Wednesday News & Notes: Hacks and Movie News

Some stuff that caught my eye today.

Clinton campaign chairman ties email hack to Russians, suggests Trump had early warning (Washington Post)
Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign chairman, John Podesta, said Tuesday that the FBI is investigating a "criminal hack" of his private email account, which he blamed on Russia and suggested that the campaign of Republican Donald Trump could have known what was coming.

"I've been involved in politics for nearly five decades, and this definitely is the first campaign that I've been involved with in which I've had to tangle with Russian intelligence agencies, who seem to be doing everything they can on behalf of our opponent," Podesta told reporters aboard the Democratic nominee's plane as it returned here from campaign stops in Florida.

What astonishes me about this is not that it happened but that people are going to blow it off like it's no big deal, and that those same people will later claim to "support the troops".  What exactly does that mean these days?



Fifty Shades Darker Photos Accidentally Leaked (Inquisitr)

I totally need one of these.  Via @barbieriqkdwane.


Admiral Raddus action figure.


“It’s based on a pre-existing property that’s called Supergirl, so we never had any intention of calling it something other than that,” said Kreisberg. “I think we worked hard, especially in the early part of season 1 to address the discrepancy. We actually had a scene about Kara herself lamenting, ‘Why aren’t I called Superwoman?’ and had Cat with her great rejoinder about how the word ‘girl’ in and of itself is not offensive. We continue to be proud of this show, we continue to be proud of Melissa and the character she represents and the hero that she represents. We stand by the show.”

For those not in the know, Superwoman is Wonder Woman's evil doppleganger from Earth 2.  I'll add that this is very much a show about a young woman figuring out who she wants to be, which may also play into the title very slightly, but overall, it's mostly just an issue of Intellectual Property.


“If a tape came out with Donald Trump saying ‘I really like to rape women’ you would continue to endorse him?”

There is but one answer to that question for the non-criminal population of the United States. “That would be bad. And I would have to consider… And I’d consider it,” Farenthold stammered. 

Right.  This is where we've been for a while now.  I hope this does not come as some kind of surprise.  There are apparently many, many people who don't care at all, no matter what happens.



Fascinating.  I didn't even know that this was a thing.



More obvious news.

My friend wants to go to Mars.  I wish her luck, but I'm seriously concerned that they might send her up there without so much as a Netflix account to keep her entertained.


I'm out.  Have a nice day.

Comments

  1. What's intellectually disturbing to me is that we seem to be bent on treating Russia as enemies ever since Edward Snowden went there. It's not just disturbing but needlessly dangerous. I have no idea why the current, and possible succeeding, administration is going out of its way to destabilize a relationship that had begun to be repaired following both the end of the Cold War and aftermath of 9/11. Or why everyone seems perfectly fine with this state of affairs. We are bound to have differences, but in the interests of global stability, we ought to be doing everything possible to work our way around them. Although as our internal politics show, that's hardly something we seem to be good at, or are particularly interested in, at the moment...

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    Replies
    1. Tony, man, I think you might want to read a bit about what the Russians are doing in Eastern Europe and/or Syria and the Middle East. At best, they are strategic adversaries who's interests are opposed to America's. At worst, they are attempting to destabilize the US by breaking down domestic belief in our system of democracy. Regardless, they are indeed our enemies.

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    2. It's to be remembered that they believe they're fighting the same fight we are. But the more we treat them as enemies, the more they'll act as enemies. That was exactly how the Cold War started. We were allies in WWII, remember. But then the war ended and we were the biggest countries left standing, and suddenly we were no longer allies, but competition. I know what's been happening. For an administration that set about proclaiming the message of hope (winning a Nobel Peace Prize in the process, no less) and repairing America's international reputation, it shocks me that Russia, and China, our biggest economic threats, have been so easy to label as enemies despite the fact that those who have been causing the most havoc have gotten all but a free pass. You don't solve personal problems with impersonal solutions (drone strikes), and you don't solve impersonal problems with personal solutions (refusing to even take the other side seriously, something even the exasperated John Kerry is beginning to acknowledge).

      Maybe it's a matter of conspiracy theorists to look at the global situation and suggest we're being misdirected as to what the real problem areas are, but when I look at five years of civil war in Syria and the abject failures of the United States and Russia to come to any agreements about how to proceed, and the presidential election very pointedly being used to further heap suspicion and fear against Russia, I see a problem that to me looks ridiculous, unnecessary, and far beneath an administration with a reputation for being pragmatic internationally.

      By the way, it also bothers me that this is the first time I can remember where we've had such difficult relations with Israel. Forgive me if I just don't understand how this is supposed to work.

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    3. We'll have to agree to disagree. I do not agree with your reading of the Cold War AT ALL, nor do I agree with your interpretation of the descent of recent US/Russian relations. Current Russian leadership has shown a desire & willingness to reassert its will in its neighbors' internal affairs. That's not good. But where it becomes REALLY problematic is when it starts to affect NATO countries in the Baltics. Now, maybe we should not have allowed those countries to join NATO, but we have, and now it's a problem. China is the same way. Their desire to snatch natural resources in the Pacific has led to a transparent land-grab in the S. China Sea, and again, here we are. Freedom of the seas is critically important, which is why this has become a hot-button topic.

      I don't love the Administration or John Kerry, but it's also true that we have to defend our interests internationally.

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