh y is Ryan so intent on having Nunes destroy the House investigation even though the DOJ and FBI asked him to remove Nunes? The argument of this editorial is that they were not protecting Trump per se, they were protecting themselves. I think I get it now. I think the editorial is correct (although it may not be the only story). The Republicans may have f*cked themselves splendidly.

When did they know that the NRA money they received had been given to them by various black sources from the Russians? Yes, the Russians financed the campaigns of our right wing, corrupt, democracy hating, russian loving, Republicans representatives. All of them traitors.

When did they know their money came from sources prohibited by law and from an adversary of the USA, one on various prohibited lists? Just how deep does the Republican corruption go?

Call me cynical? No, I have not been anywhere near cynical enough.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/20/opinion/republican-party-national-rifle-association-trump-russia.html

Mysterious Stranger Sends Portal to Another Dimension

My friend Ken Perlin sent me a head mounted display!

Attempt to summarize the current situation

Let me try and put this in my own words. In the most successful intelligence operation(s) in history, russian fsb and gru (a) compromise and own a potential potus, (b) execute influence operations to bring their candidate to power by manipulating social media and our political process, and thus (c) put into power a minority clique whose policies enhance gross income inequality, destroy unions, put two right wing thugs on the supreme court, and destroy the western alliance, (d) but do this in a way that their candidate is revealed as a traitor and must be impeached, thus causing a constitutional crisis and a probable christian nutty boy as president.

Did I get that right?

Did Things Just Change

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The 12 Mueller indictments were announced today.  Did our little national tragedy just change direction?

Although it might have, my initial impression is that it did not.  Why not?  The right wing clique which controls congress and is about to destroy the judiciary could not care less about treason.

They only pretend to care about things like national defense, the deficit, the environment, the principle of regulation vs legislation, etc.  Republicans are proven to be pure devotees of Machiavelli, they say what they must to get power and achieve their goals which have nothing to do with acting in our nation's interest. This has been proven over and over again, that at this point if you dont know it is because you are either not paying attention, dont want to know, or because you are lying.

That Secret Californian Medical Database

It was fun to go to Urgent Care in Santa Barbara and get a prescription for my ADD/ADHD medication.  This was very unusual and very convenient relative to going to the Emergency Room.  It would not have worked in Escondido, by the way.  

Apparently the new rules are that any prescribing doctor now has to check the database before giving a prescription.  What is entertaining about this is that the patient is not permitted to see his medical records that are in this database.

And you thought you lived in a fair and just society?

Violence Next?

One rarely gets to see a coutnry come apart in real time.

Its too bad the election was rigged by the Russians, its too bad the Republicans are traitors, and it is too bad the Democrats are limp.

What I Want From the Democrats

I want my party to say 'Impeach this son of a bitch now", I want someone to say "that election was not legal", I want someone who will call out our Quisling democrats for what they are, I want someone who will say "that fascist is going to be in LA on this date, why doesnt someone go out and make his quiche a little bit less digestible".

In basketball terms, I am looking for a "full court press" here.

The Fraud of the Originalilst

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By now it should be clear to everyone but the most innocent American that Republicans are just interested in power and anything out of their mouth is just a lie designed to excuse their desire to destroy democracy.   Even so, it is valuable to look at their lies one by one and expose them as such.

One of the most odd is the idea that they want justices, especially Supreme Court Justices, to be "originalists", as in, "true to the original intent of the people who wrote the Constitution".  There is something very funny about this, in a sense they may not be lying.

Recall, the original Constitution did not permit women or Black Americans, whether slaves or not, to vote.  So, do you really want an "originalist" Supreme Court Justice?  Well, they do, and in this they may, for once, be telling the truth.